Past Kindle Book Deals but Still Must Read Books!
Looking for must read books you missed the first time around? You’re in the right place. This is where all of our past Kindle book deals live—the ones good enough to click, even if the discount’s gone. Every book here was hand-picked by our team, featured in a daily deal, and still earns a spot on your TBR.
No filler. No bots. Just actually good books at prices that might still be suspiciously low.
Why Check Out Past Deals?
Didn’t grab it when you should have? These past picks are still worth your time.
Still discounted? Some deals stick around longer than you'd think.
Fuel your TBR guilt-free. Add more, regret nothing.
Browse Past Deals
These Books Earned Our Seal of Approval—Snag Them Before They Vanish (Again)
Looking for spicy fantasy? Cozy mystery? A nonfiction rabbit hole? Use the filters below to search by genre, mood, or chaotic book-buying impulse.
Each book comes with retailer links. Just tap “Get Deal” and you’re off.
*Apropos Books is an affiliate marketer, which means we may earn advertising fees from qualifying purchases. These fees are paid by the retailer or affiliate partner, not added to your purchase price, so there’s no extra cost to you.*
Browse by genre
125 past books matching Hard Sci-Fi
Nine years after disaster, humanity returns to Jupiter seeking answers from a silence that never stopped watching.
2010: Odyssey Two
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Hard Sci-Fi · Space Exploration
Our take
Nine years after disaster, humanity returns to Jupiter seeking answers from a silence that never stopped watching. In 2010: Odyssey Two, Heywood Floyd joins a Soviet-American mission to uncover what happened to Discovery One, HAL, and David Bowman. Arthur C. Clarke turns first contact into a cerebral journey through alien intelligence, human ambition, and the terrifying scale of cosmic evolution.
Choose your retailer
About the book
The celebrated author continues his Space Odyssey with this Hugo Award winner: "A daring romp through the solar system and a worthy successor to 2001" (Carl Sagan).
In 1968, Arthur C. Clarke's bestselling 2001: A Space Odyssey captivated the world and was adapted into the classic film by Stanley Kubrick. Fourteen years later, fans and critics were thrilled by the release of 2010: Odyssey Two.
Nine years after the ill-fated Discovery One mission to Jupiter, a joint Soviet-American crew travels to the planet to investigate the mysterious monolith orbiting the planet, the cause of the earlier mission's failure—and what became of astronaut David Bowman. The crew includes project expert Heywood Floyd, and Dr. Chandra, the creator of HAL 9000.
What they discover is an unsettling alien conspiracy tampering with the evolution of life on Jupiter's moons as well as that of humanity itself. Meanwhile, the being that was once Dave Bowman—the only human to unlock the mystery of the monolith—streaks toward Earth on a vital mission of its own . . .
"Clarke deftly blends discovery, philosophy, and a newly acquired sense of play." —Time
"2010 is easily Clarke's best book in over a decade." —The San Diego Union-Tribune
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Heavy Weather follows a crew of storm chasers in a climate-damaged near future where extreme weather has become both obsession and existential threat.
Heavy Weather
Sci-Fi · Cyberpunk · Hard Sci-Fi · Techno-Thriller
Our take
Heavy Weather follows a crew of storm chasers in a climate-damaged near future where extreme weather has become both obsession and existential threat. The Storm Troupers use virtual reality, robotics, and raw nerve to track violent systems across Texas and Oklahoma, but one new arrival pushes them toward a tornado beyond prediction. This is eco-thriller science fiction with cyberpunk technology, environmental collapse, and disaster-scale tension.
Choose your retailer
About the book
A near-future eco-thriller from the bestselling author of Schismatrix Plus and The Difference Engine.
The Storm Troupers are a group of weather hackers who roam the plains of Texas and Oklahoma, hopped up on adrenaline and technology. Utilizing virtual reality, flying robots, and all-terrain vehicles, they collect data on the extreme storms ravaging an America decimated by climate change. But even their visionary leader can't predict the danger on the horizon when a volatile new member joins their ranks and faces a trial by fire: a massive tornado unlike any the world has seen before.
"A remarkable and individual sharpness of vision . . . Sterling hacks the future, and an elegant hack it is." —Locus
"Lucid and tremendously entertaining. Sterling shows once more his skills in storytelling and technospeak. A cyberpunk winner." —Kirkus Reviews
"So believable are the speculations that . . . one becomes convinced that the world must and will develop into what Sterling has predicted." —Science Fiction Age
"A very exciting coming-of-age story in a wild future America . . . What's it got? Cyberpunk attitude, genuine humor, nanotechnology, minimal sex but some cool medications and very big weather systems." —SFReviews.net
"Brilliant . . . Fascinating . . . Exciting . . . A full complement of thrills." —The New York Review of Science Fiction
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Good for readers who like sweeping science fiction, immortality, historical scope, and philosophical speculation.
