What to Read After the Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

What to read after the Divergent series by Veronica Roth

Pat Pledger 15/05/2015

Science Fiction

Author / Title/Series / Comment
Bujold, Lois McMaster / Vorkosigan series Captain Vorpatril's Alliance / Captain Ivan Vorpatril is happy as a staff officer to a Barrayaran admiral, far away from his mother and his volatile cousin, Miles Vorkosigan. That is until he is approached by a Barrayaran intelligence officer to go undercover and protect a very attractive young woman, TejArqua, who may be on the hit list of a criminal gang. Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel 2013, Locus Award Nominee for Best Science Fiction 2013
Coyle, Katie / Vivian versus the apocalypse
Vivian versus America / 17 year old Vivian Apple returns home to find two holes in her parents' ceiling. They have disappeared in the Rapture. Vivian believes that they are alive somewhere, and as the weather begins to create chaos, and the Believers become dangerous, she and her friend Harp are joined by Peter and a heavily pregnant Edie on a mission to find them. 2012 Guardian/Hot Key Books Young Writers Prize
Ducie, Joe / Rig
Crystal force / Will Drake is the ultimate Houdini. He has been able to escape from every high-security prison that he has been detained in, until he is sent to The Rig, a specialist juvenile detention centre in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. As he scopes out the prison, trying to work out how he can escape, he begins to realise that things are not what they seem to be. Guardian/HotKey Books Young Writers Prize 2012
Hale, Shannon / Dangerous / Maisie Danger Brown is thrilled when she finds out that she has been selected to go on an astronaut boot camp. She has been home schooled all her life and is eager to see more of the world. For the first time she comes up against excitement, prejudice and meets the boy of her dreams. And then there is the intergalactic conspiracy that threatens everyone. What will she be able to do to save her loved ones and herself?
*Healey, Karen / While we run / Following When we wake, this story looks at what life was like for Abdi Taalib and Tegan Oglietti, the girl who had died in 2027, frozen and then brought back to life, a 100 years later. The Government has a cryonics project that is experimenting with young refugees and the pair are forced to be the public voice for Project Ark.
Host, Andrea / And all the stars / Madeleine Cost is working to become the youngest person ever to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture. Her elusive cousin Tyler is the perfect subject: androgynous, beautiful, and famous. All she needs to do is pin him down for the sittings. None of her plans factored in the spires: featureless, impossible, spearing into the hearts of cities across the world - and spraying clouds of sparkling dust into the wind. Is it an alien invasion? (Author's website)
Jonsberg, Barry / Pandora Jones series
Admission
Deception
Reckoning / Pandora Jones wakes in a hospital - her body weak, her memory providing only flashes of horrific scenes of death. She soon discovers that her family has succumbed to a plague pandemic which almost wiped out humanity. Pan is one of the survivors who have been admitted to The School. Pan suspects there are terrible secrets being kept from the students. To survive she must decide who to trust and risk everything to uncover the truth. (From back cover)
Meyer, Marissa / Lunar chronicles
Cinder
Scarlet
Cress / Cinder is a cyborg and finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen and Prince Kai. She gathers a group around her to uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.
Miranda, Megan / Soulprint / In a future when soul fingerprinting has become a reality Alina Chase has been kept confined on an island because her soul is supposed to have done terrible things in a previous life, that of June Calahan a notorious criminal.
Revis, Beth / Across the universe trilogy
Across the universe
Million suns
Shades of Earth / Seventeen-year-old Amy leaves her life on earth behind and joins her parents, as part of the 100 specialists who are frozen and stored aboard the ship, Godspeed.
*Whaley, John Corey / Noggin / Before 16 year old Travis Coates died from leukaemia, he agreed to have his head frozen and reattached to another body at some future date when the technology was available. Five years later he wakes up with some other guy's body and everything around him has changed - his girlfriend is engaged to a 25 year old adult, his best friend is ignoring the fact that he told him he was gay, and his body just doesn't do what it used to do for him. Change is everywhere.
Williams, Sean / Jump / D-mat has revolutionised the world that Clair and Libby live in. When a code promises people Improvement, the chance to change your appearance and make it different and better Libby is determined to try it. Clair is more sceptical and things go dangerously astray when Libby disappears.
*Zorn, Claire / Sky so heavy / Fin is an average teenage boy who lives with his parents and young brother Max in the Blue Mountains. Then he wakes up to a different world; there is black snow everywhere, the electricity is out, internet is gone and his mother can't be reached and his father has gone off with his new wife. Fin and Max must learn to fend for themselves in this strange new world with its threat of nuclear war.

