Books like 'The Dirdir'
Readers who enjoyed The Dirdir by Jack Vance & H.R. Van Dongen also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space action / adventure sword-planet space-opera pulp classics aliens single-planet
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Conspirator by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFirst in a brand-new "Foreigner" trilogy from Hugo Award winning author C. J. Cherryh. Cajeiri is the young son of the powerful leader of the Western Association-and he has become a target for forces bent on destroying his father's rule. For Cajeiri is the first "ateva" youth to have lived in a human environment...Categorized as:
aliens single-planet space-opera action-adventure adult audiobook book female-author -
![Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn]()
Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe dying Empire's most cunning and ruthless warlord—Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command of the remnants of the Imperial fleet and launched a massive campaign aimed at the New Republic's destruction... -
![Slave Trade by Craig Martelle, Michael Anderle]()
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... -
![Pretender by C.J. Cherryh]()
Pretender by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsExhausted from a two-year rescue mission in space, the crew of the starship Phoenix return home to find disaster: civil war has broken out, the powerful Western Association has been overthrown, and Tabini-aiji, its forceful leader, is missing...Categorized as:
aliens single-planet space-opera action-adventure adult audiobook book female-author -
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![When the People Fell by Cordwainer Smith]()
When the People Fell by Cordwainer Smith
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA sweeping saga of the centuries to come, from the new dark age that followed a global war, to the new civilization that arose from the ashes to colonize the stars...Categorized as:
pulp space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary fiction -
![Deliverer by C.J. Cherryh]()
Deliverer by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the aftermath of civil war, the world of the atevi is still perilously unstable. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with his son and heir Cajeiri, and his human paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to the seat of power. The usurper, Murini, has escaped to the lands of his supporters, but the danger these rebels pose is far from over...Categorized as:
aliens single-planet space-opera action-adventure adult audiobook book female-author -
![Mavericks by Craig Alanson]()
Mavericks by Craig Alanson
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThe remnants of the Expeditionary Force stranded on the alien-controlled planet 'Paradise' get a chance to prove themselves, in a simple off-world training mission with a ship full of teenage alien cadets. When the mission goes horribly wrong and the survival of everyone on Paradise is at risk, the Merry Band of Pirates may have to come to the rescue. Unless they get killed first.. -
![Artificial Evolution by Joseph R. Lallo]()
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... -
![The Face by Jack Vance]()
The Face by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKirth Gersen tracks Lens Larque across several worlds, most notably Aloysius, the desert world Dar Sai and the more temperate Methel. He eventually learns that Larque is a Darsh, born Husse Bugold. He had been deprived of an earlobe and made a rachepol or outcast from his clan for a crime considered "repulsive but not superlatively heinous... -
![The City and The Ship by Anne McCaffrey, S.M. Stirling]()
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... -
![The Green Hills of Earth / The Menace from Earth by Robert A. Heinlein]()
The Green Hills of Earth / The Menace from Earth by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwo of the Grand Master's finest: The saga of the opening of the space frontier as courageous men and women risked their lives to build the first space station and colonize the Moon and Venus, while praying for one last landing on the globe that gave them birth, to return to The Green Hills of Earth... -
![Neutron Star by Larry Niven]()
Neutron Star by Larry Niven
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsCome to Larry Niven's Universe and meet all the natives: Thrints, Bandersnatchi, Puppeteers -- and a host of other wonderfully created characters.Visit Lookitthat, Down, and Jinx -- indeed, an entire galaxy of planets found only in these stories that trace man's expansion and colonization throughout Known Space.A spectacular cycle of the future . . -
![Swallow the Sky: A Space Opera by Chris Mead]()
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... -
![The Book of Dreams by Jack Vance]()
The Book of Dreams by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHoward Alan Treesong gave a banquet to ten friends. All died in agony, save himself.Howard Alan Treesong went to his old school reunion to teach his former classmates the meaning of terror.Howard Alan Treesong was the most elusive of the five Demon Princes upon whom Kirth Gersen had sworn vengeance. A galaxy-wide guessing game proved his undoing... -
