Books like 'Radiant'
Readers who enjoyed Radiant by James Alan Gardner also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space action / adventure military, war & conflict space-opera workplace poc-mc space-travel aliens invasion
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She is the Principle: A Kurtherian Gambit Series by Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA teenage boy with a terminal condition, a group of school bullies, and an incognito Empress with a short temper…Kirian Larsen knows he won’t live to see adulthood. Dex and his gang only care that he’s a human living on “their” planet.Their determination to make his life harder bothers Kirian less than their efforts to do the same for their other victims... -
![Messinants by S.H. Jucha]()
Messinants by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPyre is a volatile planet. Its surface belches heat and noxious gases, forcing downsiders to inhabit domes. But Pyre’s instability isn’t limited to its geology. The colonists, who were marooned in the system hundreds of years ago, have endured a tumultuous history.Exploring Triton, Pyre’s third moon, spacers inadvertently activate an alien dome...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Elvians by S.H. Jucha]()
Elvians by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwo crises challenge the Omnians. Alex Racine’s fleet draws a first-contact conflict, which faces the Ollassa, a symbiotic flora race. The Omnian fleet sails from alliance space in an effort to interdict an alien ship that arrives at the Worlds of Lights, the Ollassa system. Soon after arriving, the alien ship deploys machines to scour asteroids for resources in the system’s far belt... -
![SADEs by S.H. Jucha]()
SADEs by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDangerous forces are at work across galactic space that the Omnians are attempting to stabilize, but their resources are severely strained. The SADEs, self-aware digital entities, express to Alex Racine and Renée de Guirnon their desire to know the method of their creation. Alex and Renée, the Omnian co-leaders, want to obtain the knowledge for the SADEs, who are humans’ closest allies... -
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![Secrets in the Stars by Mackey Chandler]()
Secrets in the Stars by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Lee Anderson and her parents discovered a new world teeming with life, it was the dream of every explorer: they were rich beyond their imaginations. But tragedy struck when a herd of creatures overran their camp and killed her parents. The only other adult in her life had been their partner Gordon, who adopted her as parent. Which didn’t turn out to be easy, because he wasn’t human...Categorized as:
aliens exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book coming-of-age -
![Nua'll by S.H. Jucha]()
Nua'll by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Omnian expeditionary fleet sails for the faraway place they call “the wall.” The worlds of humankind have consolidated their resources to create a powerful armada to confront the alien federation.During the Omnians’ previous encounter with an alien fleet at the wall, the Nua’ll comm sphere spoke to them in multiple languages...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Lost Supernova by Vaughn Heppner]()
The Lost Supernova by Vaughn Heppner
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAndroids used to mingle among us, pretending to be human. Then an alien puppet-master altered their programming. Unknown to us, androids began leaving human society, burning their clothes and peeling off their skin to reveal the chrome-colored bodies underneath. They gathered in a system were a star had exploded, blowing away the atmosphere of a Jupiter-like planet... -
![The Legend of ZERO: Forgotten by Sara King]()
The Legend of ZERO: Forgotten by Sara King
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's been 819 years since Congress abandoned humanity to a Stone Age fate on an Earth infested with man-eating monsters, and now the galactic government, in all its benevolence, has come back to force humanity back into citizen status in its great collective......Except this time, thanks to Prime Commander Dobbs, humanity has a surprise for our alien conquerors... -
![Junkyard Spaceship by Jamie McFarlane]()
Junkyard Spaceship by Jamie McFarlane
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsWhen aliens threaten his country, one grumpy old vet will take the fight to the stars.Albert Jenkins would like nothing more than to putter around his junkyard, selling parts and working on old cars. When an alien spacecraft is shot down by US Air Defense and crash lands on his newly rebuilt home, he’s dragged back into the fight of his life...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Fields of Fire by Marko Kloos]()
Fields of Fire by Marko Kloos
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThe time has come to take the fight to the Lankies.Mars has been under Lanky control for more than a year. Since then, the depleted forces of Earth's alliances have rebuilt their fleets, staffing old warships with freshly trained troops. Torn between the need to beat the Lankies to the punch and taking enough time to put together an effective fighting force, command has decided to strike now... -
![All in Good Time by Mackey Chandler]()
All in Good Time by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLiving by bad neighbors is hard. Especially when there is a whole mob of them. Needing to do business with them makes it harder. Imagine nine billion noisy disrespectful neighbors who can’t keep their word and would be just as happy to see you dead... -
![Crusade by Glynn Stewart]()
