Past Kindle Book Deals but Still Must Read Books!
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128 past books matching First Contact
A great pick for readers who enjoy imaginative alien encounters, philosophical science fiction, and interconnected short stories.
The Draco Tavern
Sci-Fi · First Contact
Our take
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Larry Niven comes a collection of twenty-six science fiction tales set in Rick Schumann’s Draco Tavern, an interplanetary gathering place where humans and aliens exchange stories, ideas, and secrets. Called “A must for Nivenites” by Booklist, the collection explores encounters ranging from debates about the afterlife to dangerous alien hunting trips and forgotten Martians. A great pick for readers who enjoy imaginative alien encounters, philosophical science fiction, and interconnected short stories.
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About the book
The #1 New York Times–bestselling author presents twenty-six tales and vignettes from this interplanetary gathering place: "A must for Nivenites" (Booklist).
When a tremendous spacecraft took orbit around the Earth's moon and began sending smaller landers down toward the North Pole, the newly arrived visitors quickly set up a permanent spaceport at Mount Forel in Siberia. Their presence attracted many, and a few people grew conspicuously rich from secrets they learned from talking to the aliens. One of these men, Rick Schumann, opened the Draco Tavern, a public house catering to all species of visiting aliens.
In "The Subject Is Closed", a priest visits the tavern and goes one-on-one with a chirpsithra alien on the subject of God and life after death. Rick Schumann is invited to hunt with five folk aliens in "Table Manners", but he begins to wonder if he will be the hunted. And in the never-before-published tale "Losing Mars", a group of Martians arrive at the Tavern only to find that humans have mostly forgotten about their neighboring planet.
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Best for readers who like space opera with cyberpunk elements, altered human societies, corporate power, and identity-centered mysteries.
This Alien Shore
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Space Colonization · Space Opera
Our take
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year praised by the New York Times Book Review as “a potent metaphor for the toleration of diversity,” This Alien Shore follows Jamisia as she flees corporate raiders across a galaxy where early faster-than-light travel mutated distant colonists. Pursued by unknown enemies, she discovers a secret buried in her own psyche, with a 4.5-star rating from more than 400 Amazon reviewers. Best for readers who like space opera with cyberpunk elements, altered human societies, corporate power, and identity-centered mysteries.
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New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Explore a universe where genetic mutations allow individuals to traverse the stars in this action-packed space opera for fans of Frank Herbert and Samuel R. Delaney!
It is the second stage of human colonization—the first age, humanity’s initial attempt to people the stars, ended in disaster when it was discovered that Earth’s original superluminal drive did permanent genetic damage to all who used it—mutating Earth’s far-flung colonists in mind and body.
Now, one of Earth’s first colonies has given humanity back the stars, but at a high price—a monopoly over all human commerce. And when a satellite in Earth’s outer orbit is viciously attacked by corporate raiders, an unusual young woman flees to a ship bound for the Up-and-Out.
But her narrow escape does not mean safety. For speeding across the galaxy pursued by ruthless, but unknown adversaries, this young woman will discover a secret which is buried deep inside her psyche—a revelation the universe may not be ready to face . . .
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Henry Morgan expects a baseball game, not death by flying lawnmower.
Starship’s Brain
Sci-Fi · Alien Invasion · First Contact · Space Exploration
Our take
Henry Morgan expects a baseball game, not death by flying lawnmower. When he wakes a century later, humanity has transformed him into the governing AI of its first interstellar starship. An alien threat is spreading through the asteroid belt, and Henry must investigate before it reaches Earth. This five-book space-opera collection combines military science fiction, cosmic danger, and one extremely unconventional second chance at life.
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About the book
Henry Morgan went to a baseball game hoping to catch a pop fly - not an untimely death from a flying lawnmower to the head.
It's the lawnmower he gets. But he doesn't stay dead. Instead, he wakes up to find that a century has passed, and he's being drafted to be the governing AI for humanity's first interstellar starship.
In the year 2117, humanity is confronted by a metastasizing alien threat that's already established itself in the asteroid belt.
It's Henry the starship's job to sail out to it, investigate it, and end it.
Or to die trying.
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Good for readers who want idea-driven sci-fi with alien mysteries, high-stakes discovery, and questions about humanity’s place in the universe.
