Books like 'Runner'
Readers who enjoyed Runner by William C. Dietz also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi action / adventure space-opera aliens magic
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I Dare by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe enemies of Korval have offered Pat Rin the Ring that would make all of Korval's holdings his own, and a Juntavas Judge has offered Pat Rin a world. When he appears with hired guns in tow, no one knows what he'll do. Pat Rin is a gambling man, and on his wild-card shoulders the fate of his Clan, his world, his civilization... -
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... -
Captain Caveman by Jerry Boyd
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsBob and the crew are off to deliver a shipload of lost property to its rightful owners. What dangers, seen and unseen, will they find at this lost colony? Will there be new crew members, waiting to be found? Find out in Bob and Nikki’s latest adventure... -
Shaved Ape Key by Jerry Boyd
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsWhat do you do when you can’t give away a space carrier? Learn to be the best captain you can. If one of your most loyal bots has unfinished business, you have to send him out to finish it up, don’t you? Come along as Bob faces his new responsibilities as captain of the B. S. Gene Cernan. And don’t forget to sing along...“There’s room for you, and there’s room for me... -
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Who Can Own the Stars? by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Kingdom of Central's sovereign, Heather Anderson, set L1 as a limit for armed ships to respect, de-militarizing the Solar System. Now that the Earth nations are experimenting with star drives they want to challenge this limit anew. The USNA starship, Constitution is intercepted violating the L1 limit and brings them to the brink of war again... -
Starfoot by Jerry Boyd
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsAre Jim and Molly okay? John’s old friend Steve needs help. Can the crew take care of his problem? Can he help with some of their problems? Bob gets caught, loading a saucer. Will it mean big trouble, or a new crew member? Max finds marooned saucers on the Moon... -
Company by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOut here on the edge of sector eight, I can be alone with my thoughts. Sometimes, this isn't a good thing... -
Visitor by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe worst part about having it all, is having it all taken away... -
The Wrath of Vajazzle by Barry J. Hutchison
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsSuicide Squad meets Galaxy Quest, in this fast-paced, laugh-out-loud novel from the author the Independent calls, "the new Terry Pratchett." After saving an alien race and its god from a sentient zombie virus, Cal Carver and the crew of the Dread Ship Shatner are feeling pretty pleased with themselves... -
Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsSixteen-year-old Priscilla Delacroix was declared legally dead by her mother, High Priestess of the Goddess. Banished to survive on her own, Priscilla has roamed the galaxy for ten years as an outcast—to become a woman of extraordinary skill. . . .An experienced officer assigned to the Liaden vessel Daxflan, she's been abandoned yet again... -
Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsOn the run from assassins, Val Con yos'Phelium and Miri Robertson are stranded on a distant planet and must learn to trust each other if they're going to survive - and learn to love each other if they're going to heal the dark wounds of their past... -
Behold Humanity!: May We Come In? by Ralts Bloodthorne
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsThe Unified Civilized Council, which has ruled for over a hundred million years has discovered new species in the Long Dark. Strange and unknown species that seem to have no rhyme or reason about them. Compounding the problem is the reappearance of the ancient Precursor Autonomous War Machines... -
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... -
Bernie and the Wizards by Steve LeBel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsASIN moved from less recent edition here For God School's latest graduate, the adventure continues... Bernie fixes broken universes for a living. Unlike other gods who tend to take a hellfire-and-brimstone approach to problem-solving, Bernie prefers a more gentle approach... -
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Home is Where the Heat is by Jerry Boyd
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBob and friends come back to Earth for a little well-deserved R and R. Take a few nice walks in the woods, play a little paintball. Too bad it can’t be that easy. Too many people want Commonwealth tech, for them to ever have any peace... -
Bounty by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI live in a tin can out on the edge of sector eight. Not much is supposed to happen here. Ships are supposed to fly by at twenty times the speed of light. My beacon is supposed to keep them safe. Things don't always go like they're supposed to... -
Hoopee Do by Jerry Boyd
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingst turns out that strange saucers have strange people flying them. The new fella’s attitude makes things hard, and the crew has their work cut out for them, to get along with him. Finding a nice, clean planet makes it all worthwhile. Come see how the folks at Bob’s Saucer Repair fix this one up... -
Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven by Larry Niven, Rick Sternbach
