Recommendations based on "Q-strike"

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.“Enchanting . . . Willy Wonka meets The Matrix.”—USA Today • “As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates.”—Entertainment WeeklyA world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself.Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win.NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly • San Francisco Chronicle • Village Voice • Chicago Sun-Times • iO9 • The AV Club“Delightful . . . the grown-up’s Harry Potter.”—HuffPost“An addictive read . . . part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart.”—CNN“A most excellent ride . . . Cline stuffs his novel with a cornucopia of pop culture, as if to wink to the reader.”—Boston Globe“Ridiculously fun and large-hearted . . . Cline is that rare writer who can translate his own dorky enthusiasms into prose that’s both hilarious and compassionate.”—NPR“[A] fantastic page-turner . . . starts out like a simple bit of fun and winds up feeling like a rich and plausible picture of future friendships in a world not too distant from our own.”—iO9

A physicist from isolated Anarres travels to the mother planet, Urras, in hopes of dissolving the hatred that exists between them

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such sf giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton’s bestselling fiction—powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills—has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with Pandora’s Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet.The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship’s mission for its own ends,.Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.Could it be that Johansson was right?

Earth’s Zero Asset citizens no longer face extermination from orbit. Thanks to Alan Saul, the Committee’s network of control is a smoking ruin and its robotic enforcers lie dormant. But power abhors a vacuum and, scrambling from the wreckage, comes the ruthless Serene Galahad. She must act while the last vestiges of Committee infrastructure remain intact – and she has the means to ensure command is hers. On Mars, Var Delex fights for the survival of Antares Base, while the Argus Space Station hurls towards the red planet. And she knows whomever, or whatever, trashed Earth is still aboard. Var must save the base, while also dealing with the first signs of rebellion. And aboard Argus Station, Alan Saul’s mind has expanded into the local computer network. In the process, he uncovers the ghastly experiments of the Humanoid Unit Development, the possibility of eternal life, and a madman who may hold the keys to interstellar flight. But Earth’s agents are closer than Saul thinks, and the killing will soon begin. Earth’s Zero Asset citizens no longer face extermination. Thanks to Alan Saul, the Committee’s despotic network is in ruins and its robotic enforcers lie dormant. But the ruthless Serene Galahad sees an opportunity to grab power. On Mars, Var Delex fights for Antares Base’s survival, while the Argus Space Station hurtles towards the red planet. And Var knows whomever, or whatever, trashed Earth is still aboard. She must not only save the base, but deal with the first signs of rebellion. And aboard Argus Station, Alan Saul’s mind has expanded into the local computer network. In the process, he uncovers the ghastly experiments of the Humanoid Unit Development, the possibility of eternal life, and a madman who may hold the keys to interstellar flight. But Earth’s agents are closer than Saul thinks, and the killing will soon begin.

The Sixth Novel In James S. A. Corey's New York Times Bestselling Expanse Series--now A Major Television Series From Syfy! A Revolution Brewing For Generations Has Begun In Fire. It Will End In Blood. The Free Navy - A Violent Group Of Belters In Black-market Military Ships - Has Crippled The Earth And Begun A Campaign Of Piracy And Violence Among The Outer Planets. The Colony Ships Heading For The Thousand New Worlds On The Far Side Of The Alien Ring Gates Are Easy Prey, And No Single Navy Remains Strong Enough To Protect Them. James Holden And His Crew Know The Strengths And Weaknesses Of This New Force Better Than Anyone. Outnumbered And Outgunned, The Embattled Remnants Of The Old Political Powers Call On The Rocinante For A Desperate Mission To Reach Medina Station At The Heart Of The Gate Network. But The New Alliances Are As Flawed As The Old, And The Struggle For Power Has Only Just Begun. As The Chaos Grows, An Alien Mystery Deepens. Pirate Fleets, Mutiny, And Betrayal May Be The Least Of The Rocinante's Problems. And In The Uncanny Spaces Past The Ring Gates, The Choices Of A Few Damaged And Desperate People May Determine The Fate Of More Than Just Humanity. The Expanse Leviathan Wakescaliban's Warabaddon's Gatecibola Burnnemesis Gamesbabylon's Ashes The Expanse Short Fiction The Butcher Of Anderson Stationgods Of Riskthe Churnthe Vital Abyss-- A Revolution Brewing For Generations Has Begun In Fire. It Will End In Blood. The Free Navy - A Violent Group Of Belters In Black-market Military Ships - Has Crippled The Earth And Begun A Campaign Of Piracy And Violence Among The Outer Planets. The Colony Ships Heading For The Thousand New Worlds On The Far Side Of The Alien Ring Gates Are Easy Prey, And No Single Navy Remains Strong Enough To Protect Them. James Holden And His Crew Know The Strengths And Weaknesses Of This New Force Better Than Anyone. Outnumbered And Outgunned, The Embattled Remnants Of The Old Political Powers Call On The Rocinante For A Desperate Mission To Reach Medina Station At The Heart Of The Gate Network. But The New Alliances Are As Flawed As The Old, And The Struggle For Power Has Only Just Begun. As The Chaos Grows, An Alien Mystery Deepens. Pirate Fleets, Mutiny, And Betrayal May Be The Least Of The Rocinante's Problems. And In The Uncanny Spaces Past The Ring Gates, The Choices Of A Few Damaged And Desperate People May Determine The Fate Of More Than Just Humanity-- James S. A. Corey.

