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epic sci-fi
The Silver Ships - Scott H. Jucha
The
Silver Ships by Scott H. Jucha is not only the longest epic i've seen
so far, but also the series that comes closest in writing style to
Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Robot series.
I'm currently reading
the series, and am at book 11 of 31! and counting..., but i wanted to
add this series right after Asimovs works. The Authors surprise
plot twists are less ground shaking than Asimov's, but they happen more
often throughout the storyline, making it easier to keep your attention
focussed, and are arguably, a friendlier reading experience than
Asimovs work. The story so far is about Alex, an asteroid miner from a
shipwrecked earth colony, who discovers a drifting faster than light
capable ship, revives its human crew from hibernation with the help of
the ships sentient AI, and is propelled into the political intrigues of
the far more advanced earth colonies of the rescued ships crew. He
becomes a world leader, befriends "robots", humans from various
colonies, various aliens, while fighting other aliens and humans. Only
2 of the 11 books i've read so far were weaker than the others. Book 5
"Sol", which becomes a "Military Sci-Fi" story with half the book being
a single battle, and book 6 "Espero" which is an attempt at a
"detective/crime" story. Both books have chapters which tie back in to
the main "epic" storyline, so i recommend not skipping the 2 books, but
if you need to, skip sections, to where the story becomes interesting
again. Book 7 "Allora" is a novella, which picks up, and continues
on the amazing story of the first 4 books again, and so do the next
books in the series, at least until book 11, where i am now, and it's
been a truly wonderful read so far. The series has 2 spin-off series in
the same universe, which are said to tie in with the main series. If
the author can keep up this high quality across so many books, then he
is truly the "King" of epic sci-fi. I can't recommend a reading order
yet beyond book 11, but below is what is recommended by others:
The Silver Ships:
1. The Silver Ships (2015)
2. Libre (2015)
3. Meridien (2015)
4. Haraken (2016)
5. Sol (2016)
6. Espero (2016)
7. Allora (2016)
8. Celus-5 (2017)
9. Omnia (2017)
10. Vinium (2017)
11. Nua'll (2018) - reading now -
12. Artifice (2018)
13. Sojourn (2019)
Pyreans:
01 Empaths (2017)
02 Messinants (2018)
03 Jatouche (2018)
04 Veklocks (2019)
The Silver Ships:
14. Alliance (2019)
15. SADEs (2020)
16. Earthers (2020)
17. Talus (2020)
18. Elvians (2020)
19. Q-Gates (2021)
20. Conclave (2021)
Gate Ghosts:
1. Axis Crossing (2021)
2. Clone Crisis (2021)
3. Race Rivalry (2022)
4. Vortex Incursion (2022)
5. Dual Domains (2022)
6. Alien Intrigue (2022)
7. Deadly Gambits (2023)
...