Loveable Rogues in Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

project hail mary by Andy Weir

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission--and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery--and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone. Then his radar picks up another ship in the vicinity, and it isn't anything a human would make. Can this former junior high science teacher turned doubtful world savior make a friend via first contact?

dungeon crawler carl by Matt Dinniman

This is quite possibly the most wonderful book in the universe. Smart, super geeky, and so, so darkly funny. In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses into the ground, transforming into a globe-spanning 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. Carl and his ex-girlfriend's purebred Persian cat, Princess Donut, descend into a universal game show: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. Once you're in, you can't get out and each level has a time limit to a scheduled destruction. Winning this game is based on getting followers, views, and killing those goblins with style. You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big (thankfully Donut can talk and her charisma is off the charts), hopefully with loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy. For Carl and Donut, this is anything but a game.

shards of honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Captain Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Expeditionary Force was on a routine mission to study the life forms on an uninhabited, neutral planet. Little did she know that the enemy Barrayarans had chosen this place as their secret base for an as-yet undeclared war. Separated from her team, Cordelia is captured by Lord Aral Vorkosigan, the leader in charge of the Barrayaran mission. Aral himself is caught in a web of political intrigue that has led to a recent attempt on his life. As the two strangers struggle together across the unfriendly terrain of the foreign planet toward Aral's ship, they discover that their greatest danger may be the romance inconveniently developing between them, on the brink of a war that will divide their peoples more strongly than ever. Recognized as the current exemplar of character-based science fiction, Bujold debuts her beloved Vorkosigan saga with this tale about the future parents of Miles Vorkosigan.

mickey7 by Edward Ashton

Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee sent to colonize a distant world. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands why they sent a disposable person: travelling through space is dangerous. On a routine mission, Mickey7 is (again) left for dead but gets rescued by a sentient native species on the verge of being destroyed by the colonists. By the time he returns to base, Mickey8 has been created. Now both have a real problem: there can be only one Mickey at a time.

the wizard of karres by Mercedes Lackey

Captain Pausert had foiled the deadliest of space pirates and eliminated the threat of the Worm World, yet his troubles keep piling up. Sent on a secret mission to stop the nanite plague, a self-aware disease that could devastate whole worlds, he quickly found that someone had convinced the Imperial Fleet that he was actually a wanted criminal, which led to a battle leaving his ship in urgent need of repairs. And while Goth and the Leewit, two of the notorious witches of Karres, could do amazing things, ship repair was not in their skillsets. So Pausert stops at the next planet for repairs, but found that somehow his bank account had been cut off and the authorities were looking for someone matching his description. There was only one thing to do-join the circus! An interstellar traveling circus, that is. All the galaxy loves a clown-as long as Pausert, Goth and the Leewit can keep their disguises from slipping. The show must go on-or the galaxy is doomed!

mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was long lost, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the most hellish prison. Kelsier snapped and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark. Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot. But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. She will have to learn to trust him, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed. A new uprising is forming, one built around the ultimate caper, the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind, and the determination of an unlikely heroine: a street urchin who must learn to master the power of a Mistborn.

six of crows by Leigh Bardugo

"Game of Thrones" meets "Ocean's Eleven." Ketterdam: a bustling hub city of international trade where anything can be had for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. He assembles a crew: A convict with a thirst for revenge; A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager; A runaway with a privileged past; A spy known as the Wraith; A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums; and a thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.

the icarus hunt by Timothy Zahn

Jordan McKell is a great pilot of lousy ships, one who often takes shady side jobs to make ends meet. But he gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to fly the "Icarus"--an ancient freighter with no updated technology--and her "special cargo" back to earth. Nothing goes as planned and soon Chane realizes he's in the middle of a gigantic conspiracy that could change the course of history. Caution has never been one of Jordan's strong suits. But this time he may have taken on more than even he can handle. It doesn't seem as if things could get any worse. That is, until a beautiful crew member helps McKell uncover the true nature of the cargo he's carrying. With his enemies closing in on the lumbering Icarus, the unknown saboteur still aboard, and authorities on Earth pressured to turn them in, McKell and his partner, Ixil--an alien with two ferret-like "outhunters" linked to his neural system-- become fugitives. Their only chance is to stay one step ahead of their pursuers as they try to make it home.

