Books like 'Wayland's Principia'
Readers who enjoyed Wayland's Principia by Richard Garfinkle also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi hard sci-fi space aliens space-travel
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Ice World by B.V. Larson
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsLong before Earth began conquering her neighboring stars, Legion Varus was deployed on Tau Ceti. Valuable and highly illegal treasures were stolen during the campaign, but McGill never gave it a second thought.The Tau haven’t forgotten him, however. For decades they’ve hunted and plotted, and at last they’ve found the pirate who robbed them. Tau agents invade Earth seeking revenge and profit... -
![The Saints of Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton]()
The Saints of Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsHumanity is struggling to hold out against a hostile takeover by an alien race that claims to be on a religious mission to bring all sentient life to its God at the End of Time. But while things may look grim in the immediate aftermath of the attack, mankind is busy playing an even longer game than the aliens may have expected... -
![Starman's Saga: The Long, Strange Journey of Leif The Lucky by Colin Alexander]()
Starman's Saga: The Long, Strange Journey of Leif The Lucky by Colin Alexander
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the year 2069, humanity’s last chance for peace is the first ever interstellar mission. A multi-national crew of the most talented scientists and pilots has been chosen based on their expertise and skill. The final spot aboard the craft is assigned as a prize in a global “BerthRight” lottery, and Leif Grettison is the “everyman volunteer” who won. However, Leif isn’t really an “everyman... -
![Messinants by S.H. Jucha]()
Messinants by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPyre is a volatile planet. Its surface belches heat and noxious gases, forcing downsiders to inhabit domes. But Pyre’s instability isn’t limited to its geology. The colonists, who were marooned in the system hundreds of years ago, have endured a tumultuous history.Exploring Triton, Pyre’s third moon, spacers inadvertently activate an alien dome... -
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![Secrets in the Stars by Mackey Chandler]()
Secrets in the Stars by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Lee Anderson and her parents discovered a new world teeming with life, it was the dream of every explorer: they were rich beyond their imaginations. But tragedy struck when a herd of creatures overran their camp and killed her parents. The only other adult in her life had been their partner Gordon, who adopted her as parent. Which didn’t turn out to be easy, because he wasn’t human... -
![Quantum Void by Douglas Phillips]()
Quantum Void by Douglas Phillips
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEight months after the astounding discoveries made at Fermilab… Particle physics was always an unlikely path to the stars, but with the discovery that space could be compressed, the entire galaxy had come within reach. The technology was astonishing, yet nothing compared to what humans encountered four thousand light-years from home... -
![Quantum Space by Douglas Phillips]()
Quantum Space by Douglas Phillips
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThis is an alternate Cover Edition for ASIN: B06ZY9T5Y5.If you liked the authenticity of The Martian, the page-turning pace of Da Vinci Code, and the inspirational world view of Arthur C. Clarke, you'll love Quantum Space.High above the windswept plains of Kazakhstan, three astronauts on board a Russian Soyuz capsule begin their reentry... -
![Empaths by S.H. Jucha]()
Empaths by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCaptain Jessie Cinders faces a hazardous choice. The murderer of the governor’s nephew stands before him. But, the frightened teenager, Aurelia Garmenti, doesn’t resemble the commandant’s description of the vicious, hardened killer his security forces seek.To complicate matters, Jessie’s mind has felt Aurelia’s mental powers... -
![The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet by Mackey Chandler]()
The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the first book of this series "Family Law", Lee's parents and their business partner Gordon found a class A habitable planet. They thought their quest as explorers was over and they'd live a life of ease. But before they could return and register their claim Lee's parents died doing a survey of the surface... -
![Dark World by B.V. Larson]()
Dark World by B.V. Larson
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsTwo expanding interstellar powers are about to meet in battle. After the collapse of the Cephalopod Kingdom, Humanity claimed the three hundred rebellious worlds they left behind. But many light years away on the far side of disputed region, a rival power has begun to move. They're stealing our planets, one at a time... -
![Artifact Space by Miles Cameron]()
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... -
![Omnia by S.H. Jucha]()
