Staff Picks
#BroaderBookshelf 2021 - One Word Titles (Science Fiction)
- Mahogany S.
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Collection
Books with One Word Titles span genres. Here are some Science Fiction titles that are only one word.
Learn more about the Broader Bookshelf challenge and see more lists here.
Backlash
Published in 2011
Countering growing mistrust in the wake of increasing cases of insanity among the Jedi, Han and Leia flee with three afflicted Jedi, while Luke travels to the homeworld of the Night Sister to learn why Jacen Solo turned to the dark side.
Halfskin
A Novel
Published in 2012
"Biomites are artificial stem cells that can replace any cell in your body. No more kidney failure, no severed spines or blood disease. No cancer. Pharmaceuticals become obsolete. With each dose of biomites, we become stronger, we become smarter and prettier. We become better. At what point are we no longer human? Nix Richards nearly died in a car accident when he was young. Biomites saved his life. Ten years later, he's not so lucky. The Halfskin Laws decree a human composed of 50% biomites is no longer human. Halfskins have no legal rights and will have their biomites shutdown. It's not called murder, merely deactivation. Cali Richards has been Nix's legal guardian since their parents died. She has lost far too many people in her life to let the government take Nix. She is a nanobiometric engineer and will discover how to hide him. But even brilliance can succumb to the pressure of suffering. And technology can't cure insanity. Cali and Nix keep a slippery grip on reality as they elude a maniacal federal agent dedicated to saving humanity from what he calls 'The Biomite Plague'"--Cover p. [4].
Timeline
Published in 1999
A Yale history professor travels back in time to 15th century France and gets stuck, unable to return to the present. His colleagues organize a rescue and on landing in France become involved in the Hundred Years War.
Neuromancer
Published in 2016
Henry Dorsett Case was the sharpest data-thief in the Matrix, until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system. Now a new employer has recruited him for a last-chance run against an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence. With a mirror-eyed girl street-samurai riding shotgun, he's ready for the silicon-quick, bleakly prophetic adventure that upped the ante on an entire genre of fiction.
Ascension
Published in 2016
"The toppling of ruthless Natasi Daala has left a political vacuum on Coruscant and ignited a power struggle between opposing factions racing to claim control of the Galactic Alliance. Surrounded by hidden agendas, treacherous conspiracies, and covert Sith agents, the Jedi Order must keep the government from collapsing into anarchy--while facing the combined threats of the resurgent Lost Sith Tribe, a deposed dictator bent on vengeance, and the enduring menace of Abeloth, the profoundly evil entity hungry to become a god"--Back cover.
Otaku
Published in 2020
"Ditchtown. A city of skyscrapers, built atop the drowned bones of old Miami. A prison of steel, filled with unbelievers. A dumping ground for strays, runaways, and malcontents. Within these towering monoliths, Ashley Akachi is a young woman trying her best to cope with a brother who's slipping away, a mother who's already gone, and angry young men who want her put in her place. Ditchtown, however, is not the only world Ash inhabits. Within Infinite Game, a virtual world requiring physical perfection, Ash is Ashura the Terrible, leader of the Sunjewel Warriors, loved, feared, and watched by millions across the globe. Haptic chambers, known as hapspheres, translate their every move in the real to the digital-and the Sunjewel Warriors' feats are legendary. However, Ash is about to stumble upon a deadly conspiracy that will set her worlds crashing together, and in the real, you only get to die once..."-- Provided by publisher.
Polaris
Published in 2005
Sixty years after the disappearance of the passengers and crew of the luxury space yacht Polaris, found empty and adrift in space, Alex Benedict sets out to uncover the truth about the Polaris and to reveal the fate of its passengers.
Firebird
Published in 2012
"Forty-one years ago, the renowned physicist Dr. Christopher Robin vanished. Before his disappearance, his fringe science theories about the existence of endless alternate universes had earned him both admirers and enemies. Now his widow has died and Alex Benedict has been asked to handle the auction of the physicist's artifacts--leading the public to once again speculate on the mystery surrounding Robin's disappearance. Did he finally find the door between parallel universes that he had long sought? Intrigued, Benedict and Chase Kolpath embark on their own investigation as they follow the missing man's trail into the unknown to uncover the truth--a truth people are willing to kill to protect ..." From publisher description.
Thirteen
Published in 2008
The subject of a failed government experiment to produce a more deadly military warrior, Carl Marsalis is a hit man who has lost his taste for killing, but when he is arrested in Miami, government officials come up with a plan to use his talents to achieve their own ends.
