Books like 'Orphan Star'
Readers who enjoyed Orphan Star by Alan Dean Foster also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space action / adventure mystery space-opera aliens dragons magic classics
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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... -
![Lab Rat One by Andrea K. Höst]()
Lab Rat One by Andrea K. Höst
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsPart 2 of the Touchstone trilogy:In the months since Cassandra Devlin walked off Earth onto another planet, she has grappled with everything from making blankets to helping psychics battle the memories of monsters. Not able to find a way home, she has instead gained friends and a purpose... -
![Alien Arcana by Glynn Stewart]()
Alien Arcana by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsAn alien ruinA murdered archeologistAn ancient secret—and a conspiracy that will kill to keep it! When a scientist is murdered after finding signs of alien magic in an archeological dig, Mage Damien Montgomery, Hand of the Mage-King of Mars, is sent to investigate both the murder and the alien runes... -
![Judgment of Mars by Glynn Stewart]()
Judgment of Mars by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA war fought in the shadowsA conspiracy shattered in fireA moment of weakness… When politics are played for blood. The destruction of the secret archive of the Royal Order of Keepers on Mars has left Damien Montgomery, Hand of the Mage-King, with his enemies defeated, his lover dead—and his questions unanswered... -
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![Chosen of Chaos by Benjamin Medrano]()
Chosen of Chaos by Benjamin Medrano
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsEvelyn enjoyed living a nice, quiet life in an anarchic pirate port, far from the world she’d once conquered.Then came an attack by mercenaries that made her angry... -
![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... -
![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... -
![Order of the Centurion by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole]()
Order of the Centurion by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsA PRICE PAID IN BLOOD “The Order of the Centurion is the highest award that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in, or with, the Legion... -
![Mage-Provocateur by Glynn Stewart]()
Mage-Provocateur by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsVengeance hunts them. Rebellion seeks them. Loyalty commands them. The shadows will fear them. Captain David Rice and Mage Maria Soprano have made their choice, signing up with the Martian Interstellar Security Agency and converting Red Falcon into a covert operations ship for the Protectorate... -
![Activated by Ell Leigh Clarke, Michael Anderle]()
Activated by Ell Leigh Clarke, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the Future, Even the Broken Can Make a Change... When Molly gets called onto a case that she is uniquely qualified for, the team discovers a little more about her past.In the race against the clock to prevent the city of Spire from being subjected to a deadly toxin, it takes both new team members and new allies working together in order to save the millions of lives... -
![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... -
![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... -
![Jack the Bodiless by Julian May]()
Jack the Bodiless by Julian May
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the year 2051, Earth stood on the brink of acceptance as full member of the Galactic Milieu, a confederation of worlds spread across the galaxy. Leading humanity was the powerful Remillard family, but somebody--or something--known only as "Fury" wanted them out of the way...Categorized as:
aliens space-opera action-adventure anthologies cyberpunk female-author fiction hard-sci-fi -
![Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke]()
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... -
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![Guardian of Madness by Michelle Manus]()
Guardian of Madness by Michelle Manus
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis time, leaving Earth was not Nyx’s choice...After her latest trip off-planet, Nyx Fortuna has every intention of keeping both feet firmly on Earth Between... -
![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 space-opera action-adventure audiobook book far-away-galaxy female-author fiction -
![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... -
![Crimson Tempest by Anthony James]()
Crimson Tempest by Anthony James
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFifty-three years after it vanished, Earth's only Super-Devastator warship, the ESS Crimson sends out a distress signal... Humanity is fighting against an implacable foe. The Ghasts – a ruthless alien race - seem hell-bent on wiping out mankind. They have a vast warfleet and their technology is advancing at a terrible rate... -
