18 books like Life, the Universe and Everything

What to read after Life, the Universe and Everything — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Starman Jones Robert A. Heinlein · 1953 · ★ 3.9 · 312p · ≈ 10h · Moderate When his stepmother's remarriage drives him from home, Max and a hobo fake their way into the Space Stewards, Cooks, and Purser's Clerks brotherhood to get an opportunity for space travel in an age when only the wealthy are privileged. Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke · 1973 · ★ 4.1 · 254p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Written in 1973, a massive 50 kilometre long alien cylinder begins to pass through the solar system provoking a hurried effort to intercept it. The closest available ship rushes to rendezvous so as to have a quick study before it gets too close to the sun. Able to enter via an airlock on one end of the ship, the crew explores the huge world found inside, a world full of wonder and mystery. As… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Up Jim River Michael Flynn · 2010 · ★ 4.3 · 407p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Hugo Award finalist and Robert A. Heinlein Award-winning SF writer Michael Flynn returns to space opera with Up Jim River. There is a river on Dangchao Waypoint, a small world out beyond Die Bold. It is a longish river as such things go, with a multitude of bayous and rapids and waterfalls, and it runs through many a strange and hostile country. Going up it, you can lose everything. Going up it,… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Star road Matthew J. Costello · 2014 · ★ 2.0 · 328p · ≈ 10h · Moderate "Ivan Delgato, a former leader of a rebel group called the Runners, is released from jail on the condition that he carry out a secret mission for the World Council. His assignment is simple: stay under cover, but do absolutely anything necessary to reach the planet Omega IX and offer the renegade Runners clemency if they surrender-- which may be complicated since Ivan's brutally violent brother… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

The ships of Earth Orson Scott Card · 1994 · ★ 3.6 · 384p · ≈ 12h · Moderate The Oversoul's chosen people flee the city of Basilica (destroyed in their wake by General Moozh) and travel across the desert wastes, eventually to settle in the hidden valley where long ago the exiles from Earth who founded the colony of Harmony left their starships--and the machines that can make them fly again. HC: Tor. Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

The Gods Themselves Isaac Asimov · 1972 · ★ 4.1 · 342p · ≈ 11h · Moderate The year is 2100 A.D.… And Man no longer stands alone in the universe. Now there are other worlds, other living beings. Alien beings who mate in threes and live on pure energy. New breeds of humans who have created their own environment and freed themselves from every social and sexual taboo. Yes, it is the future of new worlds, ever-changing worlds. And yet among them there is still… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

The Caves of Steel Isaac Asimov · 1953 · ★ 4.2 · 276p · ≈ 9h · Moderate In the future you will walk down the crowded streets of New York City not knowing if the bodies brushing past you are humans or androids. With tensions already mounting between humans and robots, the murder of a Spacer must be handled in a politically-correct fashion so Detective Elijah Baley is assigned a robot partner. Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw become like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle s Sherlock… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Podkayne of Mars Robert A. Heinlein · 1960 · ★ 3.2 · 160p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Written for the juvenile mid-20th century sci-fi market, the story focuses on relationships between family members, friends, and enemies. Podkayne, a human girl born on Mars, has the opportunity to travel to Terra with her Uncle and her younger brother. She learns about good and evil, trust and betrayal, and, of course, about herself. Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut · 1959 · ★ 4.2 · 317p · ≈ 10h · Moderate "His best book," Esquire wrote of Kurt Vonnegut's 1959 novel The Sirens of Titan, adding, "he dares not only to ask the ultimate question about the meaning of life, but to answer it." This novel fits into that aspect of the Vonnegut canon that might be classified as science fiction, a quality that once led Time to describe Vonnegut as "George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Der Geister-Agent aus dem All H. G. Ewers · 1980 »Die Wandlung, die im gleichen Augenblick vor sich ging, gespenstisch. Der Körper schien sich zu recken und zu dehnen. Die Züge des Gesichts verschwammen und nahmen wieder Form an, eine andere Form. Die Farbe der Augen, der Haut und des Haares veränderte sich blitzschnell. Ron packte seine Waffe fester. Er hatte von Leuten gehört, die die merkwürdige Fähigkeit besaßen, die äußere Erscheinung… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Die Zone des Schreckens William Voltz · 1971 »›Der Körper, in dem Sie mich sehen, ist nicht mein eigener‹, sagte die Echse. Man hat seine atomare Struktur umgewandelt.‹ Jotifer packte die Echse an der Schulter. ›Wer sind Sie?‹ schrie er. ›Ich bin Perry Rhodan‹, erwiderte die Echse.« Der Großadministrator ließ sich nicht davon abbringen, an einem der ersten Explorerflüge selbst teilzunehmen. Als er auf dem Planeten Grassplot die… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Das tödliche Paradies Kurt Mahr · 1971 „Schuß auf Schuß peitschte aus meinem Nadelstrahler. Ich konnte keinen einzigen Roboter damit vernichten. Wenigstens aber wurden sie durch die Wucht des Aufpralls der scharfgebündelten Strahlen immer wieder zurück geschleudert. Ich machte mir keine Illusion mehr, denn ich kämpfte nur noch um eine kleine Frist Leben, und ich wünschte, Goratschin hätte ganz Quinto-Center in die Luft gesprengt. Es… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Space Opera Catherynne M. Valente · 2018 · ★ 3.4 · 299p · ≈ 9h · Moderate "Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny. They must sing. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented by the remnants of civilization. Something to cheer up everyone who was left. Something to celebrate having escaped total annihilation by the skin of one's… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury · 1950 · ★ 4.2 · 277p · ≈ 9h · Moderate This is a collection of science fiction short stories, cleverly cobbled together to form a coherent and very readable novel about a future colonization of Mars. As the stories progress chronologically the author tells how the first humans colonized Mars, initially sharing the planet with a handful of Martians. When Earth is devastated by nuclear war the colony is left to fend for itself and the… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Nemesis Games James S. A. Corey · 2015 · ★ 4.5 · 544p · ≈ 18h · Moderate With over 10 million copies sold, The Expanse has become one of the biggest science fiction phenomenons of the decade. The fifth book in the New York Times bestselling Expanse series, Nemesis Games drives the crew of the Rocinante apart, and as they struggle to survive, the inner planets fall victim to an enemy's catastrophic plan. Now a Prime Original series.   A thousand worlds have… Shares: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

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: Interplanetary voyages, Science Fiction

Armageddon 2419 AD Philip Francis Nowlan · 1962 · ★ 3.4 · 78p · ≈ 2h · Moderate In Armageddon - 2419 A.D., Buck, a victim of accidental suspended animation, awakens five hundred years later to discover America groaning under the tyranny of the villainous Han, ruling from the safety of their armored machine-cities. Falling in love with one of America's new warrior-women, Wilma Deering, Rogers soon become a central figure in using newly-developed scientific weapons -… Shares: Science Fiction

Star Hunter Andre Norton · 1961 · ★ 3.9 · 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 with… Shares: Science Fiction

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