Indie Science Fiction
Science Fiction is probably the most read and the most successful genre a lot of indie authors write in. I am a member of several forums online that have authors as members and many of them have mentioned that they will fail in one genre, only to switch to Science Fiction, and wildly succeed. Although, I don’t know if that is more an indication of where the author’s talents lie as a writer or the horde of fans consuming this genre. Irregardless this has resulted in some superb self-published science fiction that I have greatly enjoyed reading.
Admiral Who? (A Spineward Sectors Novel Book 1) by Luke Sky Wachter
Amazon: 4.0/5
Goodreads: 4.82/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: When the man handed him the keys and took off, no one expected Prince-Cadet Jason Montagne to act like a real admiral, least of all himself. Terrified of what might happen if he failed, he was determined to do anything (even impersonate a Confederate admiral) to succeed.
Bugs, battleships and blaster-fire will turn out to be the least of his worries. Ship-wide mechanical failures, assassination attempts, and every young man’s greatest fear are just a few of the landmines the paranoid young college student must navigate if he hopes to avoid disaster.
But with the galaxy’s oldest junior lieutenant in charge of Engineering, a conniving young Intelligence Officer as his second-in-command, and barely half the crew needed to man the ship (the untrained, undisciplined half), the biggest threats may prove to be those closest to him.
Then again, just how much trouble could he get into in a week?
Before long, the question everyone will be asking is: Admiral Who?
Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos
Amazon: 4.3/5
Goodreads: 3.97/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements, where you’re restricted to two thousand calories of badly flavored soy every day:
You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can join the service.
With the colony lottery a pipe dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth. But as he starts a career of supposed privilege, he soon learns that the good food and decent health care come at a steep price…and that the settled galaxy holds far greater dangers than military bureaucrats or the gangs that rule the slums.
The Oncoming Storm (Angel in the Whirlwind Book 1) by Christopher Nuttall
Amazon: 4.3/5
Goodreads: 4.0/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy’s two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine “Kat” Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy’s newest warship, Lightning.
Determined to prove she has value beyond her family name, Kat struggles to earn her crew’s respect and find her footing as the youngest captain in naval history. She soon discovers the situation on Cadiz is even worse than anyone in power anticipated. War isn’t just a possibility—it is imminent. Yet the admiral in position to bolster defenses refuses to prepare for a fight. Can Kat find a way to investigate the enemy, alert the Commonwealth, and whip an entire fleet into fighting shape before the Theocracy’s war machine destroys everything she holds dear?
Ark Royal (Volume 1) by Christopher Nuttall
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads: 3.75/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armour nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye.
But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons. Ark Royal and her mismatched crew must go on the offensive, buying time with their lives And yet, with a drunkard for a Captain, an over-ambitious first officer and a crew composed of reservists and the dregs of the service, do they have even the faintest hope of surviving …
… And returning to an Earth which may no longer be there?
The Empire’s Corps by Christopher Nuttall
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads:4.05/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. After a disastrous mission against terrorists on Earth itself, Captain Edward Stalker of the Terran Marine Corps makes the mistake of speaking truth to power, telling one of the most powerful men in the Empire a few home truths. As a result, Captain Stalker and his men are unceremoniously exiled to Avalon, a world right on the Rim of the Empire. It should have been an easy posting…
Well, apart from the bandits infesting the countryside, an insurgency that threatens to topple the Empire’s loose control over Avalon, and a corrupt civil government more interested in what it can extort from the population than fighting a war. The Marines rapidly find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of political and economic chaos, fighting to preserve Avalon before the competing factions tear the world apart. They’re Marines; if anyone can do it, they can.
The battle to save the Empire starts here.
Poor Man’s Fight ( Poor Man’s Fight Series Book 1) by Elliot Kay
Amazon: 4.5/5
Goodreads: 4.21/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Quick-witted Tanner Malone has bombed the Test, an all-important exam that establishes how much he owes for his corporate-funded education. With his future plans crushed under a mountain of debt, Tanner enlists in the navy of his home star system of Archangel. But he hasn’t factored in the bullying shipmates, the civil war brewing on the border, or the space pirates.
As Tanner begins basic training, the government ramps up its forces to confront the vicious raiders wreaking havoc throughout human space. Led by the complex and charismatic Captain Casey, the outlaws never let their egalitarian and democratic ideals get in the way of a little murder or mayhem.
Assigned to the front lines, Tanner learns there’s only one way to deal with his ruthless foes, cruel comrades, and the unforgiving void of space. He’ll have to get up close and personal.
