18 books like Contact

What to read after Contact — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Voyage of the Space Beagle A. E. van Vogt · 1950 · ★ 4.5 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate One of the great original classics of modern SF returns! An all-time classic space saga, The Voyage of the Space Beagle is one of the pinnacles of Golden Age SF, an influence on generations of stories. An episodic novel filled with surprises and provocative ideas, this is the story of a great exploration ship sent out into the unknown reaches of space on a long mission of discovery. They… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Interplanetary voyages, Extraterrestrial beings, Life on other planets

The White Dragon Anne McCaffrey · 1978 · ★ 4.2 · 457p · ≈ 15h · Moderate On the planet Pern, which was colonised hundreds of years ago by Earth folk looking for a more agrarian lifestyle, "dragons" help humans to fight a deadly Thread that falls from a neighbouring planet as it cycles past once every couple of hundred years. When dragons hatch, each gold (the Queen), bronze, blue or green dragon makes a telepathic connection with a child, and they beome inseparable. … Shares: Science Fiction - General, Fiction - Science Fiction, Life on other planets, Science Fiction

The Ganymede Takeover Philip K. Dick · 1971 · ★ 3.3 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate The Ganymede Takeover is a 1967 science fiction novel by American writers Philip K. Dick and Ray Nelson. It is an alien invasion novel, and similar to Dick's earlier solo novel The Game-Players of Titan. Dick later admitted that The Ganymede Takeover was originally going to be a sequel to his alternate history novel The Man in the High Castle with the Japanese occupying the United States not… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Extraterrestrial beings, Science Fiction

A Desolation Called Peace Arkady Martine · 2021 · ★ 4.4 · 496p · ≈ 16h · Moderate Sequel to A Memory Called Empire. An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass—still reeling from the recent upheaval… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Extraterrestrial beings, Life on other planets, Science Fiction

Annihilation Jeff VanderMeer · 2014 · ★ 3.9 · 208p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The twelfth expedition arrives expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers. They discover a massive topographic anomaly and life-forms that surpass understanding. But it's the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are… Shares: Women scientists, Exploration, Science Fiction

Memory Prime Judith Reeves-Stevens · 1988 · 309p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Memory Prime (a location that houses several computer research libraries) is hosting the 23rd century's Nobel Prize award in science and the Enterprise has been chosen to take the scientists to the location. An assassin has made his way aboard the ship with the intent of destroying the entire Federation. Spock is wrongfully implicated in the assassin's plot and forced to prove his innocence while… Shares: Science Fiction - General, Fiction - Science Fiction, Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Chariots of the Gods Erich von Däniken · 1971 · 190p · ≈ 6h · Moderate AS SEEN ON ANCIENT ALIENS • Now in a beautiful 50th anniversary edition with a new foreword and afterword by the author, this is the groundbreaking classic that introduced the theory that ancient Earth established contact with aliens.Immediately recognized as a work of monumental importance, Chariots of the Gods endures as proof that Earth has been visited repeatedly by advanced aliens… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Life on other planets

The Prisoner Thomas M. Disch · 1979 · ★ 3.6 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate He's a top-level agent, highly skilled and ultra-secret. But he wants out, and they won't let him quit. He quits anyway. Then suddenly comes the dawn when he wakes up in captivity, in a pleasant, old-style, seaside town-one packed solid with electronic surveillance hardware. This is The Village. And he is The Prisoner. If he was good enough, sharp enough to be a top-flight cloak-and-dagger man,… Shares: Science Fiction - General, Fiction - Science Fiction, Science Fiction

Willful Child Steven Erikson · 2014 · ★ 3.8 · 344p · ≈ 11h · Moderate From the New York Times Bestselling author Steven Erikson comes a new science fiction novel of devil-may-care, near calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through the infinite vastness of interstellar space.These are the voyages of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Interplanetary voyages, Life on other planets, Science Fiction

Scattered Suns Kevin J. Anderson · 2005 · ★ 3.9 · 736p · ≈ 24h · Moderate One of the today's most successful science fiction writers, Kevin J. Anderson is the author of many popular Star Wars and X-Files novels, as well as his bestselling Dune prequels, coauthored with Brian Herbert. Now Anderson returns with a stunning new chapter in the Saga of Seven Suns, his boldly imagined epic of interstellar intrigue and adventure... The war between the alien hydrogues and the… Shares: Fiction - Science Fiction, Life on other planets, Science Fiction

Children of the Mind Orson Scott Card · 1996 · ★ 4.1 · 377p · ≈ 12h · Moderate The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos; a large colony of humans; and the Hive Queen, brought there by Ender. But once against the human race has grown fearful; the Starways Congress has gathered a fleet to destroy Lusitania. Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, can save the three sentient races of Lusitania. She has learned how to move ships outside the… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Extraterrestrial beings, Life on other planets, Science Fiction

The Lake House James Patterson · 1662 · ★ 4.1 · 394p · ≈ 13h · Demanding The memorable story begun in When the Wind Blows continues in this thrilling novel, and it's one that really soars! Frannie O'Neil, a Colorado veterinarian, knows a terrible secret that will change the history of the world. Kit Harrison, an FBI agent under suspension has seen things that no one in his right mind would believe. A twelve-year-old girl named Max and five other incredible children… Shares: Science Fiction - General, Fiction - Science Fiction, Science Fiction

Origin Stephen Baxter · 2001 · ★ 3.5 · 496p · ≈ 16h · Moderate Part of the Manifold series. Shares: Exploration, Life on other planets

Life, the Universe and Everything Douglas Adams · 1982 · ★ 4.2 · 222p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Life, the Universe and Everything is the third book in the five-volume Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction "trilogy" by British writer Douglas Adams. The title refers to the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. ---------- Also contained in: [Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts][1] Hitchhiker's Trilogy [More Than Complete Hitchhiker's… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Childhood’s End Arthur C. Clarke · 1952 · ★ 3.9 · 225p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia. Many questions are asked about the origins and mission of the aliens, but they avoid answering, preferring to remain in their… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Extraterrestrial beings, Science Fiction

Blood of the Cosmos: The Saga of Shadows, Book Two Kevin J. Anderson · 2015 · ★ 4.0 · 608p · ≈ 20h · Moderate Second in the Saga of Shadows trilogy from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Dark Between the Stars and coauthor of Sisterhood of Dune.The titanic conflict continues between galactic civilizations and the life-destroying force of sentient shadows . . . After the events in the Hugo-nominated The Dark Between the Stars, the humans and Ildirans have narrowly escaped annihilation… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Life on other planets, Science Fiction

The ship of Ishtar A. Merritt · 1924 · 309p · ≈ 10h · Challenging The American adventurer was pitched out of his own time and into a weird world of incredible and enticing marvels. Shares: Life on other planets, Science Fiction

Binti: The Night Masquerade Nnedi Okorafor · 2018 · ★ 4.2 · 263p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The concluding part of the highly-acclaimed science fiction trilogy that began with Nnedi Okorafor's Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning BINTI.Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the… Shares: Human-alien encounters, Interplanetary voyages, Extraterrestrial beings, Science Fiction

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