The best sci-fi books to face the end of the world with

Why am I passionate about this?

Reading has been a passion of mine since I first learned how. Consuming books like a ravenous wolf, I explored worlds beyond my own imagining with a simple purchase of a bound novel (or lending from a library.) It gave me the one thing I couldn’t do in real life – escape from reality. In many ways, I’m only sane because I was able to remove myself from the horrific events of my upbringing. It put my feet in two camps – that of science fiction and of horror. I like to think of what could be and bring my readers to that alternate reality to delight or terrify depending on the genre.


I wrote...

Dissonance Junction: A Year of Stories

By Lauren Patzer,

Book cover of Dissonance Junction: A Year of Stories

What is my book about?

Dissonance Junction is a collection of thirteen dystopian tales that examine the human condition from terror and despair to hope and justice. From the first tale Fatherhood, a view of an earth recovering from the excesses of resource exploitation, to The Year That Was, a snapshot of the last of humanity struggling to survive the cold harsh depths of space and their own psychological limitations, Dissonance Junction probes the successes and failures of humanity.

Take the plunge into ice-cold realities written to entertain, tantalize, and maybe even horrify. In the end, will humanity write its own epilogue?

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Beneath Burning Sands

Lauren Patzer Why did I love this book?

P.R. Adams paints a horrifying picture of earth after the complete and total collapse of humanity. The future is brutal, violent, and demands everything of the survivors to make it out alive. This tale pits a group of scientific survivors of a suspended animation experiment against the most brutal tribe forged from the fires of humanity’s destruction. It’s a graphic and nail-biting adventure from beginning to end.

By P.R. Adams,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beneath Burning Sands as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Earth is dying, and humanity's only hope of survival will be somewhere among the stars. When Reggie Lee agrees to test Frontierza’s advanced hibernation technology in a month-long cryogenic sleep, he believes it will be a huge benefit to his career.

He couldn’t be more wrong.

The world he wakes to is nothing like he expects. It's a world where life is cheap, where the definition of human has changed, and only the strong survive. Does he have what it takes to make it in this new world, or will he become just another skeleton lost in the wastes? Pick…


Book cover of Foundation

Lauren Patzer Why did I love this book?

This far-reaching story of the future of civilization has fascinated me since I first picked it up. The invention of a scientific discipline, psychohistory, upon which to design and plan for the rise and fall of civilizations across thousands of years. As a writer, this blew me away just from a planning and plotting perspective – aligning all these pieces to line up and fall into place has been a shining example to me of what can be accomplished by a superior mind.

By Isaac Asimov,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Foundation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, the Foundation series

THE EPIC SAGA THAT INSPIRED THE APPLE TV+ SERIES FOUNDATION, NOW STREAMING • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read
 
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings…


Book cover of The Wilk Are Among Us

Lauren Patzer Why did I love this book?

This is one of the first science fiction books I read growing up. I distinctly remember being amazed by the world-building that took place. There was also the strange biological construct of the different alien species and how they interacted with humanity that I found mind-blowing. It was a foundational text for both my science fiction and horror writing. I haven’t read it since, but surely a book that made such an impression on a 10-year-old mind has to be included.

By Isidore Haiblum,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wilk Are Among Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

210 pages, science fiction novel of an explosion on another planet that results in interplanetary travel of Leonard and a brace of wilk, a nill, a hunter and a Being who appears out of nowhere


Book cover of Crisis on Centaurus

Lauren Patzer Why did I love this book?

I read all of the initial series of Star Trek books, and this one stood out to me due to the violent terrorist occurrence and the devastating outcome of the evil use of emerging technology. The event in the book left a profound effect on me as a human being. That one person would commit carnage of such an unimaginable level to accomplish their terrorist agenda shocked me. I never looked at the “innocence” of technological advancements the same way; nor did I ever believe again that humanity had only good intentions for itself and others.

By Brad Ferguson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Crisis on Centaurus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Massive computer malfunctions are plaguing the Enterprise(t) when Kirk suddenly receives a shocking message from Star Fleet Command: Centaurus has been bombed and annihilated; thousands are dead. Give whatever help you can. Centaurus is a beautiful, peaceful planet, home to many humans -- including McCoy's daughter Joanna. The crew risks beaming down to investigate. But Kirk is thrown into a deadly struggle between violent enemy terrorists and vengeful Centaurians. Now Lt. Uhura, left alone in command, must jeopardize the cripple Enterprise(t) to save Centaurus, Kirk -- and Joanna McCoy!


Book cover of Eon

Lauren Patzer Why did I love this book?

I confess that this is the first book I read based on someone else’s recommendation. I’d never heard of Greg Bear, but I was immensely pleased with the experience of discovering him. The world-building in this science fiction epic is enveloping in its detail and believability. It was with Greg Bear’s masterful work that I discovered the ability to take people to another world and make them believably think it could exist. It’s a masterful work and a great addition to the pantheon of science fiction.

By Greg Bear,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times–bestselling author of War Dogs: A novel that “may be the best constructed hard SF epic yet” (The Washington Post).
 
In a supernova flash, the asteroid arrived and entered Earth’s orbit. Three hundred kilometers in length, it is not solid rock but a series of hollowed-out chambers housing ancient, abandoned cities of human origin, a civilization named Thistledown. The people who lived there survived a nuclear holocaust that nearly rendered humanity extinct—more than a thousand years from now.
 
To prevent this future from coming to pass, theoretical mathematician Patricia Vasquez must explore Thistledown and decipher its…


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Price of Vengeance

By Kurt D. Springs,

Book cover of Price of Vengeance

Kurt D. Springs

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Teacher Cook Barista Guardian

Kurt's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Liam was orphaned at the age of two by a group of giant carnivorous insects called the chitin. Taken in by High Councilor Marcus and his wife, Lidia, Liam was raised with their older son, Randolf in New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.

As an adult, Liam becomes a soldier. After being cut off from the city, Liam finds that there is an alien intelligence behind the chitin. To defeat it, he must discover who he is and how to use his powers. Then, Liam discovers that a traitor, responsible for his birth parents' deaths, had murdered his beloved foster parents. Will the price he has to pay in his quest for vengeance prove to be an even more unbeatable foe?

Price of Vengeance

By Kurt D. Springs,

What is this book about?

"From the cover to the opening pages, Price of Vengeance grabs the reader and takes them on a wild ride. Fasten your seat belts for this book." -S. J. Francis, author of Shattered Lies

What is the Price of Vengeance? One could understand why Liam was angry. He was orphaned at the age of two by a group of giant carnivorous insects called the chitin. Taken in by High Councilor Marcus and his wife, Lidia, Liam was raised with their older son, Randolf in New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.

As an adult, Liam becomes a…


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