The Boat of a Million Years
Sci-Fi · Hard Sci-Fi · Space Exploration
Our take
Called “a searing ride through our human past and future” by David Brin, The Boat of a Million Years follows ten immortals born in antiquity as they move through history and into a richly imagined future, searching for one another and for meaning in lives that may never end, with a 4.2-star rating from more than 1,400 Amazon reviewers. Good for readers who like sweeping science fiction, immortality, historical scope, and philosophical speculation.
Choose your retailer
About the book
New York Times Notable Book and Hugo and Nebula Award Finalist: An epic chronicle of ten immortals over the course of history from an SFWA Grand Master.
The immortals are ten individuals born in antiquity from various cultures. Immune to disease, able to heal themselves from injuries, they will never die of old age—although they can fall victim to catastrophic wounds. They have walked among mortals for millennia, traveling across the world, trying to understand their special gifts while searching for one another in the hope of finding some meaning in a life that may go on forever.
Following their individual stories over the course of human history and beyond into a richly imagined future, "one of science fiction's most revered writers" (USA Today) weaves a broad tapestry that "succeeds admirably" (The New York Times).
"A searing ride through our human past and future." —David Brin, New York Times–bestselling author
"The book we've all been waiting for." —Joe Haldeman, Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
It fits readers who want science fiction grounded in discovery, speculation, and the uneasy wonder of meeting something truly unknown.
Gold Rush
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Hard Sci-Fi
Our take
What begins as a strange celestial event quickly becomes proof that humanity is not alone. In Gold Rush, astronaut Dice Newman heads toward Venus as two suspicious comets and an incoming alien craft force the world to confront first contact in real time. It fits readers who want science fiction grounded in discovery, speculation, and the uneasy wonder of meeting something truly unknown.
Choose your retailer
About the book
Astronomers discover an interstellar comet on a collision course with Venus. Not since Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 struck Jupiter in 1994 has a collision captured the public's imagination, but all is not what it seems. Additional observations reveal a second comet also on a collision course with Venus, sparking speculation about the possibility of extraterrestrial involvement. NASA astronaut Dice Newman is already in space, heading to Venus to observe the impact, when confirmation comes of an alien spacecraft entering the solar system.
"Gold gave birth to cities and cemeteries alike.” —John David Borthwick, California (1854)
FIRST CONTACT is a series of stand-alone novels that explore humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life. This series is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Ideal for readers looking for space opera with corporate warfare, planetary resistance, and morally complicated choices.
Fallen Dragon
Sci-Fi · Hard Sci-Fi · Space Colonization · Space Exploration · Space Opera
Our take
Called “a fascinating, compulsively readable clash of hardware and ideals” by Kirkus Reviews, this standalone science fiction novel follows corporate soldier Lawrence Newton as a mission to a distant colony and his plan to steal a legendary treasure pull him into a resistance conflict, with a 4.1-star average from more than 15,400 Goodreads ratings. Ideal for readers looking for space opera with corporate warfare, planetary resistance, and morally complicated choices.
Choose your retailer
About the book
"A fascinating, compulsively readable clash of hardware and ideals" in a stand-alone space opera from an acclaimed sci-fi author (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
In the distant future, corporations have become sustainable communities with their own militaries, and corporate goals have essentially replaced political ideology.
On a youthful, rebellious impulse, Lawrence joined the military of a corporation that he now recognizes to be ruthless and exploitative. His only hope for escape is to earn enough money to buy his place in a better corporation. When his platoon is sent to a distant colony to quell a local resistance effort, it seems like a stroke of amazing fortune, and Lawrence plans to rob the colony of their fabled gemstone, the Fallen Dragon, to get the money he needs. However, he soon discovers that the Fallen Dragon is not a gemstone at all, but an alien life form that the local colonists have been protecting since it crashed in their area. Now, Lawrence has to decide if he will steal the alien to exploit the use of its inherent biotechnical processes—which far exceed anything humans are capable of—or if he will help the Resistance get the alien home.
"One of Hamilton's best . . . undeniably a page-turner." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Humanity’s first contact with superior alien allies comes with a cost, and soldiers are the ones sent to pay it.
The War Dogs Trilogy
Sci-Fi · Hard Sci-Fi · Space Exploration · Space Opera
Our take
Humanity’s first contact with superior alien allies comes with a cost, and soldiers are the ones sent to pay it. In The War Dogs Trilogy, Michael Venn and other skyrines are thrown into an interstellar conflict after Earth becomes entangled with the Gurus and their enemies. This military science fiction collection delivers large-scale war, hostile worlds, and the pressure of fighting for humanity’s future.