Frequency 2
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Hard Sci-Fi · Techno-Thriller
Our take
From multimillion-copy international bestselling authors Douglas E. Richards and Joshua T. Calvert, Frequency 2 follows parallel missions from Patagonia to Europa as strange signals, synchronized brainwaves, and an alien rescue push humanity toward a new understanding of consciousness and first contact. Good for readers who want idea-driven sci-fi with alien mysteries, high-stakes discovery, and questions about humanity’s place in the universe.
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About the book
A desperate race to revive an alien buried on an icy moon. A fringe cult tuned into signals from the stars. And two extraordinary women willing to risk everything to forge humanity’s destiny.
The second and final entry in the electrifying series from multimillion-copy international bestselling authors Douglas E. Richards and Joshua T. Calvert.
Four years after the world-changing events of Frequency, the fragile hope born on Europa has fractured under cults, conspiracy theories, and misread alien wisdom. When a remote group in Patagonia begins displaying synchronized brainwave patterns that match nothing on Earth, Alexandra and Ethan Calloway race to investigate. What they find is astonishing: signals from a distant star system channeled through something hidden in the Patagonian wilderness—something that shouldn’t exist.
On Jupiter’s frozen moon, Milo Daven and Elena Vasquez lead a desperate mission to reach the alien whose message changed the world. In an environment that makes Antarctica seem like paradise, they’ll attempt the unthinkable: a rescue that could rewrite humanity’s place in the universe.
As parallel threads of discovery converge, Alexandra, Elena, and their teams confront questions that push the boundaries of science, consciousness, and the interconnectedness of all things. Are we ready for what comes next?
A mind-bending journey into hidden frequencies that bind minds across worlds, Frequency 2 delivers the jaw-dropping payoff to one of the most visionary first-contact series ever written.
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Good for readers who want extinction-level sci-fi, alien mysteries, conspiracy threads, and high-stakes discovery.
Final Contact
Sci-Fi · Alien Invasion · First Contact · Space Colonization
Our take
Two complete sci-fi series come together in Final Contact, where Earth faces extinction through converging natural disasters, mass disappearances, a changed Mars mission, and ancient artifacts pointing to alien contact. As separate trails reveal hidden forces and long-buried secrets, humanity may have to confront what has already been here, with a 4.5-star rating from more than 190 Amazon reviewers. Good for readers who want extinction-level sci-fi, alien mysteries, conspiracy threads, and high-stakes discovery.
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About the book
Two complete series from the best-selling duo Jasper T. Scott and Nathan Hystad are together for the first time in a single volume! With over 15,000 ratings and 2,000 pages of gripping science fiction, you can’t miss this epic collection.
Included within:
Final Days (The Complete Series, Books 1-3)
The countdown to the end of the world has begun.
A mysterious convergence of natural disasters threatens to destroy life as we know it, and people across the United States are going missing. With no one left to investigate, Special Agent Kendra Baker takes the case, trying to solve the disappearances before she’s out of time.
Among those abducted is Valeria Miller, the daughter of ex-Marine Corporal Andrew Miller, and he’ll stop at nothing to find her.
With the help of an unstable conspiracy theorist, they find themselves on the trail of a reclusive billionaire with all the answers.
From Beyond (The Complete Series, Books 1-3)
It was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed....
Commander David Bryce is scheduled to lead a routine re-supply run to the fledgling colony on Mars. Without warning, he’s taken away by government agents and told the mission parameters have changed.
They’ve discovered something. And it’s drifting closer to Earth.
Atlas Donovan tracks an ancient artifact to Lake Como, Italy. After the recent news, Atlas is more drawn to the trail than ever. He continues his search, determined to uncover the significance of the strange markings, and more importantly, where the artifacts really came from.
As both Atlas and David draw near to their objectives, they realize a secret organization is working against them; a clandestine force with so much influence, they seem impossible to oppose.
Are we alone?
No, and they’ve been here before...
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Good for readers who like military sci-fi, desperate alliances, and pilots learning under fire.
