The best sci-fi books from Next Chapter [March 2023]
A subgenre of speculative fiction, Sci-Fi often deals with futuristic settings, advanced tech and science, and space. The origins of science fiction can be traced all the way back to The Arabian Nights (also known as One Thousand And One Nights), which contains short stories with elements of science fiction.
Science fiction books often imagines what could be possible through the use of science and technology. These books explore futuristic scenarios, alternative realities, and the potential consequences of scientific advancements. They offer readers a unique opportunity to explore new worlds, ideas, and concepts that challenge our understanding of the world we live in.
Some of the most iconic science fiction books include "1984" by George Orwell, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. These books have become classics because they explore important themes like politics, identity, and the role of technology in society. They offer readers a glimpse into a world that could be, and encourage us to consider the potential consequences of our actions.
Overall, science fiction books offer readers a unique perspective on the world around us. They challenge our assumptions and expand our imaginations, and are often an important source of inspiration for scientists, engineers, and technologists. Whether you are interested in exploring new worlds, examining the possibilities of technology, or simply looking for an engaging and thought-provoking read, science fiction books are an excellent choice.
We’ve collected some of our best Sci-Fi books below, as of March 2023. All of the books here are available in eBook and paperback, and some in audio as well. Some of the below books are completely free to download as eBooks from Amazon, Apple Books, Rakuten Kobo, Barnes & Noble and Google Books!
If you enjoy one of the stories below, please don’t forget to leave the author a review! Don’t agree with our choices? Please leave a comment and let us know your favorite :)
Books featured on this page
Blackwing (Blackwing Saga Book 1) by Stephen Drake
Edifice Abandoned (Alien Mysteries Book 1) by Scott Michael Decker
Playing in The Rain (Escape Series Book 1) by Sandra J. Jackson
Storm Portal (Quantum Touch Book 1) by Michael R. Stern
Savage World (Babel Series Book 1) by Jennifer Slusher & Linda Thackeray
The Remnant: The Annunaki And The Apocalypse by John Broughton
Under A Winter Sun (Worldburner Book 2) by Johan M. Dahlgren
Alien Genesis (Eden's Angels Book 1) by Gary Beene
Pawns (The Wielders of Arantha Book 1) by Patrick Hodges
28 Days (The Reluctant Doorkeeper Trilogy Book 1) by Sue Parritt
Blackwing (Blackwing Saga Book 1) by Stephen Drake
Book excerpt
Two months after his arrival, Blackwing had become well versed in the ways of humans, in Suzanne’s opinion. They had found a way to camouflage his appearance, through the use of spells that altered what others saw, more modern clothes, and other accouterments.
Suzanne was working on getting him some identifying documents. The sticking point was going to be his Identity Device.
She hadn’t known Blackwing very long, but she knew him to be stubborn, and he refused to take the ID.
“I can’t have your Identity Device implanted,” Blackwing said. “If I do, I can’t return to my own Plane, and I intend on returning someday. The electronics will interfere with my abilities and will make me a permanent ordinary resident on this Plane.”
“Well, Sox, I have no argument for that,” she told him. “Added to that is I’m unfamiliar with the criminal element that might be able to furnish us with a counterfeit. They’re notoriously hard to copy or modify. If we don’t get it from the government, then we don’t get one.”
Socrates had managed to master the language enough to use contractions, finally.
“It makes you seem more… human,” she’d told him once, as a joke.
But he hadn’t taken it that way, and said, “I see no reason for you to insult me.”
* * *
It was a cold evening, and as they often did, Suzanne and Socrates sat on the roof of her building. They had taken to coming here lately, and spent many evenings in companionable silence or light conversation as they watched the stars. Or at least, that’s what she believed they were doing.
The roof was only marginally more peaceful than the street. Casting her gaze to him as he stood looking up into the growing gloom, she could see the tension in him.
“You seem to be upset about something.”
She finally broached the topic she’d considered raising for the last few weeks. Each night his mood had seemed darker, more troubled, she knew she had to ask before whatever was troubling him consumed him.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
“I’m about out of medicine,” he said. “I need it to control the pain of my disfigurement. The medicine is horrendous stuff, but the local mead is helping with the taste. I like it better than the stuff that is sent to me, but the alcohol alone isn’t enough to keep the pain at a tolerable level.”
