Books like 'Starfarers'
Readers who enjoyed Starfarers by Vonda N. McIntyre also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space space-opera lgbtq aliens
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The MVP by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTHE MVP is the fourth book in the Galactic Football League series, following on THE ROOKIE, THE STARTER and THE ALL-PRO. Set in a lethal American professional football league seven centuries in the future, THE MVP puts huge humans on the field with four alien races, creating a game that is faster, stronger and deadlier than anything we know today... -
Stronghold: A Darkstar Mercenaries Novella by Anna Carven
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAbbey's thrown in the deep end.Tarak creates an alliance with a furry being.Ami has her father wrapped around her tiny little finger.It's just another day in the life of our fearsome Kordolians and their human mates. A light-hearted peek into Tarak and Abbey's life on Earth.Sanctuary is a 22000 word "slice-of-life" novella set in the Dark Planet Warriors/Darkstar Mercenaries universe... -
The Life of the Mind by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPart one of the four parts of the full-length novel, The End of All Things.A down-on-his-luck Colonial Union starship pilot finds himself pressed into serving a harsh master-in a mission against the CU. But his kidnappers may have underestimated his knowledge of the ship that they have, quite literally, bound him to piloting... -
A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe enigmatic Garak—Cardassian-in-exile on space station Deep Space Nine—refers to himself as just a simple tailor, but everyone knows that there's more to him than that... -
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Slave Trade by Craig Martelle, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsNo respect for life. Or the law. It’s the trade. In sentience. Run by the Corranites, creatures that have always traded in intelligent alien life.Bought and sold. Nothing more than property.Rivka is having none of it. With an eye toward taking the entire supply line down, she launches into the greater galaxy. All the way to the heart of the Federation.It’s bigger than anyone knows... -
Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAssistant Trader Jethri Gobelyn was an honest, hardworking young man who knew a lot about living onboard his family's space-going trade ship; something about trade, finance, and risk-taking; and a little bit about Liadens. It was, oddly enough, the little bit he knew about Liadens that seemed like it might be enough to make his family's fortune, and his own, too... -
Dreamstorm by M.C.A. Hogarth
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJahir and Vasiht’h have spent five years together in practice on Starbase Veta, and their life is everything they’d hoped: their practice is fantastic, their social standing great, and their domestic life a blissful routine... -
XD-317 by S.J. MacDonald
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"The committee has planned a task series for you, Alex..." With an alien aristocrat joining the crew, the Fourth Fleet Irregulars embark on a mission that will take them beyond the League's borders - and beyond their wildest dreams... -
Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell
Rated: 5.00 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsOcean’s Echo is a stand-alone, romantic space adventure, set in the same universe as Everina Maxwell's hit debut, Winter's Orbit.When Tennal—a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster—is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him... -
Artificial Evolution by Joseph R. Lallo
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsArtificial Evolution is the third book in the Big Sigma series, building upon the story and characters introduced by Bypass Gemini and Unstable Prototypes. Lex, Michella and Squee are once again joined by the mercenaries Silo and Garotte. Along the way they'll need plenty of help from mad engineer Karter Dee and his AI Ma... -
The Vindication by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA compelling heroine…a future as detailed as that of Herbert's Dune…and finely orchestrated suspense right up to the end. Strongly recommended... -
Star Wars: The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe heroes of the High Republic era return to face a shattered peace and a fearsome foe, following the dramatic events of Light of the Jedi.In the wake of the hyperspace disaster and the heroism of the Jedi, the Republic continues to grow, bringing more worlds together under a single unified banner... -
This Hollow Union by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPart two of the four parts making up the full-length novel, The End of All Things.Desperate times call for desperate measures. And for the multi-species Conclave, desperate times have arrived. Faced with the prospect of major planets and species leaving the alliance, the Conclave's leadership has just a few cards left to play...to unpredictable effect... -
The City and The Ship by Anne McCaffrey, S.M. Stirling
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwo novels in one large volume, both set in the same universe as The Ship Who Sang: The City Who Fought: Simeon was bored with running the mining and processing station that made up his "body." Then the invaders came. If anyone was to survive, somehow he must transform his wargaming hobby into the real thing and become The City Who Fought... -
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Pet Rocks by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt's been a week since the cargo ship was lost on my watch. A week with very little sleep and not much appetite. Now the bio scanner is picking up some sign of life out there in the wreckage, and it's my duty to go see what it is. Maybe I'm not as alone out here as I thought. And maybe I don't want to be... -
Star Crossed: 7 Novels of Space Exploration, Alien Races, Adventure, and Romance by Christine Pope, C. Gockel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSci-fi to fall in love with… 7 full-length novels that explore the future without forgetting that the most dangerous battles will always be within the human heart. Aliens, AI, cyborgs, galactic empires, space battles, and romance...you’ll find them all here, along with heroines and heroes you’ll cheer for... -
Unchained: a science fiction romance adventure by Ruby Lionsdrake
