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- The Dreaming Jewels
Theodore Sturgeonstandalone novel1950
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The Dreaming Jewels (1950), also known as The Synthetic Man, is a science fiction novel by American writer Theodore Sturgeon. It was his first published novel.
- Contact
Carl Saganstandalone novel1985
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From the front flap of the Simon and Schuster first edition: For centuries humanity has dreamed of life and intelligence beyond the Earth; for decades scientists have searched for it in every corner of the sky; for years Project Argus, a vast, sophisticated complex of radio telescopes, has listened for a signal indicating the existence, somewhere in the universe, of extraterrestrial intelligence. Then, one afternoon, the course of human history is changed, abruptly and forever. The Message, awaited for so long, its very possibility doubted by so many, arrives. Contact has been made. Life, intelligence, someone, something beyond Earth, 26 light-years away, in the vicinity of the star Vega, is calling, beaming across space a wholly unexpected message to say that we are not - have never been - alone. In Contact, Carl Sagan, whose Cosmos enthralled millions of readers and television viewers, has brilliantly employed the freedom of fiction to imagine the greatest adventure of all - humanity's first encounter with other intelligent beings. But the novel is not only about contact between humans and extraterrestrials; it is also about contact, down here on Earth, with each other and ourselves. At its center is a brilliant scientist, Eleanor Arroway, director of Project Argos, who is the first to realize that chapter one of human history is over. It is she who is instrumental in decoding the Message - and in persuading world leaders not to treat it as a threat - she who finds her own life changed by the immense challenge of responding to the Message; she who finally journeys out to experience, in circumstances at once profoundly religious and scientific, the most fateful encounter in human history.
- Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert A. Heinleinstandalone novel1961
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Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by the American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians, and explores his interaction with and eventual transformation of Terran culture.
- The Humans
Matt Haigstandalone novel2013
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When an extraterrestrial arrives on Earth, his first impressions of humans are less than positive. Taking the form of Professor Andrew Martin at Cambridge University, the visitor is eager to complete his task and hurry back to his own utopian planet. Disgusted by the way humans look, what they eat, their capacity for murder and war, he is equally baffled by the concepts of love and family. But as time goes on, he starts to reconsider.
- Childhood's End
Arthur C. Clarkestandalone novel1953
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Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows a peaceful alien invasion of Earth by mysterious Overlords, whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.
- Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyesstandalone novel1966
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A man with a low IQ becomes the subject of an experimental medical procedure which raises his IQ well over genius level.
- Camouflage
Joe Haldemanstandalone novel2004
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Camouflage is a 2004 science fiction novel by American writer Joe Haldeman. It won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award in 2004 and the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2005.
- Bridge of Ashes
Roger Zelaznystandalone novel1976
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Bridge of Ashes is an experimental science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. The paperback edition was published in 1976 and the hardcover in 1979. Zelazny describes the book as one of five books from which he learned things "that have borne me through thirty or so others". He states that he "felt that if I could pull it off I could achieve some powerful effects. What I learned from this book is something of the limits of puzzlement in that no man’s land between suspense and the weakening of communication".
- The Jonah Kit
Ian Watsonstandalone novel1975
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The Jonah Kit is a 1975 science fiction novel by English writer Ian Watson. In 1977, The Jonah Kit won the BSFA Award for Best Novel.
- Hard Landing
Algis Budrysstandalone novel1993
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When an alien spacecraft crashes into a swamp on the US Atlantic coast, the fates of the humanoid surviving crew members are described as they separate and attempt to avoid discovery by blending into the American public.
- An Absolutely Remarkable Thing / The Carls
series2 books2018
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- Double Star
Robert A. Heinleinstandalone novel1956
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Lorenzo Smythe, the excellent yet unemployed actor, meets Dak Broadbent in a bar. Broadbent hires Lorenzo for an unspecified role, and hustles him onto a rocket ship. Broadbent turns out to be an assistant to the famous interplanetary politician and leader of the Expansionist party: John J. Bonforte. Bonforte, however, has been kidnapped by the political opposition on Mars, and due to Lorenzo's physical similarity to Bonforte, his staff wants Lorenzo to impersonate the politician for an important Martian ceremony.
- Beyond the Labyrinth
Gillian Rubinsteinstandalone novel1988
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Fourteen-year-old Brenton questions the choices in his life when an alien anthropologist arrives to study an ancient Aboriginal tribe that once lived in the area around his home.
