Books like 'The Second Ship'
Readers who enjoyed The Second Ship by Richard Phillips also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery action / adventure space military, war & conflict aliens space-opera first-contact paranormal conspiracies
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Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsThirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper... -
![Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey]()
Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsThe Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again... -
![Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey]()
Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsWe are not alone.On Ganymede, breadbasket of the outer planets, a Martian marine watches as her platoon is slaughtered by a monstrous supersoldier. On Earth, a high-level politician struggles to prevent interplanetary war from reigniting. And on Venus, an alien protomolecule has overrun the planet, wreaking massive, mysterious changes and threatening to spread out into the solar system...Categorized as:
aliens conspiracies dystopia first-contact military political-intrigue politics space-opera -
![Age of Deception by T.A. White]()
Age of Deception by T.A. White
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWar hero and daughter to two Houses, Kira is just beginning to learn how deep the rabbit hole goes. Agreeing to accompany her father’s people back to their homeworld, Kira Forrest prepares for the fight of her life. She’s agreed to undertake the Trial of the Broken, a rite of passage every member of her father’s House must pass... -
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![Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey]()
Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsIn the thousand-sun network of humanity's expansion, new colony worlds are struggling to find their way. Every new planet lives on a knife edge between collapse and wonder, and the crew of the aging gunship Rocinante have their hands more than full keeping the fragile peace... -
![Rebellion by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Rebellion by Joshua Dalzelle
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe quadrant is on the brink of all-out civil war, but almost nobody knows it. Now that he knows a malevolent AI that calls itself the Machine has seized much of the ConFed's military apparatus and even controls the Grand Adjudicators themselves, Jason Burke must decide if he risks picking a fight with such an overmatched enemy, or if he runs to hide and fight another day... -
![The Pandora Paradox by Joshua Dalzelle]()
The Pandora Paradox by Joshua Dalzelle
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsIt started with a revolution nobody had even realized occurred…Its cruelty sparked a rebellion that everyone refused to admit existed…Now, the Machine—a terrifying and relentless enemy—reigns supreme in the galaxy, and the real fight is just beginning... -
![Mountain of Mars by Glynn Stewart]()
Mountain of Mars by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Mage-King of Mars is deadChaos rocks Olympus MonsA new monarch must rise – but she does not stand alone!As the celebration of the victory at Legatus cools, a shuttle accident claims the lives of the Mage-King of Mars and his heir. The Crown and the Mountain fall to the Mage-King’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Kiera Alexander...Categorized as:
aliens military political-intrigue space-opera suspense action-adventure adult angst -
![Boneshaker by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Boneshaker by Joshua Dalzelle
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsMarine First Lieutenant Jacob Brown is bored.For months he's been sitting around on an alien planet, waiting for command to recall his scout team so they could rest and be re-outfitted. The team went through hell during their previous mission, losing both their commanding officer and their ship...Categorized as:
aliens first-contact military political-intrigue space-opera action-adventure adult book -
![Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey]()
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsHumanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach.Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted... -
![Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey]()
Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsAbaddon's Gate is the third book in the New York Times bestselling Expanse series. For generations, the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt - was humanity's great frontier. Until now. The alien artefact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has emerged to build a massive structure outside the orbit of Uranus: a gate that leads into a starless dark...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia first-contact military political-intrigue politics space-opera suspense -
![Eisenhorn: The Omnibus by Dan Abnett]()
Eisenhorn: The Omnibus by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA Warhammer 40,000 OmnibusInquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn is one of Warhammer 40,000's most beloved anti-heroes. Operating on the very edge of Imperial doctrine, he investigates conspiracies that pit him against aliens, heretics, daemons, and even fellow Inquisitors.READ IT BECAUSEThis is every single one of Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn stories collected together for the first time in one mammoth tome... -
![A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine]()
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsNow a USA Today bestseller! Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2021Bookpage's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Science Fiction Book of 2021"[An] all around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia first-contact military political-intrigue politics space-opera suspense -