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsRanging from the 20th Century to the 31st, these interconnected stories trace Man's expansion and colonization throughout the galaxy...Becalmed in hellHowie's spaceship had a malfunction...but it might be only psychosomatic!Wait it outHe was trapped on Pluto...and all his assets were frozen!The borderland of SolForward possessed the ultimate weapon..Categorized as:
aliens space-opera action-adventure adult anthologies fiction hard-sci-fi solar-system -
Ancient Thought by Viola Grace
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIs the end of one life the start of the next? It is if you have been reset.Elizabeth has spent her life exploring the world, visiting strangers, and learning all the customs she could. When the first Volunteer Project began, she had been in her fifties and out of the running. Now, at eighty-two, they offer to tune her up and send her to the stars... -
Victorious Dead by Marie Andreas
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe galaxy was in for a world of hurt—chaos unseen since the violent, sadistic Asarlaí ruled. For the first time in her life, Vas doesn’t know if she can fight hard enough to stop it.Vaslisha Tor Dain was a simple sort of mercenary starship captain. She fought hard, drank hard, and killed people when all else failed... -
Day's Hunt by Cheree Alsop
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsConfronted with the truth about her origin, Liora has to make a difficult choice that can change the entire fate of the Macrocosm. Battling loss, Ketulans, and the desires of her own heart, Liora confronts an evil she thought long banished from her life and the cosmos. The fight she faces turns out to be the most difficult of her life in more ways than one... -
Krimson Run by Julia Huni, Craig Martelle
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Federation will make you pay for your crimes, even the fake ones.Tony, a spy from a rival star system who is the scion of a galactic crime family. Quinn, falsely accused former military, betrayed by her husband. A conspiracy that intertwines their lives.Where did the government go wrong? When they separated Quinn from her kids... -
The Shaman of Karres by Eric Flint, Dave Freer
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCaptain Pausert just can’t catch a break! First, he became the mortal enemy of his fiancée, his home planet, the Empire—and even the Worm World, the darkest threat to mankind in all of space. All because he helped rescue three slave children from their masters... -
Legacy Systems by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwo stories of ancient computer systems and the changes they bring to the Liaden Universe.Intelligent DesignWhen a spaceship's inquisitive cabin boy finds a surplus crate of spare parts at a warehouse, all he knows is that he wants it very much. His older cousin's willing to see him buy it, but not quite so understanding when it comes time to connect the dots... -
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Dark Cover by Jeffrey Burger
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space." ~Carl Sagan Secret, alien operatives have spent decades infiltrating humanity; government, military and key positions in the populous to prepare the world's population for control and mass slavery... -
Starfree Port by Randolph Lalonde
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe third book in the First Light Chronicles Series. The crew of the First Light enjoy the first safe harbor since they departed Freeground. While repairs are under way some of the crew get a chance to know each other better, including Captain Jonas Valent and Commander Ayan Rice... -
The Modloch Empire by J.W. Murison
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBook three in the Steven Gordon series takes us in to the heart of the Modloch Empire. Humanity quickly becomes ensnared by galactic politics. The people of Earth have to choose a single representative and the President of the United States is elected. He leaves his office and rushes to the aid of the fleet, now trapped within the Modloch Emperor’s web... -
Dragon Tide by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKareen yos'Phelium Clan Korval has always done everything that was proper, rising by study and by example to become the foremost scholar of the Liaden Code of Proper Conduct on Liad - and perhaps in the galaxy. Indeed, it seems that the only people she cannot influence to seemly action are the members of her own Clan. Now, wit Plan B in effect, Kareen must act... -
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... -
Devourer (Reality Benders Book #8): LitRPG Series by Michael Atamanov
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe aggressive invaders from another galaxy cannot be stopped. The Composite keeps capturing system after system wiping out everything in its path, and there is no sign of a force capable of standing up to it.In the search for allies, Gnat embarks on a long journey aimed at uniting the various branches of the human race... -
The Black Planet by J.W. Murison
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is the second adventure in the Steven Gordon Series, Steven and his friend reach out into our solar system. Halfway between our sun and the Great Barrier they come across a previously undiscovered Black Planet. While exploring this strange new world they come across a strange alien structure, and what they find inside will change human history forever... -
Fuzzies and Other People by H. Beam Piper
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThe friendship between human Jack Holloway and the small, golden-furred creatures of the planet Zarathustra has a profound impact on both Holloway and the Fuzzies... -
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... -
Wyt and Wild by Viola Grace
