May the 4th be with you! If you love Star Wars, you will probably love these YA sci-fi books!
City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn
As darkness closes in on the city of shattered light, an heiress and an outlaw must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other.
As heiress to a powerful tech empire, seventeen-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she's more than her manipulative father's shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming—including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue A.I. hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise, Requiem.
Gunslinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly the bounty Riven needs—until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.
Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The A.I. exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.
Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer
A deadly race across 1,001 planets will determine more than just the fate of the empire.
This explosive first book in a duology jam-packed with tension and thrills is perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, Aurora Rising, and Three Dark Crowns.
Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy, even leaving behind the Kingship and her uncle, the emperor, for a life of exploring.
But when her dying uncle announces a crownchase—a search for the royal seal hidden in the empire that will determine the next ruler—Alyssa is thrust into her greatest, most dangerous adventure yet.
The Quest by Dani Hoots
There is only one way to bring back order to the galaxy, and that is by finding the legendary planet Sanshli.
Eleven Years ago, my life was ripped away from me. My father, my brother, my humanity. Everything. I was thrown into the Kamps, created to become a mindless machine. But I fought against it, not letting them take away my memories of the past.
And I succeeded.
It has been seven years since I was taken out of the Kamps and made into the Emperor's Shadow. Now I only take orders from him, and him alone, without question. That is, until my brother, whom I thought was dead, shows up and kidnaps me in order to help him find some long lost planet that our father used to tell stories about. According to the legend, any who find the planet Sanshli can rewrite the past, and my brother wants to use it to destroy the Empire. My loyalty will always be to the Emperor, but what if this planet is real? And the longer I stay with my brother, the more I begin to find that the Emperor has been keeping secrets from me. But I can't turn my back on him...
Or can I?
Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell.
Still, when Zara commits a crime that has her running scared, jail might be exactly where she’s headed. Instead Zara is recruited into the Honors, an elite team of humans selected by the Leviathan—a race of sentient alien ships—to explore the outer reaches of the universe as their passengers.
Zara seizes the chance to flee Earth’s dangers, but when she meets Nadim, the alien ship she’s assigned, Zara starts to feel at home for the first time. But nothing could have prepared her for the dark, ominous truths that lurk behind the alluring glitter of starlight.
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the academy would touch . . .
A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass tech whiz with the galaxy's biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger-management issues
A tomboy pilot who's totally not into him, in case you were wondering
And Ty's squad isn't even his biggest problem--that'd be Aurora Jie-Lin O'Malley, the girl he's just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler's squad of losers, discipline cases, and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.
NOBODY PANIC.
Atlas and the Multiverse: Seeking Courage by Chandon Siman
On Atlas’s first day of middle school in Boise, Idaho, a mysterious voice lures him and then appears to him, leaving him with a single clue: Find Dr. Faraday! With the help of his foster siblings Lilou and Nico, Atlas goes on a quest into the Multiverse to discover the truth about his father’s whereabouts.
Their adventure takes them to countless new realms, where they encounter various characters — some friends and some foes — and through courage, overcome a series of challenges as they race to uncover the mysteries of family, friendship, and loyalty.
Avalon by Mindee Arnett
Jeth Seagrave and his crew have made their name stealing metatech: the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light. In a world where the agencies that patrol the outer edges of space are as corrupt as the crime bosses who control them, it's as much of a living as anyone can ask for.
For years Jeth's managed to fly under the radar of the government that executed his parents for treason—but when he finds himself in possession of information that both the government and the crime bosses are willing to kill for, he's going to find there's no escaping his past anymore.
With pulse-pounding action, a captivating mystery, and even a bit of romance, Avalon is the perfect read for hard-core sci-fi fans and non-sci-fi fans alike.
When Planets Fall by Abby J. Reed
A bloodthirsty king. A wrecked starship ready for war. A disabled mechanic is the planet's only hope.
Breaker's home is cleaved by blood. The three tribes on the planet Scarlatti--whose only difference is their blood color--each want to exploit Breaker's valley for themselves. The feudal tension has already claimed red-blood Breaker's leg and his older brother. Now all Breaker wants is to maintain the tenuous peace in order to keep his little 'stroid of a brother alive.
Malani, a red-blood raised blue, is a kidnapped POW. She's determined to escape and return to her adoptive home. The secrets she carries could help the blue-bloods win... if they don't fall into the wrong hands.
Luka wants to right the wrongs done to his family and bathe his home in justice. He'll do whatever it takes, and where Luka goes, trouble is never far behind.
With the discovery of a wrecked starship, these three paths intersect. Breaker is given seven days by the green-bloods to fix and hand the starship over as a weapon. If he fails, his family will be killed and his home taken.
War is coming. War respects no boundaries. And war leaves no survivors.
Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza
Empress
Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne.
Fugitive
Aly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he's forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation – and his life.
Madman
With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly must confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.
Last of Her Name by Jessica Khoury
Sixteen years ago, rebellion swept the galaxy known as the Belt of Jewels.
Every member of the Leonov royal family was murdered--down to their youngest child, Princess Anya--making way for the Union government to seize power.
But Stacia doesn't think much about politics. She spends her days half-wild, rambling her father's vineyard with her friends, Clio and Pol. That all changes when a Union ship appears burning through the sky, bearing the leader of the Union, the Direktor Eminent himself, who declares that Stacia's sleepy village is a den of empire loyalists. Even more shocking, the Direktor claims that Princess Anya Leonova is alive--and Stacia is the lost princess
As their home explodes into chaos, Pol smuggles Stacia to a hidden escape ship, leaving Clio in the hands of the Union. With everything she knows threading away into the stars, Stacia sets her heart on a single mission:
She will find and rescue Clio, even with the whole galaxy on her trail.
This article was written by Dani Hoots
Dani Hoots is a YA sci-fi & fantasy author who is best known for her Daughter of Hades series and City of Kaus series. Click the covers below to learn more!