- Parallelities
Alan Dean Fosterstandalone novel1998
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"It seems you have acquired about you a field that affects the links between multiple parallel worlds, causing objects and individuals from these worlds to slip into yours . . . or you to slip into theirs . . ." It was just an average day for tabloid reporter Max Parker when he arrived in Malibu for a demonstration of a brand new parallel-universe machine. But everything changed in an instant when inventor Barrington Boles succeeded in making Max the human gate to numerous parallelities.Now Max was lost in a virtual sea of collateral worlds, confronting man-eating aliens, dinosaurs, talking frogs, dead Maxes, girl Maxes, old Maxes, even ghost Maxes. His only chance to escape the space-time continuum was to find Boles and hope the loony genius could rescue him. But how could he be sure which world was real, which Max was Max, and which Boles was the Boles who could stop the madness--or trap Max in the wrong world forever. . . ?From the Paperback edition.
- The Dark Side of Nowhere
Neal Shustermanstandalone novel1997
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The Dark Side of Nowhere is a children's book written by Neal Shusterman and published by Little Brown and Company in 1997. It was released in paperback and on audio cassettes.
- The Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut & Jr.standalone novel1959
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The Sirens of Titan is a comic science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., first published in 1959. His second novel, it involves issues of free will, omniscience, and the overall purpose of human history, with much of the story revolving around a Martian invasion of Earth.
- Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delanystandalone novel1975
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Dhalgren is a 1975 science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany. It features an extended trip to and through Bellona, a fictional city in the American Midwest cut off from the rest of the world by an unknown catastrophe. It is number 33 on the 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction list.
- Dying Inside
Robert Silverbergstandalone novel1972
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Dying Inside is a 1972 science fiction novel by American writer Robert Silverberg. It was first serialized in Galaxy in 1972 and published in book form by Charles Scribner's Sons later that year. The novel follows David Selig, a middle-aged telepath in contemporary New York City, as the mind-reading ability that has shaped his life begins to disappear.
- Triptych
J. M. Freystandalone novel2011
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Triptych is a 2011 debut novel by Canadian author J.M. Frey. The novel follows three narrators as they recount the events surrounding major turning points in the life of Gwen Pierson, a languages specialist: Evvie Pierson, Gwen's mother a housewife in rural southern Ontario; Kalp, an alien refugee from a dead planet living in England and Gwen's lover; and Basil Grey, a Welsh computer engineer.
- WWW Trilogy
series3 books2009
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The WWW Trilogy is a trilogy of science-fiction novels by Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer. The first book, Wake, was originally serialized in four parts in Analog Science Fiction and Fact from November 2008 to March 2009, published in book form through Ace on April 7, 2009, and was followed by the second book, Watch, on April 6, 2010. Wonder was published in 2011.
- Babel-17
Samuel R. Delanystandalone novel1966
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Babel-17 is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany. Published by Ace Books in May 1966, it follows Rydra Wong, a poet and linguist recruited during an interstellar war to decipher a language connected to enemy sabotage. Her investigation reveals a language that shapes thought and can make its speakers unwitting saboteurs. Through Rydra's effort to understand and revise it, the novel explores communication, perception, identity, and translation.
- The Astonished Eye
Tracy Knightstandalone novel2001
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From the front flap of the PS Publishing 500 copy HB edition: "When a UFO crash-lands in Elderton, Illinois, which reporter should The Astonished Eye, one of the country's most infamous tabloid newspapers, send to investigate? Why, Ben Savitch, of course! After all, he was born in this backwater town and that might just give him the edge when it comes to finding out the truth. And he might finally realize a shot-glass of fame and meaning in his otherwise lacklustre career. But what starts as a search for the perfect Eye story quickly transforms into something more momentous than Savitch ever could have imagined. The mystery of a stranded extraterrestrial pales in comparison to the powerful yet fragile magic that already exists in Elderton: Almo Parrish can infallibly predict the first autumn leaf to fall each year, and believes he is the last surviving Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz movie; Chandler Quinn can build or repair anything, including otherworldly machines; little Vida Proust lumbers around town because the gentle inhabitants of Elderton are too polite to tell her the truth of her existence (or lack thereof); and poor Frank Shepard is a flickering wraith of a man, a reanimated superhero who has forgotten how to fly. As Savitch pursues his story, his homecoming coincides with unthinkable events that not only threaten the town's tranquility, but also alter each intersecting life and transform the very fabric of reality itself."
