Books about the ragtag crew of a spaceship or an underdog having adventures and fighting evil are one of the more popular science fiction subgenres. It’s so fun to read about them using what little resources they have to save the day. Sometimes, the resources the scrappy heroes use are literally scraps. Whatever’s on hand, they’re going to win.
So for all you fans of the underdog, like in Firefly, Star Wars, or The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, here are five fun sci-fi novels about the protagonists using their wits and whatever else is available to fight the good fight.
 Boltguns and Duct Tape by Jamie McFarlaneRix Banner is a WWII veteran who thought he had seen it all. But his quiet life as a mechanic changes when a spacecraft crashes in a cornfield. It belongs to the Galactic Empire, and they want the ship and the pilot who stole it: they don’t care how many Earthlings they have to destroy to get their way. So Rix decides to put together his own ship and take on the Empire himself. |
 Exordia by Seth DickinsonWhen office worker Anna Sinjari meets Ssrin, a serpent alien, they discover the universe is in danger. Along with a group of scientists, soldiers, and civilians (all fun words for a serpent to say), they’ll have to work together to decipher a mysterious broadcast and stop the world from ending. |
 Star Wars: Resistance Reborn by Rebecca RoanhorseStar Wars is one of the OG franchises of rebel resistance science fiction! This excellent tie-in novel is a prequel to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, written by a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award–winning author! In it, the wounded heroes of the Resistance must band back together after defeat in order to take on the Empire once more. |
 The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. ValenteOn a world mostly filled with water, Tetley Abednego lives in Garbagetown, where cities are divided up by different refuse. The garbage is all that is left of Earth after fossil fuels destroyed the environment. Years ago, Tetley did something she thought was right that made all the residents of Garbagetown hate her. So when she meets a stranger and learns a secret, Tetley sees it as her chance to redeem herself and save what is left of humanity. |
 The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya WijeratneScraps are literally the job description for the crew of this fun sci-fi novel! The disgruntled, seemingly unremarkable team sent to salvage an old UN spacecraft thinks the job is business as usual. But the planet where the ship resides reveals secrets that could destroy humanity, and the team will have to fight the feral planet with whatever is available to survive long enough to save the day. |
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the Book Riot podcast All the Books! and on Instagram and Bluesky.
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