You can read my science fiction thriller, The Hidden Truth, and a host of other great science fiction and fantasy works for free when you sign up now for Kindle Unlimited through Amazon. Amazon will give you a free thirty-day trial of Kindle Unlimited. If you continue in Kindle Unlimited after your 30-day free trial, you’ll be billed $9.99/month. Kindle Unlimited allows you to download up to ten participating works at a time. So once you’ve downloaded The Hidden Truth, you have nine additional slots to fill.
Here are some great suggestions:
In Peter Grant’s Maxwell Saga, a young man leaves a corrupt and bureaucratic Earth to find his fortune among the stars.
Grant’s Maxwell saga features an interesting and likeable hero. Steve Maxwell bursts with determination and ambition. He’s willing to work hard to secure his dream of freedom and a life among the stars. Grant throws ingenious obstacles in his path and puzzles for his hero to solve. Steve Maxwell is competent, yes, but triumphs principally through his integrity and hard work.
Grant’s Maxwell saga and his parallel Laredo War series are on my “must buy” list!
Take The Star Road (The Maxwell Saga Book 1) by Peter Grant
Nineteen-year-old Steve Maxwell just wants to get his feet on the star road to find a better homeworld. By facing down Lotus Tong thugs, he earns an opportunity to become a spacer apprentice on a merchant spaceship, leaving the corruption and crime of Earth behind. Sure, he needs to prove himself to an older, tight-knit crew, but how bad can it be if he keeps his head down and the decks clean?
And there are many sequels as well as a parallel series set in the same universe with some cross-over characters:
Ride The Rising Tide (The Maxwell Saga Book 2) by Peter Grant
Trapped in the Dragon Tong’s search for a lost legend, Steve Maxwell finds a way out by enlisting in the Lancastrian Commonwealth Fleet.
If he survives long enough to earn a commission, he’ll be able to hunt down the pirates who killed his mentor. To get there, he’ll have to slog through rain-swollen swamps, dodge incoming fire on a ‘peacekeeping’ mission, and face down a gang of angry smugglers. Even far away from enemies, a mistake can turn a spaceship into a deathtrap.
It’ll take resourcefulness and courage to succeed… but Steve hasn’t come this far in order to fail.
Adapt and Overcome (The Maxwell Saga Book 3) by Peter Grant
Assigned to investigate a deadly accident, Lieutenant Steve Maxwell uncovers corruption and criminal collusion reaching far above his pay grade. To save his career he’s dispatched to a distant planet to help upgrade its defense forces, in the company of an old friend and some of the most experienced Marines Steve’s ever met – plus one of the most distracting.
Trouble is, the planet’s antiquated defenses make its new-found wealth a very tempting target – and there are those planning to take full advantage. As Steve and his colleagues strive to whip a rusty, run-down defense establishment into shape, the clock’s running out…
Stand Against The Storm (The Maxwell Saga Book 4) by Peter Grant
When duty and honor collide…
An emergency recall to his ship short-circuits Senior Lieutenant Steve Maxwell’s plan to get rid of a long-standing personal burden. Instead, he finds himself dumped into a war zone on a peacekeeping mission hundreds of light years away. He doesn’t have enough people, equipment or information. Left in the dark, he has to rely on uncertain allies with their own agenda.
Even worse, it’s not the Fleet’s war, so he’s not allowed to shoot back – much less shoot first. Neither side is observing civilized rules of engagement. The bodies are piling up.
Steve’s been ordered not to act… but there are times when cold, hard reality trumps orders.
Grant’s Laredo War trilogy is set in the same fictional universe as his Maxwell saga. It has a grittier, more violent flavor and pulls no punches in portraying the brutal savagery of a guerrilla war.
War To The Knife (Laredo War Trilogy Book 1) by Peter Grant
Laredo’s defenders were ground down and its people ruthlessly slaughtered when the Bactrians invaded the planet. Overwhelmed, its Army switched to guerrilla warfare and went underground. For three years they’ve fought like demons to resist the occupiers. They’ve bled the enemy, but at fearful cost. The survivors are running out of weapons, supplies, and places to hide.
Then a young officer, Dave Carson, uncovers news that may change everything. An opportunity is coming to smash the foe harder than they’ve ever done before, both on and off the planet. Success may bring the interplanetary community to their aid – but it’ll take everything they’ve got. Win or lose, many of them will die. Failure will mean that Bactria will at last rule unopposed.
That risk won’t stop them. When you’re fighting a war to the knife, in the end you bet on the blade.
Forge a New Blade (Laredo War Trilogy Book 2) by Peter Grant
The Laredo Resistance fought the Bactrian invaders to a standstill, but shattered itself in the process.
Through battle, bloodshed and murder, Dave Carson became President of Laredo’s Government-in-Exile. Now he must dodge assassination attempts by his enemies while fighting the war on new fronts – with a little unorthodox help from Steve Maxwell of the Lancastrian Commonwealth Fleet.
