Books like 'Descent'
Readers who enjoyed Descent by Ken MacLeod also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
futuristic sc-fi mystery near-future politics satire humor
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An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsBehind the seemingly innocuous facade of St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, a different kind of academic work is taking place. Just don’t call it “time travel”―these historians “investigate major historical events in contemporary time.” And they aren’t your harmless eccentrics either; a more accurate description, as they ricochet around history, might be unintentional disaster-magnets... -
![Christmas Past by Jodi Taylor]()
Christmas Past by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe First Farrell Family Christmas Max, Leon and Matthew - together at last for Christmas at St Mary's - a time of conspicuous consumption, riotous misbehaviour and the traditional illegal Christmas jump. And this time, it's inter-generational... -
![Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsForced to abandon his undercover role as leader of the Dendarii Mercenaries, Miles Vorkosigan persuades Emperor Gregor to appoint him Imperial Auditor so he can penetrate Barrayar’s intelligence and security operations (ImpSec)... -
![Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb]()
Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsAfter a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn't a model... -
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![Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe dwarfish, fetally-damaged yet brilliant Miles Vorkosigan has more than his share of troubles. Having recently escaped an assassination plot whose tool was a brainwashed clone of himself, Miles has set the clone, Mark, free for a new chance at life... -
![A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsMiles Vorkosigan has a problem: unrequited love for the beautiful widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson, violently allergic to marriage after her first exposure. If a frontal assault won't do, Miles thinks, try subterfuge. He has a cunning plan... Lord Mark Vorkosigan, Miles' brother, also has a problem: his love has just become unrequited again. But he has a cunning plan.. -
![Miles, Mutants, and Microbes by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Miles, Mutants, and Microbes by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsContent: Falling free Labyrinth Diplomatic immunity Miles Vorkosigan/Naismith : his life and times.Two complete novels and a short novel in one large volume:Falling Free—The Nebula Award-winning novel. Leo Graf was just your typical efficient engineer: mind your own business and do the job... -
![Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey]()
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...Categorized as:
near-future politics 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens apocalyptic audiobook -
![Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe Warrior's Apprentice 1The Mountains of Mourning 373The Vor Game 465Author's Afterword 829IT ISN'T EASY, BEING VOR...Being a Vor lord on the war-torn planet Barrayar wasn't easy. Being an officer in Barrayar's military wasn't easy...Categorized as:
humor politics 20th-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook coming-of-age female-author -
![Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez]()
Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe propulsive, shockingly plausible sequel to New York Times bestseller Daemon, the "Greatest. Techno-thriller. Period."**William O'Brien, former director of cybersecurity and communications systems policy at the White House2009 saw one of the most inventive techno-thriller debuts in decades as Daniel Suarez introduced his terrifying and tantalizing vision of a new world order... -
![Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsContains: Cetaganda Ethan of Athos Labyrinth.Diplomat, soldier, spy - Lieutenant Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan of the Barrayarayan Empire, a.k.a. Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, is a young man of many parts... -
![Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCaptain Ivan Vorpatril is happy with his relatively uneventful bachelor’s life as a staff officer to a Barrayaran admiral. Cousin to imperial troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan, Ivan is not far down the hereditary list for the emperorship. Thankfully, new heirs have directed that headache elsewhere, leaving Ivan to enjoy his life on Komarr, far from the byzantine court politics of his home system... -
![Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings by Jodi Taylor]()
Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIt’s Christmas again at St Mary's and time for Max’s obligatory illegal jump. On this occasion, however, they’re right up against it. A loaded gun has been left behind in Ancient Egypt and it’s up to them to retrieve it before anyone accidentally blows their own head off, thus affecting the timeline for centuries to come...Categorized as:
humor near-future action-adventure adult africa alternate-history ancient-civilization audiobook -
![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... -
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![Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe latest installment in the adventures of Miles Vorkosigan. Miles and Cousin Ivan travel to Cetaganda to play the part of sprigs of nobility doing their diplomatic duty. But when the Empress of Cetaganda dies naturally, and her lifelong attendant dies unnaturally, Miles and Ivan finds themselves in the thick of it... -
![Shift by Hugh Howey]()
