Books like 'The Nightmare Machine'
Readers who enjoyed The Nightmare Machine by John Whitman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi horror military, war & conflict space-opera magic children war
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Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsThe Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again... -
![Don't Cross this Line by Michael Anderle]()
Don't Cross this Line by Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIt's been three years Bethany Anne and her team have been building, trying their best to stay off the radar and not fight with those they are trying to save. The emotions have boiled to the surface. The is a line drawn in the sand, and some idiots just have to step across it. Those that thought the cat didn't have claws are about to find out how very, very wrong they are... -
![We Have Contact by Michael Anderle]()
We Have Contact by Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhen you least expect it, expect it. Bethany Anne has been notified there is a spaceship inside the system...but they can't find it. Is it Kurtherian, someone else? The governments have to be told about aliens, which sparks a worldwide effort by Governments to find what TQB has... Oh, and Eric wants to date Gabrielle but he wants her to know he can protect her if need be... -
![The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King]()
The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis is what happens when, in the chaos of an alien apocalypse where the all-powerful galactic empire of Congress has laid the smackdown on Earth for breaking its universal laws on genetic experimentation, the world's smartest human (sort of) swears to obey the galaxy's greatest assassin (definitely) on Wednesdays through Mondays, if she will give him Tuesdays in turn... -
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![The Legend of ZERO: The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King]()
The Legend of ZERO: The Scientist, the Rat, and the Assassin by Sara King
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsThis is what happens when, in the chaos of an alien apocalypse where the all-powerful galactic empire of Congress has laid the smackdown on Earth for breaking its universal laws on genetic experimentation, the world's smartest human (sort of) swears to obey the galaxy's greatest assassin (definitely) on Wednesdays through Mondays, if she will give him Tuesdays in turn... -
![Black Legion by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
Black Legion by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAbaddon returns from exile and raises the dreaded Black Legion. The Sons of Horus may be no more, but rising from their ashes come the Black Legion. Returning after his long self-imposed exile, Abaddon offers the disparate Chaos Space Marine warbands within the Eye of Terror a simple choice - join him or die... -
![The Talon of Horus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
The Talon of Horus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsThe rise of Abaddon, successor to Horus and Warmaster of the Black Legion.When Horus fell, his Sons fell with him. A broken Legion, beset by rivalries and hunted by their erstwhile allies, the former Luna Wolves have scattered across the tortured realm of the Eye of Terror. And of Abaddon, greatest of the Warmaster’s followers, nothing has been heard for many years... -
![Wild Wastes 5 by Randi Darren]()
Wild Wastes 5 by Randi Darren
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBefore world war two could reach its conclusion, the world suffered what could only be defined as a cataclysm.Legend has it that an experiment failed. Catastrophically so. And when it failed, the center of the United States, from the Sierra Nevada to the Mississippi river became "The Waste", where everything changed.Except it didn't only happen in North America... -
![Necropolis by Dan Abnett]()
Necropolis by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOn the shattered world of Verghast,Gaunt and his Ghosts find themselvesembroiled within an ancient and deadly civilwar as a mighty hive-city is besieged by anunrelenting foe... -
![Void Stalker by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
Void Stalker by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe third in the bestselling Night Lords series.Talos leads First Claw further down their dark path, until the eldar of craftworld Ulthwe foresee a great conflict centered around the Night Lords, and the xenos muster for battle!The third book in the Night Lords trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Aaron Dembski-Bowden... -
![Tasmanian SFG: Welcome to Hell by C.R. Daems]()
Tasmanian SFG: Welcome to Hell by C.R. Daems
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJolie was three when she found she was ugly and deformed. She was five when she found she was a sub-human and an outcast. She was seven when five boys and two girls dragged her out of the orphanage and beat her unconscious, leaving her lying bleeding and broken in the street. She was content to lie there and die, tired of being hated and abused... -
