Books like 'Ascendant'
Readers who enjoyed Ascendant by Jack Campbell 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 war military politics exploration space-travel
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Vapor Trails by Joshua Dalzelle
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHe was a rogue element, disobeying orders and pursuing mission goals of his own. His Scout Team had been burned, disavowed by his chain of command and the owner of the stolen ship he was flying was after them to get it back. To make matters even more complicated, the man Jacob had stolen the ship from is an infamous outlaw and mercenary named Jason Burke… his father... -
![Citadel by Marko Kloos]()
Citadel by Marko Kloos
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsAn interplanetary battle is renewed in an epic novel of a warring solar system by the author of Ballistic.The war should have been over. But it’s not for a group of nationalists grabbing for control.It’s been two weeks since a missile with a nuclear warhead tore through the planetary defenses in the most blistering large-scale attack ever committed in the history of the Gaia system... -
![The Price of Liberty by D.J. Holmes]()
The Price of Liberty by D.J. Holmes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWar 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... -
![A Grimm Decision by Jeffery H. Haskell]()
A Grimm Decision by Jeffery H. Haskell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author Jeffery H. Haskell comes book six in the military science fiction epic in the tradition of Honor Harrington and Star Trek... -
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![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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![The Grand Alliance by Jay Allan]()
The Grand Alliance by Jay Allan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHell is Unleashed The Hegemony controls Megara, the Confederation’s capital. War has raged for five years. Millions are dead, vast fleets of ships have been destroyed. But in the stronghold where Tyler Barron and his comrades have gathered their allies and the last of their strength, a plan is being devised... -
![The Lost Earth by Vaughn Heppner]()
The Lost Earth by Vaughn Heppner
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt finally happened. Commander Thrax Ti Ix created a hyper-spatial tube for the Swarm Imperium. Across thousands of light-years, a vast armada of warships is heading for Earth to burn the homeworld down to its bedrock as the Swarm begins its genocidal campaign against the human race. No one—not the New Men, the Spacers, the Wahhabi Caliphate or Star Watch—has faced such staggering odds... -
![Kinetic Strike by Rick Partlow]()
Kinetic Strike by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe war made him a hero. Now the Marines need him to be a leader.Cam Alvarez is a Drop-Trooper. A warrior-knight wrapped in the futuristic armor of a high-tech battlesuit, and he’s one of the best. When he’s promoted to sergeant and asked to become a leader, he faces a whole new challenge. The Marines are striking deep into enemy territory and the casualties are mounting... -
![Buccaneers by Jamie McFarlane]()
Buccaneers by Jamie McFarlane
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe crew of the Hotspur just happens to be looking for a new home. If Nick James is right, and he usually is, the Tipperary solar system is about to become the busiest trading hub in the galaxy. To sweeten the pot, the cloud-city of Lèger Nuage is offering free warehouse space to qualified traders. It's a deal that seems too good to pass up. Of course, nothing's as simple as it seems...Categorized as:
exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel war action-adventure -
![Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.50 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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Danger Close by Rick Partlow]()
Danger Close by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAll Cam Alvarez has known is war.For three years, he’s fought the marauding alien Tahni on one God-forsaken planet after another, leading a squad of armored Drop Troopers.But the war is about to change.Cam is an officer now, fresh out of OCS and taking charge of his old platoon, and things have reached a tipping point... -
![Survivors by Toby Neighbors]()
Survivors by Toby Neighbors
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNothing in the Corps is guaranteed!Staff Sergeant Eli Vanhorn isn’t the man he used to be. Once a proud member of the Fleet Marine Corps’ elite Terrestrial Advance Combat teams, the battle on colony planet Luyten C left him broken and scarred. But after a year of surgeries and physical therapy, he’s ready to complete his enlistment as Master of Arms on the exploration vessel Rihla...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-travel war action-adventure -
![Bane of Worlds by Anthony James]()
Bane of Worlds by Anthony James
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFollowing his successful mission to recover the missing warship ESS Crimson, Captain John Duggan finds himself unredeemed in the eyes of his superiors. His duties resume and this time he’s given something easy - escort a cargo ship to a distant planet and bring it home safely. But war is never so predictable and a straightforward mission becomes something much more important...Categorized as:
exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![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...Categorized as:
exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
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![Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Series by Aer-ki Jyr
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![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...Categorized as:
exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Winds of Vengeance by Jay Allan]()
Winds of Vengeance by Jay Allan
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEarth Two. A new home for the survivors of the fleet, the men and women who battled against seemingly insurmountable odds to survive the assault of the First Imperium and to destroy the homicidal Regent, the artificial intelligence committed to their destruction... -
![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...Categorized as:
exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Return to Haven by D.J. Holmes]()
Return to Haven by D.J. Holmes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe 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... -
![The Dark Invaders by Raymond L. Weil]()
The Dark Invaders by Raymond L. Weil
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom 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... -
![Fracture by Ken Lozito, Scott Aiello]()
Fracture by Ken Lozito, Scott Aiello
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsColonel 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... -
![Direct Fire by Rick Partlow]()
Direct Fire by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsFrom 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... -
![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:
exploration military space-fleet space-opera space-travel war action-adventure adult -
![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:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-opera space-travel war action-adventure -
