Others: Mixed When archaeologist Ursula Morrow accidently infects herself with an alien parasite, she fears she may have jeopardised her career. However, her concerns become irrelevant when Earth is destroyed, billions die, and suddenly no one needs archaeologists anymore...
Genres: science fiction
Lists: …
Adrian Tchaikovsky
2024 · 358 pages · 4 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveOn the distant world of Kiln lie the ruins of an alien civilization. It’s the greatest discovery in humanity’s spacefaring history – yet who were its builders and where did they go? Professor Arton Daghdev had always wanted to study alien life up close. Then his wishes become a reality in the worst way. His political activism sees him exiled from Earth to Kiln’s extrasolar labour camp. There, he’s condemned to work under an alien sky until he dies. Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem like nothing seen on Earth. The monstrous alien life interacts in surprising, sometimes shocking ways with the human body, so Arton will risk death on a daily basis. However, the camp’s oppressive regime might just kill him first. If Arton can somehow escape both fates, the world of Kiln holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it, and might just set him free…
What made the match, strongest first
Zenna Henderson
1961 · 255 pages · 2 reviews
Others: MixedThe People, humanoid beings forced to emigrate to Earth when their home world is destroyed, settle in the American Southwest and attempt to preserve their culture and paranormal abilities.
What made the match, strongest first
Robert Silverberg
1967 · 222 pages · 6 reviews
Others: Mostly negativeDuncan Chalk's six-hundred-pound frame is nearly as large as his media empire. Beneath the depths of his immense rolls of flab, the fabulously wealthy mogul wields the editorial power to deliver his programming across the solar system to billions of viewers. His newest real-life romance drama is between a starman who survived painful surgical experimentation while in alien captivity, and an emotionally scarred 17-year-old virgin. When the arranged relationship takes off on a whirlwind tour of the antarctic and out to the moons of Saturn, the viewers are swept up in the romance, but Chalk's true motives are revealed when the doomed relationship begins to unravel... and Chalk can feed on the emotional anguish of the two lost souls.
What made the match, strongest first
Becky Chambers
2018 · 358 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Leaning negativeCenturies after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat.
What made the match, strongest first
Arthur C. Clarke
1952 · 220 pages · 9 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveChildhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia. Many questions are asked about the origins and mission of the aliens, but they avoid answering, preferring to remain in their ships, governing through indirect rule. Decades later, the Overlords eventually show themselves, and their impact on human culture leads to a Golden Age. However, the last generation of children on Earth begin to display powerful psychic abilities, heralding their evolution into a group mind, a transcendent form of life.
What made the match, strongest first
David Weber
2010 · 522 pages · 2 reviews
Others: MixedExtraterrestrials invade Earth. Supernatural forces fight back.
What made the match, strongest first
MixedI did feel strongly that Future's Edge hits many of the same notes that his previous work hits and thus arguably didn't add much new of interest. On the plus side, not to be sniffed at, this is a oneanddone standalone to be commended in this day and age. and it's a perfectly readable, if not terribly memorable, space opera.
