Running from the Deity

*Note: This post contains an affiliate link. When you make a purchase using this link, we receive a small percentage of the final sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Thrice Read Books in this manner.

Running from the Deity by Alan Dean Foster

From science fiction legend Alan Dean Foster comes a thrilling new Pip and Flinx adventure, wherein a certain red-haired, green-eyed young man blessed (or cursed) with strange powers finds himself and his mini-dragon sidekick on a top-secret mission concerning deep space, alien worlds . . . and a primordial horror intent on devouring all of it.

In the outer depths of the universe lies the Great Emptiness, where something dreadful lurks, hidden behind a great gravitational lens of dark matter. Something horrific that howls and writhes and rages across three hundred million light-years of space–and is now heading straight for the Commonwealth and moving faster all the time.

One slim chance exists to avert catastrophe, and only Flinx can take it. Roaming the galaxy is a conscious planet-size weapons system, the legacy of a long-extinct race. As Flinx is the only one who has ever experienced mental contact with the machine, it is his job to find the powerful alien artifact and coax it into joining the battle against the behemoth from beyond.

So Pip and Flinx valiantly sail into the unknown aboard their little spaceship, which is immediately forced down for emergency repairs on planet Arrawd, home to less advanced sentients and therefore off-limits to space travelers. But what with Arrawd being very beautiful, and Flinx being Flinx, this particular rule doesn’t stand a chance.

Now, Flinx is no stranger to murderous attacks and stalking assassins–evading them occupies most of his waking hours–but to be besieged by hordes bent on worshipping him as a god? Worse still, escaping this fate is going to be as impossible as fulfilling his dire mission. What’s a deity to do? (From Amazon.com product listing.)

The Guide to Amateur Astronomy

*Note: This post contains an affiliate link. When you make a purchase using this link, we receive a small percentage of the final sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Thrice Read Books in this manner.

The Guide to Amateur Astronomy by Jack Newton & Philip Teece

A reference work to all aspects of amateur astronomy, introducing the fundamentals of astronomy, the solar system and deep space and how to start observing. (From Amazon.com product listing.)

Ender's Game

*Note: This post contains an affiliate link. When you make a purchase using this link, we receive a small percentage of the final sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Thrice Read Books in this manner.

Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers, Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If the world survives, that is.

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
(From Amazon.com product listing.)

Space a Visual Encyclopedia

*Note: This post contains an affiliate link. When you make a purchase using this link, we receive a small percentage of the final sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Thrice Read Books in this manner.

Space a Visual Encyclopedia Published by DK Publishing

Space: A visual encyclopedia reveals everything you need to know about the universe. Hundreds of stunning images combine with illuminating descriptions to transport you to the depths of space.
Discover the history of space travel, the latest information on space-faring countries, and exciting possibilities fo future missions. Explore the solar system and the universe in incredible detail, encountering high-speed comets, extreme temperatures, and storms that rage for centuries. Then find out what it's like to be an astronaut, from space walks to keeping animals on board!
Packed with facts, timelines, and world-class photography, this encyclopedia really brings outer space to life.
(From back cover of book.)