Ridgerunners
Published in 2019
From The New York Times Bestselling author from the World of Warcraft universe, comes this engaging science fiction, military series. "A fun, fast adventure for space opera fans." -- Publishers Weekly Aladhra doesn't run from anyone, not even the Collective. On the outskirts of earth's solar system, rule number one is to stay out of the Collective's way. They are ruthless, and powerful, and rule with an iron fist. They have no patience for Ridgerunners--the pirates and smugglers who thrive on the edges of their reach. But Aladhra's crew, the Pack, would rather run straight towards the Collective, guns blazing. Even wildly outmanned and outclassed, they would sacrifice everything for one shot at toppling the corrupt regime. When Aladhra and the Pack get their hands on next-generation technology, they set out to end the Collective once and for all. But the Collective knows they're coming. With a bounty on their heads that no Ridgerunner could resist, the Pack is surrounded by enemies, including former allies. What chance does one ship have against an entire solar system? "Fast-paced and clever, with plenty of twists and turns!" --Christie Golden, NYT Bestselling Author "A motley crew of interstellar pirates go up against . . . well, the rest of the known universe. This is adventure and blasters and an underdog story told at light speed--Micky Neilson's handle on sharp dialogue and action kept me laughing, shouting, and cussing at the Law of Thermodynamics." --Cameron Dayton, bestselling author of Etherwalker and creative director for Call of Duty.
Binti
The Night Masquerade
Published in 2018
"Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the Meduse. Far from her village when the conflicts start, Binti hurries home, but anger and resentment has already claimed the lives of many close to her. Once again it is up to Binti, and her intriguing new friend Mwinyi, to intervene--though the elders of her people do not entirely trust her motives--and try to prevent a war that could wipe out her people, once and for all." -- Publisher's description
Redshirts
Published in 2013
Enjoying his assignment with the xenobiology lab on board the prestigious Intrepid, ensign Andrew Dahl worries about casualties suffered by low-ranking officers during away missions before making a shocking discovery about the starship's actual purpose.
Fearless
Published in 2019
In a near future society in which morality is manifested through beauty and ugliness, a young woman will imperil her future and her world to expose the global shadow network that uses its power to play God and control humanity.
Fallout
Published in 2017
"The novels of Harry Turtledove show history balancing on single moments: One act of folly. One poor decision. One moment of rage. In his astounding new series, the unthinkable has come to pass. The Cold War turns hot--and the United States and the Soviet Union unleash their nuclear arsenals upon each other. Millions die. Millions more are displaced. Germans battle side by side with Americans, Polish freedom fighters next to Russian fascists. The genie is out of the bottle. And there's no telling what fresh hell will come next. At the heart of Fallout are Harry Truman and Josef Stalin. Even as Joe McCarthy rises in power, the U.S. president is focused elsewhere, planning to cut off the head of the Soviet threat by taking out Stalin. It's a daring gambit, but the Soviets have one of their own. Meanwhile, Europe's weak sisters, France and Italy, seem poised to choose the winning side, while China threatens to overrun Korea. With Great Britain ravaged and swaths of America in ruins, leaders are running out of options. When the United States drops another series of bombs to slow the Russian advance in Europe, Stalin strikes back--with horrifying results. These staggering events unfold through the eyes of a sprawling cast of characters: a Holocaust survivor in a displaced persons camp in Washington; the wife of a bomber pilot and her five-year-old daughter starting a new existence; a savage Soviet fighter waging war by his own rules; a British pub owner falling in love with an American pilot. In the masterly hands of Harry Turtledove, this epic chronicle of war becomes a story of human struggle. As the armies of the world implode, the next chapter will be written by the survivors--those willing to rise up for an uncertain future."-- Provided by publisher.
Annihilation
Published in 2014
Area X has claimed the lives of members of eleven expeditions. The twelfth expedition consisting of four women hopes to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.
Wanderers
A Novel
Published in 2019
A decadent rock star. A deeply religious radio host. A disgraced scientist. And a teenage girl who may be the world's last hope. In the tradition of The Stand and Station Eleven comes a gripping saga that weaves an epic tapestry of humanity into an astonishing tale of survival. Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and are sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other "shepherds" who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead. For on their journey, they will discover an America convulsed with terror and violence, where this apocalyptic epidemic proves less dangerous than the fear of it. As the rest of society collapses all around them--and an ultraviolent militia threatens to exterminate them--the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart--or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.
Spin
Published in 2006
After witnessing the onset of an astronomical event that has caused the sun to go black and the stars and moon to disappear, Tyler, Jason, and Diane learn that the darkness has been caused by a time-altering, alien-created artificial barrier and that the sun will be extinguished in less than forty years.
Axis
Published in 2008
Now, in Axis, Spin's direct sequel, Wilson takes us to the "world next door"--the planet engineered by the mysterious Hypotheticals to support human life, and connected to Earth by way of the Arch that towers hundreds of miles over the Indian Ocean. Humans are colonizing this new world--and, predictably, fiercely exploiting its resources, chiefly large deposits of oil in the western deserts of the continent of Equatoria. Lise Adams is a young woman attempting to uncover the mystery of her father's disappearance ten years earlier. Turk Findley is an ex-sailor and sometimes-drifter. They come together when an infall of cometary dust seeds the planet with tiny remnant Hypothetical machines. Soon, this seemingly hospitable world will become very alien indeed--as the nature of time is once again twisted, by entities unknown.-- Amazon.com.