Hard Luck Hank: Screw the Galaxy by Steven Campbell
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 3.88/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Hank is a thug. He knows he’s a thug. He has no problem with that realization. In his view the galaxy has given him a gift: a mutation that allows him to withstand great deals of physical trauma. He puts his abilities to the best use possible and that isn’t by being a scientist.
Besides, the space station Belvaille doesn’t need scientists. It is not, generally, a thinking person’s locale. It is the remotest habitation in the entire Colmarian Confederation. There is literally no reason to be there.
Unless you are a criminal.
Because of its location, Belvaille is populated with nothing but crooks. Every day is a series of power struggles between the crime bosses.
Hank is an intrinsic part of this community as a premier gang negotiator. Not because he is eloquent or brilliant or an expert combatant, but because if you shoot him in the face he keeps on talking.
Hank believes he has it pretty good until a beautiful and mysterious blue woman enters his life with a compelling job offer.
Hank and Belvaille, so long out of public scrutiny, suddenly find themselves the epicenter of the galaxy with a lot of very unwelcome attention.
Warship (The Black Fleet Trilogy Book 1) by Joshua Dalzelle
Amazon: 4.5/5
Goodreads: 4.01/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: From Joshua Dalzelle, author of the bestselling “Omega Force” series, comes an all new vision of humanity’s future.
In the 25th century humans have conquered space. The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity.
So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy? Would humanity fold and surrender, or would they return to their evolutionary roots and meet force with force? One ship—and one captain—will soon be faced with this very choice.
Against incredible odds, Jackson Wolfe is determined to save humanity–and in the process, might end up saving himself.
Space Carrier Avalon ( Castle Federation#1) by Glynn Stewart
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 4.15/5
Kindle Unlimited: No
Author Website
Amazon Description: Avalon was the flagship of the Castle Federation in the last war, now twenty years past. The first of the deep space carriers, no other warship in the fleet holds as many honors or has recorded as many kills.
No other warship in the fleet is as old.
Accepting the inevitable, the Federation Space Navy has decided to refit her and send her on a tour of the frontier, showing the flag to their allies and enemies as a reminder of her glory – and then decommission her for good.
But Avalon has been a backwater posting for ten years – and has problems a mere refit can’t fix. The systems along her planned tour have been seeing pirates for the first time in decades, and there are rumblings of Commonwealth scouting ships all along the border.
It may be Avalon’s final tour – but it looks to be anything but quiet!
The Terran Privateer (Duchy of Terra Book 1) by Glynn Stewart
Amazon: 4.6/5
Goodreads: 4.30/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: When an alien armada destroys the United Earth Space Force and takes control of the human homeworld, newly reinstated Captain Annette Bond must take her experimental hyperspace cruiser Tornado into exile as Terra’s only interstellar privateer.
She has inferior technology, crude maps and no concept of her enemy, but the seedy underbelly of galactic society welcomes her so long as she has prizes to sell and money to spend.
But when your only allies are pirates and slavers, things are never as they seem–and if you become all that you were sworn to destroy, what are you fighting for?
Heart of Vengeance (Vigilante Book 1) by Glynn Stewart & Terry Mixon
Amazon: 4.5/5
Goodreads: 4.31/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: When pirates seize the inter-planetary freighter owned by Brad Mantruso’s family, he is dumped into space. Saved from death by a passing Fleet ship, he is left with nothing but his skills, a gun, and a burning desire for vengeance.
Acquiring a ship, he reinvents himself as the mercenary Captain Brad Madrid. Before he can pursue his enemies, however, he finds himself dragged into an unexpected conflict when his ship’s history draws new enemies to him.
Beset by pirates, slavers, and a woman who might be his savior—but definitely is a spy—it will take all of his skill, cunning, and new friends to claim his revenge!
Starship Eternal (War Eternal Book 1) by M.R. Forbes
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 3.95/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Captain Mitchell “Ares” Williams is a Space Marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty, whose Shot Heard ‘Round the Universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He’s handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he’s as efficient at charming the media as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters.
After an assassination attempt leaves Mitchell critically wounded, he begins to suffer from strange hallucinations that carry a chilling and oddly familiar warning:
They are coming. Find the Goliath or humankind will be destroyed.
Convinced that the visions are a side-effect of his injuries, he tries to ignore them, only to learn that he may not be as crazy as he thinks. The enemy is real and closer than he imagined, and they’ll do whatever it takes to prevent him from rediscovering the centuries lost starship.
Narrowly escaping capture, out of time and out of air, Mitchell lands at the mercy of the Riggers – a ragtag crew of former commandos who patrol the lawless outer reaches of the galaxy. Guided by a captain with a reputation for cold-blooded murder, they’re dangerous, immoral, and possibly insane.
