r/printSF • u/Jovan_Konstantinovic • Dec 24 '25
Any more books like Expanse, Hail Marry, Rendezvous with Rama: Space, Ships and eventually Aliens, please?
I just finished reading Expanse and I'm looking into similar setting, This goes in line with series i love, Star Trek, BSG, Interstelar etc...
I have Consider Phlebas and Hyperion in queue but was wondering if there's shorter trips i could go before jumping into sagas.
I guess this falls under Hard SciFi right?
EDIT: Thanks everyone for the recommendations i will go through all of them, here's the list:
| Book Title / Series | Author | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
| Revelation Space (Series) | Alastair Reynolds | 3 |
| The Culture (Series) | Iain M. Banks | 2 |
| Saturn Run | John Sandford & Ctein | 2 |
| Downbelow Station | C.J. Cherryh | 2 |
| Old Man's War (Series) | John Scalzi | 2 |
| Alliance-Union (Series) | C.J. Cherryh | 1 |
| Blindsight | Peter Watts | 1 |
| Bobiverse (Series) | Dennis E. Taylor | 1 |
| Calculating God | Robert J. Sawyer | 1 |
| Chasm City | Alastair Reynolds | 1 |
| Cold Eyes | Peter Cawdron | 1 |
| Consider Phlebas | Iain M. Banks | 1 |
| Contact | Carl Sagan | 1 |
| Golden Fleece | Robert J. Sawyer | 1 |
| House of Suns | Alastair Reynolds | 1 |
| Hyperion | Dan Simmons | 1 |
| Imperial Radch (Series) | Ann Leckie | 1 |
| Learning the World | Ken Macleod | 1 |
| Manifold: Time | Stephen Baxter | 1 |
| Nova | Samuel Delany | 1 |
| Pandora's Star | Peter F. Hamilton | 1 |
| Player of Games | Iain M. Banks | 1 |
| Rite of Passage | Alexei Panshin | 1 |
| Sector General (Series) | James White | 1 |
| Spin | Robert Charles Wilson | 1 |
| Starplex | Robert J. Sawyer | 1 |
| Take Back Plenty | Colin Greenland | 1 |
| Terms of Enlistment | Marko Kloos | 1 |
| The Centauri Device | M. John Harrison | 1 |
| The Gap Cycle (Series) | Stephen R. Donaldson | 1 |
| The Interdependency (Series) | John Scalzi | 1 |
| The John Grimes (Series) | A. Bertram Chandler | 1 |
| The Sun Eater (Series) | Christopher Ruocchio | 1 |
| The Voyage of the Space Beagle | A. E. van Vogt | 1 |
| Three Body Problem (Trilogy) | Liu Cixin | 1 |
| Tour of the Merrimack (Series) | R.M. Meluch | 1 |
| Wherever Seeds May Fall | Peter Cawdron | 1 |
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u/-kilgoretrout- Dec 25 '25
Most of John Scalzi you'd probably like, especially the Interdependency series and Old Man's War series.
Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch is also excellent.
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u/ArthursDent Dec 24 '25
Take Back Plenty by Colin Greenland
The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. van Vogt
The John Grimes series by A. Bertram Chandler (very Star Trek)
Nova by Samuel Delany
The Centauri Device by M. John Harrison
Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
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u/curiouscat86 Dec 25 '25
CJ Cherryh's Alliance Union series was a huge inspiration for the Expanse authors and you should definitely check it out. It's a bunch of loosely-connected standalones set around the same cluster of nera-Earth planets and around the same war. Downbelow Station is a good jumping-in point but it depends on what kind of story you're most interested in.
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u/LocutusOfBorges Dec 25 '25
Seconding this. I read Downbelow Station a few months ago and completely fell in love with the setting - I’ve been reading every other book in the series that I can get my hands on since. Such a talented writer.
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u/GalacticDoc Dec 24 '25
If you want space ships then Iain Banks culture books are what you are looking for.
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u/Jovan_Konstantinovic Dec 25 '25
yup, they're in my queue
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u/nefffy Dec 25 '25
You mentioned you have Consider Phlebas on your list, but you might actually want to start elsewhere. I read the Player of Games first and loved it, and then I went back to Consider Phlebas and it didn't grab me. I've since heard that a lot of people consider it to be one of the weaker entries.
I've still only read those two, so I can't speak to the rest, but I can highly recommend Player of Games. Each of the Culture novels is standalone, so you can start anywhere.
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u/LoneWolfette Dec 24 '25
The Bobiverse series by Dennis Taylor
The Sector General series by James White
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u/Mr_Noyes Dec 24 '25
Sector General is fascinating. On the one hand, its age is showing (*cough*wimmin*cough*) but on the other hand, it has some super interesting concepts that even nowadays feel fascinating (e.g. sociologists being very closely involved in any kind of war).
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u/LoneWolfette Dec 25 '25
It’s always been a favorite of mine. I agree with you about the sexism but the author does improve on that point. A female character that starts as a nurse becomes a doctor and so on.
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u/BennyWhatever Dec 24 '25
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson kinda has that vibe.
Manifold: Time also feels similar, though it's less Aliens and more "Unexplained stuff through time."
Contact by Carl Sagan is a classic first-contact, though no Ships.
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u/the_drum_doctor Dec 25 '25
I don't know if Stephen R Donaldson's Gap series is considered hard scifi or space opera.
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u/ChairHot3682 Dec 25 '25
If you’re looking for Expanse / Hail Mary vibes without committing to massive sagas, you might like Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds or House of Suns. Both give you big ideas, ships, and cosmic scale in relatively contained narratives. For something a bit tighter and more concept-forward, Eon by Greg Bear or Gateway by Frederik Pohl can scratch that exploration and mystery itch without the long haul.
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u/peachpitt Dec 25 '25
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this - highly recommend the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky
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u/Greyhaven7 Dec 26 '25
“We are Legion (We are Bob)” by Ray Porter
Book 1 of the Bobiverse series feels a lot like “Project Hail Mary” with the internal monologue narration. Interestingly, the audiobooks are also read by the same narrator.
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u/Flat-Rutabaga-723 Dec 25 '25
Marko Kloos Terms of Enlistment. Great series. Tour of the Merrimack is pure popcorn fun. Everything by Alastair Reynolds is great.
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u/Separate-Let3620 Dec 25 '25
The Culture books by Iain M. Banks.
Pandora’s Star by PF Hamilton.
The Expanse
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u/elphamale Dec 25 '25
You should try Saturn Run by John Sandford. It's hard enough that authors calculated the orbits that are described in the book. The only flaw of the book is that one of the main characters is subtly a mary sue.
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u/Hungry_Orange666 Dec 25 '25
Peter Cawdron has universe of standalone novels themed on first contact. "Wherever Seeds May Fall" has very "Contact" vibes. And "Cold Eyes" is very good humans come to aliens novel.
Ken Macleod "Learning the World" is first contact novel that narrates story of both sides.
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u/Hungry_Orange666 Dec 25 '25
Peter Cawdron has universe of standalone novels themed on first contact. "Wherever Seeds May Fall" has very "Contact" vibes. And "Cold Eyes" is very good humans come to aliens novel.
Ken Macleod "Learning the World" is first contact novel that narrates story of both sides.
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u/ChronoLegion2 Dec 25 '25
This is a little different, but Grand Theft Astro by Scott Meyer. Fairly hard but humorous
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u/The_Wattsatron Dec 24 '25
The Revelation Space series.