In a future universe in which a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, Straumli realm scientists use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon and unwittingly unleash a power capable of destroying the universe.

Ace paperbacks boxed set of the first four novels by Ursula K. Le Guin in her Hainish series: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, and The Left Hand of Darkness. Print dates are 1976 - 1977. Ace mass paperbacks, cover art by Alex Ebel and uncredited (Rocannon's World), 12mo (6 7/8" x 4.25") Hainish series #1 - #4, followed by The Word for World is Forest, The Dispossessed, and others. The Left Hand of Darkness is now considered a classic, and won the 1969 Nebula Award, the 1970 Hugo Award, and the 1995 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, Retroactive. It was nominated for the 1970 Ditmar Award. Other awards: 1975 Locus Poll Award, All-Time Best Novel (Place: 3), 1987 Locus Poll Award, All-Time Best SF Novel (Place: 2), and the 1998 Locus Poll Award, All-Time Best SF Novel before 1990 (Place: 3).

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series (created by Douglas Adams) that debuted as a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978. Since then it has been adapted to other formats, slowly becoming an international multi-media phenomenon over a span of several years. The title The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is often abbreviated as "HHG", "HHGG", "HHGTTG", or "H2G2". The series is also often referred to as "The Hitchhiker's Guide", "Hitchhiker's", or simply "[The] Guide." This title can refer to any of the various incarnations of the story, of which the books, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005. Although the various versions follow the same basic plot, they are in many places mutually contradictory, as Adams rewrote the story substantially for each new adaptation. In all versions, the series follows the adventures of Arthur Dent, a hapless Englishman who escapes the demolition of Earth by a bureaucratic alien race called the Vogons with his friend Ford Prefect, an alien from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and researcher for the eponymous guidebook. Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's semi-cousin and part-time Galactic President, unknowingly saves the pair from certain death. He brings them aboard his stolen spaceship, the Heart of Gold, whose crew rounds out the main cast of characters: Marvin the Paranoid Android, a severely depressed robot, and Trillian, formerly known as Tricia McMillan, a woman Arthur once met at a party who he soon realises is the only other survivor of Earth's destruction. After this, the characters embark on a quest to find the legendary planet of Magrathea and the Question to the Ultimate Answer.

The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us the second novel in an extraordinary space opera trilogy about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all. After eighty years of fragile peace, the Architects are back, wreaking havoc as they consume entire planets. In the past, Originator artefacts - vestiges of a long-vanished civilization - could save a world from annihilation. This time, the Architects have discovered a way to circumvent these protective relics. Suddenly, no planet is safe. Facing impending extinction, the Human Colonies are in turmoil. While some believe a unified front is the only way to stop the Architects, others insist humanity should fight alone. And there are those who would seek to benefit from the fractured politics of war - even as the Architects loom ever closer. Idris, who has spent decades running from the horrors of his past, finds himself thrust back onto the battlefront. As an Intermediary, he could be one of the few to turn the tide of war. With a handful of allies, he searches for a weapon that could push back the Architects and save the galaxy. But to do so, he must return to the nightmarish unspace, where his mind was broken and remade. What Idris discovers there will change everything.

Here is an epic set in a far distant universe--a saga of faraway planets and of races strange and more fantastic than an ever seen on our world. Yet their struggles are universal: for justice, for freedom, for peace. "Lucasfilm's Alien Chronicles" is a sweeping adventure that will transport you to another time, and to another place, where a legend is about to be born.