My Top 6 Sci-Fi Authors and Series

Mya, our Young Adult Librarian at Hastings War Memorial Library, is a huge fan of science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels and comics. Here she runs through her favourite authors and series to give you some inspiration for your next read!

The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey was the first science fiction author I ever read and her books have stuck with me ever since.  I love the world of Pern with its genetically engineered dragons and their riders, and their desperate attempts to save their planet.

Pern is a planet settled by Earthlings but now long forgotten. It has apparently reverted back to a feudal type society where most of the citizens live in “holds” which are historically protected by “Weyrs”. The biggest threat facing Pern is environmental; the Threads fall from a neighboring planet and destroy all organic matter on Pern. For centuries the Dragonmen, residents of the Weyrs, have used their dragons to sear the Threads out of the sky before they can infect Pern. But now, over 400 years have passed without any Threads falling and the people of Pern believe the danger is over and that the Dragonmen have outlived their purpose. Too late, we find out that failing to maintain and believe in tradition has weakened the people of Pern and there are dire consequences when the Threads return.

The Martian by Andy Weir

This is an amazing book!  It took me two days to read and my friends got really annoyed at all the laughing coming from me. For a man in such a serious situation Mark Watney has a sense of humour and that, along with the fast pace of the book, is what kept me hooked.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive. As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive – but Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet.

The Expanse series by James S A Corey

When I read this series it was like reading a movie, and now it’s actually been made into a TV series. You come to love Jim Holden and his crew as they scramble to save our Solar System and the worlds beyond.

Humanity has colonized the Solar System - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach. Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, "The Scopuli," they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why. Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to "The Scopuli" and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything. Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

What else can you say?  It’s Douglas Adams at his best.
Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Seafort Saga by David Feintuch

This is military sci-fi.  I loved the world building in this and aliens are among some of the most interesting I’ve read about before.  This series sucked me in and didn’t let go, it builds with every book and just when you thought it couldn’t get worse or better it does.

A hideous accident kills the senior officer of UNS Hibernia, leaving a terrified young officer to take 300 colonists and crew aboard a damaged ship, on a 17-month gauntlet to reach Hope Nation. With no chance of rescue, Nicholas Seafort must save lives and take them, in the name of duty.

The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell

This was my first introduction to military sci-fi and I admit I struggled a bit with the descriptiveness of it.  However Black Jack held my attention and the struggles he and his crew go through earned a space on my top seven.

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a century--and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized, beyond belief...
Captain John "Black Jack" Geary's legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic "last stand" in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics. Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance's one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic "Black Jack" legend...