From Bestselling Space Opera to Gritty Cyberpunk: Which Adventure to Start With?

For the past five years, I've been writing exclusively Science Fiction. It's one of my favourite genres across all mediums – books, films and video games – and the category, already quite an umbrella term to begin with, allows for so much variety in terms of realism, tone and sub-genre.

In fact, the only parameters are effectively those that I've set for myself. Everything I write takes place in the Dark Star Panorama, a universe of shared stories spanning thousands of years and countless galactic empires. But with twenty-four books in the Dark Star Panorama universe at the time of writing, and even more on the way, you might be wondering where in the stars you're supposed to even start!

Well, pretty much every series and standalone novel is designed to be enjoyed entirely on their lonesome – I don't want readers to have to swot up and do homework just to understand what's going on. That doesn't mean there aren't elements that die-hard fans will appreciate across different stories, of course, but if you're into gritty cyberpunk detective stories instead of tales of merry space pirates, you can simply read what tickles your fancy and leave the rest for someone else.

(Or feel free to devour everything and become the world's utmost expert on all things DSP, it's completely up to you.)

With that in mind, I thought I'd break down everything Sci-Fi that I've written so you can make an informed decision as to where you'd like to dive in.

The Final Dawn (Space Opera/Space Adventure)

The original series that sparked everything else!

Follow Jack Bishop, an unwitting engineer who gets flung across the galaxy during a wormhole experiment, as he struggles to find his way back to his wife and a dying Earth. He teams up with numerous fan-favourite characters along the way, including knowledgeable robot Rogan, grumpy teenage insectoid Klik, and Tuner, the tiny automata with a heart much bigger than his body, as they uncover ancient cosmic conspiracies and ultimately fight to keep the galaxy from tearing itself apart.

This nine-book series is definitely the most popular of everything I've written (so far), and a great place to start if you're not familiar with any of my other work. Click here to read more.

War for New Terra (Military Sci-Fi)

Now, when I say Military Sci-Fi, you need to take that with a healthy pinch of salt. Pour the whole damn shaker in there, actually. I'm no ex-marine, and the soldiers in the War for New Terra books are barely any more trained than me – this trilogy has its tongue very firmly in its cheek.

Though you can read this trilogy in isolation, I recommend it as an accompaniment to the Final Dawn series – the main characters originate there and these books describe what the rest of humanity is up to while Jack Bishop gallivants around the galaxy on the Adeona.

You can read the first book (Sigma) by clicking here, or dive into the full story with the digital box set by clicking here.

Shadows in the Stars (Space Pirates/Space Adventure)

Here's the latest series, one whose final book is only a month or so away from releasing. And yes, it may well be my favourite!

The crew of the Silver Hart is as follows: Sheni, the exiled human; Gecki, the reptilian captain; Xotl, the anxious starfish; and Alan, a weird green ball of chaos who nobody really understands. Together these loveable rogues pull off daring heists while trying to make ends meet and struggling with their respective moral compasses.

Readers can absolutely dive into the Shadows series with zero prior knowledge of the universe, even though Sheni and his crew first appear in Ghost of the Father (Final Dawn, Book 6). Newcomers and superfans alike will love this found-family of rogues and outlaws (especially Alan).

You can read more by clicking here.

Kapamentis Crime (Cyberpunk Noir)

Looking for something a little darker? Well, I've got that covered, too.

Thaddeus Cutter is a down-on-his-luck detective solving human-centric crimes on a neon-soaked cyberpunk planet where Homo sapiens are considered little more than vermin. Across four books he faces murder mysteries, femme fatales, cybernetic augmentations and deadly AIs, supported by hacker Sakura and janitorial automata Beads.

The Kapamentis Crime series can be read entirely standalone from everything else – set about fifty years after the events of the Final Dawn series, there are few connections save for the central planet of Kapamentis and a few knowing nods.

Start the series by clicking here.

Saturnalia (Sci-Fi Horror)

The first of two standalone novels in the Dark Star Panorama, Saturnalia is the tale of what happens when a luxury space station for Earth's wealthiest survivors goes dark.

Can plucky analyst Holly Bloom make it off the station before she's as mad (or dead) as the powerful elite within?

A bit darker and bleaker than the Final Dawn series (and with stronger language), Saturnalia can certainly be read as a standalone novel, but given as it's set less than a decade later and is entirely human-focused, I think it's best enjoyed as an accompaniment – not dissimilarly to the War for New Terra books.

Fans of the BioShock and Dead Space video games will definitely enjoy the vibes given off by this one! Click here to get your copy.

The Harvest (Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic Young Adult)

My most recent book, and possibly my favourite out of the whole lot!

The Harvest is set on Earth after all of the Ark ships have left, and follows teenager Lyra Ellsworth as she explores the irradiated English landscape in search of a mythical sanctuary to the south.

Though it's labelled as Young Adult, it's actually a bit grittier than the Final Dawn series, so don't let the YA aspect put you off! Think of The Hunger Games meets The Road (with a splash of The Last of Us thrown in for good measure).

Though intrinsically tied to the apocalyptic events in The Final Dawn, The Harvest has been purposefully written to be read entirely as a standalone. As such, I think it's one of the best places to start!

You can read more about Lyra's adventure by clicking here.