Omnia by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlex Racine, who led an elite group of humans and SADEs (self-ware digital entities), left the newly discovered planet of Celus-5 under difficult circumstances. Few of the Harakens with Alex thought there was little he could do to bring peace to the embroiled planet... -
![Allora by S.H. Jucha]()
Allora by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsUntil the Confederation created Allora, it had produced SADEs (self-aware digital entities) for hundreds of years with enormous consistency and harnessed their capabilities to power the society. But this particular, young SADE was disturbed by her confinement... -
![Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha]()
Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFor the Sojourn’s initial mission, the Haraken explorer ship undertakes the investigation of Celus-5, a world identified by Willem, a SADE (self-aware digital entity), and his team of scientists, as the best prospect for a new colony.What should be a routine survey mission becomes a disaster. To the Harakens’ surprise, they discover, not one, but two alien species engaged in conflict... -
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![Haraken by S.H. Jucha]()
Haraken by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNine years of tranquility came to an abrupt end when a Méridien starship entered the Hellébore system, sounding a dire warning for Alex Racine, the Haraken president. Unwanted visitors had arrived again. But this time, they’re not alien; they’re human... -
![Allotropes by Laurence E. Dahners]()
Allotropes by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Allotropes" is the eighth in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers whose young heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation which has made her a genius as well as an athletic phenomenon.In “Allotropes,” she finds even more uses for the quantum entangled wormholes that she discovered... -
![The Life of the Mind by John Scalzi]()
The Life of the Mind by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPart one of the four parts of the full-length novel, The End of All Things.A down-on-his-luck Colonial Union starship pilot finds himself pressed into serving a harsh master-in a mission against the CU. But his kidnappers may have underestimated his knowledge of the ship that they have, quite literally, bound him to piloting... -
![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... -
![Sol by S.H. Jucha]()
Sol by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSol’s warships paid the ultimate price for threatening the Haraken and New Terran worlds. Now, Haraken President Alex Racine and his Méridien partner, Renée de Guirnon, are engaged in a desperate gamble to stop a war between their worlds and United Earth’s (UE) massive forces before it starts... -
![DNA by Laurence E. Dahners]()
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... -
![Homeworld by Evan Currie]()
Homeworld by Evan Currie
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWar comes home to the Sol system when the Drasin track a human ship back to Earth, with devastating consequences. Facing massive force of invading alien ships wielding terrible power, the crew of the NAC spacecraft, their allies, and the people of Earth must mount a desperate effort to stop them... -
![Storm World by B.V. Larson]()
Storm World by B.V. Larson
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsJames McGill is sent to the Core Worlds! In an unprecedented first, Earth sends a message to Mogwa Prime. Unfortunately, the messenger is not met with enthusiasm. Misunderstandings soon threaten all of Humanity. Forced to prove Earth can serve the Empire better than any rival, McGill does his best... -
![Hell's Reach by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson]()
Hell's Reach by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsUSA Today bestseller B.V. Larson and Dragon award finalist David VanDyke have released book six in their epic military space opera! The Breakers find a new home among the stars: Utopia. An engineered planet that is vast beyond comprehension with plenty of room to grow. They set up trade routes and work as mercenaries for their supplies… but trouble lurks. Pirates strike their merchant lanes... -
![Enemies & Allies by Rick Partlow]()
Enemies & Allies by Rick Partlow
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe war is over and Andy Clanton is ready to live happily ever after.Space Force has other ideas.Recruited to follow the last signal of the mysterious Elders to a system halfway across the galaxy, Andy joins the crew of the James Bowie for another adventure into the unknown... -
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![Connection Unknown by Michael Chatfield]()
Connection Unknown by Michael Chatfield
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLuke Tavares has dreamed of joining the vast gaming guilds of the hypernet. After recently graduating high school, his parents have given him the same ultimatum as his siblings; he has one month to get a job to pay for his air, gravity, and water aboard the Dahlia.The freighter needs more hands, but Luke doesn’t want to be a trader-ship engineer...Categorized as:
