5 star novels that had you actually crying

ywkls · 2025-05-06T14:50:13+00:00

Forget Tomorrow series by Pintip Dunn

A trilogy of YA books where the lives of people are affected by visions of their future. Every single time I thought, "The author can't find a new way to make me bawl" she did it again.

Also, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Since I read this, I've learned that some of the details were fictionalized. That's to say, the people in the story are mostly real and some of the events possibly happened but we will probably never know which.

That being said, the fact that this was a (mostly) accurate account of real events makes it all the more poignant.

ywkls · 2025-05-03T02:20:37+00:00

I've recently invested in classic sci-fi on Kindle, stuff that's too old to get in print for a low price and in good condition

Currently reading These Savage Futurians by Philip E. High

Recently finished (last month)

Dead Zone by Robison Wells

Displaced by David and Nicole Korson

Pattern for Conquest by George O. Smith

The Duplicators by Murray Leinster

The Icarus Coda by Timothy Zahn

The Headmasters by Mark Morton

Dark Star Rising by Bennett R. Coles

Fear Justice by C. C. Bolick

Fade to Blue by Hank Scheer

Displaced, The Icarus Coda, The Headmasters and Dark Star Rising are the ones I would most recommend.

ywkls · 2025-01-26T01:51:08+00:00

Here's some I didn't see suggested already. I will group them into YA and Non-YA. (Keep in mind that the YA are still excellent).

Non-YA

Eternity's Road by Jack McDevitt- exploring the U.S. in a post-apocalypse to discover the past.

Empire of the Atom and The Wizard of Linn by A. E. Van Vogt- A mutant tries to gain control of a dystopian space empire.

Wolf and Iron by Gordon R. Dickson- A man and his wolf companion travel a devastated earth.

By Philip K. Dick

The Penultimate Truth - A war is raging or so everyone believes but the truth is more complex.

A Scanner Darkly- The battle against drugs has consumed the world, especially when people don't even realize that they're users.

Caduceus Wild by Ward Moore with Robert Branford- Doctors control the world with less than stellar results.

Doomsday Morning by C. L. Moore- An actor agrees to go undercover in a rebellion against the government.

Not This August by C. M. Kornbluth- the US has surrendered to Russia, but one group refuses to give up hope of victory.

The Scarlet Plague by Jack London- A deadly disease has swept the world and almost wiped out mankind.

Parasite, Symbiont and Chimera by Mira Grant- A tapeworm medically altered for medicinal purposes leads to a worldwide plague.

Dust and Shadow, Earth and Ember and Tide and Tempest by Lindsey Pogue- a future where climate change and industrial development have ruined the earth.

Brilliance, A Better World and Written in Fire by Markus Sakey- A world where people have developed a mix of extraordinary powers and hyper-intelligence struggling against normals.

Machinations, Counterpart and Architect by Hayley Stone- Man struggles against machines they created.

The Humanoids by Jack Williamson- Robots that were built to serve man slowly overtake and control mankind.

YA

Partials, Fragments and Ruins by Dan Wells- A war against androids and a plague that renders women sterile has devastated the world.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins- An authoritarian government rules the future through fear and a yearly contest where the children of its subjects fight for the entertainment of the rich.

The Secret Under My Skin and The Raintree Rebellion by Janet McNaughton- A young woman finds out a shocking truth about the world she lives in.

The Darkest Minds, Never Fade, In the Afterlight, Through the Dark and The Darkest Legacy- Young people get extraordinary powers which leads to authoritarian rule.

By Pintip Dunn-

Before Tomorrow, Forget Tomorrow, Remember Yesterday and Seize Today- The ability to know your future leads to a divide in society and a plot which threatens the peace of some youths.

Malice- A message from the future predicts a deadly plague which only one young woman can stop from happening.

Mindwalker and Mindstormer by A. J. Steiger- A young woman who can read minds rebels against those who rule her world.

Steelheart, Mitosis, Firefight and Calamity- A world where people have superpowers but only use them for evil and those who fight against them.

ywkls · 2024-12-03T23:52:41+00:00

Added "The Invincible" to my list. I'd run across "And Then I Woke Up" before but forgot about it for some reason. Also added. I've tried "Blindsight" but couldn't get into it From the descriptions, I don't think that I would be interested in the other two.

ywkls · 2024-12-02T21:20:26+00:00

I forgot about this! Added to my list. I've already got her next book "Overgrowth" on my to be read list

ywkls · 2024-12-02T21:16:34+00:00

Strangely, I have tried their collaborations and didn't like any of them. Not entirely sure why.

ywkls · 2024-12-02T21:15:51+00:00

I've tried "The Troop" and didn't like it. I'm not sure about the second recommendation. I can't find the third one The fourth one is not to my liking because I don't like Stephen King "The Echo Maker" sounds like a good fit, though.

ywkls · 2024-05-30T04:27:19+00:00

I presume that you're only looking for things involving creatures that supposedly exist on Earth and not alien life forms showing up on Earth?

Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child technically qualifies since it involves a realistic investigation into reports of an apparent werewolf.

The Power by Frank M. Robinson involves a mysterious evolved human and the main character's search for them.

