18 books like First Lensman

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

Four-Day Planet H. Beam Piper · 1961 · ★ 3.8 · 162p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Fenris isn't a hell planet, but it's nobody's bargain. With 2,000-hour days and an 8,000-hour year, it alternates blazing heat with killing cold. A planet like that tends to breed a special kind of person: tough enough to stay alive and smart enough to make the best of it. When that kind of person discovers he's being cheated of wealth he's risked his life for, that kind of planet is ripe for… Shares Space colonies -- Fiction, Science Fiction

The People of the Crater Andre Norton · 2009 · ★ 3.2 · 54p · ≈ 1h · Light "Send the Black Throne to dust; conquer the Black Ones, and bring the Daughter from the Caves of Darkness." These were the tasks Garin must perform to fulfill the prophecy of the Ancient Ones . . . and establish his own destiny in this hidden land!Andre Norton's first work, originally published in 1947 under the pseudonym "Andrew North." Shares Science Fiction

The moon metal Garrett Putman Serviss · 1900 · 58p · ≈ 1h · Moderate Shares Science Fiction with this book.

Armageddon 2419 AD Philip Francis Nowlan · 1962 · ★ 3.4 · 78p · ≈ 2h · Moderate Shares Science Fiction with this book.

Star Hunter Andre Norton · 1961 · ★ 4.0 · 102p · ≈ 3h · Moderate On the unexplored jungle world of Jumala, former pilot turned safari guide Ras Hume schemes to collect the reward for finding a missing heir to a fortune. A busboy from local dive bar is brainwashed into believing he is the missing heir, but he soon begins to doubt his own memories. This standalone story was originally published in 1961 as part of a double title paperback by Ace Books along… Shares Science Fiction

Black Canaan Robert E. Howard · 1978 · ★ 3.6 · 31p · ≈ 1h · Moderate Shares Science Fiction with this book.

Columbus of Space Garrett Putman Serviss · 1911 · 246p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The year was 1909 and Garrett Putnam Serviss was already a respected science writer for the Hearst newspaper group. Serviss’ reputation was such that his articles appeared in almost every major American magazine. Beginning in January of that year Frank Munsey’s All-Story magazine began the serialization of Serviss’ epic science fiction adventure A Columbus of Space. Just three months earlier the… Shares Science Fiction

Tarnsman of Gor John Norman · 1966 · ★ 3.5 · 188p · ≈ 6h · Moderate The first novel in the long-running sword-and-planet series set on a Counter-Earth, where warriors rise above the chaos of bondage and brutality. Tarl Cabot has always believed himself to be a citizen of Earth. He has no inkling that his destiny is far greater than the small planet he has inhabited for the first twenty-odd years of his life. One frosty winter night in the New England woods,… Shares Science Fiction

Star Born Andre Norton · 1957 · ★ 3.9 · 170p · ≈ 5h · Moderate When the oppressive global dictatorship of Pax took over Earth they put a stop to space exploration. Still, a few rebels escaped in the sleeper ships to found free new colonies -- or perish in the attempt. Those few colonists that reached inhabitable worlds were cut off for centuries, and in that isolation and freedom they developed the mysterious mental powers that ''civilization'' had all but… Shares Space colonies -- Fiction, Science Fiction

Little Fuzzy H. Beam Piper · 1961 · ★ 4.0 · 154p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Little Fuzzy is the name of a 1962 science fiction novel by H. Beam Piper, and is now in public domain. Synopsis: One day Jack Holloway, prospector on the planet Zarathustra, finds what seems to be a small monkey with golden fur; these new introductions (for the first brings a family) are tiny hunters, and prove to be curious and capable tool users. Why is this so important to the new human… Shares Human-alien encounters -- Fiction, Science Fiction

The Lost World Michael Crichton · 1995 · ★ 3.9 · 393p · ≈ 13h · Moderate The Lost World is a 1995 techno-thriller novel written by Michael Crichton, and the sequel to his 1990 novel Jurassic Park. It is his tenth novel under his own name and his twentieth overall, and it was published by Knopf. A paperback edition (ISBN 0-345-40288-X) followed in 1996. In 1997, both novels were re-published as a single book titled Michael Crichton's Jurassic World, which is unrelated… Shares Science Fiction

Stories of Your Life and Others Ted Chiang · 2002 · ★ 4.3 · 316p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Ted Chiang's first published story, "Tower of Babylon," won the Nebula Award in 1990. Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF. Now,… Shares Human-alien encounters -- Fiction, Science Fiction

The Darkness That Comes Before

The Darkness That Comes Before R. Scott Bakker · 2003 · ★ 4.0 · 589p · ≈ 19h · Moderate Strikingly original in its conception, ambitious in scope, with characters engrossingly and vividly drawn, the first book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series creates a remarkable world from whole cloth—it's language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals—the kind of all-embracing universe that has thrilled readers of Stephen R Donaldson and George… Shares Science Fiction

I Sing the Body Electric! Ray Bradbury · 1969 · ★ 4.2 · 305p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Eighteen stories with bizarre and whimsical themes which transcend time and space. Shares Science Fiction

Stand by for Mars! Carey Rockwell · 1952 · 162p · ≈ 5h · Moderate STAND BY FOR MARS! finds the three young "rocketeers" at the Space Academy undergoing the arduous training of Space Cadets. When their tactical training cruise crash lands on Mars, their desperate adventures on the planet of burning deserts and endless canals will make them seasoned veteran spacemen -- if they live long enough for rescue!STAND BY FOR MARS is the first in the Tom Corbet, Space… Shares Science Fiction

Up the Line Robert Silverberg · 1969 · ★ 3.7 · 250p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Being a Time Courier was one of the best jobs Judson Daniel Elliott III ever had. It was tricky, though, taking group after group of tourists back to the same historic event, without meeting yourself coming or going. Trickier still was avoiding the temptation to become intimately involved with the past and interfere with events to come. The deterrents for any such actions were frighteningly… Shares Science Fiction

Armada Ernest Cline · 2015 · ★ 3.6 · 376p · ≈ 12h · Moderate Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he's spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure. But hey, there's nothing wrong with a… Shares Human-alien encounters -- Fiction, Science Fiction

Edison's conquest of Mars Garrett Putman Serviss · 1947 · ★ 2.8 · 119p · ≈ 3h · Moderate The original sequel to HG Wells War of the Worlds as written by the science editor of the Hearst newspaper group. Mentioned multiple times by rocket pioneer Robert Hutchings Goddard in his diaries as one of the sources of inspiration for him. The 2005 paperback edition from Apogee Books includes an extensive history of the work by Robert Godwin, noted space historian and space curator of the… Shares Science Fiction

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