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![Blood World by B.V. Larson]()
Blood World by B.V. Larson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA dirty deal was struck. Humanity was allowed to keep three hundred rebellious worlds. In return, we declared war on a powerful enemy from beyond the frontier. A frantic build-up of forces has begun, but the task is hopeless. Seeking allies, Earth’s legions are sent to BLOOD WORLD. A planet on the fringe of known space, where the people only respect masters of combat... -
![The Others by Jay Allan]()
The Others by Jay Allan
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsFrom 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... -
![Ballistic by Marko Kloos]()
Ballistic by Marko Kloos
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThere is a personal price to pay for having aligned with the wrong side in a reckless war. For Aden Jansen it’s the need to adopt a new identity while keeping his past hidden. Now he’s integrated himself aboard the Zephyr, a merchant ship smuggling critical goods through dangerous space. But danger is imminent on planet Gretia, as well... -
![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:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![Maelstrom Strand by Rick Partlow]()
Maelstrom Strand by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSome enemies don’t get mad. They get even. Logan Conner and Wholesale Slaughter won the day on Revelation, but the Starkad Supremacy doesn’t like failure. If they can’t beat Sparta on the battlefield, they’ll make them fold from within...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-travel action-adventure adult -
![Judas Kiss by Rick Partlow]()
Judas Kiss by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe battle for Sparta has begun. Logan Brannigan has taken back his father’s name and now he and Wholesale Slaughter fight to reclaim his father’s throne. But deposing the traitor, Rhianna Hale, without bringing all of Sparta into a bloody and divisive civil war won't be easy. And while the Spartans fight among themselves, vultures circle, waiting for their chance to claim what’s left...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-travel action-adventure adult -
![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..Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![Third Moon Chemicals: Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant Book 3 by Andrew Moriarty]()
Third Moon Chemicals: Adventures of a Jump Space Accountant Book 3 by Andrew Moriarty
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJake's back. He's not the best spy ever. He fails his pilot exam, he can't shoot, and he gets beat up a lot, usually by girls. Next task is to track containers of missing food. What could possibly go wrong? Next thing he knows he's on a strange ship with not one, but two pretty girls, helping them smuggle illegal workers to pirates...Categorized as:
colonization military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![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..Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![Dead Man's Debt by Elliott Kay]()
Dead Man's Debt by Elliott Kay
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 28 ratings“WE REQUIRE A DIFFERENT BATTLEFIELD.” Nobody expected the war to last three hours, let alone three years. The star system of Archangel holds the line against invading corporate fleets, but a quarter of its territory is already lost. The navy can’t hang on much longer. Faced with this grim truth, Archangel’s leaders shift their strategy to diplomacy and espionage... -
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![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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![Corvus by Marko Kloos]()
Corvus by Marko Kloos
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen the aliens evolve, so does the threat against humanity in this thrilling sequel to Scorpio that finds Alex Archer in an epic battle of survival against the odds and the alien invaders.Alex Archer is a soldier now, the only civilian survivor from Scorpio to join the NAC Defense Corps... -
![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... -
![The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 3 by David Drake]()
The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 3 by David Drake
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWith a veteran ’s eye for the harsh and gritty details of war, David Drake depicts a futuristic analog of Vietnam-era tank combat in his Hammer’s Slammers fiction. Upon this tactical foundation, Drake uses historical metaphor to provide a rich and detailed future-history that is both unique and strangely familiar... -
![War INC: Ace Evans Series book 1 by Toby Neighbors]()
War INC: Ace Evans Series book 1 by Toby Neighbors
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Alex sees a Defender Class battle mech shot down just meters from where he’s hiding, he knows he has to do something. Getting into a mechanized battle suit isn’t easy, and controlling the powerful war machine shouldn’t be possible without Ahzco’s secret Implanted Neural Control (INC) chip, but Alex is about to do something no one on a hundred worlds has ever done...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-travel war action-adventure -
![Terminus Cut by Rick Partlow]()
Terminus Cut by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMercenaries with a mission. Logan Conner has given up the life of a warrior prince to become Jonathan Slaughter, a mercenary captain of a rough-and-ready band of mech-jocks for hire. Already legendary throughout the Periphery, their next job brings them head-to-head with the Jeuta, militant aliens who seek to loot and plunder isolated human colony worlds... -
![Star Force: Origin Box Set #93-96 by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Box Set #93-96 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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![Resurgence by Jerry Aubin]()
Resurgence by Jerry Aubin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWith 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 military soldiers space-opera space-travel action-adventure audiobook -
![Star Force: Origin Series Box Set (85-88) by Aer-ki Jyr]()
Star Force: Origin Series Box Set (85-88) 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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
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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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![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...Categorized as:
colonization exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure -
![Inferno Sphere by Anthony James]()
Inferno Sphere by Anthony James
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsInferno Sphere. A bomb to end all bombs. The ruthless species of biomechanical aliens known as Vraxar have been driven away from the Confederation planet Atlantis. They are not defeated and their unprovoked attack has given them the means to locate the rest of the Confederation worlds. However, the Vraxar are not predictable and their next move is completely unforeseen...Categorized as:
exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![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...Categorized as:
exploration military soldiers space-fleet space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult
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