18 books like WAR

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

Mercury Samuel Blondahl · 2012 · 502p · ≈ 16h · Moderate The crew of the starship Mercury prepare for a short trip to Mars, both to test a miraculous new engine, and to serve in an assistance capacity to the first landing team to set foot on the red planet. Sabotage and mutiny strand the Mercury and all hands deep in uncharted space. The ship damaged, and the crew subject to the horrible stress of knowing they may never see Earth again, they… Shares: Aliens, Sci Fi, Physics, Space opera

War and remembrance Herman Wouk · 1978 · ★ 4.4 From the Middle East, to Moscow, to Hitler's death camps, the members of the Henry family face grave danger as they fight in the Second World War. Shares: Community pick

The Winds of War Herman Wouk · 1971 · ★ 4.6 · 890p · ≈ 29h · Moderate Follows the various members of the Henry family as they become involved in the events preceeding America's involvement in World War II. Like no other masterpiece of historical fiction, Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II is the great novel of America's Greatest Generation. Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events, as well as all the drama, romance, heroism, and… Shares: Community pick

The Bug Wars · 1979 · 269p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The lizard-men of the Tzen Empire have erupted from the Black Swamps of their home world to fight the Wasps, Leapers and Ants of the galaxy-spanning Insect Coalition. Rahm is a member of the Empire's Warior caste, the fighting elite of his species. After his unit was abandoned on a hostile planet, they must survive until Tzen forces come again. Insubordinate subordinates are just as much trouble… Shares: Sci Fi, Space opera, Science Fiction

Andromedae Samuel Blondahl · 2014 Overflow has been weaponised. The miraculous and strange radioactive fluid that allows star ships to travel across the universe in the blink of an eye has properties not unlike antimatter. Its potential as a world killing weapon did not go unnoticed. Now, the American Government has begun construction of a missile capable of immediate extragalactic strike. Russia has nearly completed construction… Shares: Aliens, Sci Fi, Space opera, Science Fiction

Crystal Society Max Harms · 2016 · 558p · ≈ 18h · Moderate Crystal Society is a science fiction novel about minds: human, alien, and artificial. The book's protagonist is an artificial intelligence: a machine with the capacity to reason. Her goal is to understand and gain the adoration of all humans. One of many siblings, she helps control a robot named Socrates that uses a piece of technology, a crystal computer, that seems far too advanced to be made… Shares: Aliens, Space opera, Science Fiction

Good for Nothings Danielle Banas · 2020 · ★ 3.8 · 328p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Cora Saros is just trying her best to join the family business of theft and intergalactic smuggling. Unfortunately, she's a total disaster. After landing herself in prison following an attempted heist gone very wrong, she strikes a bargain with the prison warden: He'll expunge her record if she brings back a long-lost treasure rumored to grant immortality. Cora is skeptical, but with no other… Shares: Aliens, Space opera, Science Fiction

The Warship Neal L. Asher · 2019 · ★ 4.3 · 480p · ≈ 16h · Moderate The haiman Orlandine, charged with safeguarding lethal Jain tech swirling inside an accretion disc located in the distant reaches of space, has weaponised a black hole to eliminate the threat. But others are suspicious of her motives, and both the Polity AIs and the leaders of the alien prador kingdom dispatch fleets of warships in anticipation of conflict. Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Die strahlende Kuppel / Götterdämmerung Karl-Herbert Scheer · 1969 · ★ 4.0 · 190p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Translation of two volumes of the German science fiction series Perry Rhodan which began publication in 1961. It is a space opera, dealing with several themes of science fiction. Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Eyes of the Void Adrian Tchaikovsky · 2022 · ★ 4.2 Sequel to Shards of Earth. An Architect almost destroyed humanity's foremost colony, until Idris Telemmier turned it aside. But that was just the start of the war - and now no planet is safe. Ancient artefacts once repelled these vast aliens, but they are now terrifyingly ineffective. However, the ruins of a lost civilization offer hope. Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Shadow Captain Alastair Reynolds · 2019 · ★ 3.8 · 440p · ≈ 14h · Moderate Bosa Sennen was a scourge of merchants and traders alike. A pirate who struck from the darkness, showed no mercy, and vanished without trace...and whose career was ended by the Ness sisters. They took her crew, her ship and ultimately also her life. Unfortunately for them, they have also taken on Bosa's fearsome reputation. Sequel to Revenger. Sequel to this is Bone Silence. Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Das Mutanten-Korps Kurt Mahr · 1969 · ★ 3.5 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Translation of two volumes of the German science fiction series Perry Rhodan which began publication in 1961. It is a space opera, dealing with several themes of science fiction. Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Xeelee Stephen Baxter · 2017 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Half a million years in the future, on a dead, war-ravaged world at the centre of the Galaxy, there is a mile-high statue of Michael Poole. Poole, born on Earth in the fourth millennium, was one of mankind's most influential heroes. He was not a warrior, not an emperor. He was an engineer, a builder of wormhole transit systems. But Poole's work would ultimately lead to a vast and destructive… Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Partners in Necessity Sharon Lee and Steve Miller · 2000 · ★ 3.6 · 828p · ≈ 27h · Moderate The first 3 Liaden universe novels, 'Conflict of Honors', 'Agent of Change', and 'Carpe Diem', in one collection. This is where to start if you want to read the Liaden series. Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Shattermoon Dominic Dulley · 2018 · 368p · ≈ 12h · Moderate A shattered moon. A secret plan. Last girl standing.Orry and her family are the best conmen in the Quadrant, running elaborate heists to target the ruling families of the Ascendancy. This time should be no different . . . but then Orry goes off-script and everything falls apart. Less than an hour later her mark is dead and she's on the run, accused of a murder she didn't commit. Turns out, the… Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

In the Lion's Mouth Michael Flynn · 2012 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate "An intellectual far-future space opera with a unique Celtic flavor . . . full of enough political intrigue, suspense, and romance to satisfy readers of all genres." —SFScope"A marvelously heroic ancient legend reborn in humanity's future days. Space opera fans will be swept away by the poetic rhythm and subtle plot construction." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)It's a big Spiral Arm, and the… Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Agent of change Sharon Lee · 1988 · ★ 4.2 · 283p · ≈ 9h · Moderate "LEE AND MILLER STRIKE SPACE OPERA GOLD."  —Robin Wayne Bailey Once a brilliant First-in Scout, Val Con yos'Phelium was "recruited" by the mysterious Liaden Department of Interior and brainwashed into an Agent of Change—a ruthless covert operative who kills without remorse. Fleeing the scene of his latest murderous mission, he finds himself saving the life of ex-mercenary Miri Robertson, a… Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

Victims of the NovaJohn Brunner

Victims of the Nova John Brunner · 1989 · 480p · ≈ 16h · Moderate The Complete Zarathustra Trilogy When the star Zarathustra went nova, the desperate survivors packed themselves into spaceships and fled in all directions. Habitable worlds were few, and colonizing a new planet requires much more than just settling a newly discovered island of Old Earth. New planets were different in thousands of ways, and the differences could mean disaster. Brutal environment,… Shares: Space opera, Science Fiction

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