Books like 'One Giant Leap'
Readers who enjoyed One Giant Leap by Heather Kaczynski also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary sc-fi space action / adventure aliens lgbtq found-family space-travel survival
-
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 80 ratingsA lone astronaut.An impossible mission.An ally he never imagined.Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish.Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time...Categorized as:
aliens space-travel survival 21st-century action-adventure amnesia apocalyptic audiobook -
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... -
The Martian by Andy Weir
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 95 ratingsSix days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there... -
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... -
-
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... -
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsIt has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue... -
The Akseli by Dianne Duvall
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSimone has hunted and slain psychotic vampires night after night for hundreds of years and desperately needs a change. When the leader of the Immortal Guardians offers her an opportunity to guard ten mortal women who are venturing to another planet, she dives right in and finds traveling into space and meeting amazing alien races just as exciting as she'd hoped… until an enemy attacks... -
The Renegade Akseli Cyborg by Dianne Duvall
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDive into the next thrilling novel in New York Times bestselling author Dianne Duvall’s fast-paced, humorous, and adventure-filled Aldebarian Alliance series.Too many years of hunting psychotic vampires night after night have left Rachel with a desperate need for change... -
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTwo boys, alone in space.After the first settler on Titan trips her distress signal, neither remaining country on Earth can afford to scramble a rescue of its own, and so two sworn enemies are installed in the same spaceship.Ambrose wakes up on the Coordinated Endeavor, with no memory of a launch... -
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... -
Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsThe sixth book in the New York Times bestselling Expanse series. NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.The Free Navy - a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships - has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets... -
Wolf 359 by Gabriel Urbina, Zach Valenti
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLife's not easy for Doug Eiffel, the communications officer for the U.S.S. Hephaestus Research Station, currently on Day 448 of its orbit around red dwarf star Wolf 359. He's stuck on a scientific survey mission of indeterminate length, 7.8 light years from Earth...Categorized as:
aliens found-family lgbtq action-adventure alternate-history audiobook book classics -
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 59 ratingsA race for survival among the stars... Humanity's last survivors escaped earth's ruins to find a new home. But when they find it, can their desperation overcome its dangers?WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars... -
Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsThe fourth novel in James S.A. Corey’s New York Times bestselling Expanse seriesThe gates have opened the way to thousands of habitable planets, and the land rush has begun. Settlers stream out from humanity's home planets in a vast, poorly controlled flood, landing on a new world...Categorized as:
aliens found-family space-travel survival 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
-
Escape From The Center Of The Earth by Greig Beck
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEscape from the Center of the Earth is the final edition of the blockbusting Center Earth trilogy, closing with a mind-bending climax.'Help me, it’s Ally. Please help me.'A ghostly, sobbing voice is detected from the depths of Russia’s Kola super deep borehole – 9 miles down. A Russian team is dispatched in a desperate rescue mission to find the woman...Categorized as:
space-travel survival action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary exploration -
Artifact Space by Miles Cameron
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsOut in the darkness of space, something is targeting the Greatships.With their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city, the Greatships 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... -
Imago by Octavia E. Butler
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe stunning conclusion to a postapocalyptic trilogy about an alien species merging with humans—from “one of science fiction’s finest writers” (TheNew York Times). Human and Oankali have been mating since the aliens first came to Earth to rescue the few survivors of an annihilating nuclear war... -
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 74 ratingsFollow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space-and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe-in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer... -
Victoria's Challenge by M.K. Eidem
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsVictoria Lynn Chamberlain… at two, she was abducted by an alien race, the Regulians… at nine, her world literally explodes when the Regulians returned, destroying Earth. She and her Aunt are the only survivors thanks to another alien race, the Carinians. Now she’s eighteen, a new graduate from their top medical school, and is ready to claim her life mate... -