![Shakedown by Scott Sigler]()
Shakedown by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"A gritty tale of cosmic dread.”— Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of RED RISINGFew know the warship’s actual name. Fewer still know what it really is. And almost no one knows of its unique ability, an ability that could tilt the balance of power if not outright win the war.But everyone has heard the rumors. Rumors about the worst place the Planetary Union Fleet can send you... -
![Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe Shadow Crusade has begun. While the Ultramarines reel from Kor Phaeron’s surprise attack on Calth, Lorgar and the rest of the Word Bearers strike deep into the realm of Ultramar. Their unlikely allies, Angron and the World Eaters, continue to ravage each new system they come across – upon the garrison planet of Armatura, this relentless savagery may finally prove to be their undoing... -
![Only in Death by Dan Abnett]()
Only in Death by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAs the crusade to liberate the Sabbat Worlds continues, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt leads the Tanith First-and-Only into an unforgiving new warzone - the fortress world of Jago... -
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![Blood Reaver by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
Blood Reaver by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDriven on by their hatred of the False Emperor, the Night Lords stalk the shadows of the galaxy, eternally seeking revenge for the death of their primarch. Their dark quest leads them to a fractious alliance with the Red Corsairs, united only by a common enemy. Together with this piratical band of renegades, they bring their ways of destruction to the fortress-monastery of the Marines Errant... -
![The Lost Colony by Vaughn Heppner]()
The Lost Colony by Vaughn Heppner
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWe fought the invading New Men to a standstill and defeated the alien Destroyer sent to obliterate Earth. The worst should be over, but it’s not. Perfect android replicas are impersonating high-level officials so trust is failing. Worse, the New Men have found allies with an impenetrable stealth technology. This time, however, Earth is going on the offensive... -
![Soul Hunter by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
Soul Hunter by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe Night Lords were once among the most potent forces of the Imperium, Space Marines who used fear itself as their weapon. Now, cast adrift from the Emperor's light and hunted as heretics after their monstrous betrayal, the Night Lords clad themselves in symbols of death and fight the Long War, bringing pain and terror to all who worship the corpse-god of Terra... -
![Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks]()
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsThe man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought... -
![Drone Ensign by Kyle Johnson]()
Drone Ensign by Kyle Johnson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHumanity has moved far beyond the cradle of Earth, into the stars themselves. In the Collective, energy is limitless, travel and communication are nearly instantaneous, and every person's basic needs are fully met. Citizens are free to choose the lives they wish to lead, and the omnipresent Overnet tracks their strength, power, and accomplishments... -
![The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAmidst the galaxy-wide war of the Great Crusade, the Emperor castigates the Word Bearers for their worship. Distraught at this judgement, Lorgar and his Legion seek another path while devastating world after world, venting their fury and fervour on the battlefield... -
![Reckoning by Mark Tufo]()
Reckoning by Mark Tufo
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis story starts where book 1 ended. Our hero Michael Talbot after escaping from the Progerian Alien vessel with their Supreme Commander is now given the opportunity to hide in obscurity with the rest of the human race or rise to the occasion and once again find himself immersed in a battle that he wants nothing to do with... -
![A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill]()
A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsCensured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their homeworld pf Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret... -
![The Rookie by Scott Sigler]()
The Rookie by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsSet in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, THE ROOKIE is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of "Any Given Sunday" with the space opera style of "Star Wars" and the criminal underworld of "The Godfather... -
![First and Only by Dan Abnett]()
First and Only by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn the Chaos-infested Sabbat system, Imperial Commissar Gaunt must lead his men through as much in-fighting amongst rival regiments as against the forces of Chaos. For a thousand years, the Sabbat Worlds have been lost to the Imperium, claimed by the dread powers of Chaos. Now, a mighty crusade seeks to return the sector to Imperial rule... -