Edifice Abandoned (Alien Mysteries Book 1) by Scott Michael Decker
Book excerpt
“Why shouldn't you be credited with the find?” Dr. Kaonde asked her back at Institute Headquarters.
“Because it was N'anga Bapoko who dug it up.” Nosuma realized it was the third time she'd made the argument, and she remonstrated herself for engaging in such futility. It was clear he wouldn't relent.
He just looked at her. “It isn't remarkable at all to me that in your brilliance you should discover on your first day in the field an artifact of such profound importance that it rewrites everything we ever knew about the Shona peoples and the Zimbabwes they occupied.”
She bit her lip, tears threatening to pour down her cheeks. “But did you see them? The way they looked at me? Their utter revulsion? As though I'd spat in their faces?”
As though she herself had given birth to the monstrosity.
He too, she could see, was blinking back tears. “Yes, Doctor Okande, it's true,” he said, his voice sympathetic, “The figurine casts them in an unflattering light.”
“I don't want Mother Bapoko blamed for the find,” Nosuma said. She turned to the window, the city of Harare spread out before her, the bustle of a major metropolitan center evident even from this distance, the flare of ships launching and landing at the spaceport, people and commerce shooting through sky tubes like corpuscles in veins, helos like birds darting between towers.
How odd, she thought, to be so warmly received in the morning and to earn their silent, scathing castigation by afternoon.
Outside the building near the entrance, a cluster of media hovers had gathered, their antennae poking in all directions, reporters clustered in knots at the vehicles, an empty podium awaiting Doctor Nosuma Okande, stills and vids of the find already spreading across the galactic news wires, the obscure planet Achernar Tertius and its equally isolated Shona peoples launched to prominence by an archeological find that the tabloid media had already seized upon as human-alien interbreeding.
And all the media hype brought them no closer to the mystery of how or why the Great Zimbabwe and all the lesser Zimbabwes had been abandoned.
She turned to him, stilling her inner turmoil. “You'd like me to take credit for the find.”
His gaze narrowed. “You have a condition.”
“That circus down there,” she said, nodding at the media hovers sprouting their insect antennae. “I didn't sign up for that. You handle them. That's my condition.”
Doctor Tugulu Kaonde smiled broadly. “My pleasure.”
Playing in The Rain (Escape Series Book 1) by Sandra J. Jackson
Book excerpt
The door opened with its usual airy sound. I entered my room and pulled at my t-shirt, glued to me with sweat, and stepped into the washroom. The mirror on the wall captured my attention. I stared at my flushed and sweat soaked face. My hair hung in limp strands, damp and tangled.
I pulled my wet shirt over my head. The smell of perspiration caused my nose to wrinkle. My shorts and underwear clung to my legs as I worked at sliding them down. When I’d finally stepped out of them, I stood back up. My reflection showed the dampened papers sticking out from my bra. I unhooked it and let it all fall to the floor in a heap with the rest of the wet clothing. My shower would be brief as it was almost time for lunch. My stomach rumbled at the thought.
Feeling fresh and dry, I picked up my clothing and the note from the floor and opened the door. The warning bell followed me out of the room.
The sight of her sitting at my desk surprised me. I had almost forgotten about my new roommate. It was difficult trying to keep my focus in front of me as I crossed the room. I wanted to watch the new girl.
I hesitated before depositing my clothes and the note into the laundry chute. My damp clothing had been my only protection, and now I had nothing. I drew in a sharp breath as I stood in the far corner of the room under the ever-watchful eye. Naked - I gasped. How had I ever done this before? The thought came to me again.
I took a deep breath and walked toward my dresser, all the while I told myself to act as though clothed. I hadn’t cared before, I thought, as my hands pulled a packaged set of underwear from the drawer. But before, I hadn't quite been myself, though I wasn't sure if I was now. It was like waking up from a dream, in that state where you aren't asleep but aren't awake either. I was stuck somewhere in the middle.
I sighed as I pulled on my dress and sat on my bed. I stared at the dumbwaiter and waited for the door to open. When it came seconds later, I stood and traipsed to my chair. The girl walked to the washroom and entered.
