Books like 'Ptolemy's Child'

Readers who enjoyed Ptolemy's Child by Scott McElhaney also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

sc-fi action / adventure space space-opera colonization space-travel exploration super-powered first-contact

Retaliation by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Part 2: Episode 10 A ship unable to defend itself… A captain determined to revive her… Worlds dependent on them both to survive… An enemy bent on their destruction… With the Aurora unable to fight, the Karuzari Alliance must find a way to not only repair their flagship, but to make the enemy pay dearly. Sometimes, you just have to make do with what you've got...

Categorized as:
exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook book fiction
A Price Too High by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars
· 20 ratings
Part 2: Episode 12 …An enemy in retreat …A new world to protect …A new potential ally on the horizon …A new chance to go on the offensive The Dusahn have taken a massive blow, and with the Aurora’s improved jump range, Captain Scott and the Karuzari Alliance can finally keep them at arms length...

Categorized as:
exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook book fiction
The All-Pro by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
· 14 ratings
THE ALL-PRO is the third book in the Galactic Football League series, following on THE ROOKIE and THE STARTER.Seven centuries into the future, aliens and humans compete for the greatest prize in the universe: the Galaxy Bowl trophy. Quarterback Quentin Barnes enters his third season at the helm of the Ionath Krakens...

Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel super-powered action-adventure aliens audiobook
The Saints of Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
· 31 ratings
Humanity is struggling to hold out against a hostile takeover by an alien race that claims to be on a religious mission to bring all sentient life to its God at the End of Time. But while things may look grim in the immediate aftermath of the attack, mankind is busy playing an even longer game than the aliens may have expected...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
The Colossus by Jay Allan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
The Hegemony strikes again… The Confederation and its allies have won their first victory, retaken their capital from he forces of the Hegemony. But the enemy is not beaten, far from it, and they are back, with an unstoppable weapon, a vast superbattleship, a deadly hybrid of imperial and Hegemony technology, called the Colossus...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
The Price of Liberty by D.J. Holmes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
War has been declared. The Indian Star Republic has landed ground troops on the newly discovered colony of Haven as they seek to seize access to the alien worlds of Vestar and Kulthar. The British Star Kingdom has reacted. A battle fleet has been formed with orders to drive off the Indians and retake Haven...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction
Messinants by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
Pyre 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:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Elvians by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
Two 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...

Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult ai aliens
Delphi Colony by Bob Blanton, Jessica Gurd
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Book 8 of the popular series Delphi in Space. The McCormacks are finally going to start an Earth Colony and the Paraxeans are finally getting a home. Catie is going to the Academy and Marc is going to Artemis...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure ai aliens
Delphi Challenge by Bob Blanton, Jessica Gurd
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Book 9 of the popular series Delphi In Space Delphi. In it, we find the McCormacks having to defend Artemis from the same Aliens that attacked the Paraxean colony fleet over 70 years before. Follow along as Catie finally graduates from the Academy...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure ai aliens
Nua'll by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
The 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:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook
Delphi Diversion by Bob Blanton
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Catie is on her way back to Earth after having settled the Fazulan slaves when the wormhole her ship is traveling in collapses. They are diverted to another system where big chunks are flying around. They rescue a ship and find themselves in the middle of a series of mysteries...

Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure aliens audiobook book
Cajole by Jenny Schwartz
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
If life on the border was complicated, life on Capitoline is insane. Nora and Liam struggle to reconcile her abilities and his duty, while caught up in the dangerous games of the powerful.Political intrigue, family drama, and ancient alien technology combine in the fourth novel of the Human Sector...

Categorized as:
space-opera super-powered exploration colonization space-travel first-contact romance sci-fi
Resolve by Jenny Schwartz
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
· 14 ratings
The unmissable conclusion to the science fiction series that has it all—ancient aliens, rogue AIs, beleaguered royalty, semi-repentant pirates, and the chance to go where no humans have gone before (well, not for five hundred years)—all wrapped up in the possibility of a happy-ever-after for everyone (bad guys excluded)...

Categorized as:
space-opera space-travel exploration first-contact colonization super-powered sci-fi space
Ep.#3.3 - Liberty and Truth, Peace and Prosperity (The Frontiers Saga - Part 3: Fringe Worlds) by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
Episode 3.3A new foe arises…An ugly truth emerges…A long lost friend returns…An iconic ship flies into battle…Captain Scott and the crew of the Aurora face the reality of a galaxy that is, in many ways, worse off than the one they left behind. But in doing so, they discover a new mission for the Aurora’s namesake, her captain, and her crew...

