EPIC INDIE’S SPSFC 3 BOOK BATCH PART 3
The final part of our series covering the books in judging batch for SPSFC 3. Read more about SPSFC Here
New Eyes by Tobias Cabral
Just six months ago the rogue android, BopLpops' grisly killing spree came to an end.
Gaspar Núñez's conscience can find no relief for his part in unknowingly helping the horribly-abused 'Synth' wreak his terrible vengeance...even though it cost him his eyes.
But now a desperate, dangerous path has opened up for him to seek atonement, one that will carry him all the way to Mars.
Jenna Graham never saw the Darkness in BopLpops until that terrible summer night, half a year ago. She'd worshiped him every time he performed for his adoring fans, the monster within him wholly hidden from her eyes. Now chance has brought her an opportunity to confront the trauma that's haunted her all this time. Meanwhile, operatives of a shadowy anti-technological religious group have vowed to thwart their plans at any cost.
The Badger Company by JP Weaver
Malcolm Parker was poised to make history as the habitation engineer who made his country's colonization initiatives possible—until a stealth missile strike destroyed the U.S. moon base. All that’s left of him is his A.I. clone, who must carry on both his fantasy tabletop campaign and the original mission: find and secure the closest habitable system.
Trapped inside a space probe with a computer for a brain and other AIs for company, Malcolm and his crew face hostile spacecraft alone. The same assailants in pursuit or an opportunistic third party—either way they seem intent on wiping out the last remnants of America’s space program. Artificial intelligence isn't recognized as people under U.S. law, so as far as the top brass in the U.S. military is concerned, the crew is on their own.
The Money Cure by Linda Peer
What if avarice after billionaire-ism is just a subset of ordinary hoarding disorder? What if someone discovered a way to repair that? Who would benefit? Who would oppose such a cure, and how aggressively?
The Money Cure is a comic romantic adventure set in the near future, when a housing crisis forces working people, from retail employees to programmers, to live in illegal housing called underhousing.
Jemma is a beautiful loner with aspirations as a graphic novelist. She wants to make money to buy the time she needs to create a work of art. Employed in a menial job at a spa for the ultra-wealthy, her real ambition is to delight readers. Jemma also wants to acquire enough money, cash, assets, or whatever, to move out of her van, parked in underhousing. Financially challenged and stuck in a dead end job, Jemma devises an only slightly illegal plan to fix her money problem.
Wixon’s Day by Phil Williams
No one knows how the world ended… But it's about to happen again.
Marquos travels Estalia's waterways with a secret. The girl he's hiding below deck was rescued from the mines. He has a simple goal: to get her home safely before exploring the North.
But she's opened his eyes to the true nature of Estalia's Guards. Kidnapping children is the least of their crimes. There's a secret war coming closer to home – and their terrible weapons point back to the time before the darkness. Are the rebels right to resist the only order left in the world?
Marquos cannot run from the truth. It's a fight he must join, on one side or the other. But can he protect what's left of the world, or will he become instrumental in its destruction?
Any Job will Do by John Wilker
Jackson ”Jax” Caruso inherited a ship from his parents.
They’re dead, they don’t need it.
The unification wars happened a while ago, Jax’s parent’s fought for the losing side. Now he takes the jobs he can get; smuggling, bounty hunting, hauling cargo. If it pays, he’ll do it.
When Jax is approached with a job that seems too good to be true, he should have known better, he should have walked.
He didn’t.
Now he and a few friends are in it deep; Imperial entanglements are the least of their concerns with organized crime on their tails.
Will Jax and his friends finish the job without getting caught, or killed? Only one way to find out!
Arbiter: the cosmic prophecy by Omal Dan Spater
In the twenty-fourth century, when Elysium is made and the Mars is colonized, the world’s destiny twists, as the rise of a dictator brings forth new supremacy through a cyber oracle to conquer the Superstates, annihilating the peace and harmony of people. Bodhi Turvaśa, a 28 years old young man living in India’s undisputed lands, decides to leave Earth before the beginning of the apocalypse. He desires to enter Elysium, risking all that he loves the most, for a better life, and dares to venture out, with his fiancé, Anjana Kashyap, and her cousin, Agastya Kashyap, traversing through the prohibited lands, to reach the Exodus Port in Moscow, Soviet State. Little do they know that he is carrying one of the greatest assets to Elysium’s ‘Acer Rubrum Arc’ until coincidentally meets Shen Er Shi and Bane Lux amid two encounters that refuel their adventurous journey.