aliens space-travel action-adventure book fiction first-contact hard-sci-fi invasion -
![Explorer by C.J. Cherryh]()
Explorer by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIt has been nearly ten years since the starship Phoenix returned to Alpha, the station orbiting the world of the atevi, which had been abandoned following a rift between a faction of the station's inhabitants and the spacers' Pilot's Guild... -
![Bioterror! by Laurence E. Dahners]()
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... -
![The Hot Gate by John Ringo]()
The Hot Gate by John Ringo
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsNew York Times Best-Selling Author.The Big Showdown with an Alien Empire, to Keep the Earth Free—and Maybe Free the Galaxy as Well. The fight to free the Earth from alien domination began in Live Free or Die, and continued in Citadel. Now Tyler Vernon, and his troops aboard the gigantic battle station Troy, face a desperate battle with the forces of galactic tyranny... -
![The Armageddon Inheritance by David Weber]()
The Armageddon Inheritance by David Weber
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsColin MacIntyre, a NASA astronaut kidnapped by a starship impersonating Earth's moon, has just suppressed a fifty-thousand-year-old mutiny, but now he faces an even bigger challenge. By the author of Mutineers' Moon. Reissue...Categorized as:
aliens space-travel action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book explorer -
![Divergence by C.J. Cherryh]()
Divergence by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe twenty-first book in the beloved Foreigner saga continues the adventures of diplomat Bren Cameron, advisor to the atevi head of state... -
![Flagship Victory by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson]()
Flagship Victory by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom Hugo and Dragon Award finalist David VanDyke, and million-selling science-fiction legend and Dragon Award finalist B.V. Larson, comes book three in the epic military space opera adventure saga!Commodore Straker faces new enemies as neighboring interstellar empires decide his New Republic is a growing threat... -
![Deep Black (Infinite Sky #1) by Samuel Best]()
Deep Black (Infinite Sky #1) by Samuel Best
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTwo crews return to Titan. Who will survive?Titan. Sixth moon of Saturn. A deadly enigma harboring the greatest secret in the history of humankind.In the wake of the first mission, two companies with very different goals plot a return to that distant moon. Their ships are safer, their technology has improved…and they want answers... -
![Impact! by Laurence E. Dahners]()
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... -
![Tau Ceti by Laurence E. Dahners]()
Tau Ceti by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Tau Ceti" is the sixth in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers whose young heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation which has made her a genius and an athletic phenomenon.In “Tau Ceti!”, she is continuing to find uses for the quantum entangled wormholes that she has discovered. These wormholes aren’t big enough to send people through, yet they are making huge changes in our world... -
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![Habitats by Laurence E. Dahners]()
Habitats by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Habitats" is the seventh in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers whose youngheroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation which has made her a genius as well as an athletic phenomenon.In “Habitats,” she is continuing to find uses for the quantum entangled wormholes that she discovered. These wormholes aren’t big enough to send people through, yet they are making huge changes in our world... -
![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... -
![Prelude to Extinction by Andreas Karpf]()
Prelude to Extinction by Andreas Karpf
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEarth's first interstellar mission -- An alien colony in ruins -- Their fight for survival has only just begun.When Jack Harrison climbed down the short ladder from the airlock and stepped onto the debris covered soil, the ground crackled with the sound of dried leaves and twigs... -
![Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds]()
Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMiguel de Ruyter is a man with a past.Fleeing the 'wolves' - the xenocidal alien machines known as Inhibitors - he has protected his family and community from attack for forty years, sheltering in the caves of an airless, battered world called Michaelmas. The slightest hint of human activity could draw the wolves to their home, to destroy everything ... utterly... -
![Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven by Larry Niven, Rick Sternbach]()
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-travel action-adventure adult anthologies fiction hard-sci-fi solar-system -
![Citadel by John Ringo]()
Citadel by John Ringo