Crusade by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA newborn Alliance, forged to stop the destroyers of worldsA potential ally, with secrets hidden by a thousand liesA long-doomed star, whose ruins hold a vital answer... -
![Galactar by Anthony James]()
Galactar by Anthony James
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFollowing decades of war and the recent catastrophic loss of an entire planet, the Human Planetary Alliance is riven by internal disputes and rivalries. The military’s old guard fights for power against those who see a chance to turn things around.After a series of hard-fought victories, Captain Carl Recker is becoming recognized as a man who gets results - a man who knows how to beat the Daklan... -
![Fulcrum Gun by Anthony James]()
Fulcrum Gun by Anthony James
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLost in hostile space and pursued by the most powerful warship in the known universe, Captain Carl Recker is losing hope and running out of options. His battleship Fulcrum is no match for this enemy and the Meklon aliens who might have helped him are dead, killed by the Galactar’s murderous weaponry.Somehow, Recker must find a way to succeed where the might of an alien empire already failed... -
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![Laws of Ancidium by Anthony James]()
Laws of Ancidium by Anthony James
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHaving fought his hardest battle, Captain Carl Recker returns to planet Lustre, bringing the alien battleship Fulcrum with him.Recker is under no illusions that he’ll be offered backdated shore leave, but his feet don’t even touch the ground before trouble shows up. A heavily armed fifty-thousand-metre Meklon interstellar drops out of lightspeed near the planet... -
![Refuge by Glynn Stewart]()
Refuge by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA dying world, shattered by a broken machineA desperate flight, their only hope for refugeA robotic race, ally and destroyer alikeThe Republic of Exilium has grown in strength and confidence at the far end of the galaxy from the rest of mankind, sending out scout ships to survey the worlds around them as they try to learn more about the mysterious Construction Matrix AIs... -
![Omnia by S.H. Jucha]()
Omnia by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlex Racine, who led an elite group of humans and SADEs (self-ware digital entities), left the newly discovered planet of Celus-5 under difficult circumstances. Few of the Harakens with Alex thought there was little he could do to bring peace to the embroiled planet...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha]()
Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFor the Sojourn’s initial mission, the Haraken explorer ship undertakes the investigation of Celus-5, a world identified by Willem, a SADE (self-aware digital entity), and his team of scientists, as the best prospect for a new colony.What should be a routine survey mission becomes a disaster. To the Harakens’ surprise, they discover, not one, but two alien species engaged in conflict...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Spinward Fringe Broadcast 8: Renegades by Randolph Lalonde]()
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 8: Renegades by Randolph Lalonde
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt has been months since the Siege of Port Rush. The Warlord, under the command of Jacob Valent, has been travelling to ports across the sector to gather intelligence, capturing ships and cargo as they go. Manpower and funds are still in short supply, but the Captain is winning the support of the British Alliance, and his crew suspects he has a long term plan that will lead to bigger prizes... -
![Exile by Glynn Stewart]()
Exile by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA shackled Earth, ruled by an unstoppable tyrantAn exiled son, and a one-way trip across the galaxyA perfect world, their last hope for survivalVice Admiral Isaac Gallant is the heir apparent to the First Admiral, the dictator of the Confederacy of Humanity. Unwilling to let his mother's tyranny stand, he joins the rebellion and leads his ships into war against the might of his own nation...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Emergence by Ken Lozito, Scott Aiello]()
Emergence by Ken Lozito, Scott Aiello
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAs the colony grapples with the realization that New Earth is not as uninhabited as they’d once thought, tensions between the colonial settlements rise to new heights, and the Colonial Defense Force finds itself caught in the middle. When Connor uncovers evidence of a militant colonial faction secretly exploiting the NEIIS, he has to investigate...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe comparative utopia of twenty-third century Earth is about to go dreadfully awry when a seemingly benign alien race is abruptly revealed to be one of the worst threats humanity has ever faced. Driven by an intense religious extremism, the Olyix are determined to bring everyone to their version of god as they see it...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Homeworld by Evan Currie]()
Homeworld by Evan Currie
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWar comes home to the Sol system when the Drasin track a human ship back to Earth, with devastating consequences. Facing massive force of invading alien ships wielding terrible power, the crew of the NAC spacecraft, their allies, and the people of Earth must mount a desperate effort to stop them... -
![The Deadliest of Intentions by Marc Stevens]()
The Deadliest of Intentions by Marc Stevens
