Encounters with the abyss: science fiction about being lost in space, from Multcolib My Librarian ErikaLike this list

19 items

• Six Wakes

  Lafferty, Mur,

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  A space adventure set on a lone ship where the clones of a murdered crew must find their murderer -- before they kill again. -Publisher

• Far From the Light of Heaven

  Thompson, Tade,

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  When colony ship Ragtime arrives at its destination, Captain Michelle Campion awakens only to discover a malfunctioning AI and a bunch of dismembered passengers. Detective Rasheed Fin and his android assistant must investigate. And what is a wolf…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Luminous Dead

  a Novel

  Starling, Caitlin,

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  Perhaps the most claustrophobic book I've ever read, about a woman lost in a cave system on an alien planet, with only an unreliable and manipulative handler to guide her.

• Children of Time

  Tchaikovsky, Adrian, 1972-

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  The epic tale of humanity's attempt to find a new home, only to discover that the terraforming at their destination has gone terribly wrong. There are sections about people or small groups of people who are marooned, but there's a lot more than that…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Solaris

  Lem, Stanisław,

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  A group of scientists at a research facility orbiting a strange ocean world begin to experience unsettling events. Philosophical, reflective, thought-provoking.

• Ancestral Night

  Bear, Elizabeth,

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  Smart space opera featuring sentient ships, infectious alien artifacts, and strong female characters. There's a section with just a few characters on a decaying ship.

• The Stars Are Legion

  Hurley, Kameron,

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  A group of decrepit world ships are lost in space. Inventive, weird space opera featuring cephalopod guns, womb trading, and no men. Gory, disturbing, not for the faint of heart.

• Ship of Fools

  Russo, Richard Paul

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  Home to generations of humans, the starship Argonos has wandered aimlessly throughout the galaxy for hundreds of years, desperately searching for other signs of life. Now, a steady, unidentified transmission lures them toward a nearby planet, where…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hull Zero Three

  Bear, Greg, 1951-2022

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  A starship hurtles through the emptiness of space, its destination unknown and its purpose a mystery. One man wakes up wet, naked, and freezing to death. The dark halls are full of monsters but trusting other survivors he meets might be the greatest…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• 2001, a Space Odyssey

  Clarke, Arthur C. (Arthur Charles), 1917-2008

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  The novel that inspired the classic film, in which a man in a failing spacecraft must contend with an rogue AI and a monolith that may be beyond human comprehension. A look at consciousness and first contact.

• Revelation Space

  Reynolds, Alastair

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  An archaeologist forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity in order to investigate an ancient alien civilization. Big, complex, hard sf/horror with cold and menacing atmosphere. While not exactly lost…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Salvation Day

  Wallace, Kali,

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  What Zahra and her crew could not know was what waited for them on the abandoned ship--a terrifying secret buried by the government. A threat to all of humanity that lay sleeping alongside the orbiting dead. And then they woke it up. -Publisher

• The Last Astronaut

  Wellington, David,

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  Sally Jansen was once NASA's best astronaut. When an alien craft enters the solar system, she must come out of retirement to lead an expedition to investigate, only to discover that horrors lie within.

• Dark Orbit

  Gilman, Carolyn, 1954-

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  Thora was once a member of the interplanetary elite, but since her prophetic delusions helped mobilize a revolt on Orem, she's been banished to the farthest reaches of space, because of the risk that her very presence could revive unrest. Sara is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Explorer

  Smythe, J. P. (James P.), 1980-

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  This "groundhog day" style story about an astronaut lost in space seems to be either loved or hated.

• We Have Always Been Here

  Nguyen, Lena,

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  The behavioral psychologist onboard a survey ship headed to a planet ripe for colonization, Dr. Grace Park must determine the origin of a strange phenomenon that is causing the crew to suffer mental breaks without losing her own mind in the process.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Blindsight

  Watts, Peter, 1958-

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  A linguist with multiple personalities sets out on a space voyage in order to make first contact with aliens.

• Walking to Aldebaran

  Tchaikovsky, Adrian

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  I got lucky; when a probe exploring the Oort Cloud found a strange alien rock and an international team of scientists was put together to go and look at it, I made the draw. But now disaster has struck and I'm trapped inside the rock, and there's…Read moreRead more of this annotation

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  Custom book recommendations from library staff.