Sagitta
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Military Sci-Fi
Our take
When an experimental faster-than-light test strands the starship Sagitta in unknown space, young pilot Morgan Greenfield is pulled into a war between a dying alien empire and the annihilating Ta’Krell. Sagitta: First Contact begins a character-driven space opera series about first contact, starfighter combat, and survival, with a 4.4-star rating from more than 100 Amazon reviewers. Good for readers who like military sci-fi, desperate alliances, and pilots learning under fire.
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About the book
A dying alien empire.
Humanity’s first leap beyond the stars.
A war neither side is ready to fight alone.
The Maurian Empire is on the brink of extinction.
Outgunned and outnumbered, Fleet Commander Mog leads the last surviving forces of his people against the relentless Ta’Krell—an enemy bent on total annihilation. With every battle lost, Mog is running out of options…and hope.
Light-years away, humanity is about to stumble onto the galactic stage.
When an experimental faster-than-light test goes catastrophically wrong, the starship Sagitta is hurled deep into unknown space. Among its crew is Morgan Greenfield, a young pilot with no combat experience and no idea that his life is about to change forever.
As first contact turns into open war, two perspectives collide: an alien commander fighting to save his species, and a young human pilot forced to grow up fast in the cockpit of humanity’s most advanced starfighter.
Can an alliance forged in desperation stop a war that has already claimed entire worlds?
Sagitta is the first book in the StarFighter series—a character-driven space opera saga of first contact, starfighter combat, and survival against impossible odds.
Recommended for fans of Ender’s Game, Skyward, and Red Rising.
The StarFighter series continues with Seeker: Beyond Human, where the war reaches Earth.
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Good for readers who like military sci-fi, alien invasion stakes, rescue missions, and humanity fighting for survival.
Reclaim the Skies
Sci-Fi · Alien Invasion · First Contact · Space Exploration
Our take
With the Formless threat returning, Ryan Piece learns that Solus is imprisoned and Earth’s only starship has been seized by the government. In Reclaim the Skies, rescuing an ally and reclaiming the ship may be Earth’s best chance against a second attack. Good for readers who like military sci-fi, alien invasion stakes, rescue missions, and humanity fighting for survival.
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About the book
Earth has survived. But the stars aren’t our own.
The Formless have been thwarted for now, but a message may have escaped a mining scout ship before it was destroyed. Solus, a Mediator with an allegiance to Ryan Piece, was exiled by the Kannin, and Earth is abandoned by their saviors.
With the threat of an incoming Formless fleet, Ryan begs his old boss to act. Instead, he discovers Solus is a prisoner, their only starship seized by the government.
Ryan’s training taught him to never leave a man behind, and he isn’t about to start now.
The Formless are coming, and only the Faction can help Earth survive their second attack. But will they be too late?
Reclaim the Skies is the second series in the epic saga, The Formless.
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The Fourth Consort is a sharp fit for readers drawn to first contact sci-fi, dark comedy, alien politics, and survival under bizarre pressure.
The Fourth Consort
Sci-Fi · First Contact · Space Exploration
Our take
A human representative to Unity finds himself marooned on an alien planet, navigating survival between dangerous natives, a nightmarish stickman, and his potentially lethal companion Neera, with a 4.4-star rating from more than 800 Amazon reviewers. The Fourth Consort is a sharp fit for readers drawn to first contact sci-fi, dark comedy, alien politics, and survival under bizarre pressure.
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About the book
A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).
Dalton Greaves is a hero. He’s one of humankind’s first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood.
That’s what they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he’s ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau’s human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn’t become the next one of Boreau’s crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting.
Funny thing, though—turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don’t like Unity. More to the point, they really, really don’t like Unity’s new human minions.
When an encounter between Boreau’s scout ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world ends badly for both parties, Dalton finds himself marooned, caught between a stickman, one of the Assembly’s nightmarish shock troops, the planet’s natives, who aren’t winning any congeniality prizes themselves, and Neera, who might actually be the most dangerous of the three. To survive, he’ll need to navigate palace intrigue, alien morality, and a proposal that he literally cannot refuse, all while making sure Neera doesn’t come to the conclusion that he’s worth more to her dead than alive.
Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?
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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.
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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
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A bounty hunter chasing her sister’s disappearance finds the suspect at the center of the mystery may be tied to something far stranger than crime.