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Principal Investigator of the Chaalt people, has covertly enlisted the aid of Nathan Myers and the crew of the Legacy. They desperately need help gaining access to their secret Prule research station. The facility has gone dark, and the automated defenses activated... -
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![Star Force: Temple Wars by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Temple Wars by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingshe bell has been rung, and the Return of the Reignor has come...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Corruption by Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle]()
Corruption by Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA new evil lurks in the darkness. After an explosion, the crew of a battlecruiser mysteriously disappears.Bailey and Lewis, complete strangers, find themselves suddenly onboard the damaged ship. Lewis hasn’t worked a case in years, not since the final one broke his spirit and his bank account. The last thing Bailey remembers is preparing to take down a fugitive on Onyx Station...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure book cyberpunk -
![Star Force: Phoenix by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Phoenix by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCal-com's journey is not at an end. In fact, it's just beginning.. -
![Stardust by Edward W. Robertson]()
Stardust by Edward W. Robertson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe invaders have arrived. The last battle for humanity is about to begin. STARDUST is the final book in the Rebel Stars series... -
![Star Force: The Powers That Be by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: The Powers That Be by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn youth you'd lay awake at night and scheme.. -
![Imperial Command by D.J. Holmes]()
Imperial Command by D.J. Holmes
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsTrapped behind enemy lines, the survivors of the raid on Jaranna have been forced to flee deeper into enemy territory. Behind them Karacknid fleets gather to exact revenge. With danger at every turn, Admiral Lightfoot must find a way to get his ships home or Earth will be left defenceless.On Earth the Empire has been formed and is bringing the outlying colonies into its fold... -
![Incursion at Elea Station by Jamie McFarlane]()
Incursion at Elea Station by Jamie McFarlane
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsAn alien invasion. A home-world destroyed. Can an embattled captain survive a daring fight to save the remnant of his colony? Privateer Liam Hoffen can’t wait to reunite with his family. But after he emerges from a 20-year stasis, he’s shocked to discover a hostile enemy has razed his home and exiled his people...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Prisoner of Eldaron by Jay Allan, Mark Boyett]()
The Prisoner of Eldaron by Jay Allan, Mark Boyett
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Search for Erik Cain...The Superpowers of Earth have fought their final war, leaving Earth a devastated ruin, populated only by scattered groups of survivors living in primitive squalor. Out in space, however, humanity moves forward, and the former colonies of Earth's dead nations are now free from the yoke of the despotic governments that had long ruled over them...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Origin Series is empire building at its finest, with 100 episodes and over 2.5 million words in the military science fiction serial detailing the rise of Star Force from corporate entity into an interstellar empire over the course of more than a millennium... -
![Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Origin Series is empire building at its finest, with 100 episodes and over 2.5 million words in the military science fiction serial detailing the rise of Star Force from corporate entity into an interstellar empire over the course of more than a millennium... -
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![Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Origin Series is empire building at its finest, with 100 episodes and over 2.5 million words in the military science fiction serial detailing the rise of Star Force from corporate entity into an interstellar empire over the course of more than a millennium... -
![Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Origin Series is empire building at its finest, with 100 episodes and over 2.5 million words in the military science fiction serial detailing the rise of Star Force from corporate entity into an interstellar empire over the course of more than a millennium... -
![Empires in Ruin by Anthony James]()
Empires in Ruin by Anthony James
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsProtected by their energy shields, the Lavorix warships Aeklu and Verumol survived the largest explosion ever created by technology. Now salvaged by the Human Planetary Alliance and their new Daklan allies, these once unstoppable weapons of mass destruction sit in a construction yard undergoing extensive repairs... -
![Divergence by C.J. Cherryh]()
Divergence by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe twenty-first book in the beloved Foreigner saga continues the adventures of diplomat Bren Cameron, advisor to the atevi head of state...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult bodyguard -
![Spinward Fringe Broadcast 9: Warpath by Randolph Lalonde]()
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 9: Warpath by Randolph Lalonde
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe war is on! Conflict grips the Iron Head Nebula and the star system that Jake, Ayan, Minh-Chu and their loved ones call home. The Order of Eden, British Alliance and other organisations creeping in the shadows enter into an all-or-nothing conflict that will change the political shape of the galaxy for centuries while Freeground is forced to leave its home space in search of help and safety... -