Initialize by Samuel Fleming
For this cyborg, power is just an upgrade away.
Emmett was used to being caught between college and his engineering internship, but when he gets caught between a powerful hero and an even stronger villain, he becomes collateral damage. Instead of dying, he wakes up a cyborg—a melding of flesh and machine. Turns out his boss wasn’t just an eccentric inventor, and the old man just gave him a shining opportunity to be a hero. Except that’s just the beginning, and things are about to get a lot more complicated.His boss has his own agenda. The boss’s daughter has her own power armor. His roommate works for an evil corporation. And Emmett is just a Class 1 hero.
Superheroes aren’t just masks—some work for corporations, or for the government and the military, and even as mercenaries in wars. Shadowy cabals pull the strings of hero and villain alike. The city of Belport might be peaceful for now, but most of the world is in turmoil. If Emmett is going to have any chance at making a difference, he needs to get stronger. A lot stronger.
The Hollow Sun by Jake Theriault
A routine resupply, a space station under siege, a crew stranded 18 million light years from Earth - the only thing that can get them back home is the truth.
Ariel Anderson is Captain of private cargo vessel The Hollow Sun. While docked on the far side of an interstellar gateway at the distant Achilles Two transfer station, she and her crew become trapped when Achilles is boarded by a rogue paramilitary faction known as The Coalition. It is soon discovered that The Coalition is hunting through the station for somebody... somebody the crew of The Hollow Sun know all too well.
The First Run by Eli Freysson
Gaylen finally has it made. If he can just survive the next few days.
On his heels are the scum of the galaxy. In front of him is the wild frontier. And on board his ship is a mysterious cargo people will kill for.
What’s the worst that could happen? He just might be on a collision course with the answer.
He’ll have to rely on his untested crew, hard-earned wits, steady aim, and two clenched fists to survive.
The eom Expression: Beautiful Chaos by David Foresi
pilot for hire.
Diverted by Enforcers, Jeron ends up on the wrong side of a dumpy orbital community over Saturn. He’s given a book he’s not supposed to have, granting him access to the rebellious tech black market.
Jeron becomes a smuggler, working with an illegal sentient AI.
Enforcers never stop enforcing, so Jeron and thousands of other rebels set out for Rieva, a beautiful world of endless potential. There, they form a new civilization based on freedom. Beer flows freely, and life is good.
The Enforcers have a mandate to stop the tech revolution underway on Rieva and an unlimited budget. War is the only possible outcome of such mandates.
With planet-ending weapons in play, monumental distractions can lead to mass death. The echoverse—a realm of entangled thoughts, emotions, and ideas, is a monumental distraction for Jeron.
Simulation: The Great Escape by Hashem Al-Ghaili
Estranged from his family after the tragic loss of his daughter, renowned astrophysicist Thomas Ernest buries himself in his research. He investigates a vast dark region of space known as the Great Void, where stars and galaxies never formed, making it the most exciting puzzle of 2492. Theories suggest it is home to violent black holes that could engulf the Milky Way. Other clues point to the void as the origin of alien artifacts peppering our solar system tied to the disappearance of multiple explorers. Obsessed, Thomas is convinced the death of his daughter is connected to its mysteries.
Then the Voyager 17 space probe returns startling data. When Thomas uncovers the hidden truth locked within its transmissions, his superiors censure him and the international government impugns him, denying his findings. Fired from his research career and facing threats on his life, Thomas focuses on the reason behind their coverup. His unexpected discovery challenges humanity's understanding of reality and free will. If he cannot get the word out in time, the known universe will cease to exist. Does he have what it takes to challenge the deep state, or is the universe doomed to vanish into oblivion?
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