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne geeky neuroscientist sent to research the inmates of a prison asteroid. Two cyborg criminals determined to free the inmates. A forbidden romance among the stars. Dr. Skylar Russo, a woman known for her research skills rather than her people skills, wants nothing more than to forget that her fiancé left her at the altar... -
The Zanari Inheritance (Children of Zanar, #1) by Niall Teasdale
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKaya Trevorny’s world came to an end in the student welfare office of Abertine University. The colony where she had grown up, her family, was gone, dead under circumstances the authorities seemed keen to hide. To find the truth, Kaya must team up with a mercenary and a rag-tag group of smugglers. And the truth is something which will change her life forever... -
Ghosts & Ashes by F.T. Lukens
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThree months have passed since the events of The Star Host, and Ren is living aboard the Star Stream under the watchful eyes of the Phoenix Corps. Plagued by vivid nightmares that ravage the ship in his sleep, he struggles to prove he isn’t a threat and fears he has traded one captor for another... -
Family by M.C.A. Hogarth
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsXenotherapist Vasiht'h always thought himself as lucky to have befriended one of the rare and fascinating Eldritch, a man who's served as partner in their counseling practice for years without Vasiht'h ever really learning anything of his background.. -
Lone Star Renegades by Mark Wayne McGinnis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Could not put this book down!" "A great new SciFi series by Mark Wayne McGinnis ... can't wait for the next one." From author, Mark Wayne McGinnis, who brought you the hit series, Scrapyard Ship and Tapped In, comes a new and exciting new science fiction saga and the rise of the most unlikely new hero... -
Deep Navigation by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDeep Navigation is the 2010 Boskone Book by Boskone’s Guest of Honor Alastair Reynolds. It contains a broad spectrum of his work, from his first published story, "Nunivak Snowflakes," through "The Receivers" and "Monkey Suit," both published within the last year, plus an introduction by his friend, and former Boskone Guest, Stephen Baxter. It is well-known that the scope of Dr... -
Swallow the Sky: A Space Opera by Chris Mead
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNEW EDITION - August 2015. Professionally edited and proofed..Swallow the Sky embodies the essence of classic science fiction: real science, adventure, high spirits, and above all, a sense of wonder.Galactic culture is still reverberating from the nanotech disaster that destroyed Earth... -
Star Watch by Mark Wayne McGinnis
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"Loved this book! ... could not put it down ..." Join the Star Watch crew on their first mission to the planet of Trom, where hostile Pharlom invaders have appropriated high altitude cloud-ports as prisoner of war camps. As a fierce battle in space ensues, fragmented warships fall into Trom’s atmosphere and head right for a populated cloud-port... -
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Kutath (The Faded Sun, #3) by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsWhen the Mri, a proud and noble race of warriors serving as mercenaries in exchange for a planet to call home, confront the human enemies of their employers, they encounter a method of warfare alien to their system of honor. No match for the Mri one to one, despite their similar physiology, the humans fight without honor, driving the Mri to extinction with superior numbers and firepower... -
The Betrayal by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe first part of C.J. Cherryh's award-winning triad introduces the planet and complex politics of Cyteen, part of the Alliance/Union universe. Resources are limited and the scientific compound of Reseune, which produces computer-trained clones called azis, is a major power center. Reseune's lead scientist, the fierce and cruel Dr. Ariane Emory, has dominated Cyteen's political scene for decades... -
Shakedowners by Justin Woolley
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSome starship captains explore strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilisations. Some lead missions of discovery through wormholes to the other side of the galaxy. Then there's Captain Iridius B. Franklin, someone who spent too long seeking out strange new bars and new alien cocktails... -
Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"And everywhere the Humans went, they found life..."This dazzling future history, winner of the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award, is the most ambitious and exciting since Asimov's classic Foundation saga. It tells the story of Humankind - all the way to the end of the Universe itself... -
Nor Crystal Tears by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBefore Man and insectlike Thranx had become allies, when the reptilian AAnn were just occasional raiders of Thranx colony worlds, one young Thranx agricultural expert lived a life of quiet desperation... -
Sentenced to Prism by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe company had a big problem, it was illegally exploiting a fabulously rich planet maned Prism, a world where even the tiniest creatures were living jewels. But somehow, all contact had been lost with the scientist of the survey team. The Company didn't want to draw attention to itself by sending in a rescue mission so they assigned Evan Orgell, a self-confident problem-solver, to investigate... -
The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsFor two thousand years, the starship Astron has searched the galaxy for alien life--without success. Now, just as the ship is falling apart, the only direction left to explore is across the Dark, a one-hundred-generation journey through empty space.The ship's captain--immortal, obsessed--refuses to abandon the quest. He will cross the Dark, or destroy the ship trying... -
Resplendent by Stephen Baxter
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsResplendent: Destiny's Children Book Four "Cadre Siblings" (2000) "Conurbation 2473" (2003) "Reality Dust" (2000) "Mayflower II" (2004)[b] "All in a Blaze" (2003) "Silver Ghost" (2000) "The Cold Sink" (2001) "On the Orion Line" (2000) "Ghost Wars" (2006) "The Ghost Pit" (2001) "Lakes of Light" (2005) "Breeding Ground" (2003) "The Dreaming Mould" (2002) "The Great Game" (2003) "The Chop Line"... -