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![War Factory by Neal Asher]()
War Factory by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThorvald Spear, resurrected from his death over a hundred years earlier, continues to hunt Penny Royal, the rogue AI and dangerous war criminal on the run from Polity forces. Beyond the Graveyard, a lawless and deadly area in deep space, Spear follows the trail of several enemy Prador, the crab-like alien species with a violent history of conflict with humanity... -
![Malleus by Dan Abnett]()
Malleus by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn the 41st Millenium, the enemies of mankind are legion, omnipresent and utterly deadly. While the warriors of the Imperium fight with firepower and faith, the Holy Inquisition hunts the shadows for the most terrible of foes – rogue psykers, xenos, and daemons. Inquisitor Eisenhorn must track down and defeat the forces who would destroy him or face the wrath of the Ordo Malleus... -
![The Shattered King by Charlie N. Holmberg]()
The Shattered King by Charlie N. Holmberg
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA captive healer and a mysterious prince are drawn to each other in the midst of war and magic in a beguiling dark fantasy by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock... -
![Hereticus by Dan Abnett]()
Hereticus by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsIn this concluding novel of Dan Abnett's sensational trilogy, a dark figure from the past returns to exact a cruel vengeance upon Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn... -
![Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds]()
Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLate in the twenty-sixth century, the human race has advanced enough to accidentally trigger the Inhibitors - alien killing machines designed to detect intelligent life and destroy it. The only hope for humanity lies in the recovery of a secret cache of doomsday weapons -and a renegade named Clavain who is determined to find them... -
![Da Big Dakka by Mike Brooks]()
Da Big Dakka by Mike Brooks
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn Ufthak Blackhawk NovelUfthak Blackhawk reckons he’s in for it. Da Meklord has summoned him, and the Gargantsmasha just knows his boss wants to kick his teef in and be done with it.READ IT BECAUSEUfthak Blackhawk faces the Drukhari in the teeming flesh pits of their dark city of Commorragh as he finds himself challenged to gladiatorial combat against the masters of pain... -
![Horus Rising by Dan Abnett]()
Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsAfter thousands of years of expansion and conquest, the imperium of man is at its height. His dream for humanity nearly accomplished, the emperor hands over the reins of power to his warmaster, Horus, and heads back to Terra... -
![Burnside's Killer by Timothy Ellis, Scott Sakatch]()
Burnside's Killer by Timothy Ellis, Scott Sakatch
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOne Detective. A Killer on the move through human space. The ultimate Target.The name's Burnside, and I always get the weird cases.I built my detective career taking down the strangest bad guys in Earth Sector.No matter how crazy the case, I always managed to get it off the books.After 20 years of pounding my beat, I was ready to pack it in, and I'd called it a day... -
![The Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight]()
The Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe galaxy has changed. Armies of Chaos march across the Dark Imperium, among them the Death Guard, servants of the Plague God... -
![As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang]()
As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsAn alternate history short story looking at decisions and consequences, and what it takes to pull the trigger.Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Short Story... -
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![The Lost and the Damned by Guy Haley]()
The Lost and the Damned by Guy Haley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith the solar defences overcome through the devastating strength of the Traitor armada and the power of the warp, Horus launches his assault on the Throneworld in earnest. After withstanding a ferocious barrage of ordnance, an immense ground war commences outside the Palace with every inch gained paid for in the lives of billions. On the thirteenth day of Secundus, the bombardment of Terra began... -
![The Emperor's Gift by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
The Emperor's Gift by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe Grey Knights are all that stands between mankind and the ravages of Chaos. Since their secretive beginnings during the Horus Heresy, these legendary Space Marine daemon hunters have journeyed into the dark realms of the warp – and beyond – in pursuit of their supernatural enemies... -
![Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky]()
Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe.Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way... -