![The Invincible by Stanisław Lem]()
The Invincible by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe Invincible (Polish: Niezwyciężony) is a science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem, published in 1964. The Invincible originally appeared as the title story in Lem's collection Niezwyciężony i inne opowiadania ("The Invincible and Other Stories")... -
![The Worst of All Possible Worlds by Alex White]()
The Worst of All Possible Worlds by Alex White
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe greatest dangers hide the brightest treasures in this bold, planet-hopping science fiction adventure series.The crew of the legendary Capricious may have gone legitimate, but they're still on the run... -
![The Gangster by Scott Sigler]()
The Gangster by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTHE GANGSTER is the sixth book in the Galactic Football League series.The ongoing mental battle between star quarterback Quentin Barnes and team owner Gredok the Splithead is coming to a head. Endless threats and the promise of ultraviolence hangs on their every word... -
![Mission Inadvisable by J.S. Morin]()
Mission Inadvisable by J.S. Morin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPart-time heroes. Full-time outlaws. Carl Ramsey has done the unthinkable: he turned down a lucrative job. When the deed is too despicable even for outlaws like the Mobius crew, someone nasty had to be behind it. Carl and his friends decide to hunt down their potential employer and turn him over to the authorities... -
![Stowaway to Heaven by J.S. Morin]()
Stowaway to Heaven by J.S. Morin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIf you can't beat 'em, hijack 'em. Push a man hard enough and long enough and he's going to push back. Carl Ramsey finally has a plan to deal with transgalactic megacorp Harmony Bay. With the aid of a new ace up his sleeve, the Mobius crew finally have a heist that can put an end to the company's harassment. They're going to steal the ship responsible for Harmony Bay's black ops... -
![House of Shards by Walter Jon Williams]()
House of Shards by Walter Jon Williams
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsDrake Maijstral, the most daring Allowed Burglar in the galaxy, is now setting his sights on the Eltdown Shard, a spectacular necklace embodying the flame of a dying star. Through the media vids, the audience watches him--in an intricate plot designed to both steal the necklace and foil his major rival... -
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![Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Moon, shaken by the Anniversary Day tragedies, deals with devastation. The Earth Alliance believes another attack imminent, but no one knows where or when it will strike. Just like no one knows who ordered the attacks in the first place.The Moon’s chief security office, Noelle DeRicci, does her best to hold the United Domes government together... -
![Galactic Law by J.N. Chaney, James S. Aaron]()
Galactic Law by J.N. Chaney, James S. Aaron
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsLethal force is authorized.In the wild space of the Deadlands, Taurus Station is where miners and tourists come to play, and the ravager gangs follow close behind. Out here, far from the civilized world, the Law has a name.Gage Walker is the son of hard-nosed asteroid miners. Brash, rough, and crude, he's one of the few deputies working the station... -
![Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs a Retrieval Artist, Miles Flint helps the Disappeared, saving the lives of those oppressed under the Earth Alliance regime. He owes his livelihood, and his very sense of honor, to a woman known as Paloma. It was she who was responsible for setting him on this path—and now she has been murdered.Summoned by Paloma’s desperate call, Miles reaches her apartment too late... -
![Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsForensic anthropologist Aisha Costard has been summoned to Mars to examine skeletal remains recently discovered beneath a building erected by the Disty aliens. The bones belong to a human who vanished thirty years ago with her children. She is believed to have been one of the Disappeared, outlaws wanted for crimes against alien civilizations... -
![The Playful Prince by Michelle M. Pillow]()
The Playful Prince by Michelle M. Pillow
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTo play. Prince Quinn, royal Ambassador, isn't looking for a serious relationship. In fact, he's never even considered it. Hopping from lover to lover, he's content to enjoy himself, never taking anything but his work seriously. However, when Dr. Tori Elliot is sent to the palace to test for biological weapons, he can't seem to stay away from her. Or not to play... -