They may also be humanity’s last hope for survival in a war that has raged beyond eternity.
Star Soldier (Doom Star Book 1) by Vaughn Heppner
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 3.67/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: It’s survival of the fittest in a terrible war of extinction!
Created in the gene labs as super soldiers, the Highborn decided to replace the obsolete Homo sapiens. They pirated the Doom Stars and captured the Sun Works Ring around Mercury. Now, they rain asteroids, orbital fighters and nine-foot drop troops onto Earth in a relentless tide of conquest.
Marten Kluge is on the receiving end. Hounded by Thought Police, he lives like an ant in a kilometer-deep city. The invasion frees him from a re-education camp but lands him in the military, fighting for the wrong side.
STAR SOLDIER is the story of techno hell in a merciless war, with too many surprises for any grunt’s sanity.
Assault Troopers (Extinction Wars Book 1) by Vaughn Heppner
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads: 3.81/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: The Earth died when aliens rained thermonuclear warheads on her cities and sprayed the surface with a bio-terminator. A deadly poison drifted to every corner of the planet, threatening the last survivors with annihilation.
For a soldier in Antarctica like Creed, there is only one way to keep breathing untainted air. He must join the Jelk Corporation as an assault trooper, leaving the planet for outer space. In return for his and other people’s services, the Jelk will house the last humans for as long as the assault troopers keep winning.
For the price of living and the chance to save humanity, Creed has to wear a shock chip in his neck—Jelk discipline is harsh—and he has to don a symbiotic battlesuit that feeds off his sweat. Human life is cheap in the vast alien war. The assault troopers are little more than suicide soldiers, but for humanity to escape extinction, they must survive. But Creed didn’t agree to the bargain in order to remain a dog to the aliens. He has a plan, and he’ll need all his cunning to beat the extraterrestrials and begin the road to freedom for the human race.
The Lost Starship (The Lost Starship Series Book 1) by Vaughn Heppner
Amazon: 4.1/5
Goodreads: 3.72/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel’s dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.
In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them. Their spies have infiltrated the government and traitors plague Earth’s military.
Captain Maddox of Star Watch Intelligence wonders if the ancient legend could be true. Would such an old starship be able to face the technology of the New Men?
On the run from killers, Maddox searches for a group of talented misfits. He seeks Keith Maker, a drunken ex-strikefighter ace, Doctor Dana Rich the clone thief stuck on a prison planet and Lieutenant Valerie Noonan, the only person to have faced the New Men in battle and survived to tell about it.
Maddox has to find a place hidden in the Beyond and bring back a ship no one can enter. If he fails, the New Men will replace the old. If he succeeds, humanity might just have a fighting chance…
A.I. Destroyer (The A. I. Series Book 1) by Vaughn Heppner
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 3.60/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: It came from deep space. It sent the signal. Now our computers are killing us, helping the enemy drive us into extinction.
But some of us refuse to die. We fight back. We learn.
Jon Hawkins revives from cryogenic sleep in a drifting SLN battleship. The crew is dead and the main computer has been destroyed. Jon is a soldier, the start of the resistance, the one man with the will to beat the alien death machines that have terminated a thousand races.
This is our hour as we face the ultimate evil, the galactic destroyer of life.
We are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse Book 1) by Dennis Taylor
Amazon: 4.6/5
Goodreads: 4.30/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it’s a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.B
Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he’ll be switched off, and they’ll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.
The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad – very mad.
Swarm (Star Force Series Book 1) by B.V. Larson
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads: 3.76/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Earth arms marines with alien technology and builds its first battle fleet!
Kyle Riggs is snatched by an alien spacecraft sometime after midnight. The ship is testing everyone it catches and murdering the weak. The good news is that Kyle keeps passing tests and staying alive. The bad news is the aliens who sent this ship are the nicest ones out there….
SWARM is the story of Earth’s annexation by an alien empire. Long considered a primitive people on a backwater planet, humanity finds itself in the middle of a war, and faced with extinction. SWARM is an 88,000 word novel of science fiction by award-winning author B. V. Larson.
Rebel Fleet (Rebel Fleet Series Book 1) by B.V. Larson
Amazon: 4.3/5
Goodreads: 4.02/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: A star cluster in the constellation of Orion rotates once every thousand years. Those who rule there have an ancient tradition: When each cycle ends, they train their fleets by spilling the blood of lesser beings.
The enemy fleets are coming again. In response, the Rebel Worlds gather their starships to face the terrifying threat, and this time humanity is asked to stand with them.
The last time they considered Earth, Vikings in longboats were raiding English coastlines. Today, we’re less primitive. Today, we’re a target.