The Galactic Gourmet by James White
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this latest novel of the series, readers meet an alien chef named Gurronsevas who has come to Sector General to face the greatest challenge of his career--making hospital food palatable. His ensuing adventure combines interspecies administrative politics, ingenious science puzzles and a judicious admixture of action and adventure... -
Ambulance Ship by James White
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCALLING DR. CONWAY. . .There was a lot of talk about the vital importance of his new assignment, but it still seemed like a demotion to Senior Physician Conway. After twelve years of outstanding service--and the most incredible experiences imaginable--Conway couldn't quite appreciate the "honor" of becoming an ambulance attendant at this stage of his life.True, the insectile empath, Dr... -
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First Contact by D.L. Harrison
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlicia Jones is a genius, and a little odd. At just twenty three years of age, she is close to finishing her doctoral dissertation. But when she tests her latest theory in the lab to generate a strong EM field, it has very unanticipated results. Results that lead to faster than light travel, and first contact with another race... -
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The Human Division Extras by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsContains:- After the Coup (2008)- Hafte Sorvalh Eats a Churro and Speaks to the Youth of Today... -
The Gaia Gambit by Christine Pope
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHumans and Stacians have been sworn enemies for centuries, so Gaian Captain Lira Jannholm has no reason to trust Stacian starship commander Rast sen Drenthan when he proposes a bargain that will end a dangerous confrontation over a resource-rich planet... -
Revolution's Shore by Kate Elliott, Alis A. Rasmussen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the second volume of the Highroad trilogy, plucky interstellar adventurer Lily Ransome sets out with a ragtag group to defeat a cruel empire bent on consuming the universeLilyaka Hae Ransome grew up on the colonized planet of Unruli... -
Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War by Hal G.P. Colebatch, Larry Niven
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe first colonists from Earth named the planet Wunderland. Generations later, the felinoid alien invaders called Kzin came and turned it into a hell for humans... -
Shadow Crossing by Catherine Spangler
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCelie Cameron has spent her most of her life as a smuggler, skirting the law. She’s given that up for more legal delivery runs, but she misses the adrenaline rush of danger. When a routine delivery goes haywire, throwing her into the company of a handsome pilot—an android, or so she thinks—Celie finds herself embroiled in galaxy-spanning intrigue and deception... -
Rita Longknife: Enemy Unknown by Mike Shepherd
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe war is over. Hurray! Half the fleet is back in mothballs. But out on the rim of human space, ships are disappearing. Some are merchant ships going about their business. Others are exploration ships on deep space probes. What's happening to them? Captain Rita Nuu Longknife is ready to take the heavy cruiser Exeter to space and see what's out there... -
End Run by Christopher Stasheff, William R. Forstchen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the cat-like Kilrathi begin to gain on their human foes as they attempt to expand their imperial power, it is up to Wing Commander to defeat them... -
The Rebel Files: Collected Intelligence of the Alliance by Daniel Wallace
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis top-secret cache reproduces highly sensitive intelligence that traces the Rebel Alliance from its formation through its tireless fight against the Empire and the First Order. From its earliest beginnings in covert opposition to Imperial operations, the Alliance could not leave its most sensitive information open to the risk of digital interception... -
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The Shattered Sphere by Roger MacBride Allen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStriving to retrieve a stolen planet Earth and restore it to its proper solar system, an unlikely band of human scientists, dictators, and professional troublemakers face two enemies in the powerful Charonians and the mysterious Adversary. Reprint... -
The Attribute of the Strong by Stephen J. Sweeney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Pandoran War is nearing its end... and the Senate's Mistake have all but won... -
Seeing by Viola Grace
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSeeing while her eyes are tied is a blessing and a burden. She is obsessed and determined to find those who have been lost. Vida has been looking for her parents since the Tokkel took them six years ago. Her sister has given up on her obsession and removed herself from the pain of her twin’s hunt... -
Flotsam by R.J. Theodore
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA fantastical steampunk first contact novel that ties together high magic, high technology, and bold characters to create a story you won’t soon forget. Captain Talis just wants to keep her airship crew from starving, and maybe scrape up enough cash for some badly needed repairs... -
The Genocidal Healer by James White
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPhysician, heal thyselfSurgeon-Captain Lioren of the Monitor Corps was a hard-driving perfectionist who expected the same high standards to be met by all who worked with him. But while on a First Contact mission on the planet Cromsag, where plague had reduced a peaceful civilization to barbarism and war, Lioren's perfection was his undoing... -
A Song of Salvation by Alechia Dow
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the author of The Sound of Stars and The Kindred comes a YA space opera about a reincarnated god and a grumpy pilot on a mission to save a beloved space DJ and stop an intergalactic war. Zaira Citlali is supposed to die. After all, she’s the god Indigo reborn. Indigo, whose song created the universe and unified people across galaxies to banish Ozvios, the god of destruction...
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