Fantasy

Author / Title/Series / Comment
Bardugo, Leigh / Grisha trilogy
Ruin and rising
Shadow and bone
Siege and storm / Haunted by the Darkling, she is desperate to fight the dark forces that are threatening the Ravka.
Black, Holly / Darkest part of the forest / In the woods is a glass coffin where a boy with pointed ears and horns on his head lies. When Hazel and Ben were children they had woven strange stories around the boy, hoping that they would be the ones to wake him up, Holly as a knight and Ben with his music.
Flanagan, John / Brotherband series
Scorpion mountain Slaves of Socorro
Gaiman, Neil ill. Riddell, Chris / Sleeper and the spindle
Hansel and Gretel / On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment.
*Johnston, E. K. / Story of Owen : dragon slayer of Trondheim / In an alternate world where industrialization has caused many species of carbon-eating dragons to thrive, Owen, a slayer being trained by his famous father and aunt, and Siobahn, his bard, face a dragon infestation near their small town in Canada.
*Larbalestier, Justine / Razorhurst / This is set in the Darlinghurst, Surry Hills area of Sydney in 1932, a time when gangs used razors to maim and kill their enemies.Hungry, homeless Kelpie believes the ghost, Tommy, when he tells her that there are apples inside the room in the old boarding house. But breaking in, she finds a recently killed man, Jimmy, blood everywhere, his girlfriend standing by his bed, a card in her hand.
LaFevers, Robin / His fair assassin trilogy
Grave mercy
Dark triumph
Mortal heart / Three girls with special powers, daughters of Mortain, the ancient god of death are trained as assassins. The 15th century historical setting gives this series its chief appeal as it sweeps the reader up in a page-turning tale of clashing factions, dangerous ambitions and simmering romance.
*Moriarty, Jaclyn / Colours of Madeleine series
Corner of white
Cracks in the Kingdom / Madeleine Tully has just moved to Cambridge, England with her mother. Things are strange and different and become even weirder when she spots a corner of white, the edge of a letter, in a crack and a whole new world is opened up for her.
Nix, Garth / Clariel : the lost Abhorsen / Sixteen-year-old Clariel has an affinity for the forests of Estwael, and hates being in the city of Belisaere. Here she finds that her mother has been keeping secrets from her about her abilities as a member of the Abhorsens, and that she is expected to follow the demands of everyone around her.
Sedgwick, Marcus / Ghosts of heaven / The spiral has existed as long as time has existed. It's there when a girl walks through the forest, the moist green air clinging to her skin. There centuries later in a pleasant green dale, hiding the treacherous waters of Golden Beck that take Anna, who they call a witch.
St. Crow, Lili / Tales of beauty and madness:
Nameless
Wayfarer
Kin : a tale of beauty and madness / Kin: In this retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Ruby the Wild one has to think about settling down and becoming responsible instead of running freely with Hunter and Thorne. When handsome Conner is introduced into her family circle, her life is turned upside down. Then the murders begin and dark secrets emerge.
Stiefvater, Maggie / Raven boys series:
Raven boys
Dream thieves
Blue Lily, Lily Blue / Blue's psychic family have been telling her constantly she will kill her one true love.
*Westerfeld, Scott / Afterworlds / Darcy is an eighteen year old who has just finished high school and, with it, her very first novel,Afterworlds. The publishers love her novel and she moves to New York to become a full-time writer. While Darcy explores her new life as a writer in New York, her protagonist Lizzy, tells her story on the pages in between.
Weston, Paula / Rephaim series:
Shadows
Haze
Shimmer / Gaby Winters is recuperating from a car crash that has killed her twin brother Jude. The beauty of Pandanus Beach has helped to heal her body but she is overwhelmed by the grief of her sibling's death and every night she has nightmares of demons