![Deep Black (Infinite Sky #1) by Samuel Best]()
Deep Black (Infinite Sky #1) by Samuel Best
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTwo crews return to Titan. Who will survive?Titan. Sixth moon of Saturn. A deadly enigma harboring the greatest secret in the history of humankind.In the wake of the first mission, two companies with very different goals plot a return to that distant moon. Their ships are safer, their technology has improved…and they want answers... -
![Delphi League by Bob Blanton]()
Delphi League by Bob Blanton
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe Delphineans have to deal with the fact that the Fazullan ship has slaves on it. They repatriate the Paraxean slaves with Mangkator and need to find a planet for the other slaves. But what do they do with the Fazullans? Then Catie takes is assigned the mission to take the Onisiwoens, the third set of aliens, home... -
![Legend of the Sword by Michael R. Hicks]()
Legend of the Sword by Michael R. Hicks
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSix months after the alien Kreelan Empire launched its invasion of human space, the Confederation of Humanity is rapidly growing. The planet of Saint Petersburg, however, would rather see the Confederation destroyed. With a secretly built navy, they have lured the Confederation fleet into a trap, even as the Kreelans prepare another devastating attack... -
![Prelude to Extinction by Andreas Karpf]()
Prelude to Extinction by Andreas Karpf
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEarth's first interstellar mission -- An alien colony in ruins -- Their fight for survival has only just begun.When Jack Harrison climbed down the short ladder from the airlock and stepped onto the debris covered soil, the ground crackled with the sound of dried leaves and twigs...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Starship Sakira by Bob Blanton]()
Starship Sakira by Bob Blanton
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhat would you do if you found a spaceship? Would you call the government, would you pretend you never saw it, or would you keep it a secret? What would you do with it? Use it to gallivant around the galaxy, conquer Earth, get filthy rich, or try to improve life on Earth? Read along and find out how Marc tries to convert Earth into a spacefaring world capable of defending itself and of being...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure audiobook book -
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![Scorpio by Marko Kloos]()
Scorpio by Marko Kloos
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOn a distant Earth colony, an orphaned survivor of an alien invasion discovers that the greatest world-ending dangers aren’t behind her.It’s been eight years since an alien invasion drove a small surviving group of settlers to seek refuge in an underground shelter... -
![A.I. Battle Station by Vaughn Heppner]()
A.I. Battle Station by Vaughn Heppner
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWe defeated the invading death machines. But at a devastating cost, with smoldering radioactive craters on Mars, shattered moon-domes around Jupiter and floating junk where Saturn’s satellite cities used to orbit. We know more killing machines are coming and that the ultimate outcome seems hopeless. To win this war, we need more warships, more soldiers and a way to take the fight to the enemy...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![A.I. Assault by Vaughn Heppner]()
A.I. Assault by Vaughn Heppner
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsJon Hawkins and his crew are exhausted and homesick. They've destroyed the alien machine menace, going deep into the Kuiper Belt to annihilate the secret A.I. base. From out here the sun looks like just another star. It's a lonely existence. They're ready to go home.What they don't know - what no one could - was that the A.I. destroyer was only a scout.More alien vessels drop out of hyperspace...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Firestorm by D.J. Holmes]()
Firestorm by D.J. Holmes
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFour peaceful years have passed since the liberation of Haven. Captain James Somerville has taken his command, the heavy cruiser Titan, to Earth for a much-needed refit. As he is there, shocking news arrives from the American colonies. Unknown ships have attacked a remote colony. Nuclear missiles have devastated the planet’s surface leaving almost no survivors... -
![Mutineer by D.J. Holmes]()
Mutineer by D.J. Holmes
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Flex-aor have returned, putting in motion a chain of events that will thrust humanity into a galactic war, the scale of which no human has seen before. Banished in all but name, James’ political enemies have assigned him to the protection of humanity’s colonial frontier as a ploy to rid themselves of the hero of the Siege of Earth... -
![Attack Plan Alpha by Jay Allan]()
Attack Plan Alpha by Jay Allan
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA battle is coming, the greatest the Rim has seen in ten thousand years, a fight for freedom, for the future, for the very survival of all humanity holds dear. Tyler Barron and his comrades are ready for their greatest test, but even as they prepare to hold the line at Fortress Striker, to turn back the Highborn’s imminent attack, the enemy have opened another front, one far to the rear...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia exploration invasion space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult
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