The first tray in the compartment was labeled B20130623L. It was her tray. Do they call her B2? I placed the tray on the table. A moment later the dumbwaiter opened again. I reached in and pulled out a tray labelled with my ID.
The girl, B2 I’d decided, returned to the table and took her seat across from me. I stared at her and her blank eyes for a moment. Did I look like that? Did my eyes look as though they saw nothing? A shiver ran through my body as I wondered about my previous trance-like state. I pulled my lid from my tray and began to eat.
B2 finished her meal before me and placed her empty tray back in the dumbwaiter. Did she even taste her food? I looked down at the few bites still on my plate and devoured them. I was suddenly afraid to arouse suspicious if I didn’t behave like B2.
Storm Portal (Quantum Touch Book 1) by Michael R. Stern
Book excerpt
WHAT HAPPENED? How did it happen? Why? I sat at my desk, staring out the window. Talk about confused. Lee was kind of fun, but not the Ford plant and the Battle of the Overpass. And the Triangle Fire was Horrific. What if something had happened to one of the kids? What if we couldn’t get back? How did we get there?
From the middle of my desk, under a handful of student papers, a labor history book beckoned. Blazing from the first marked section was “The Triangle Fire.” I looked at the doorway and rubbed my chin. My right hand brushed my shirt pocket. An old reflex. I could use a cigarette. The classroom door jerked open. The next class began entering with none of the usual greetings; they stared instead. At me. Quieter than I’d ever seen this bunch. I ignored them.
Ashley poked his head in the door. “Are you okay, Fritz?”
“I forgot to call Linda.” While Ashley looked on, I speed dialed home. As it rang, I said to Ashley, “Gonna be a great dinner.” When Linda answered, I said, “Hi hon. I forgot to call earlier. I asked Ashley to come to dinner. OK? Good. I’ll tell him.” I stuck up a thumb and focused on my silent ninth graders. They inspected me, maybe for defects.
A hand went up. “Is it true, Mr. Russell?”
“Is what true?”
From the other side of the room, Jason Mayer said, “Come on, Mr. R. It’s all over school that you changed the class into a forest.”
He didn’t know it, but Jason had just bailed me out. I leaned on the front edge of my desk. “Will one of you please show me the tree stumps? Obviously, I’ve also cut down all the trees.” Reluctantly, the class laughed, albeit briefly.
“Okay class. Pick sides—Barney and Alan, you’re the captains. I’m the pitcher.” Baseball was a good way to take my mind off the trips to 1937 and 1911. They moved the desks. “OK, ready?”
First up was Tom O’Brien. “Single,” he said.
“Who’s the senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey?”
“Christie,” said Tom, naming the governor instead.
“You’re out.” Tom frowned and went to the end of the line. “One out, next batter.”
Mary Mitchell asked for a double. But she said please.
“Who is president of Russia?”
“Uh, Putin?”
“Go to second base. Next batter.”
Jacob Krugman asked for a double. “What is the vernal equinox?” I asked.
“The what?”
“You heard me.” I realized my tone was a bit sharp. “Sorry, Jacob.”
With a puzzled look, Jacob ventured a guess, “Is that the equation for the Mars rocket fuel?”
“Swing and a miss, you’re out.” Groans came from his team and laughter came from the other. Barney Shera, the cleanup hitter, asked for a triple.
“What South American river has had an outbreak of man-eating fish?”
“The Amazon?”
“Well, it’s a river, but you’re out. Home team, batter up.”
The Ark by Christopher Coates
Book excerpt
Stanley Waldorf and Tony Jackson walked into the Midnight Lounge and took seats near the back of the dark, smoke-filled bar. The smell of stale beer was heavy in the air.
Stanley had picked the Midnight Lounge for this meeting since he'd never been there in the past and probably wouldn't be seen by anyone who knew him. He only needed ten seconds in the building to decide he'd never be back again.
The out-of-the-way seats they'd chosen helped ensure their conversation would remain unheard and Waldorf positioned himself so he could see anyone approaching.
Whenever anyone came close, he would signal Tony, and their conversation stopped.