![All the Myriad Ways by Larry Niven]()
All the Myriad Ways by Larry Niven
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn early collection of short works. Includes: All the Myriad Ways (1968); Passerby (1969); For a Foggy Night (1968); Wait It Out [Known Space] (1968); The Jigsaw Man [Known Space] (1967); Not Long Before the End (1969); Unfinished Story No. 1 (1970); Unfinished Story No... -
![Ringworld by Larry Niven]()
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsThe artefact is a circular ribbon of matter six hundred million miles long and ninety million miles in radius. Pierson's puppeteers, the aliens who discovered it, are understandably wary of encountering the builders of such an immense structure and have assembled a team of two humans, a mad puppeteer and a kzin, a huge cat-like alien, to explore it... -
![The Stolen Moon by Rachel Searles]()
The Stolen Moon by Rachel Searles
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe action-packed sequel to The Lost Planet.This is what the boy is told:- His younger sister has an otherworldly (and sometimes annoying) ability.- The starship he now lives on has been infiltrated.- His friend Parker is working on the network hack of a lifetime.This is what Chase and Parker fear:- They won't be able to save the world in time... -
![Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan by Vonda N. McIntyre]()
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan by Vonda N. McIntyre
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe Federation starship Reliant is on its surveying mission to find a lifeless planet to serve for the test site for Genesis Project. While surveying Ceti Alpha V they accidentally discover the camp of Khan Noonien Singh, who with his followers, quickly captures the ship. Khan then seizes space station Regula I where the Genesis Project is being developed...Categorized as:
aliens space-opera action-adventure book female-author fiction genetic-engineering invasion -
![Killashandra by Anne McCaffrey]()
Killashandra by Anne McCaffrey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsKillashandra Ree's life was one of catastrophic changes. She had joined the Heptite Guild to become a crystal singer, get rich, and forget her past. And at first everything went just as she had hoped. In one season on the deadly beautiful world of Ballybran, she had sung Black Crystal, grown wealthy, and met a man who made her sorrows seem unworthy of notice...Categorized as:
classics dragons space-opera action-adventure audiobook book female-author female-mc -
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![Havoc by Ann Aguirre]()
Havoc by Ann Aguirre
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Conglomerate’s most dangerous convicts have made the prison ship Perdition their home. And they will defend it…Perdition is under siege. Mercenaries have boarded the station with orders to take control of the facility—and execute the prisoners. Their commander is offering full pardons to the first five inmates willing to help the mercs complete their mission... -
![Defending Elysium by Brandon Sanderson]()
Defending Elysium by Brandon Sanderson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsThis story originally appeared in the October/November 2008 Asimov’s Science Fiction (in the US) and the UPC Science Fiction collection (in Europe)."An image came to him. An image of humankind escaping into space. An image of human merchants trading and cheating, of human tyrants capturing the Varvax, Tenasi, and Hommar. Images of wars, of fighting, of a paradise destroyed... -
![Solo Command by Aaron Allston]()
Solo Command by Aaron Allston
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWraith Squadron: they are the Rebel Alliance's ultimate strike force. Sleek, swift, and deadly, they are the first in battle, the last line of defense. Now they must find and destroy a wily enemy more powerful than the Empire itself.Their covert mission has been a success. The enemy has been vanquished. Or so they thought... -
![The Tar-Aiym Krang by Alan Dean Foster, Tim White]()
The Tar-Aiym Krang by Alan Dean Foster, Tim White
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThere is a prequel called For Love of Mother-Not.Moth was a beautiful planet, the only one with wings -- two great golden clouds suspended in space around it.Here was a wide-open world for any venture a man might scheme... -
![Traitor by Matthew Woodring Stover]()
Traitor by Matthew Woodring Stover
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the depths of catastrophe, a glimmer of hope.After the capture of Coruscant, the mighty heart of the New Republic, a stunned galaxy fears that nothing can stop the Yuuzhan Vong. Still, that crushing defeat produces one small miracle: Jacen Solo is alive. Yet he can scarcely imagine himself in stranger circumstances... -