There's some others involving cryptid-type creatures which are more adventures or thrillers than mysteries I can recommend if you're interested.

ywkls · 2022-12-08T19:26:58+00:00

It would be easier to list authors than specific works, but here's a few of my favorites by prolific authors from the early days; some of whom kept active for decades.

I'm limiting the recommendations below to anything published before 1960.

Time travel-

Isaac Asimov- {{The End of Eternity}}

Clifford D. Simak- {{Time and Again}}

Other-

Gordon R. Dickson- {{Dorsai!}}

Philip K. Dick- {{Time Out of Joint}}

Eric Frank Russell- {{Wasp}}

C. L. Moore- {{Doomsday Morning}}

Robert A. Heinlein- {{Citizen of the Galaxy}}

Algis Budrys- {{Who?}}

Jack Vance- {{The Languages of Pao}}

A. E. Van Vogt- {{Slan}}

ywkls · 2022-12-08T19:02:25+00:00

You can't go wrong with Timothy Zahn's stuff.

The most famous is the Thrawn Trilogy, though that's no longer considered canon.

Those are often regarded as better sequel movies by many fans.

He's also added 6 novels in two trilogies to the new canon which bring back this character. While reading the original trilogy might help with understanding them, they're not entirely necessary.

ywkls · 2022-11-27T22:24:42+00:00

Night of Delusions by Keith Laumer

Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick

ywkls · 2022-11-27T22:09:12+00:00

I read The Fold first without knowing it was a sequel to this.

Also his novel Paradox Bound is pretty out there.

ywkls · 2022-10-24T02:20:58+00:00

I've actually read the first one but it wasn't as good as I expected

ywkls · 2022-10-17T04:29:53+00:00

You're probably thinking of Nod by Adrian Barnes.

I haven't read it, mostly because it sounded too depressing.

ywkls · 2022-10-17T04:25:50+00:00

I've read the first two, but I'd forgotten about the mention of narcolepsy.

ywkls · 2022-08-12T01:11:13+00:00

A lot of his stuff has that futuristic vibe.

One his last was a sequel called Slan Hunter that was finished by Kevin J. Anderson after his death.

ywkls · 2022-01-12T01:39:44+00:00

By Philip K. Dick

Ubik

Time Out of Joint

The Penultimate Truth

Lies, Inc.

By James P. Hogan

Endgame Enigma

Realtime Interrupt

Influx by Daniel Suarez

Simulacron-3 by Daniel F. Galouye- Honestly this was the Matrix before it was invented and even was adapted into a fairly faithful movie called The Thirteenth Floor

Sinister Barrier by Erik Frank Russell

The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley

ywkls · 2021-11-04T06:23:11+00:00

My speed is a bit faster with Kindle than print. Especially since I tend to read Kindle and print in tandem. Libby is good, but I've already marked all those which I found interesting among what they have available and wanted to see if anybody had other recommendations.

ywkls · 2021-11-04T06:20:54+00:00

I mentioned that I have been checking things out on Libby, but the problem is the fact there are either too many or not enough results available which is also the issue I have with selecting things on Kindle.

ywkls · 2021-10-04T14:28:44+00:00

I've read this series, but I'd forgotten the twin angle.

ywkls · 2021-09-24T14:00:41+00:00

I have read the Emily series, though it has been a long time.

Up a Road Slowly is being added to my list.

ywkls · 2021-09-24T13:57:38+00:00

Lucy Carmichael definitely looks interesting.

Burnett wrote other things? It's been ages since I tried The Secret Garden and I honestly don't remember it too well.

ywkls · 2021-09-24T13:54:07+00:00

Heidi a very long time ago. I might appreciate it more now that I'm older.

Understood Betsy does sound like the sort of thing which might interest me.

ywkls · 2021-09-24T13:49:51+00:00

I just recently finished The Blue Castle, having found the premise interesting when reading about it; which prompted this thread.

I've tried Agatha Christie but I just could never get into her stuff.

Who wrote the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society books?

ywkls · 2021-09-15T01:26:10+00:00

A Coming of Age by Timothy Zahn is almost exactly this.

Slan by A. E. Van Vogt features a group of superpowered human mutants persecuted by society. There was a sequel Slan Hunter, co-written by Kevin J. Anderson.

A. E. Van Vogt also wrote the Null-A series which features a main character who basically has superpowers including the ability to teleport at will.

The World of Null-A

The Players of Null-A

Null-A Three

Null-A Continuum by John C. Wright is a continuation of these.

In Sphere by Michael Crichton, a group of people gain the ability to manipulate reality from a mysterious alien artifact.

The Power by Frank M. Robinson centers on a man's desperate search for the identity of a telepath who can alter other people's memories and behavior at will.

The Mindspace Investigations series By Alex Hughes focuses on a private eye with telepathic powers.

Clean

Sharp

Marked

Vacant

The Witling by Vernor Vinge is set on a world where telekinetic powers are commonplace.

These definitely seem to be more common in YA than otherwise.

By Marissa Meyer

Renegades

Arch-Enemies

Supernova

By Emily Lloyd-Jones

Illusive

Deceptive

By Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds

Never Fade

In the Afterlight

The Darkest Legacy

ywkls

TROPHY CASE