These two men had never socialized in the past; in fact, they had no use for one another. Waldorf had tried unsuccessfully, about a year before, to have Jackson fired from NASA for an inappropriate act he and his girlfriend had been caught engaged in on NASA grounds during work hours. Unfortunately, today the two men had things they had to discuss.
The Deputy Director spoke first. “We need to discuss this comet situation.”
Jackson nodded. “I know, I can't stop thinking about this and the fact that it's still being kept from the public.”
Waldorf continued. “I agree, it's not right to keep this kind of thing a secret. I know Williams was at the Pentagon for a few days last month and I know there are some people here working on a solution. But people need to know this; the government isn't supposed to keep something like this from the people.”
“True, but what can we do about it?” Tony Jackson asked.
Waldorf suddenly signaled with a chopping motion of his left hand, and the two immediately stopped their conversation.
“What can I get you, gentlemen?” asked the waitress.
She was medium height, a little on the chunky side and with short, spiked blonde hair. The stud pierced into the center of her tongue gave a slur to her speech and Stanley wondered if she was going to start drooling.
“Nothing,” Stanley said contemptuously.
“I'll have a Diet Coke,” Tony said.
Clearly disappointed with the minimal order, the waitress left to fill the order.
“I don't know, but something needs to be done,” said Stanley.
“What if we were to go to the newspapers? I know a guy at the Washington Times who would love to be the first one to get this information. By the time Williams found out, it would be too late. They couldn't fire us, or the cover-up would look even worse,” Tony suggested.
“True, that might be a good idea,” Waldorf agreed, “but I want to talk to Williams before we do anything. Maybe he knows more than he's said, but I think it's imperative this information comes out.”
After thirty minutes of further discussion, it was agreed that Waldorf would approach his boss in the morning and learn whatever he could.
Kingmaker And The Scribe by Connie L. Beckett
Book excerpt
Construction of the royal baths takes several years. In this time, Ibiaw’s father journeys to the afterworld. Eboni births two more sons, one who does not survive. Ibiaw, his step still as sure and strong as when we first met, has acquired silver strands at his temples. Chara births another son and then a daughter, sweet as honey. She remains as beautiful as she had been as my bride despite the years that have thinned her face and silvered her dark hair. I become more proficient at recording the progress of the construction. We soon afford a larger home to house our growing family and a slave to maintain the household.
Chara and Eboni still work in partnership to make the beer, and they do not want for customers. My daughter Masika, who reminds me so much of my outspoken little sister, is bored with brewing and spends more and more time with me.
The royal family does not fare so well. I am still awed each morning when the guards step aside and allow me to enter the doors of the pharaoh’s palace, although we rarely catch sight of him and his great royal wife.
We learn from others that the pharaoh and his sister-wife had a male child. Palace rumors were that the child was born twisted and dead. Another, a girl, died in infancy. Finally, the royal wife births a son who, although unfettered with a physical deformity, has a mind that sees but does not comprehend the world around him.
The cousin, whose name is Khnurn, is more fortunate. As is the custom, he married a niece of his cousin, the pharaoh. They had a strong and healthy son, but Khnurn’s wife later died birthing a second child. Neither the physician, nor the priest, nor prayers to the goddess said to have healing powers could save mother and infant.
Khnurn’s son is a bright inquisitive child who follows his father as he oversees palace affairs. As the pharaoh’s health declines and he becomes ever more stooped on the throne, Khnurn takes on more of the responsibilities.
“My son killed a leopard yesterday,” Khnurn tells us one day when he comes to watch the workers set stone pillars that will support the roof of the bath.
“Excellent, Aten,” says Ibiaw and gives a little bow to the boy. “You are most brave.”
Aten, who at five years is as slight as the leopard cub he killed, pantomimes stabbing the beast, and the three of us laugh.
Ibiaw, who is easily bored, is sketching plans for a pyramid as we talk.
Khnurn observes the drawing, a puzzled expression on his face. “It is not straight-sided like others,” he comments.
“The structure is stronger this way,” Ibiaw responds, pointing to the stair-stepped sides. “Plus, the outer sheathing is more stable since the lower portion does not have to carry the weight of the top.”
“You are making that for the pharaoh?” Khnurn asks.