Choose your retailer
About the book
Collected in a single volume for the first time, the epic War Dogs trilogy of interstellar war from a master of science fiction.
The Gurus made their presence on Earth known thirteen years ago. Providing technology and scientific insights far beyond what mankind was capable of, they became indispensable advisors and promised even more gifts that we just couldn't pass up.
But they were followed by mortal enemies -- the Antagonists -- from sun to sun, planet to planet, and now the Gurus are stretched thin -- and they need humanity's help.
Our first bill has come due.
Skyrines like Michael Venn have been volunteered to pay the price. They face insidious enemies who were already inside the solar system, establishing a beachhead on Mars.
Venn and his comrades will be lucky to make it out alive -- let alone preserve the future of all of mankind.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
When a stranded bomber crew boards an abandoned alien ship, survival turns into a descent into something far worse.
The Dark Ship
Horror · Sci-Fi · Hard Sci-Fi
Our take
When a stranded bomber crew boards an abandoned alien ship, survival turns into a descent into something far worse. Captain Jeff Austin leads the last survivors deeper into the vessel in search of answers, only to find a hostile presence and horrors buried at its core. This sci-fi horror pick leans into isolation, pursuit, and the terror of exploring something that was never meant to be found.
Choose your retailer
About the book
Captain Jeff Austin and his crew are stranded in the interstellar void after their bomber is destroyed. Their last hope is a giant alien spacecraft floating abandoned in space. But not long after gaining access, the crew’s worst fears are confirmed: they are not alone on board, and soon their lives are under threat from sinister aliens. There seems to be only one way out: Jeff sets off with the last survivors to the distant center of the ship to uncover the dark secrets of its extraterrestrial inhabitants. But nothing can prepare them for the horror that awaits them deep inside The Black Ship. Sci-Fi-Horror for fans of Alien, Event Horizon and Pandorum.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Ideal for readers looking for space opera that combines artificial intelligence, cosmic horror, scientific ambition, and an autistic protagonist.
The Outside
Sci-Fi · Hard Sci-Fi · Space Exploration
Our take
Autistic scientist Yasira Shien develops an energy drive that could change humanity’s future, but its activation warps reality and destroys a space station. The AI Gods ruling the galaxy offer to spare her if she helps them track down her vanished mentor. Ideal for readers looking for space opera that combines artificial intelligence, cosmic horror, scientific ambition, and an autistic protagonist.
Choose your retailer
About the book
Humanity’s super-intelligent AI Gods brutally punish breaches in reality, as one young scientist discovers, in this intense and brilliant space opera.
Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy – if she’ll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworld’s fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Getting called back to space after your career already imploded is bad enough.
The Last Astronaut
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Hard Sci-Fi · Space Exploration
Our take
Getting called back to space after your career already imploded is bad enough. Finding out the alien object heading toward Earth has no interest in playing nice makes it so much worse. The Last Astronaut throws a disgraced former NASA commander into a tense first-contact mission that quickly turns into a fight for survival. Fast, eerie, and packed with dread, this is sci-fi horror with real momentum.
Choose your retailer
About the book
Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2020!
"A terrifying tour de force." --James Rollins
"Readers will be riveted." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Sally Jansen was NASA's leading astronaut, until a mission to Mars ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, she lives in quiet anonymity, convinced her days in space are over.
She's wrong.
A large alien object has entered the solar system on a straight course toward Earth. It has made no attempt to communicate. Out of time and out of options, NASA turns to Jansen.
But as the object reveals its secrets, Jansen and her crew find themselves in a desperate struggle for survival -- against the cold vacuum of space, and something far, far worse...
"Breathless, compulsive reading." --Christopher Golden
"A suspenseful, fast-paced story of first contact." --Kirkus
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
This fits sci-fi readers who want big ideas, layered worldbuilding, alien politics, and the kind of space opera that refuses to think small.
The Uplift Storm Trilogy
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Hard Sci-Fi
Our take
A hidden refuge planet. A fugitive Earthship crewed by humans and dolphins. Multiple alien races one disaster away from total collapse. The Uplift Storm Trilogy throws together exile, pursuit, prophecy, and interstellar conflict on a scale that feels gloriously old-school and wildly ambitious. Across Brightness Reef, Infinity’s Shore, and Heaven’s Reach, David Brin builds a sprawling saga about survival, uneasy alliances, and secrets big enough to put the whole universe in play. This fits sci-fi readers who want big ideas, layered worldbuilding, alien politics, and the kind of space opera that refuses to think small.
Choose your retailer
About the book
The Hugo and Nebula award-winning author's complete second Uplift Saga trilogy, featuring a refugee planet, a fugitive Earth ship, and her dolphin/human crew.