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBook 7 of the Sector Guard series.Alessandra Wyt has been hooked to computers for the majority of her tenure in the Alliance for her talented intuition, but when an opportunity for reassignment to the Sector Guard came up, she jumped at the chance, so to speak. With her mind unable to handle space travel, she is shipped unconscious across the galaxy... -
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Hael's Fury by Viola Grace
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMinimizing natural disasters was all that Liv Hael lived for. Her matriarchal family tree had a long history of doing their duty to Drai and she was following in their footsteps. When she meets the dragon that she dreamed about, and he offers her a position in the Sector Guard, she can't believe her ears. Only one thing stands in the way of Liv and Vasu joining... -
Dragon Summons by Viola Grace
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBook 8, in the bestselling Sector Guard series.Assigned as Inventory Master to the newest Sector Guard base on Teklan, Roxanne is sure only of one thing, if the seductive singing in her mind doesn’t stop, she is going to go nuts. With a little investigation, she finds the source of the nocturnal music and tells it to shut up... -
Freddy Anderson's Home by John Ricks
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's a hard life when you're a super genius capable of many things, including using your mind in ways that others only dream of. Freddy Anderson used that ability working to save the world from a world ending disaster. However, the human race is now at war. Aliens have attacked and captured many of our top people including Freddy Anderson and are headed back to their home world... -
The Star Wars Storybook by Geraldine Richelson, George Lucas
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe intergalactic adventures of Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance as they battle the evil Imperial forces which have overthrown the Old Republic... -
First Light Chronicles Freeground by Randolph Lalonde
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe first book in the First Light Chronicles Series. Large enough to support an entire civilization, one of the last free ports all alone in the dark, Freeground Station is about to come under siege... -
Losing Mars by Cidney Swanson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJessamyn has survived a terrifying crash but lost her ship, joining Pavel, Ethan, and others in the dissenter settlement of Yucca. Now, Chancellor Lucca Brezhnaya believes Jess is out to destroy the Terran government, and Lucca will stop at nothing to find Jess... -
Mandrake Company by Ruby Lionsdrake
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn a star system run by an oppressive galactic conglomeration, the only way to stay free is to have your own ship. And even that’s not a guarantee. Join the mercenaries of Mandrake Company as they combat bounty hunters, elude government traps, and battle nefarious finance lords in their quest to make their own destinies... -
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... -
Wanderer: Origins by Simon Goodson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHunted by a powerful Imperial fleet, his friends infected by the Taint, Jess has only one place to turn — the homeworld of his amazing ship, the Wanderer.But his journey will reveal the origins of far more than just the Wanderer, and both the Empire and the Taint will be ready to pounce at any moment... -
The Legend of ZERO: The Many Misadventures of Flea, Agent of Chaos by Sara King, Lance MacCarty
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYou asked for it, so here it is: an ILLUSTRATED Legend of ZERO story! BLURB: A rogue Trith is out to start a war, and only one bug can bring him down. In this Legend of ZERO novella, Joe Dobbs' eccentric, ceiling-lurking groundmate Flea teams up with Forgotten to stop a Trith from killing his friends. The task, however, is harder than it sounds--often because of Flea's own dubious choices... -
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Space Vengeance by Mark Wayne McGinnis
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"The crazy ride continues... and never lets up!" Captain Jason Reynolds is back! In the third installment of the Scrapyard Ship sci-fi adventure series, Space Vengeance, Jason, his family, and The Lilly's crew face the impending destruction of their internal nano-devices... -
Halo: Silentium: Book Three of the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the last years of the Forerunner empire, chaos rules. The Flood—a horrifying shape-changing parasite—has arrived in force, aided by unexpected allies. Internal strife within the ecumene has desperately weakened Forerunner defenses.Too little, too late, the legal rate of Juridicals is only now investigating possible crimes by the Master Builder and others... -
Secret Squirrels by Jerry Boyd
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Squirrels want Bob and the Gene out of their sky. Bob just wants to get along, maybe do a little business. How can he convince them he means no harm? Does he have to show them that they don’t want him for an enemy, just to get their attention? Find out in Secret Squirrels... -
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... -
Orphan Star by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOne man in the Universe holds the key to the mystery of Flinx’s past–and that man is trying to kill him!It is a strange childhood for a kid, to be adopted by the restless Mother Mastiff and raised in the bustling marketplace of Drallar. Flinx never knew the mom and dad who abandoned him years ago. In fact, his birth has always been shrouded in mystery... -
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...
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