“I am only playing with an idea, as your son plays with the dagger,” Ibiaw teases. “The pharaoh’s people have not assigned me to make plans nor have I proposed the idea.”
“My cousin, the pharaoh, is not well,” Khnurn admits to my friend. “He may soon need a monument to honor him but there has already been one under construction since the gods appointed him.” He points to the west where the entire city can view the pyramid rising from the sand.
Savage World (Babel Series Book 1) by Jennifer Slusher & Linda Thackeray
Book excerpt
It was never wise to make hasty calculations even in the face of impending disaster.
Just being off by a fraction may seem insignificant, but in astrophysics, it was the difference between life and death. Instead of emerging from the Ribbon a little over a light year away from their destination, they'd overshot their exit point by seven light years. A journey intended to take four weeks now stretched into its sixth month. Never in the history of the world, were there such grave consequences for not carrying a zero.
Dr. Albert Nakamura stared at the faces before him, wishing it was anyone else but he who made it.
No one blamed him, of course, not the inventor of the Ribbon Drive responsible for saving humanity. His original prototype was being installed in a test flight ship given to him by his project funders, The Tiger Alliance (the federation of Asian nations). Albert had just been about to sign off on the installation when astronomers all over Sol flew into a panic.
Something very large had hit the sun, something with enough reactive material to destabilise its solar fission. Every instrument they possessed showed the core of the sun collapsing on itself and when critical mass was reached, it would go nova taking the entire solar system with it. It would happen fast and no science they possessed could stop it.
Extinction would happen, not in seven billion years, but in a matter of weeks.
The Anvil by Christopher Coates
Book excerpt
A few hours later, their ship had departed but was still in sight of land as it was moving slowly. All the passengers were completing the mandatory lifeboat drill, and most were heading back to their staterooms to return their lifejackets to their proper storage compartment. The US Coast Guard required all passengers to show up to their lifeboats with their lifejackets physically in hand. Everyone needed to know what to do in case of an emergency.
Marie and Alex took seats on the top deck, not wanting to get caught up in the hordes of people heading back to their rooms. There was a great view of the shoreline, and they relaxed, planning to wait until the crowds cleared out. They sat, enjoying the motion of the ship as it moved through the ocean, and thought about how nice it was to be away. Their peaceful thoughts, however, were interrupted by simultaneous sounds from their smartphones as text messages came through.
“See, babe. Even out on the ocean, the kids manage to disturb our peace and quiet,” Alex chuckled.
“I thought we’d have heard from them a little sooner,” Marie replied as she stood and fished her phone from her pocket.
At first, Marie was confused. The text wasn’t what she was expecting. Then slowly, clarity returned, “No. No … no!”
As she struggled to make sense of the two words on the screen, Alex was also holding his phone and processing the meaning and implication of ‘CODE ANVIL’. “This can’t be real. It has to be a test.”
“No, they made it very clear. It would never be a test. If we got the message, it was real,” Marie reminded him. “What do we do?”
“There’s supposed to be a second message. Meeting instructions and times.”
“We don’t dock in St. Maarten for a day and a half. How do we get off this ship? We need to get home now!”
“We can’t get off the ship. Even if we could, we’d never make it to the meeting point in time. We were told it would all move very fast,” Alex declared.
“What about the kids? We need to call them.”
“Do you mean to send them without us? We might never see them again,” Alex exclaimed, his voice growing unintentionally louder with each word.
“We don’t have a choice. It’s better than us all dying!” Marie yelled back.
A woman with her own cell phone in hand came around a corner. She was a medium height Caucasian woman in her thirties with short brown hair. There was a tattoo of a seahorse on her calf. She was hysterical and speaking louder than she probably intended. “What do you expect me to do? I can’t get off the ship. We’re in the middle of the ocean.”
The Remnant: The Annunaki And The Apocalypse by John Broughton
Book excerpt
The leading Annunaki gathered to discuss the progress and development of Project Earth, as some were calling it. Project Adam II smacked too much of unforeseen failure in the past.
As was befitting, Enki himself opened proceedings to the awed hush of the gathering that occurred whenever the All-Wise One rose to speak.
“Commander Ninki, your report, please.”
The commander of the mother ship automatically adjusted his golden beak mask as he stood to advise his peers on progress.