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![Shakedowners by Justin Woolley]()
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]()
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]()
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... -
![Sentenced to Prism by Alan Dean Foster]()
Sentenced to Prism by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe company had a big problem, it was illegally exploiting a fabulously rich planet maned Prism, a world where even the tiniest creatures were living jewels. But somehow, all contact had been lost with the scientist of the survey team. The Company didn't want to draw attention to itself by sending in a rescue mission so they assigned Evan Orgell, a self-confident problem-solver, to investigate... -
![The Pnume by Jack Vance, H.R. Van Dongen]()
The Pnume by Jack Vance, H.R. Van Dongen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Pnume are native to Tschai, living underground in a vast network of caverns with their human slave-species, the Pnumekin... -
![Marune: Alastor 933 by Jack Vance]()
Marune: Alastor 933 by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA mysterious amnesiac is found at a distant spaceport. The science of the Alastor Cluster is unable to do anything but determine his home planet and culture: he is a Rhune from the planet Marune - Alastor 933. When he returns home, he learns that he is a powerful landowner whose household is faced with an important alliance... -
![First Contact by D.L. Harrison]()
First Contact by D.L. Harrison
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlicia Jones is a genius, and a little odd. At just twenty three years of age, she is close to finishing her doctoral dissertation. But when she tests her latest theory in the lab to generate a strong EM field, it has very unanticipated results. Results that lead to faster than light travel, and first contact with another race... -
![Wyst: Alastor 1716 by Jack Vance]()
Wyst: Alastor 1716 by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn Wyst, world 1716 of the Alastor Cluster, millions of people live together in harmony, work only a few hours each week, and share the fruits of their labor equally. Wyst seems a utopia. But the Connatic, mysterious ruler of the Alastor Cluster, knowing better that to take utopia at face value, one day decides to investigate--a decision that may cost him his life... -
![Revolution's Shore by Kate Elliott, Alis A. Rasmussen]()
Revolution's Shore by Kate Elliott, Alis A. Rasmussen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the second volume of the Highroad trilogy, plucky interstellar adventurer Lily Ransome sets out with a ragtag group to defeat a cruel empire bent on consuming the universeLilyaka Hae Ransome grew up on the colonized planet of Unruli... -
![Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War by Hal G.P. Colebatch, Larry Niven]()
Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War by Hal G.P. Colebatch, Larry Niven
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe first colonists from Earth named the planet Wunderland. Generations later, the felinoid alien invaders called Kzin came and turned it into a hell for humans... -
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![The Rebel Files: Collected Intelligence of the Alliance by Daniel Wallace]()
The Rebel Files: Collected Intelligence of the Alliance by Daniel Wallace
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis top-secret cache reproduces highly sensitive intelligence that traces the Rebel Alliance from its formation through its tireless fight against the Empire and the First Order. From its earliest beginnings in covert opposition to Imperial operations, the Alliance could not leave its most sensitive information open to the risk of digital interception... -
![Twilight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker]()
Twilight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe rift in the fabric of space was fast approaching the Well World, and time was running out. Troops all over the planet were gathering for the final battle.Nathan Brazil and Mavra Chang somehow had to reach the Well of Souls in time to save the universe and before any of the hostile natives managed to kill them.At best, a difficult mission... -
![Some Golden Harbor by David Drake]()
Some Golden Harbor by David Drake
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe tyrannical Alliance continues its war against the Republic of Cinnabar, and Daniel Leary, newly promoted to Commander, and his crew have a new mission: Stop Dunbar's World from falling to an invasion by the planet Pellegrino... -
![Summoning Light by Jeanne Cavelos, J. Michael Straczynski]()
Summoning Light by Jeanne Cavelos, J. Michael Straczynski
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe explosive space epic continues, as the techno-mages come face-to-face with the devastating evil of the Shadows . . . War against the Shadows is inevitable, and the ruling Circle has ordered the techno-mages into hiding. Many are unhappy with this decision--none more so than Galen, the only mage who has faced the Shadows and lived... -
![Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker]()
Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsNathan Brazil, a cargo ship-for-hire owner, detours from his route to answer a distress call. A hidden stargate hurls him and his passengers to the Well World, the master control planet for the cosmos created by the now-gone godlike race who designed the universe. Now someone wants to find the Well of Souls to seize control of all the cosmos--and it's up to Nathan to stop them... -
![The Return of Nathan Brazil by Jack L. Chalker]()
The Return of Nathan Brazil by Jack L. Chalker
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn a desolate sector of space floats the Well World: the ancient Markovian supercomputer that first created and now maintains the Universe.While attempting to repel an insidious intergalactic invasion, Mankind resorts to a weapon of such awesome destructive power that it undermines the Well World's control of time and space and threatens the very existence of the Universe... -
![Galactic Patrol by E.E. "Doc" Smith]()
Galactic Patrol by E.E. "Doc" Smith
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Galactic Patrol's Lensmen are the most feared peacekeepers in the Galaxy. The "Lens," a telepathic jewel matched to the ego of its wearer, is the ultimate weapon in the war against the merciless pirate Boskone and his forces of lawlessness... -
![Children of the Lens: Special Edition by E.E. "Doc" Smith]()
Children of the Lens: Special Edition by E.E. "Doc" Smith
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt was beginning to look as if no one could prevent the destruction of the Universe. For a strange intelligence was directing the destruction of all civilization from the icy depths of space. Kim Kinnison of the Patrol was one of the few men who knew how near the end was...Categorized as:
aliens classics pulp space-opera action-adventure anthologies audiobook children-books -
![The Romulan Way by Diane Duane, Peter Morwood]()
The Romulan Way by Diane Duane, Peter Morwood
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsThey are a race of warriors, a noble people to whom honor is all. They are cousin to the Vulcan, ally to the Klingon, and Starfleet's most feared and cunning adversary. They are the Romulans, and for eight years, Federation Agent Terise LoBrutto has hidden in their midst... -
![Quest for the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker]()
Quest for the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsWelcome to the Well World: a construct of an ancient defunct race known as the Markovians. The Well World acts both as the controller of and the gateway to 1560 worlds created by the Markovians at the end of their time.Exiles at the Well of Souls left Mavra Chang captured by the Olborn and partially converted into a beast of burden... -
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![Exiles at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker]()
Exiles at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsAntor Trellig, head of a ruthless interstellar syndicate, had seized a super computer with godlike powers, which could make him omnipotent. The Council offered master criminal Mavra Chang any reward if she stopped Trellig - and horrible, lingering death if she failed. But neither Trellig nor Mavra had taken the Well World into consideration... -
![The Killing Machine by Jack Vance]()
The Killing Machine by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHaving brought arch-villain Malagate the Woe to justice, Gersen now sets his sights on Kokor Hekkus, another of the Demon Princes... -
![Servants Of The Wankh by Jack Vance]()
Servants Of The Wankh by Jack Vance
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMarooned on the strange planet Tschai, Adam Reith agreed to lead an expedition to return the princess Ylin Ylan, the Flower of Cath, to her homeland halfway around the globe.Monsters of land and sea lay before them, and beings both human and alien who might rob, kill or enslave them...Categorized as:
classics pulp single-planet space-opera sword-planet action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Sea is Full of Stars by Jack L. Chalker]()
The Sea is Full of Stars by Jack L. Chalker
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThis exciting, action-packed novel marks Jack Chalker's triumphant return to his celebrated multivolume saga: The Well World. The Sea Is Full of Stars explores an unknown interstellar civilization, stars an all-new cast of characters, and reveals fresh secrets. But of course, The Well remains . . -
![The Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. van Vogt]()
The Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. van Vogt
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsWith the publication, in the July 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, of the story Seesaw, van Vogt began unfolding the complex tale of the oppressive Empire of Isher and the mysterious Weapon Shops... -
![Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison]()
Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsThe planet was called Pyrrus...a strange place where all the beasts, plants and natural elements were designed for one specific purpose: to destroy man.The settlers there were supermen...twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder.. -