One man is chosen to command Earth’s single ship in the Rebel Fleet. When the war breaks out, Leo Blake must win it… or die trying.
“Classic B. V. Larson. This book grabs you by the plasma cannon and won’t let go. Fast adventure, fast action–and I loved the space-battles!”
Steel World (Undying Mercenaries Series Book 1) by B.V. Larson
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 3.96/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: In the twentieth century Earth sent probes, transmissions and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed.
The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn’t the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers…someone had to do their dirty work for them, their fighting and dying.
I, James McGill, was born in 2099 on the fringe of the galaxy. When Hegemony Financial denied my loan applications, I was kicked out of the university and I turned to the stars. My first campaign involved the invasion of a mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World. The attack didn’t go well, and now Earth has entered a grim struggle for survival.
Battle Cruiser (Lost Colonies Trilogy, #1) by B.V. Larson
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads: 3.91/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: One starship will either save Earth or destroy her.
A century ago our star erupted, destroying Earth’s wormhole network and closing off trade with her colonized planets. After being out of contact with the younger worlds for so many years, Humanity is shocked when a huge ship appears at the edge of the Solar System. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful.
What they learn from the massive vessel shocks the planet. The lost colonies have survived—but the reunion isn’t going to be a happy one. Our descendants are vastly superior in the art of warfare. Worse, there are other beings undreamed of beyond the human frontier: strange, unfathomable…alien.
Battle Cruiser Defiant, the first capital ship to darken Earth’s skies, is tasked with exploring new passages to the younger planets. Old Earth must reunite with her children…but can humanity survive the inevitable conflicts? Captain William Sparhawk, determined to follow a path of honor and truthfulness, dares to rise to the challenge.
Duel in the Dark (Blood on the Stars #1) by Jay Allen
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 3.76/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: War is coming.
The Confederation battleship Dauntless has spent ten months patrolling the border, alone, watching for an attack from the enemy Union. Her crew is exhausted and the aging vessel needs repairs.With the fleet mobilized, and the forward bases overloaded beyond capacity, she is sent clear across the Confederation, to a base along the peaceful and sleepy sector known as the Rim.
But the quiet frontier isn’t what it seems, and when a distress call is received from a mining colony at the edge of Confederation space, Captain Tyler Barron must take Dauntless forward into the unknown.
Barron and his crew have their ship–and each other–but they can expect no reinforcements. His superiors believe that Union deceit is at play, that the attack is merely a diversion,intended to draw Confederation forces from the disputed border. Their orders are clear: no ships will be transferred from the front. Stopping whatever is happening on the rim is Barron’s responsibility, and his alone.
Barron’s grandfather was the Confederation’s greatest hero, the father of the modern navy. His name has always carried great privilege, and crushing responsibility. Now he must prove that he has inherited more than just a name. He must face the enemy, and win the victory.
Before the Confederation is caught between two enemies and destroyed.
Constitution: Book 1 of the Legacy Fleet Series by Nick Webb
Amazon: 4.3/5
Goodreads: 3.89/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description:
The year is 2650
75 years ago, an alien fleet attacked Earth.
Without warning. Without mercy.
We were not prepared.
Hundreds of millions perished. Dozens of cities burned.
We nearly lost everything.
Then, the aliens abruptly left.
We rebuilt. We armed ourselves. We swore: never again.
But the aliens never came back.
Until now.
With overwhelming force the aliens have returned, striking deep into our territory, sending Earth into a panic. Our new technology is useless. Our new ships burn like straw. All our careful preparations are wasted.
Now, only one man, one crew, and the oldest starship in the fleet stand between the Earth and certain destruction.
Rookie Privateer: Privateer Tales, Book 1 by Jamie McFarlane
Amazon: 4.5/5
Goodreads: 4.13/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Author Website
Amazon Description: Liam Hoffen wants off the asteroid he and his family call home. Despite passing the Mars Competency Test, he’s stuck mining a plot of land that may never pay off. To make matters worse, the girl of his dreams is about to ship off to the Naval Academy…
But when a brutal pirate horde sets its sights on Liam’s colony, he and his friends may be their ramshackle town’s only chance of survival. As they gather up all the courage and cunning they can muster, they learn that their little colony holds secrets far bigger than they ever could have imagined. The truth about their dusty asteroid could change everything, if they live long enough to do something about it…
Rookie Privateer is the first book in the Privateer Tales saga, a series of swashbuckling space operas. If you like memorable and witty characters, pulse-pounding adventures, and galactic tales reminiscent of golden age sci-fi, then you’ll love Jamie McFarlane’s explosive tale.