Categorized as:
exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction space
Leviathan's Fear: A Military Sci-Fi Series by Craig Martelle
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
Trapped in Ga’ee space, Leviathan runs for its life.And the lives of its crew.Declan Payne and Harry Wesson decide to go on the offensive. They have no choice.They can’t go home. It only delays the inevitable.The Ga’ee march relentlessly into the space of the seven races while turning an inward eye toward the interloper, the ship they call God1...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Give No Quarter by Jamie McFarlane
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
· 21 ratings
Alternate cover for ASIN B01FQ57I7G can be found here: Give No Quarter Branded criminals and on the run from the most powerful corporation in the known universe, Liam Hoffen and the crew of Hotspur have a simple choice to make...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Junkyard Spaceship by Jamie McFarlane
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
· 21 ratings
When 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:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 8 ratings
The 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...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
The 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...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel super-powered action-adventure adult book
Return to Haven by D.J. Holmes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
The revelation that the human race is not alone has sent shockwaves throughout Earth’s naval powers. Suddenly all eyes have turned to Haven and the trade routes to the Vestarian and Kulrean homeworlds. Thinking he has nothing to lose, Haven’s First Councilor puts into motion a plan that threatens to turn star empire against star empire...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook book
The Dark Invaders by Raymond L. Weil
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
From USA Today Best Selling Author Raymond L. Weil comes the second book in the Star Cross series. Over fourteen months have passed since Fleet Admiral Kurt Vickers drove the Profiteers from Earth. Eighty million people died while the planet was being ransacked and its wealth stolen. Now a new and deadlier threat comes from intergalactic space...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
In the first book of this series "Family Law", Lee's parents and their business partner Gordon found a class A habitable planet. They thought their quest as explorers was over and they'd live a life of ease. But before they could return and register their claim Lee's parents died doing a survey of the surface...

Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens book
Salvage by Jenny Schwartz
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
Secrets can get a girl killed. Cherry Pendit knows to keep hers close. But what if it’s whispering to her? What if it’s warning her of danger on the galactic horizon, and only she can save her clan?To save the people she loves, Cherry will have to risk her life to rescue a man she’s never met.A hunted man, a man abandoned on a derelict space station, on the far side of a black hole...

Categorized as:
space-opera super-powered exploration colonization first-contact space-travel sci-fi suspense
Ep.#3.11 - "The First Ranger" by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Part 3: Episode 11Sacrifices are made…Training is endured…Wrongs are righted…Heros are born…The Free Fleet’s plans are finally coming together. Now, there is a new force for good in the galaxy, and they’re known as ‘Rangers’."The First Ranger" is the 11th episode in Part 3 of the Frontiers Fringe Worlds...

Categorized as:
space-opera exploration space-travel sci-fi audiobook fiction action-adventure space
Omnia by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Alex 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:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook
Renegade Children by J.N. Chaney
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
People are dying. Shortly after Captain Jace Hughes and his team recover hundreds of surviving Eternal refugees, disaster strikes. A recently unearthed fauna dome, one of many biological arks on Earth, is destroyed and several people are killed. All proof points to the Eternals...

Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook book
Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
For 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:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook
Fracture by Ken Lozito, Scott Aiello
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Colonel Sean Quinn is stranded in another universe, along with two thousand people under his command. They've been hiding from the enemy long enough, now it’s time to return home. Outnumbered against a superior foe, Sean must risk everything in a daring operation, but the mysterious enemy has a few surprises of their own...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
The Prince Awakens by Fred Hughes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
· 12 ratings
Hazard King had always wanted to be an Imperial Fleet officer, just like his father.But he’s a Prince of the Realm, which make things a bit more… complicated. And when Hazard’s parents tell him that they don’t trust his older brother and want Hazard to be the Crown Prince—the heir to the throne—things go from bad to worse.And just when they can’t get any worse, the Empress is attacked...

Categorized as:
space-opera colonization space-travel first-contact exploration sci-fi fiction military
Direct Fire by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
· 21 ratings
From street criminal to war hero.From outcast to Marine officer.The journey has been a long one, but now it’s reaching the end.Cam Alvarez leads his platoon of Drop-Troopers into the Tahni Imperium, into the final days of the war and the bloodiest battles yet...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Emergence by Ken Lozito, Scott Aiello
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
· 14 ratings
As 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:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
· 30 ratings
The 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:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
The Others by Jay Allan
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
· 17 ratings
From the deepest darks of unknown space, evil comes… Admiral Tyler Barron and the Confederation navy face a new threat, darker and deadlier than any that have come before...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Ep.#1 - "Aurora: EV-01" (The Frontiers Saga - Part 3: Fringe Worlds) by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars
· 11 ratings
A new ship...A new crew...A new crisis...A friend at risk... The Confederated Systems Alliance has spread to dozens of systems, creating the first true interstellar alliance dedicated to bringing peace and prosperity to all inhabited worlds. Unfortunately, some see this new alliance as a threat to their own seats of power, and would do anything to stop it...