![Thrawn by Timothy Zahn]()
Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsOne of the most cunning and ruthless warriors in the history of the Galactic Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn is also one of the most captivating characters in the Star Wars universe, from his introduction in bestselling author Timothy Zahn’s classic Heir to the Empire through his continuing adventures in Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and beyond...Categorized as:
aliens military politics space-opera action-adventure audiobook book far-away-galaxy -
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![Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsThe year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star... vanishes. It does not go supernova... -
![Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor]()
Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsCivil war looms in the Bobiverse in this brand-new, epic-length adventure by best seller Dennis E. Taylor.More than a hundred years ago, Bender set out for the stars and was never heard from again. There has been no trace of him despite numerous searches by his clone-mates. Now Bob is determined to organize an expedition to learn Bender’s fate—whatever the cost... -
![Voice of Mars by Glynn Stewart]()
Voice of Mars by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsYOU CAN NEVER GO HOMEWhen accusations of piracy and mass murder are laid against his homeworld, Damien Montgomery is sent to resolve the crisis.As counter-accusations fly and an old flame re-enters his life, the newest Hand of the Mage-King of Mars finds himself in the midst of a bloody interstellar shadow war... -
![Alpha Class: Engineering by T.S. Paul, Michael Anderle]()
Alpha Class: Engineering by T.S. Paul, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWide Open Spaces. Ancient Ruins. Pissed Off Governments. Five Adventurous Students. What could possibly go wrong?Tag along as we follow Alpha Class when they study with Jeo, the lead of the Engineering team, and learn about engineering by reviewing important marvels across the earth.Without getting permission.If they thought the moon was dangerous, wait till they return to Earth... -
![Deep Black by Miles Cameron]()
Deep Black by Miles Cameron
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMarca Nbaro had always dreamed of serving aboard the Greatships, with their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city.They are the lifeblood of human-occupied space, transporting an unimaginable volume - and value - of goods from City, the greatest human orbital, all the way to Tradepoint at the other, to trade for xenoglas with an unknowable alien species... -
![Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsA rich Komarran merchant fleet has been impounded at Graf Station, in distant Quaddiespace, after a bloody incident on the station docks involving a security officer from the convoy's Barrayaran military escort. Lord Miles Vorkosigan of Barrayar and his wife, Lady Ekaterin, have other things on their minds, such as getting home in time to attend the long-awaited births of their first children...Categorized as:
aliens military political-intrigue politics space-opera suspense action-adventure adult -
![The War Ship: Rise of the Jain, Book Two by Neal Asher]()
The War Ship: Rise of the Jain, Book Two by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTheir nemesis lies in wait . . . Orlandine has destroyed the alien Jain super-soldier by deploying an actual black hole. And now that same weapon hoovers up clouds of lethal Jain technology, swarming within the deadly accretion disc’s event horizon. All seems just as she planned. Yet behind her back, forces incite rebellion on her home world, planning her assassination... -
![Defiance by Joel Shepherd]()
Defiance by Joel Shepherd
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe UFS Phoenix is hunting for the long-lost drysine data-core. Within it lie the secrets to saving humanity from the resurgent deepynine machine-race. To recover it, Captain Erik Debogande must work together with the man who holds his sister hostage — the power-hungry parren leader Aristan. Aristan has sworn he will return Lisbeth Debogande once Phoenix grants him equal access to its prize... -
![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... -
![Earth Below, Sky Above by John Scalzi]()
Earth Below, Sky Above by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAt last, the Earth and the Colonial Union have begun formal discussions about their relationship in the futurea chance for the divisions in humanity to be repaired. The diplomats and crew of the Clarke are on hand to help with the process, including Ambassador Ode Abumwe and CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson, both of whom were born on Earth. But not everyone wants The Human Division to be repaired.. -
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![The Solar War by A.G. Riddle]()
The Solar War by A.G. Riddle
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWe thought the war was over.We were wrong.They decimated Earth during the Long Winter.Now the grid has returned, and they won't stop until the human race is extinct.On a ruined world, humanity's last survivors fight against impossible odds. In their darkest hour, they discover a new hope for survival. But it comes at an unthinkable price, with consequences that will change everything... -
![The Enemy Within by Joshua Dalzelle]()
The Enemy Within by Joshua Dalzelle
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe quadrant is burning. Violent, deadly uprisings are breaking out, seemingly at random, all across the Confederation’s sphere of influence. The response by the powerful Confederation Fleet has been swift and decisive, but for every planet they restore order to, another erupts into chaos... -
![Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsCordelia and Arol Vorkosigan's plans for a peaceful married life (after all the bloodshed and trials recounted in SHARDS OF HONOR) are soon shattered by the polital tumult on Barrayar. Resisting enormous pressure, they struggle to keep their family alive while while protecting the child Emperor from enemies who would murder him and assume absolute power over all of Barrayar...Categorized as:
aliens military political-intrigue politics space-opera suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
![Auberon by James S.A. Corey]()
Auberon by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsA novella set in the universe of James S. A. Corey’s NYT-bestselling Expanse series, Auberon explores a new and alien world and the age-old dangers that humanity has carried with it to the stars. Now a Prime Original series.Auberon is one of the first and most important colony worlds in humanity’s reach, and the new conquering faction has come to claim it...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia military political-intrigue politics space-opera 21st-century action-adventure -
![Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff]()
Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsOur heroes are back… kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just might be the galaxy’s best hope for survival.First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed... -
![Inversion Point by Jenn Burke, Kelly Jensen]()
Inversion Point by Jenn Burke, Kelly Jensen
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsZander and Felix's relationship has been to the brink and back: the Human-Stin War, imprisonment and an actual death/resurrection. Zander's death, to be specific, and the experience has left him…changed. The mysterious race known as the Guardians chose to revive him and appointed him as their emissary... -
![A Pocket Full of Lies by Kirsten Beyer, Martin Frei]()
A Pocket Full of Lies by Kirsten Beyer, Martin Frei
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Full Circle Fleet has resumed its unprecedented explorations of the Delta Quadrant and former Borg space. Commander Liam O'Donnell of the U.S.S. Demeter makes a promising first contact with the Nihydron—humanoid aliens that are collectors of history... -
![Cascade by Joshua James]()
Cascade by Joshua James
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOPERATION CASCADE IS UNDERWAY.The changes on Enceladus are causing ripples throughout the solar system — and beyond. But the Artifact isn't done yet.The end is only the beginning...Cascade, the second book in the Saturn's Legacy series, is a sci-fi thriller full of mystery, intrigue, and epic action from the depths of the ocean to the edge of outer space... -
![The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle]()
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsIn 3016, the 2nd Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to faster-than-light Alderson Drive. Intelligent beings are finally found from the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud. The bottled-up ancient civilization, at least one million years old, are welcoming, kind, yet evasive, with a dark problem they have not solved in over a million years...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia first-contact military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Agents of Mars by Glynn Stewart]()
Agents of Mars by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn enemy hidden in the shadowsA crack in the armor of secrecyOne chance to find an answerCaptain David Rice and the crew of Red Falcon have spent two years infiltrating the arms smuggling underworld of the Protectorate of the Mage-King of Mars. When the co-opted rebellion on Ardennes reveals a supply chain of weapons intended to fight Mars, this makes them the perfect team to investigate...Categorized as:
aliens military paranormal political-intrigue space-opera action-adventure adult audiobook -
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![Kantovan Vault by Joel Shepherd]()
Kantovan Vault by Joel Shepherd
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe UFS Phoenix is on a mission to find a lost data-core that may contain the secret to defeating the alo-deepynine alliance. But the means to find the data-core is hidden deep in tavalai space, in a highest-security vault where the tavalai's manipulative State Department keep all their most treacherous secrets. To recover it, Phoenix must pull off the most daring heist the Spiral has ever seen... -
![Méridien by S.H. Jucha]()
Méridien by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Méridiens are fleeing to their far colonies—and they have reason to run. Over the course of decades, they have lost hundreds of ships, billions of people, and seven Confederation colonies to an alien enemy: an advancing swarm of silver ships transported in the bowels of a gigantic, spherical vessel... -
![Chasing the Shadows by Maria V. Snyder]()
Chasing the Shadows by Maria V. Snyder
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsYear 2522. Lyra Daniels is dead.Okay, so I only died for sixty-six seconds. But when I came back to life, I got a brand new name and a snazzy new uniform. Go me! Seriously, though, it's very important that Lyra Daniels stays dead, at least as far as my ex-friend Jarren, the murdering looter, knows.While dying is the scariest thing that's happened to me, it morphed my worming skills...Categorized as:
aliens first-contact paranormal space-opera suspense action-adventure archaeology audiobook -
![Brass Man by Neal Asher]()
Brass Man by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIan Cormac, a legendary Earth Central Security agent, the James Bond of a wealthy future, is hunting an interstellar dragon, little knowing that, far away, his competition has resurrected an horrific killing machine named "Mr. Crane" to assist in a similar hunt, ecompassing whole star systems. Mr... -
![Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer]()
Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom a Hugo Award-winning author comes the second book in this action-packed sci-fi caper, starring Fergus Ferguson, interstellar repo man and professional finder.As a professional finder, Fergus Ferguson is hired to locate missing objects and steal them back. But it is rarely so simple, especially after his latest job in Cernee... -
![A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine]()
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsAmbassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia political-intrigue politics space-opera suspense 21st-century action-adventure -
![Oracle by Douglas E. Richards]()
Oracle by Douglas E. Richards
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsA breathtaking near-future thriller. From the NY Times bestselling author whose books have been downloaded over a million times. An interstellar war is racing toward an unsuspecting Earth. Can one young woman stop it before it's too late? LA detective Anna Abbott can see brief, cryptic visions of the future. She just doesn't know it yet. But others do...Categorized as:
aliens first-contact military paranormal politics space-opera action-adventure alpha-mc -
![Blue Gemini by Mike Jenne]()
Blue Gemini by Mike Jenne
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsScott Ourecky wanted to fly—he never dreamed he'd end up in a secret military space program.The year is 1968: The Cold War is far from over, nuclear annihilation is always only a heartbeat away. America is racing the Soviet Union to land men on the Moon, a war is raging, and a pivotal presidential election looms on the horizon...Categorized as:
military political-intrigue politics suspense action-adventure audiobook book espionage -
![Space Murder by N.L. Haverstock, Nikki Haverstock]()
Space Murder by N.L. Haverstock, Nikki Haverstock
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor everything there is a season…Once the star student of her training class, Captain Liz Laika is now an outcast, a casualty of family scandal. Now stuck in the worst post in the Fleet, she should keep her head down. But when a Cerulean passenger is found decapitated, and Liz is framed for the murder, she has no choice but to fight for her life... -
![Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray]()
Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsAn unexpected offer threatens the bond between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi as the two Jedi navigate a dangerous new planet and an uncertain future.A Jedi must be a fearless warrior, a guardian of justice, and a scholar in the ways of the Force. But perhaps a Jedi’s most essential duty is to pass on what they have learned...Categorized as:
aliens military space-opera action-adventure audiobook book far-away-galaxy female-author -
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![The Reporter by Scott Sigler, Mur Lafferty]()
The Reporter by Scott Sigler, Mur Lafferty
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Reporter follows Yolanda Davenport, a reporter for Galaxy Sports Magazine, as she searches for the truth about Ju Tweedy's involvement with the murder of Grace McDermott - the incident that drove Ju to join the Ionath Krakens. The Reporter takes place between week three and week six of the 2684 Galactic Football League season, the season that encompasses The All-Pro... -
![The Aleph Extraction by Dan Moren]()
The Aleph Extraction by Dan Moren
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAboard a notorious gangster's luxurious starliner, Simon Kovalic and his crew race to steal a mysterious artifact that could shift the balance of the war...Categorized as:
dystopia military political-intrigue space-opera suspense action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Mere Mortals by David Mack]()
Mere Mortals by David Mack
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsOn Earth, Federation President Nanietta Bacco gathers allies and adversaries to form a desperate last line of defense against an impending Borg invasion. In deep space, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain Ezri Dax join together to cut off the Collective's route to the Alpha Quadrant...Categorized as:
aliens first-contact military politics space-opera 21st-century action-adventure adult -
![Exo-Hunter by Jeremy Robinson]()
Exo-Hunter by Jeremy Robinson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author, Jeremy Robinson, takes readers on a pulse-pounding journey to a dark and twisted future... and makes them laugh.THE YEAR IS 1989Callsign: Dark Horse and his Marine Rapid Reaction Force team have been sent to recover a strange artifact near Antarctica's Soviet-controlled Vostok Station... -
![Enigma Tales by Una McCormack]()
Enigma Tales by Una McCormack
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Fall: The Crimson Shadow comes a compelling and suspenseful tale of politics and power set in the universe of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.Elim Garak has ascended to Castellan of the Cardassian Union..Categorized as:
aliens first-contact military politics space-opera 21st-century action-adventure adult -
![Terminal Uprising by Jim C. Hines]()
Terminal Uprising by Jim C. Hines
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’s been four months since Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos learned the truth. Four months since she and her team of hygiene and sanitation specialists stole the EMCS Pufferfish and stopped a bioterrorism attack against the Krakau homeworld. Four months since she set out to find proof of what really happened on Earth all those years ago...Categorized as:
aliens conspiracies dystopia first-contact military political-intrigue space-opera action-adventure
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