leviathan wakes by James S. A. Corey

Humanity has colonized the solar system--Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond--but the stars are still out of our reach. Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they discover a terrible secret. A secret that someone is willing to kill for--and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why. Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything. Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations--and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

all systems red by Martha Wells

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied android -- a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Darkly humorous, scornful of humans (yet fascinated by movies and video series), and best friends with its sentient ship, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring exploratory mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth. First book in an excellent series, the audiobook narration is wonderful.

the ember blade by Chris Wooding

Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He's never questioned it; that's just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend Cade are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free . . .But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie. The rules are not there to protect him, or his people, but to enslave them. A revolution is brewing, and Aren is being drawn into it, whether he likes it or not. The key to the revolution is the Ember Blade. The sword of kings, the Excalibur of his people. Only with the Ember Blade in hand can their people be inspired to rise up . . . but it's locked in an impenetrable vault in the most heavily guarded fortress in the land. All he has to do now is steal it . . .

the lies of locke lamora by Scott Lynch

An orphan's life is harsh--and often short--in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges relentless danger, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentlemen Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld's most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game--or die trying.

foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Sancia Grado is an excellent thief, and her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne's docks, is nothing her unique abilities can't handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia's been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact's secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims. Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And there's nobody with the power to stop them. To have a chance at surviving--and at stopping the deadly transformation that's under way--Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact's power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

the palace job by Patrick Weekes

Loch is seeking revenge. It would really help if she wasn’t in jail. The plan: to steal a priceless elven manuscript that once belonged to her family but now is in the hands of the most powerful man in the Republic. To do so Loch-former soldier, former prisoner, current fugitive-must assemble a crack team of magical misfits that includes a cynical illusionist, a shapeshifting unicorn, a repentant death priestess, a talking magical warhammer, and a lad with seemingly no skills to help her break into the floating fortress of Heaven’s Spire and the vault that holds her family’s treasure-all while eluding the unrelenting pursuit of Justicar Pyvic, whose only mission is to see the law upheld. What could possibly go wrong?

nevernight by Jay Kristoff

In a world where the suns almost never sets, a woman gains entry to a school of infamous assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers that destroyed her family. Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father's failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she wanders a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and its thugs. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the hearth of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic-the Red Church. Deadly trials await her within the Church's halls: blades and poisons, treachery and death. If she survives to initiation, she'll be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and be one step closer to the only thing she desires. Revenge.

Book Jacket: The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn

the thousand deaths of ardor benn by Tyler Whitesides

Ardor Benn is no ordinary thief. Rakish, ambitious, and master of wildly complex heists, he styles himself a Ruse Artist Extraordinaire. When a priest hires him for the most daring ruse yet, Ardor knows he'll need more than quick wit and sleight of hand. Assembling a dream team of forgers, disguisers, schemers, and thieves, he sets out to steal from the most powerful king the realm has ever known. But it soon becomes clear there's more at stake than fame and glory -- Ard and his team might just be the last hope for human civilization. Discover the start of an epic fantasy trilogy that begins with a heist and quickly explodes into a full-tilt, last ditch plan to save humanity.

the space merchants by Frederik Pohl

In a vastly overpopulated near-future world, businesses have taken the place of governments and now hold all political power. States exist merely to ensure the survival of huge transnational corporations. Advertising has become hugely aggressive and boasts some of the world's most powerful executives. Through advertising, the public is constantly deluded into thinking that all the products on the market improve the quality of life. However, the most basic elements are incredibly scarce, including water and fuel. The planet Venus has just been visited and judged fit for human settlement, despite its inhospitable surface and climate; colonists would have to endure a harsh climate for many generations until the planet could be terraformed. Mitch Courtenay is a star-class copywriter in the Fowler Schocken advertising agency and has been assigned the ad campaign that would attract colonists to Venus, but a lot more is happening than he knows about. Mitch is soon thrown into a world of danger, mystery, and intrigue, where the people in his life are never quite what they seem, and his loyalties and core beliefs will be put to the test.

the last wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Geralt is a Witcher, a solitary man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless hunter. Yet he is no ordinary killer-for-hire. His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good. . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

theft of swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles-until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom. Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires? First in a series.

a darker shade of magic by Victoria Schwab

Kell is one of the last Travelers, a magician with the rare ability to travel between parallel universes. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London, but no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, the personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. In Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, who first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn.

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