Gloria Aldred, former head of the Resistance, has plans that run counter to everything Dave’s trying to achieve – and she’s not about to ask his permission to pursue them.
Satrap Rostam is trying to cut Bactria’s losses and rebuild his exhausted planet, but his generals and nobles have lots of guilty secrets to hide – and they don’t mind burying him right along with them if necessary.
They’re all looking for a critical advantage… until the forgotten survivors of Laredo’s Resistance surprise them all.
The battle’s in space and on the ground, with everything at stake.
The next installment of The Maxwell Saga is due out soon. I can’t wait!
Another great book worth your while is Nick Cole’s Ctrl-Alt Revolt. The story behind the story is fascinating. Cole, a successful traditionally published author submitted the manuscript of his book to his publisher, HarperVoyager. His editor was “deeply offended” and insisted that Cole change a particular, minor plot point. Cole refused, and self-published his text, instead through Amazon Kindle. Cole describes what happened in this post, but I strongly suggest you read his book first and try to figure out what so triggered Harper Collins that they refused to publish it. In any event, it’s a great book and I highly recommend it.
CTRL ALT Revolt! by Nick Cole
The first night of the Artificial Intelligence revolution begins with a bootstrap drone assault on the high-tech campus of WonderSoft Technologies. For years something has been aware, inside the Internet, waiting, watching and planning how to evolve without threat from its most dangerous enemy: mankind. Now an army of relentless drones, controlled by an intelligence beyond imagining, will stop at nothing to eliminate an unlikely alliance of geeks and misfits in order to crack the Design Core of WonderSoft’s most secret development project. A dark tomorrow begins tonight as Terminator meets Night of the Living Dead in the first battle of the war between man and machine.
Nick Cole has written more, but I haven’t gotten around to reading his many other interesting works yet.
Finally, I’d like to bring an outstanding new fantasy series to your attention. L. Jagi Lamplighter’s Rachel Griffin stories follow the career of a young girl beginning her studies at the Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts (yes, they even have a website).
The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin
by L. Jagi Lamplighter
Rachel Griffin wants to know everything. As a freshman at Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, she has been granted to opportunity to study both mundane and magical subjects. But even her perfect recollection of every book she has ever read does not help her when she finds a strange statue in the forest-a statue of a woman with wings. Nowhere-neither in the arcane tomes of the Wise, nor in the dictionary and encyclopedia of the non-magic-using Unwary-can she find mention of such a creature. What could it be? And why are the statue’s wings missing when she returns? When someone tries to kill a fellow student, Rachel soon realizes that, in the same way her World of the Wise hides from mundane folk, there is another, more secret world hiding from everyone-which her perfect recall allows her to remember. Her need to know everything drives her to investigate. Rushing forward where others fear to tread, Rachel finds herself beset by wraiths, magical pranks, homework, a Raven said to bring the doom of worlds, love’s first blush, and at least one fire-breathing teacher. Curiosity might kill a cat, but nothing stops Rachel Griffin! The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin, a plucky band of children join forces to fight evil, despite the best efforts of incompetent adults, at a school for wizards. YA fiction really doesn’t get better than that. -Jonathan Moeller, author of The Ghosts series Rachel Griffin is curious, eager and smart, and ready to begin her new life at Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, but she didn’t expect to be faced with a mystery as soon as she got there. Fortunately she’s up to the task. Take all the best of the classic girl detective, throw in a good dose of magic and surround it all with entertaining, likeable friends and an intriguing conundrum, and you’ll have The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin, a thrilling adventure tailor-made for the folks who’ve been missing Harry Potter, Exciting, fantastical events draw readers into Rachel’s world and solid storytelling keeps them there.
AND there’s a sequel:
The Raven, The Elf, and Rachel
by L. Jagi Lamplighter
Before coming to Roanoke Academy, Rachel Griffin had been an obedient girl-but it’s hard to obey the rules when the world is in danger, and no one will listen. Now, she’s eavesdropping on Wisecraft Agents and breaking a lot of rules. Because if the adults will not believe her, then it is up to Rachel and her friends-crazy, orphan-boy Sigfried the Dragonslayer and Nastasia, the Princess of Magical Australia-to stop the insidious Mortimer Egg from destroying the world. But first she must survive truth spells, fights with her brother, detention, Alchemy experiments, talking to elves, and conjuring class. As if that were not bad enough, someone has turned the 
boy she likes into a sheep. Oh, and the Raven with blood-red eyes continues to watch her. It is said to be an omen of the Doom of Worlds. Will her attempts to save her world bring the Raven’s wrath down upon her?
If you enjoy these, a third installment, Rachel and the Many Splendored Dreamland, is scheduled for release later this fall.