“My Lord, and fellow counsellors, I am proud to refer to the success of Mission Adam II. Our genetic transformation of Mark Fisher into Angel Sirius has proved a triumph, as foreshadowed by the All-Wise One,” he bowed to Enki, whose hooked beak mask dipped in acknowledgement. “The subject, Sirius, has made an immediate impact without committing errors, and I believe that his programming is glitch-free. Within a short time, fellow Annunaki, I predict that the name Angel Sirius will—to use an expression current among the earthlings—go viral. Perhaps I should explain. The virus is a microscopic parasitic organism, unknown to us, that afflicts the bodies of the imperfect organisms we created on Earth millennia ago and spreads throughout the species at an alarming rate, causing disease or death: hence the idiom.” Convinced that his report was thorough, Commander Ninki bowed to Enki and sat.
Nammu, in charge of genetic engineering, requesting the right to intervene, hesitantly raised his squamate hand, the scales catching the sunlight and arcing a spectral display of colours. “Lord, I am concerned about the second stage of the project.” He waited on permission to express his concerns. Another tilt of the golden mask with its awesome hooked beak encouraged him to be forthcoming.
Under A Winter Sun (Worldburner Book 2) by Johan M. Dahlgren
Book excerpt
If this is death, I'm sorely disappointed in the universe.
I've been here before, many times, in this darkness, and if this is all we get when we die, I'm not impressed. I hope ordinary humans get something more when they go because this is just sad. To make matters even worse, I'm not even getting the full run of my life passing in front of my eyes this time. It's only the last twenty-something minutes. Not my greatest hits.
What a shame.
There was a moment or two from my childhood I would have liked to revisit.
***
There's a flicker of light, like a school of fish reflected in a submarine's headlights, and I return to life. No sudden intake of breath, no tunnel of light. I simply wake up.
"Back online. Vitals stabilising."
"Stop talking, Aeryn."
"Whatever."
"And he's back."
A woman's voice. "How good of you to rejoin us, Perez."
She speaks in the low, cultured tones of an aristocrat from Earth. Fuck.
There's still a hint of gunpowder on the air, so I can't have been out for too long.
I open my eyes, getting ready to close them again if the glare is too sharp. But the lights are turned down like someone knows how the eyes hurt when you come back. And then I remember. They're clones. Immortals.
Like me.
They must have been in that darkness themselves.
Alien Genesis (Eden's Angels Book 1) by Gary Beene
Book excerpt
During the four-day interdimensional journey from Domhan-Siol to Ghrain-3, Ramuell almost never set down his foliopad. He carried it with him to the ship’s galley, to the toilet-closet, and to bed where he read himself to sleep.
Kadeya thought perhaps she’d loaded too many Ghrain-3 documents on her grandson’s foliopad. Had she only loaded a couple at a time, she could have monitored his reactions and insisted on conversations before providing the next document. Oh well, that neutrino has jumped and there’s no way I can reel it back in.
Though the documents were fairly academic, Ramuell understood the gist, though not all the specifics, of what he was reading.
Ghrain-3 Archive Document 01:00492245-07
Intervention Rationale – Executive Summary
The surveys of Ghrain-3 paint a picture of a remarkably rich world with an extraordinary range of ecosystems. The planet is replete with a diversity of life forms that have made astonishing adaptations and are abundant in virtually every habitat.
Over seventy percent of the planet’s surface is covered with water. Most water has a sodium content too high to be potable by land-bound species. The majority of the planet’s organisms live in various water environments.
Hundreds of land and sea species have evolved sentience. The range of demonstrable intelligence is quite large.
A few species have developed rudimentary tool-making skills. Three have been considered for possible genetic enhancement. All three species are primate omnivores that cook their food. Their mastery of fire and their consumption of cooked meat has resulted in approximately a 20% larger brain and 20% smaller gut than herbivore, non-cooking primate species.
The Green Panthers by Tom Vater
Book excerpt
Setri ran across the lawn in the hot afternoon sun, chasing the tiger cub. She didn’t mind the heat. In Rajasthan, 39 degrees Celsius was barely remarkable. Here in western England, locals, whether they fretted about or denied climate change, bought air-conditioning units and drank indoors in the summer months. The lawn was turning a dirty shade of yellow-green. The countryside around Witney was dry as a tinder stack.
