The Genre Underground discussion

Your shuttle has arrived in the Genre Underground quadrant best suited for flying in zero gravity, for exploring new planets, and for championing Science!

Please follow these guidelines for self-promotion (three recommendations of other authors for each self-promo). Provide links to a book's goodreads page, followed by a short pitch or a reason why it's a favorite.

Gargoyles This is basically a scifi version of Rosemary's Baby. It's very creatively imagined and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Hungry For You A collection of zombie-themed short stories. I don't usually like short story collections, but I really enjoyed this one.

The Last Christian: A Novel Just finished this; will post a review soon. Offers some good thought-fodder.

Convergent Space Maybe not the best writing technique, but some of the best world creation I've seen yet.

FirebirdInteresting Christian sci-fi with a strong female protagonist.

The Story in the Stars The Creator who wrote His redemption story in the stars commands she share it with her reluctant savior. That’s not all He requires; but the rest is unthinkable.

I'd like to give a shoutout to my good friend Jeff Carlson. He's got a great series of traditionally published Science Fiction thrillers, but he's also dabbled a bit into the Indie World with several works, including his novella:


The Frozen Sky

It's a great read. Won the "Writers of the Future" contest. And, it's a great read. (Yeah I said it twice, cause it deserves to be mentioned twice.

This is a great one. It really turned into a page turner for me. Check it out.

Hello fellow sci-fi enthusiasts. My recommendations may be a little off the mainstream, but I definitely recommend them for those who like light sci-fi.

The Dimensional Shift is an original and fresh story of inter-dimensional lodging and the employment therein. An Earth human having a unique alien experience. 5-stars from me!

Solid and the sequel Settling by Shelley Workinger are two engaging entertaining reads. When I first read the synopsis for Solid, I couldn't help seeing the similarity between it and my debut novel: genetically altered people on a military base descovering their unique abilities. These two are great reads!

My debut novel is Sue's Fingerprint, the story of humans cloned by alien goo and the message they recieve. One of the clones, Sue, decides she has to deliver it and escapes from the military base in California where she's contained by DHS. What happens when Sue is recovered?
The sequel is Sue's Vision in which the clones reunite and receive another message. They agree to act on the message and draw the attention of DHS, the FBI and others in the government. Read what happens when the clones are returned to California.

I hope you try and enjoy all of these sci-fi stories!

1984 Is one of the most formative dystopian novels. More than anything else, it introduces the notion of an always watching government (Big Brother) and ThoughtCrime.

The Handmaid's Tale is likely the most chilling of dystopian stories. Women loose practically all their rights in this theocratic state.

Unlike other dystopian science fiction novels, Fahrenheit 451 presents a somewhat normal world, especially since the technological advancements in it are similar to today's home entertainment. Especially chilling in this novel is how little people care for knowledge, especially books.

Vitamin F takes place in a world where a genetic crash has annihilated most of the male population, leaving a female society ruled by genetic controls.

Darwin's Radio and Waiting and The Ugly Little Boy


The above three books all offer excellent treatments of Neanderthals living in the present day. (Asimov's "The Ugly Little Boy" is actually a short story, and a masterpiece.)


My novel, The Silk Code, melds the Neanderthal theme with an NYPD police procedural, the Amish, and subatomic particles.

I've found so much joy just going down NPR's top 100 SFF list. Almost every book is a sure win.

Well, my book is coming out in February. The Magic Wakes is my first.

Some of my favorite sci fi reads and influences are:

The Old Man's War by John Scalzi. I still think about how brilliant it was.

Nightfall by Isacc Asimov and Robert Silverberg. This is what I imagined the event at the end of the Mayan calendar to be like. Sort of.

Don't laugh, but The Return by William Shatner is actually really, really good. I could list a ton of Star Trek novels, but I won't. However, my other all time favorite is Shadows on the Sun by Michael Friedman.

Two more Destiny's Road by Larry Niven and Memory by Linda Nagata.

These are my classic must read suggestions.

M. wrote: "I'd like to give a shoutout to my good friend Jeff Carlson. He's got a great series of traditionally published Science Fiction thrillers, but he's also dabbled a bit into the Indie World with sever..."

I believe I have this book bookmarked at Amazon. Either that, or it's languishing in my Kindle folder with all the other "yet to reads" I have!

I have to say, for all its craziness, I really enjoyed Trans-Human and its accompanying trilogy through and through.

Also, Valkyrie Rising and Mr. Currie's other books are excellent indie sci-fi reads, and I can't recommend them highly enough.

My favorite subgenre of sf is about individuals who represent the next step in evolution, set in the present or near future. For you who share this interest, I recommend :
Odd John by Olaf Stapledon
The New Adam by Stanley G. Weinbaum
Central Passage by Lawrence Scoonover
and my own work, The Laughing Man---a novel of a superman by John LaCarna

Odd JohnThe New AdamCentral PassageThe Laughing Man-a novel of a superman

I'm not sure what I did here. Did I add the links? John LaCarna

M. wrote: "I'd like to give a shoutout to my good friend Jeff Carlson. He's got a great series of traditionally published Science Fiction thrillers, but he's also dabbled a bit into the Indie World with sever..."

Just found and bought it.

Valley Of Death, Zombie Trailer Park The most unique zombie story I've read in a while! Also hilarious. If you're a zombie fan with a good sense of humor, you should check this out.