![For Love of Mother-Not by Alan Dean Foster]()
For Love of Mother-Not by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom bestselling author Alan Dean Foster, an exciting early Pip and Flinx novel that shows the origins of a certain boy with special powers--and the mini-dragon that becomes his devoted sidekick. . . .Flinx was just a freckle-faced, redheaded kid with green eyes and a strangely compelling stare when Mather Mastiff first saw him an the auctioneer's block. One hundred credits and he was hers... -
![Stray by Andrea K. Höst]()
Stray by Andrea K. Höst
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsOn her last day of high school, Cassandra Devlin walked out of exams and into a forest. Surrounded by the wrong sort of trees, and animals never featured in any nature documentary, Cass is only sure of one thing: alone, she will be lucky to survive. The sprawl of abandoned blockish buildings Cass discovers offers her only more puzzles...Categorized as:
aliens magic space-opera action-adventure alternate-universe book dystopia epistolary -
![Judgment at Proteus by Timothy Zahn]()
Judgment at Proteus by Timothy Zahn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe Quadrail train connects our galaxy, and takes secret warriors Frank Compton, from Earth, and lovely Bayta, to the horse-like alien Fillies' Proteus Station. The Mohdri, a coral group intelligence, controls minds after a scratch... -
![Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster]()
Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom one of the most brilliant imaginations in science fiction comes Flinx Transcendent, Alan Dean Foster's thrilling conclusion to the series that began over thirty-five years ago-the epic adventures of Flinx and his flying minidrag companion, Pip... -
![Orphan's Triumph by Robert Buettner]()
Orphan's Triumph by Robert Buettner
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJason Wander is ready to lead the final charge into battle.After forty years of fighting the Slugs, mankind's reunited planets control the vital crossroad that secures their uneasy union. The doomsday weapon that can end the war, and the mighty fleet that will carry it to the Slug homeworld, lie within humanity's grasp... -
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![Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRetrieval Artist Miles Flint is on a personal mission—to bring down the corrupt law firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xendor. Then a journalist working with him is found dead—murdered, along with the bodyguard she had hired to protect her. And Miles may be next.But before he can begin to investigate the death, he has a more personal crisis to deal with—his daughter Talia is missing... -
![Collusion Course by J.S. Morin]()
Collusion Course by J.S. Morin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe biggest problem with employing criminals is that they're criminals. What's a guy gotta do to get a little respect? As the head of an up-and-coming criminal empire, Carl Ramsey just can't seem to catch a break. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, he is forced to rely on loyalty, savvy, and the promise of a big payday to keep the rank and file in line... -
![A Chain Across the Dawn by Drew Williams]()
A Chain Across the Dawn by Drew Williams
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDrew Williams continues the Universe After series with A Chain Across the Dawn, an epic space opera chase across the galaxy with witty banter, fantastical planets, and a seemingly unbeatable foe."The only thing more fun than a bonkers space battle is a whole book packed with bonkers space battles. Come for the exploding spaceships, stay for the intriguing universe... -
![Andromeda's War by William C. Dietz]()
Andromeda's War by William C. Dietz
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“Returning to his Legion of the Damned universe, Dietz illustrates why he’s a master of the genre" (RT Book Reviews)... -
![Katie Kincaid Candidate by Andrew van Aardvark]()
Katie Kincaid Candidate by Andrew van Aardvark
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's the 24th century. Humanity is about to take its first steps to the stars. Katie Kincaid, a young Belter girl, intends to take part in that adventure.She wants to make a difference.She has more than a few obstacles in her way.It's going to be interesting... -
![Exploration by Andrew Beery]()
Exploration by Andrew Beery
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratings2124 was an interesting year... I was court-martialed, demoted and sentenced to perform hard labor for the rest of my natural life... Then things got rough."Commodore Catherine Kimbridge..Categorized as:
aliens space-opera action-adventure book children-books female-mc fiction historical
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