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsAncillary Mercy is the stunning conclusion to the trilogy that began with Ancillary Justice, the only novel ever to win the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards.For a moment, things seemed to be under control for Breq, the soldier who used to be a warship... -
DNA by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratings“DNA" is the thirteenth book in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers. Their heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation that makes her a genius and provides her some astonishing athletic abilities.In “DNA,” Ell’s five-year-old son Zage has become interested in the effects of certain genes on obesity... -
Columbus Day by Craig Alanson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWe were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other... -
The Search for Sam by Pittacus Lore
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen a rogue Mogadorian meets up with a mysterious amnesiac in Santa Monica, he knows that there's more to this guy than meets the eye. In fact, he might just hold the key to everything.In I Am Number Four: The Lost Files #4, discover what has happened to one of the people with information crucial to the Garde coming together to fight to save Lorien—and Earth... -
The Fallen Legacies by Pittacus Lore
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsBefore Number Four, there were One, Two, and Three. Until now we've only known that the Mogadorians caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. But all of that is about to change. . . .In I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Fallen Legacies, you'll learn the true story behind these ill-fated members of the Garde... -
-
Bioterror! by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“Bioterror!" is the fourteenth book in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers. Their heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation that makes her a genius and provides her some astonishing athletic abilities... -
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsIn her new novella, Sunday Times best-selling author Becky Chambers imagines a future in which, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the solar system instead transform themselves. Ariadne is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features...Categorized as:
aliens found-family lgbtq space-travel 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Doctor Galaxy by Jenny Schwartz
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNew ER doctor Alexi Sur always intended to join an aid agency. She'd just expected to work among humans. But when the Pax Galactica Corps becomes her only option (don't ask - the debts aren't hers, but the family is. Much to her regret), Alexi finds herself traveling the galaxy and learning alien physiology and culture, all while becoming a reality TV star... -
Impact! by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 21 ratings“Impact" is the twelfth book in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers whose heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation that makes her a genius and provides her some astonishing athletic abilities.In “Impact,” Ell’s been taken off the “Most Wanted” list and is resuming somewhat of a normal life. Her old friend Phil Zabrisk is on his way to Mars... -
Losing Mars by Peter Cawdron
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsDisaster strikes in orbit around Mars. A Chinese spacecraft is disabled, stranded near Phobos. Well over a hundred million miles from Earth, their only hope for rescue comes from the American base on the edge of the Vallis Marineris on the surface of Mars... -
Star's Storm by S.E. Smith
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsStar Strauss has always been a fighter. From the time she was born prematurely to her life on the road as a circus performer. She has never let her small stature keep her from achieving her dreams. She is one of the best aerial performers in the world. Her love of being up high and flying free has helped her overcome the challenges she faces when she is on the ground... -
The Last Days of Lorien by Pittacus Lore
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiscover what really happened in the final days of the doomed planet from the eyes of Sandor—who would go on to become the reluctant Cêpan to Number Nine.Before Number Four and the others arrived on Earth, they lived on the planet Lorien. A planet filled with others who also had extraordinary abilities... -
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx by Eric S. Nylund
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsContinuing the saga of the award-winning Xbox(TM) game!The Spartan-II program has gone public. Tales of super-soldiers fending off thousands of Covenant attacks have become the stuff of legend... -
Winter World by A.G. Riddle
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsA new ice age... and a shocking discovery...will change humanity forever.In the near future, a new ice age has begun.Humanity stands on the brink of extinction.Desperate for answers, scientists send probes into the solar system to take readings. Near Mars, a probe spots a mysterious object drifting toward the Sun... -
Nine's Legacy by Pittacus Lore
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNumber Nine—when John frees him from his cell in the power of six, he's ferocious, reckless, and ready to fight back. But being held captive changes a person—even a Lorien. See what Nine was like before his capture, and read about his dramatic escape from his point of view... -
-
Cornering Carmen by S.E. Smith
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsCarmen Walker has spent the last three years of her life focusing on avenging the murder of her husband. Following leads to the man responsible, she finally has a chance to bring closure to the overwhelming pain and grief that is slowly eating away at her. Catching a ride on the business jet her sister is co-piloting, she heads to California to meet with her informant... -