Categorized as:
exploration space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction space sci-fi
Dark Moon Arisen by Chris Kennedy, Mark Wandrey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
The war continues! The Omega War is in full swing. Earth has fallen to General Peepo’s army, and the surviving Human mercenaries have taken refuge at the hidden Winged Hussars’ base in New Warsaw...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Plains of Utopia: Colony Six Mars (Colony Mars Series Book 6) by Gerald M. Kilby
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
Xenon Hybrid, the Red Planet’s ceremonial head-of-state, has not been seen for many years after withdrawing to an isolated enclave in the far north where he steadily built up a following of citizens seeking out an alternative lifestyle. They bother no one, and no one bothers them...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction hard-sci-fi
Fall of the Core by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
A freelance reporter struggling to get into the 'big time'...A rookie officer starting her career in public safety...A cargo ship captain trying to outlive a terminal illness that has no cure...A bounty hunter returning a long-hunted fugitive to Earth...A terrible plague that threatens to destroy the human race...The 25th century is not starting off very well...

Categorized as:
exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook book fiction
Alpha Contracts by Chris Kennedy, Mark Wandrey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
“Before CASPers were the lords of the battlefield, men tested their metal against aliens one-on-one.” First contact has been made, and Earth’s militaries and its premier mercenary companies stand ready to take their first tentative steps outside the Solar System...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Stardust by Edward W. Robertson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
The invaders have arrived. The last battle for humanity is about to begin. STARDUST is the final book in the Rebel Stars series...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Valkyrie's Daughter by John E. Siers
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
· 6 ratings
The alien Akara have a secret. They've discovered the location of a planet that is home to a primitive human civilization, another ancient "seeding" of the legendary Progenitors. But this planet lies in the territory of the Otuka, spacefaring alien predators who consider human flesh to be a delicacy and the planet to be their private hunting preserve...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Explorer by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
· 27 ratings
It has been nearly ten years since the starship Phoenix returned to Alpha, the station orbiting the world of the atevi, which had been abandoned following a rift between a faction of the station's inhabitants and the spacers' Pilot's Guild...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Resurgence by Jerry Aubin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
· 8 ratings
With the battle for Earth over, our heroes are forced to deal with the repercussions of its outcome. They enlist their closest allies to take back the Ship from enemies both new and old, and along the way they discover a most unexpected source of help...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure audiobook book fiction
Star Force: Origin Series Box Set (85-88) by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
· 8 ratings
The 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...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
· 8 ratings
The 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...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
· 8 ratings
The 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...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction
Delphi Forge by Bob Blanton
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
After ADI informs the board, that with the stress of the new planets in the League, they will run out of platinum metals, Catie is asked to build a starbase so in another star system so they can have a reliable source. Of course, nothing is ever simple, and Catie has to struggle with those who’s personal greed puts everyone at risk...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-travel action-adventure aliens audiobook book
The Alliance by Raymond L. Weil
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
A mission to free a world from the Kleese has gone terribly wrong. Lieutenant Ryan Nelson and his Marines are trapped with no hope of rescue. On the Kleese home world, a division grows between the regular Kleese and the militaristic Zaltule. The war against the Kleese intensifies as the human led Alliance attempts a daring attack against the heart of the Kleese Empire...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Insurrection by Raymond L. Weil
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
The final battle between the Humans and the Zaltule is drawing near. However, the Arachnids have a secret that will ensure victory and allow them to wipe out the Human race once and for all.In the Strell Empire, former Supreme Overlord Xatul plans his return. He has amassed a fleet to take back control of the Kleese Empire...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens
Fortress Earth by Vaughn Heppner
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
· 10 ratings
Earth’s last Assault Troopers target the oldest being in existence. In the fourth book of the Extinction Wars series, Abaddon commands a Karg-Jelk Super Fleet bent on annihilating humanity. Years of intense terraforming has healed the Earth from the ravages of alien hell-burners and a deadly bio-terminator...

Categorized as:
colonization exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens

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