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsOf all the hosts of Eurotas the Troias were the most fell. For they were born of Winter.Between the Solar Array Pumped Laser and Troy, the two trillion ton nickel-iron battlestation created by eccentric billionaire Tyler Vernon, Earth has managed to recapture the Sol system from their Horvath conquerors and begin entering the galactic millieu... -
![Tactics of Conquest by David VanDyke]()
Tactics of Conquest by David VanDyke
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArmed with alien technology and a complete refit, Henrich Absen captains Conquest on a voyage to take back what humanity has lost. Along the way he must confront a new form of life as well as his own demons in this shocking episode of the Plague Wars/Stellar Conquest saga... -
![The Legacy of a Conqueror by Saxon Andrew]()
The Legacy of a Conqueror by Saxon Andrew
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the International Bestselling Author, Saxon Andrew, comes the fourth book in the Escape to Earth Series-The Legacy of a Conqueror. The Combined Fleets have pushed back the invasion fleet from the giant galaxy, M-87. However, another player has entered the game and has attacked M-87 with a vengeance...Categorized as:
aliens space-travel book fiction first-contact galactic-empire genetic-engineering hard-sci-fi -
![Effie by C.J. Williams]()
Effie by C.J. Williams
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEffie didn’t intend to bring death and destruction to Earth. But with Enforcers in hot pursuit, Special Agent EAFY584 can only escape by crashing her stolen starship out of hyperspace into an uncharted solar system. Fortunately for her, the planet called Earth has a human population. Unfortunately for them, standard Enforcer procedure is to sterilize any planet where a spy might be hiding...Categorized as:
aliens space-travel book colonization female-mc fiction first-contact galactic-empire -
![Conquest of Earth by David VanDyke]()
Conquest of Earth by David VanDyke
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPoised to reconquer humanity's home, Captain Absen and Conquest are confronted with a new enemy that upsets the balance of power and changes everything EarthFleet expected. Their struggle to free Earth becomes instead a desperate battle for sheer survival as they contemplate the unthinkable... -
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![Conquest and Empire by David VanDyke]()
Conquest and Empire by David VanDyke
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBook 5, the final book in the Stellar Conquest series! Over 300 pages packed with your favorite hard-hitting military science fiction adventure.After barely fending off the insectoid Scourge, Admiral Absen frantically prepares for another attack while dealing with politics and treachery from within, even as Spectre pursues his own hidden agenda... -
![Desolator by David VanDyke]()
Desolator by David VanDyke
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen an enormous and potent alien ship appears in the colony system of Gliese 370, EarthFleet must investigate. What they find within will change the course of humanity's future yet again, as they face Desolator. The risks are high and so is the price - and the payoff: new technology far ahead of their own, which may provide the key to fight the Meme Empire... -
![Resurgence by C.J. Cherryh]()
Resurgence by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe twentieth book in the beloved Foreigner saga returns to the trials of diplomat Bren Cameron, as he navigates the tenuous peace he has struck between human refugees and the alien atevi.Bren Cameron, diplomat in residence, usually represents the ruler of the atevi state... -
![The Commander by C.J. Williams]()
The Commander by C.J. Williams
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLucas Blackburn had a peaceful job as an Airport Director in an out of the way community in central Nevada. He wanted to live quietly and let old scars heal. But then a spaceship landed. The lone occupant, a guy named Sam, gave Luke the keys and said it was up to him to stop a massive alien invasion that was on the way. Luke wanted to believe it was a hoax. The problem was, Sam had the proof... -
![But The Stars by Peter Cawdron]()
But The Stars by Peter Cawdron
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 11 ratings"But the stars that marked our starting fall away.We must go deeper into greater pain,for it is not permitted that we stay."–Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 1301 ADAt the start of the 22nd century, the starship Acheron is in orbit around WISE 5571 only, unbeknownst to the crew, the ship has been overrun by telepathic extraterrestrials... -
![Espero by S.H. Jucha]()
Espero by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTrouble infiltrated the Harakens’ capital city of Espero, in the form of New Terra criminal gangs who grew wealthy and powerful on the moons of Ganymede, hiding behind the cover of an ill-conceived mining charter. The gangs brought stims and addictive hallucinogenic drugs to Espero, distributing them to the young on the planet...
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