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAn all-time science fiction classic, Rendezvous with Rama is also one of Clarke's best novels--it won the Campbell, Hugo, Jupiter, and Nebula Awards. A huge, mysterious, cylindrical object appears in space, swooping in toward the sun. The citizens of the solar system send a ship to investigate before the enigmatic craft, called Rama, disappears... -
Jo's Journey by S.E. Smith
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsJo Strauss was committed to two things in her life – her family and her life as an acrobat/high-wire performer. She takes both very serious. Her life was orderly, in control, and she was finally settling down in one place so she could spend more time with her parents instead of moving all over the world every few weeks... -
Luna of Earth by Laura Jo Phillips
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThere are lots of great ways for a beautiful, wealthy, brilliant young woman to meet a suitable romantic partner. Through the Internet, Church, volunteer groups, or even singles bars. Or, you can do it the way Luna Meadows did--by rescuing an alien from his crashed intergalactic spaceship on the side of a remote mountain in the Rockies just ahead of a three day blizzard... -
Taken by Harmony Raines
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsChrissi always dreamed of being an astronaut, just like her dad, devoting her whole life to Operation Saviour, the human race’s last ditch attempt to find a new home. But days before her first launch, the project was cancelled, leaving her to pick up the pieces of her life. All thanks to the arrival of the Karal... -
The Navigator by Pittacus Lore
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this astonishing one-hundred-page companion novella to the New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series, meet Lexa, a Loric hacker whose unrivaled skills helped her narrowly escape her doomed planet, and who's been hiding on Earth ever since.Lexa was never part of the Elders' plan. She had no idea the Garde children were being evacuated to our planet...Categorized as:
aliens survival action-adventure anthologies audiobook contemporary dystopia female-mc -
Viper's Defiant Mate by S.E. Smith
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPrince Viper d’Rojah, a warrior from the Sarafin cat shifter species, is not happy when he is sent on a special mission by his older brother Vox, King of the Sarafin. The mission is to deliver important documents to the human authorities before kidnapping the sister and grandmother of Vox’s mate, Riley... -
Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA deadly competition for the throne will determine more than just the fate of the empire in this duology opener.Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy. Her mother sacrificed everything to bring peace to the quadrant, and her uncle has successfully ruled as emperor for decades... -
Forged in Shadow by Anna Carven
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsSergeant Arin Varga has a problem on her hands. She's supposed to be in charge of a squad of peacekeepers. That's something she would normally handle with ease, except that now her people are stuck in Earth's orbit on a doomed superfreighter... -
Dagger's Hope by S.E. Smith
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDagger is a Trivator warrior. He is known for his dark and dangerous edge, making him the perfect warrior for impossible missions. He fears nothing, until he meets a young, delicate human female who wakens his heart. Her gentle touch, soft voice, and her shy sense of humor touch him in a way he never thought could happen... -
-
Saved by Venom by Lolita Lopez
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTo escape her father's debt to a loan shark, Dizzy seeks refuge in the upcoming Grab. She’d rather belong to one of those terrifying sky warriors from the battleship Valiant than to the sleazy criminal who wants her as his plaything.The years of constant war haven’t been kind to highly decorated sniper Venom. Only the promise of earning a wife kept him going through deadly battles... -
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 84 ratings"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern... -
Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe first lesson Lister learned about space travel was you should never try it. But Lister didn't have a choice. All he remembered was going on a birthday celebration pub crawl through London. When he came to his senses again, with nothing in his pockets but a passport in the name of Emily Berkenstein.So he did the only thing he could... -
When She Belongs by Ruby Dixon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsHe’s the biggest jerk in the galaxy.I can live with being stuck on the far end of space. I can live with having to spend weeks on an abandoned station in an asteroid belt. Sure, I don’t belong, but I’ve got my book and my eight-legged attack cat with me. I should be fine.I’m not fine.My alien host, Jerrok, is a jerk. He’s surly and unpleasant. He hasn’t bathed in years... -
Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us an extraordinary new space opera about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war... -
Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe astonishing sequel to Children of Time, the award-winning novel of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.Thousands of years ago, Earth's terraforming program took to the stars. On the world they called Nod, scientists discovered alien life - but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.