Hunting Julian
Urban Fantasy · Romantasy · First Contact
Our take
A bounty hunter chasing her sister’s disappearance finds the suspect at the center of the mystery may be tied to something far stranger than crime. In Hunting Julian, Asia’s pursuit of Julian Sawyer pulls her from Earth into a universe where human women carry power his species needs to survive, turning a rescue mission into a fated-mate romantasy with danger, distrust, and impossible choice.
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About the book
The New York Times–bestselling author's "world-building is exceptional" in this romantasy following a female bounty hunter and her mysterious suspect (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
The last time Asia saw her sister alive, Kendra was on the arm of a sexy stranger—a man Asia has been hunting ever since Kendra disappeared, along with a dozen other women in different cities around the country. The only thing Asia knows for certain is that Julian Sawyer was in each of those cities every time a woman went missing. Now Asia won't rest until she finds out what happened to her sister—and Julian is behind bars.
The tables are turned when Julian captures her. Abducted from earth and brought to a universe where female earthlings with potent energy are the Chosen—women necessary to the survival of Julian's species. The danger is greater than Asia ever imagined. Because according to Julian, Asia is not just a Chosen. She's his Kindra. His true mate.
But surrendering to her fated lover means forsaking the only world she's ever known.
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All Flesh Is Grass traps a quiet Midwestern town behind an invisible barrier, turning ordinary neighbors into prisoners overnight.
All Flesh Is Grass
Dystopian · Alien Invasion · First Contact
Our take
All Flesh Is Grass traps a quiet Midwestern town behind an invisible barrier, turning ordinary neighbors into prisoners overnight. Brad Carter only wants to understand why no one can leave, but his search makes him the uneasy link between Millville and an alien intelligence with plans for humanity. This classic science fiction novel blends first-contact mystery, communal paranoia, and small-town pressure under impossible conditions.
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About the book
Long before Under the Dome, this novel of a town trapped within an invisible force field earned a Nebula Award nomination for the author of Way Station.
Nothing much ever happens in Millville, a small, secluded Middle-American community—until the day Brad Carter discovers he is unable to leave. And the nearly bankrupt real estate agent is not the only one being held prisoner; every resident is confined within the town's boundaries by an invisible force field that cannot be breached.
As local tensions rapidly reach the breaking point, a set of bizarre circumstances leads Brad to the source of their captivity, making him humanity's reluctant ambassador to an alien race of sentient flora, and privy to these jailers' ultimate intentions. But some of Millville's most powerful citizens do not take kindly to Carter's "collaboration with the enemy," even under the sudden threat of global apocalypse.Decades before Stephen King trapped an entire town in Under the Dome, science fiction Grand Master Clifford D. Simak explored the shocking effects of communal captivity on an unsuspecting population. Nominated for the Nebula Award, All Flesh Is Grass is a riveting masterwork that brilliantly reinvents the alien invasion story.
The third author to be honored as a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), Clifford D. Simak also received three Hugo Awards, a Nebula Award, an International Fantasy Award, and a Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award.
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After an alien invasion wipes away the world they knew, two young outsiders find unexpected freedom in the ruins before survival demands they fight back.
Annex
Dystopian · First Contact · Post-Apocalyptic
Our take
After an alien invasion wipes away the world they knew, two young outsiders find unexpected freedom in the ruins before survival demands they fight back. Annex combines post-apocalyptic danger, first-contact terror, and coming-of-age resilience, following Violet and Bo through a ravaged city where identity, friendship, and resistance become inseparable.
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About the book
"An exciting twist on a hostile-alien-takeover drama. . .exhilarating." -- Washington Post
"An energetic, nonstop adventure." -- Chicago Tribune
Independence Day meets Lord of the Flies in this "thrilling and imaginative" debut about two young outsiders forced to fight off alien invaders in a post-apocalyptic city. (Fonda Lee)
When the aliens invade, all seems lost. The world as they know it is destroyed. Their friends are kidnapped. Their families are changed.
But with no adults left to run things, young trans-girl Violet and her new friend Bo realize that they are free. Free to do whatever they want. Free to be whoever they want to be.
Except the invaders won't leave them alone for long. . .
This "warm, thrilling adventure about what happens after the end of the world" is for fans of Paolo Bacigalupi and Ann Leckie. (Cherie Priest)
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