Science fiction extras recommended by ReadPlus reviewers

Adams, Michael / Last trilogy:
The last girl
The last shot
The last place / When teenager, Danby Armstrong, decides to take a week's break from all her gadgetry and networking, her friends are puzzled. Yet perhaps this is why, when 'the snap' happens, Danby appears to be immune.
Albino, Gennifer / Crewel
Altered
Untavelled / Sixteen-year-old Adelice is a Spinster. This means she can weave time and matter, but she is more talented than most girls her age. Rebecca Adams teen.
Bacigalupi, Paolo / Zombie baseball beatdown / Rabi, Miguel, and Joe are practising baseball near the meat factory. Little did they suspect that the plant's toxic feed was turning the cows into flesh eating monsters. Themes of bullying, food safety and corrupt big business. Locus Awards finalist 2014
Badger, H. / State of grace / Wren and her friends live in paradise, what more could they want? When Wren starts having strange and somewhat disturbing visions she wants is them to stop.
Caswell, Brian / Deucalion sequence ; 3.
Dreams of the chosen / The colonists of Deucalion have had no contact with mother earth for centuries, but now that is about to change. Using new and untried technology, an intrepid group of explorers will return to earth and discover what exactly went wrong. Review by Alex Leuenberger (Student).
Colfer, Eoin / W.A.R.P. ; bk. 1 Reluctant assassin / W.A.R.P. is the acronym for the FBI's Witness Anonymous Relocation Program and 16 year old agent ChevieSavano’s job is to monitor 'the pod' which is a portal to Victorian England.
Craw, Rachael / Spark / One day Evie's an ordinary seventeen year old, grieving for her mother. The next, she's a Shield, the result of a decades-old experiment gone wrong.
Howey, Hugh / Sand / The people of this time live in a relentless environment of constant wind, no rain, and sand everywhere. It follows the lives of one family, talented at sand diving, as they eke out their existence in this tough society reminiscent of the Wild West.
Ivanoff, George / Gamers' trilogy Gamers' rebellion / Upon reaching Paradise Zyra and Tark discover something is wrong, and that their Suburban avatar existence is flawed.
Jinks, Catherine / Saving Thanehaven / Noble sets out to save the Princes Lorellina and meets Rufus, who belongs to the modern computer time and who says, 'I'm not asking you to surrender. I'm asking you to think.'
Johnson, Alaya Dawn / Summer prince / June Costa, 16, makes art with Enki, the rebellious Summer King who must die at year's end so the city and its complex matrilineal political system can continue to thrive.
*Kaufman, Amy Spooner, Meagan / Starbound Trilogy These broken stars
This shattered world / ' A young socialite and a war hero crash on an uncharted planet in this timeless and romantic love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.' 2013 Aurealis Awards winner, Gold Inky Award shortlist
Kincaid, S.J. / Insignia series
Catalyst / Tom Raines and his friends return to the Spire for their third year as superhuman government weapons, but the rules have been changed and Tom's training is put to the test.
Lu, Marie / Young elites / AdelinaAmouteru survived the blood fever, a deadly illness that killed many, but left others with strange markings and supernatural powers. YALSA Top 10 2015
*Murray, Kirsty / Eat the sky, drink the ocean / Summary: A collection of sci-fi and fantasy writing, including six graphic stories, showcasing some of the most exciting writers and artists from Australia and India. (Back cover)
Ness, Patrick / More than this / Seth wakes from his own death to find himself in an apocalyptical world of solitary desolation. Telegraph's Top 10 YA books 2013, UKYA Awards 2014 Best LGBT, YALSA 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults
*Norton, Catherine / Crossing / Cara has grown up in the shadow of the Wall, in a closed world of food shortages and high security. Her parents are dedicated to their secret work for the government, and it's only a matter of time before her gifted younger sister follows in their footsteps.
Skovron, Jon / Man made boy / Boy the son of Frankenstein's monster and the Bride runs away and goes on a cross-country road trip with the granddaughters of Jekyll and Hyde, who introduce him to malls and diners, love and heartbreak. Inkys Award shortlist 2014
Smith, Andrew / Grasshopper jungle / Austin Szerba narrates the end of humanity as he and his best friend Robby accidentally unleash an army of giant bugs and uncover the secrets of an experiment gone terribly wrong.
Yancey, Rick / 5th wave / An alien race scopes out Earth and, seeing that it fits their needs, makes a calculated endeavour to take over by hostile and underhanded means.