![The Man Who Used the Universe by Alan Dean Foster]()
The Man Who Used the Universe by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNo one knows the true motives of Kees vaan Loo-Macklin. He's a mastermind criminal who gave up his place at the head of the dark underworld to become a legitimate member of Evenwaith's cities. But soon he was reaching out to powerful enemies--the slimy aliens called the Nuel. Loo-Macklin negotiates an illusory peace agreement and gains precious alien secrets in the process... -
![Maske: Thaery by Jack Vance]()
Maske: Thaery by Jack Vance
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThere is a Hole at the eastern fringe of the known universe. Deep within it hangs a lost star, Mora, with twin planets, Maske and Skay. On wild Maske there is a rocky peninsula inhabited by a clan of warlike dreamers, the Droads. The eldest son, Trewe, is by birthright Droad of Droad. The second son has no choice but to turn his face toward adventure. His name is Jubal Droad.. -
![Trullion: Alastor 2262 by Jack Vance]()
Trullion: Alastor 2262 by Jack Vance
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTrullion - world 2262 of the Alastor Cluster - is a water-world of fens, mists, and idyllic islands set in clear oceans whose teeming richness provides food for the taking. The Trill are a carefree and easy-living people, but violence enters their lives during raids of the Starmenters, freebooting galactic pirates who live short, perilous lives in pursuit of adventure, rape and pillage... -
![A Guide to the Star Wars Universe by Bill Slavicsek]()
A Guide to the Star Wars Universe by Bill Slavicsek
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFeaturing new material on Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace . . . the latest Star Wars series: The New Jedi Order . .Categorized as:
aliens classics space-opera action-adventure book children-books fiction high-school -
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![Tales of the Dominion War by Keith R.A. DeCandido]()
Tales of the Dominion War by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFor two seasons, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine® chronicled the intense struggle of the Federation, fighting alongside the Klingons and the Romulans against the overwhelming forces of the Dominion in some of the most exciting hours of television ever produced. Now, for the first time, see how the Dominion War affected the entirety of the Star Trek universe... -
![The Sundered by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels]()
The Sundered by Michael A. Martin, Andy Mangels
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe hidden history of the Star Trek universe is revealed in this new series charting the seventy years between Captain Kirk's disappearance and the beginning of The Next Generation. Nearly a decade after Captain Kirk vanished, his protege, Captain Hiraku Sulu of the USS Excelsior, leads a dangerous mission into uncharted political waters... -
![Subspace Explorers: Special Edition by E.E. "Doc" Smith]()
Subspace Explorers: Special Edition by E.E. "Doc" Smith
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBursting right through the four-dimensional travel zone of subspace, Tellurian psiontists make an amazing discovery on the other side. Beyond the bounds of subspace, a parallel universe is cruelly ruled by a violent, murderous empire, the Justiciate, where psiontists are ruthlessly hunted down and fed to giant eagles... -
![The Great Explosion by Eric Frank Russell]()
The Great Explosion by Eric Frank Russell
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMISSION OF EMPIREEarthmen had colonized hundreds of planets in the four centuries of deep space exploration—independent new civilizations founded by the discontented and adventurous of Terra.Trouble was, they were too independent—and the Terran government had ambitions for a space empire... -
![To Fall Among Vultures by Scott Warren]()
To Fall Among Vultures by Scott Warren
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA gritty, Military SF page-turner sure to please fans of intrigue and space combat. Humanity has spent decades carefully establishing a quiet foothold in an uncaring galaxy brimming with hostile powers. That all unraveled six months ago when Captain Victoria Marin and her crew of Vultures stumbled into the center of a conflict between two of the galaxy’s three apex civilizations... -
![Silent Dances by A.C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley]()
Silent Dances by A.C. Crispin, Kathleen O'Malley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDeaf since birth, Tesa is the perfect ambassador to the alien Grus, whose sonic cries can shatter human ears. But her mission is harder than it looks. The Grus are not alone on their world. They have deadly enemies, both natural and otherwise. And if Tesa is to save all life on the planet, she will have to make peace with not one alien species... but -two-...Categorized as:
aliens classics space-opera action-adventure audiobook book disability female-author
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