![The Moldy Dead by Sara King]()
The Moldy Dead by Sara King
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Moldy Dead is one of the powerful and poignant "Creation Myth" stories for Sara King's overwhelmingly popular Legend of ZERO series. It is the history of Congress' First Contact with the sentient species known as the Geuji, and the unspeakable tragedy that befell their entire species in the early history of Congress... -
![Alone by Scott Sigler]()
Alone by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the final installment of an exhilarating sci-fi adventure trilogy in the vein of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Red Rising, Scott Sigler’s unforgettable heroine, Em Savage, must come to grips once and for all with the perilous mysteries of her own existence.“We thought this place was our destiny—not our doom... -
![The Master of Mankind by Aaron Dembski-Bowden]()
The Master of Mankind by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsAs war splits the galaxy, the Emperor toils in the vaults beneath the Imperial Palace. But his great work is in peril, and the forces of Chaos are closing in…While Horus’ rebellion burns across the galaxy, a very different kind of war rages beneath the Imperial Palace... -
![Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell]()
Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsWhile assisting local forces quell widespread civil disorder, Commissar Cain and his regiment of Valhallans discover sinister forces are at work behind the scenes... -
![Aliens by Alan Dean Foster]()
Aliens by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsHaving survived one encounter with an alien, Ripley is persuaded to return to the planet where her crew found the alien ship. A colony has been established there, but suddenly all contact with the settlers has been lost. Accompanied by marines, Ripley is going to find out why... -
![The Land of the Shadow by Lissa Bryan]()
The Land of the Shadow by Lissa Bryan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the highly anticipated stand-alone sequel to The End of All Things, Lissa Bryan returns readers to a world devastated by disease, and the breakdown of modern society.Two years after a horrific virus swept the globe, decimating the world’s population, Carly Daniels and her husband, Justin, have made a safe home in the isolated southern town of Colby... -
![Tomb by Paul Elard Cooley]()
Tomb by Paul Elard Cooley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTheir mission was to recover an ancient derelict from the farthest edge of the Sol system. What they’ve found could spell the end of humanity. Trapped on the Mira, Corporal Kalimura must lead her squad of injured marines to safety. But, aboard the derelict, every shadow is a possible threat, and around every corner lurks another hazard... -
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![The Terminator by Shaun Hutson]()
The Terminator by Shaun Hutson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable. They created THE TERMINATOR... -
![Cyborg Strike by David VanDyke]()
Cyborg Strike by David VanDyke
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCyborgs, genetic engineering, and military action. Under the threat of impending alien invasion, when the Professor and the rogue Septagon Shadow cyborg program surface in Russia, the world has a problem... -
![Fire Caste by Peter Fehervari]()
Fire Caste by Peter Fehervari
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn Astra Militarum novelIn the jungles of the Dolorosa Coil, a coalition of alien tau and human deserters have waged war upon the Imperium for countless years.READ IT BECAUSEIt's a typically weird and twisted tale from Peter Fehervari, with intriguing characters, a plot that will keep you guessing and more mystery than you can shake a pulse rifle at... -
![Fusion Fire by Kathy Tyers]()
Fusion Fire by Kathy Tyers
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA new life for Lady FirebirdLady Firebird didn't fully understand her former enemy, the Sentinel Brennen Caldwell. That might take a lifetime. But she knew enough, loved enough, to embrace his mysteries--and his certainty--and to step out on the frightening path of pair bonding.Exiled from her royal heritage, she had escaped the terrible fate of her birth as an expendable wastling... -
![Iron Warriors: The Complete Honsou Omnibus by Graham McNeill]()
Iron Warriors: The Complete Honsou Omnibus by Graham McNeill
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA great omnibus, collecting together Iron warriors stories from two great Black Library authors. The traitorous Iron Warriors are masters of siegecraft, builders of nigh-impenetrable defences – and just as good at tearing down those of their foes, as these action-packed tales of siege warfare demonstrate... -
![The War Against the Chtorr, Book 2: A day for damnation by David Gerrold]()
The War Against the Chtorr, Book 2: A day for damnation by David Gerrold
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMcCarthy was drafted from his college biology studies and became a member of the Special Forces...
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