Recent recommended SF & Fantasy

I have been mostly "audiobooking" fiction for the past few years, and
the books listed here are no exception. Here's the roundup.

I had never before tried Child, but Nancy Pearl recommended "anything by Lee Child" and I greatly enjoyed it. Child is an MP in the U.S. Army in this story set in 1989-1990 when the Berlin Wall was crumbling ... and strange things were going on in the army. Reacher is violent and possibly amoral, but a very enjoyable character. Five stars and I'm just going back into the Reacher pile for another one shortly.

Another violent story that I enjoyed:

This is the first book on the "culture war" between two future starfaring civilizations: the culture (hedonistic, AI-loving) and the Idrians, an expanding tri-pedal warlike world. The protagonist is Horza, a "changer" working for the Idrians. He was a bit hard to get to like, but the closing parts of the book were so fast-paced and plotted that I got a bang out of anyway. Four stars and I'm planning to continue with the series.

Next, a well done near-future Mars mission gone wrong:

This was an enjoyable tale that focuses on Mark Watney, who's been accidentally left on Mars when the rest of his crew escape during a storm. He turns out to be not only alive but resilient enough to start planning to survive until the next mission ... four stars!

Finally one from the seventies:

This is a time-travel story set in the 1970's ... and in 1882. The time travel "technology" in use is so dumb it almost made me give up on the book ... but I'm glad I stayed. The author romanticizes 1882 way too much, but there's enough plot and tragedy and conflict to keep anyone interested. Five stars despite my quibbles!