New York Times–Bestselling Author
Brightness Reef: Six outcast races hunker down on the off-limits planet Jijo when a mysterious starship lands. However, it doesn't bring the "law" they feared, but something worse—a dark secret the invaders will do anything to keep . . .
Infinity's Shore: Earthship Streaker, with its dolphin and human crew, has been on the run for three years after discovering a derelict armada whose mere existence seems to drive the Five Galaxies mad. With Earth under siege and nowhere to turn, Streaker has come to far-off, isolated Jijo in search of sanctuary amid its population of secret refugees. Unfortunately, they've been followed . . .
Heaven's Reach: With the arrival of deadly enemies, the peaceful isolation of Jijo's six exile races has ended. While the races join forces to fight invaders, the Earthship Streaker must lure other foes into weird layers of the unknown. Meanwhile, a dire prophecy may put the entire universe at risk . . .
Praise for the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning Uplift Saga
"An extraordinary achievement." —SFWA Grand Master Poul Anderson on Startide Rising
"An exhilarating read that encompasses everything from breathless action to finely drawn moments of quiet intimacy." —Locus on The Uplift War
"A timely, science fictional contemplation of the refugee experience."—Santa Fe Reporter on Brightness Reef
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
What starts as a routine excavation turns into a fight for survival when anthropologist Claire Knowland uncovers evidence that could rewrite everything we think we know about human…
Deep Past
Sci-Fi · Thriller · Hard Sci-Fi
Our take
What starts as a routine excavation turns into a fight for survival when anthropologist Claire Knowland uncovers evidence that could rewrite everything we think we know about human history. In Deep Past, speculative science and international intrigue collide as Claire and an unlikely ally race to protect a discovery powerful enough to change our understanding of consciousness and dangerous enough to get them killed. This is the kind of thriller that makes big ideas feel genuinely terrifying.
Choose your retailer
About the book
“A fascinating thriller… Linden does a masterly job of integrating intriguing speculative science into a page-turning plot.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
The deeper she digs, the more people want her buried.
Anthropologist Claire Knowland is about to stumble upon a discovery that will rewrite human history. What begins as a routine excavation erupts into a high-stakes game of survival when her team unearths evidence of an ancient intelligence that defies everything we believed about evolution.
But some truths are too dangerous to uncover. As corrupt officials and ruthless oligarchs close in, Claire finds an unlikely ally in geologist Sergei Anachev, who harbors a secret of his own. Together, they race against time to protect a discovery that could revolutionize our understanding of human consciousness—or get them both killed.
From the celebrated author of groundbreaking works in science comes a pulse-pounding thriller that blends cutting-edge science with international intrigue. Deep Past takes readers on a journey where ambition collides with the powers that be, and the biggest scientific discovery of our time might be lost to the depths of history... again.
Perfect for fans of Michael Crichton and James Rollins, this hard sci-fi thriller explores the tantalizing possibility that human intelligence might not be as unique as we thought—and the lengths some will go to keep that secret buried.
"An immersive tale that is both intellectually enlivening and genuinely entertaining." —Kirkus Reviews
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
It’s a great fit for readers who like space opera with ruthless politics, corporate warfare, brutal stakes, and a distinctly dynasty-driven edge.
Luna: New Moon
Sci-Fi · Hard Sci-Fi · Space Exploration
Our take
On the Moon, survival is transactional, power is fragile, and family loyalty comes with a body count. Luna: New Moon follows the Corta dynasty as rivals close in on their hard-won empire and the next generation is forced to defend it from outside enemies and each other. It’s a great fit for readers who like space opera with ruthless politics, corporate warfare, brutal stakes, and a distinctly dynasty-driven edge.
Choose your retailer
About the book
The scions of a falling house navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family's status on the Moon in this thrilling space opera.
The Moon wants to kill you.
Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations—the Five Dragons—in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.
As the leader of the Moon's newest "dragon," Adriana has wrested control of the Moon's Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family's new status. Now, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation—Corta Helio—confronted by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana's five children must defend their mother's empire from her many enemies . . . and each other.
Perfect for fans of Kim Stanley Robinson and Ken Macleod alike.
Praise for Luna: New Moon
"McDonald's never written a bad novel, but [Luna: New Moon] is a great one." —Cory Doctorow
"With an action narrative driving this political commentary, Luna is actually a fantastically fun read as well as an important one. "—Los Angeles Review of Books
"McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Purchases through these links may earn Apropos Books a commission at no extra cost to you. Check the retailer for current price and availability.
Don’t Want to Miss Another Deal?
Get the best Kindle book deals delivered straight to your inbox. We feature new must read books every day—always hand-picked, never random—with links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo. Some discounts disappear fast, others linger (or come back around), so it’s worth keeping an eye out.