The Green Mansion, four floors of Cotswold stone, stood in the center of a two-hectare property a couple of miles north of Witney, population 30.000, a small town located a stone’s throw from the Windrush river and twelve miles west of Oxford. The original building dated back to Norman times, but most of the current structure had gone up in the mid-19th century and featured a mélange of English architectural styles from Gothic Revival to classic Victorian elements reminiscent of British buildings in the former colonies. It was something to look at, despite the checkered history of its owners.
Pawns (The Wielders of Arantha Book 1) by Patrick Hodges
Book excerpt
Kelia stretched her legs, working the cramps out as she walked in circles around the small fire she’d built from a few dead branches of the huxa tree that had been her only companion during her vigil. The nights during the dry season were still quite warm, but a burning fire at least gave her something to concentrate on while she kept watch.
Since her arrival, she’d not slept at all. She couldn’t risk falling asleep and missing what Arantha had brought her there to see.
She glanced once again across the darkened desert that stretched like a giant black carpet in front of her. There was no movement, no sound but the chirping of insects; not even a breath of wind.
As Arantha’s vessel, Kelia assumed the energy she received from her last consultation would be enough to sustain her for the duration of her visit to this place. After nearly three days, however, her constant measures to remain awake and alert left her both physically and mentally drained. She’d used various meditative techniques to keep her senses acute, but she found herself unable to maintain that level of concentration now; her evening meal, several hours ago, represented the last of her food.
Kelia did not think, when she first set out from her village, that Arantha would test her resolve so. Her initial excitement had been replaced by a frustration greater than she’d ever felt before. She was hungry, thirsty, and so, so tired. And she needed a bath. Badly.
As she continued to pace, she weighed her options. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint Arantha, but her abilities––and her patience––were stretched beyond their limits. If she made it through to sunrise without collapsing, she would return to the village with nothing meaningful to show for her prolonged absence.
Her leather shoes made no noise upon the rock as she paced, idly chanting rhymes from her childhood. She considered amusing herself by using her Wielding to shape the flames within the fire to her whim, but dismissed this notion quickly. She was far too exhausted to waste energy like that.
28 Days (The Reluctant Doorkeeper Trilogy Book 1) by Sue Parritt
Book excerpt
Emma stared hard at the screen as though unwavering concentration could apply colour to blank squares. Yellow, blue or black, she didn’t care; anything other than three empty columns. It had to be a computer glitch; the portal always showed some vacancies. ‘Next page,’ she directed, hoping to see a notice reporting the issue. Columns wavered before disappearing and were quickly replaced by flashing red capital letters:
NO POSITIONS AVAILABLE
She repeated the words aloud, prompting a command not understood, response. It took a moment to clear her head and mutter, ‘Exit portal.’ The screen faded to grey, respite for an eleven-month job seeker. A blank screen, resembling nothing more than a lacklustre rectangular shape, covered a tiny portion of her white living room wall. She could stare at it until her eyes glazed over without experiencing a pang of failure or foreboding. Control had been in her hands for a moment; she had silenced the infernal machine and could leave her apartment for the rest of the day.
Down in the foyer she encountered Will James, her friend Janet’s son. Two years older than Jack, Will was due to finish his engineering degree within the year. ‘Hi there, Will. How’s uni?’
He shrugged. ‘Same as usual, Emma. Any luck yet?’
She shook her head, speculating on whether everyone in the building knew her situation. Although friendly with Jack, Will hadn’t visited the apartment for weeks. ‘I had a problem with the EPP just now. Do you think my computer could be faulty?’
‘What happened?’
Emma told him about the blank squares and a flashing notice.
‘So, the problem’s not my screen,’ Will mumbled. ‘Want me to look at it?’ he added, looking down at Emma.
‘That would be wonderful.’ She smiled up at him. ‘I can offer cake and coffee.’
‘Enough said. Lead the way.
There you have it - the best sci-fi books from Next Chapter in 03/2023. We hope you enjoy the stories - and if you do, please leave a comment below, or a review in Goodreads or your favorite store. It would mean a lot to us!
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