Shift by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsIn 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech outlined the hardware and software platforms that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even self-propagate. In the same year, a TV program aired the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma...Categorized as:
near-future politics 21st-century action-adventure alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook book -
![The Battersea Barricades by Jodi Taylor]()
The Battersea Barricades by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt's not easy being a rebel. So many new skills to assimilate. Never mind strategic planning, weapons expertise and the like - there's bicycle-stealing, oil-stain removal and boat steering to be mastered first. And quickly. It's the time of the Civil Uprisings and two young women set out to make a difference. Their only problem? They don't know where they are. Or where they're going... -
![My Name is Markham by Jodi Taylor]()
My Name is Markham by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLike a smaller and much scruffier Greta Garbo – finally – Markham speaks!It’s Christmas and time for the first (and almost certainly last) St Mary’s Annual Children’s Christmas Party – attendance compulsory, by order of Dr Bairstow... -
![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... -
![The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsHugo Award Winner! Miles Vorkosigan graduates from the Academy, joins a mutiny, is placed under house arrest, goes on a secret mission, reconnects with his loyal Dendarii Mercenaries, rescues his Emperor, and thwarts an interstellar war. Situation normal, if you're Miles... -
![Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsKomarr could be a garden with a thousand more years' work, or an uninhabitable wasteland if the terraforming fails. Now, the solar mirror vital to the terraforming of the conquered planet has been shattered by a ship hurtling off course. The Emperor of Barrayar sends his newest imperial auditor, Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to find out why... -
![Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb]()
Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsSeconds after partaking of wine during a Catholic funeral mass, Father Miguel Flores is dead on the altar. Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained enough potassium cyanide to kill a rhino. And though the East Harlem neighborhood is a long way from the stone mansion she shares with her billionaire husband Roarke, it’s the holiness flying around St... -
![The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsBetween the seemingly impossible tasks of living up to his warrior-father's legend and surmounting his own physical limitations, Miles Vorkosigan faces some truly daunting challenges. Shortly after his arrival on Beta Colony, Miles unexpectedly finds himself the owner of an obsolete freighter and in more debt than he ever thought possible... -
![The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi]()
The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsThe Consuming Fire―the sequel to the 2018 Hugo Award Best Novel finalist and 2018 Locus Award-winning The Collapsing Empire―an epic space-opera novel in the bestselling Interdependency series, from New York Times bestselling author John ScalziThe Interdependency―humanity’s interstellar empire―is on the verge of collapse... -
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![Apex by Ramez Naam]()
Apex by Ramez Naam
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsGlobal unrest spreads as mass protests advance throughout the US and China, Nexus-upgraded riot police battle against upgraded protestors, and a once-dead scientist plans to take over the planet's electronic systems. The world has never experienced turmoil of this type, on this scale.They call them the Apex - humanity's replacement. They're smarter, faster, better. And infinitely more dangerous... -
![The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway]()
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe Jorgmund Pipe is the backbone of the world, and it's on fire. Gonzo Lubitsch, professional hero and troubleshooter, is hired to put it out, but there's more to the fire, and the Pipe itself, than meets the eye. The job will take Gonzo and his best friend, our narrator, back to their own beginnings...Categorized as:
humor satire 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook -
![Maker Space by K.B. Spangler]()
Maker Space by K.B. Spangler
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsConspiracies, political cover-ups, acts of terrorism… As one of the first cyborgs employed by the federal government, Agent Rachel Peng thought she had already lived through it all. Then, without warning, fourteen blocks of downtown Washington, D.C. are gone, blown apart by bombs unlike anything Rachel has ever seen... -
![A Better World by Marcus Sakey]()
A Better World by Marcus Sakey
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThe brilliants changed everything.Since 1980, 1% of the world has been born with gifts we’d only dreamed of. The ability to sense a person’s most intimate secrets, or predict the stock market, or move virtually unseen. For thirty years the world has struggled with a growing divide between the exceptional...and the rest of us.Now a terrorist network led by brilliants has crippled three cities...Categorized as:
near-future politics action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book conspiracies -
![The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler]()
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHumankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future. Rumors begin to spread of a dangerous species of hyperintelligent octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. The marine biologist Dr... -
![Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn the wake of unexpected planetary peace and the disappearance of the Dendarii payroll, mercenary captain Miles Naismith attempts to discover the link between the insufferable Captain Galeni and the Komarran rebel expatriates. Reissue. AB... -
![The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi]()
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsThe first novel of a new space-opera sequence set in an all-new universe by the Hugo Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Redshirts and Old Man's War... -
![Dark Horse by Michelle Diener]()
Dark Horse by Michelle Diener
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsSome secrets carry the weight of the world.Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally--a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided... -
![Childless: A Novel by James C. Dobson, Kurt Bruner]()
Childless: A Novel by James C. Dobson, Kurt Bruner
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe second installment in the riveting new trilogy from Dr. James Dobson and Kurt Bruner transports readers to a not-too-distant future when the young and healthy strain under the burden of a rapidly aging population. Everyone is nervous about how Judge Victor Santiago will rule. The case involved the tragic demise of a loving mother and her disabled son... -
![Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson]()
Europe at Dawn by Dave Hutchinson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlice works at the Scottish Embassy in Tallinn in Estonia as a member of the Cultural Section. When two men bring her the jewelled skull of a Scottish saint her world gets turned on its head, and she becomes the latest recruit to Les Coureurs des Bois.On a Greek island Benno is just one of hundreds of refuges dreaming of a new life in Continental Europe...Categorized as:
near-future action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book dystopia espionage -
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![Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson]()
Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsRudi, the former chef-turned-spy, returns on a mission to uncover the truth—in a fractured Europe utterly changed by the public unveiling of the Community.Union has been forged and the Community is now the largest nation in Europe; trains run there from as far afield as London and Prague. It is an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity...Categorized as:
near-future politics action-adventure adult alternate-history alternate-universe book dystopia -
![Alien in the House by Gini Koch]()
Alien in the House by Gini Koch
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJeff and Kitty Katt-Martini have learned the ins and outs of Washington politics, not to mention how to prevail in intergalactic war and foil dangerous plots. But, in the aftermath of Operation Destruction, the Gower girls’ powers are burned out, the entire A-C population has been “outed” as the aliens living on Earth that they are, and, worst of all, ACE is nowhere to be found... -
![Markham and the Anal Probing by Jodi Taylor]()
Markham and the Anal Probing by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMarkham and the Anal ProbingAnd then there was the day when Markham managed to get himself snatched by aliens – or so we thought at the time.I was summoned to Dr Bairstow’s office to find Markham and Peterson already present. We looked at each other.‘Any clues?’ I asked.They shrugged.‘You can go in now,’ said Mrs Partridge, so in we went.He looked up from his desk. ‘There you are...Categorized as:
humor near-future time-travel sci-fi fiction historical-fiction alternate-history historical -
![Fire Country by David Estes]()
Fire Country by David Estes
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer's even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely. Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter... -
![The Englor Affair by J.L. Langley]()
The Englor Affair by J.L. Langley
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn hiding who he was, Payton found himselfand the man he would grow to love. After his brother is kidnapped, Prince Payton Townsend masquerades as an Admirals assistant in order to track the culprits through the tangled mysteries of the planet Englor. He finds way more than he bargained for in the form of Marine Colonel Simon Hollister. Simon is no ordinary soldier... -
![Dark Minds by Michelle Diener]()
Dark Minds by Michelle Diener
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe mind is the most powerful weapon of all . . . Imogen Peters knows she's a pawn. She's been abducted from Earth, held prisoner, and abducted again. So when she gets a chance at freedom, she takes it with both hands, not realizing that doing so will turn her from pawn to kingmaker... -
![Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling]()
Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn the near future sci-fi world of Qualityland, algorithms help create an idyllic life for its citizens, but what if the perfect world wasn't built for you?Welcome to QualityLand, the best country on Earth. Here, a universal ranking system determines the social advantages and career opportunities of every member of society... -
![Ice Country by David Estes]()
Ice Country by David Estes
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsDazz, a hard-edged, fun-loving Icer, likes fighting, particularly while at his favorite watering hole. However, while recovering from a particularly bad break up, his decision to engage in a brutal pubroom brawl leads to a series of events that thrust him into a dark and mysterious scandal involving King Goff, the ice country ruler... -
![Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge... -
![On Basilisk Station by David Weber]()
On Basilisk Station by David Weber
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsHonor Harrington in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens... -
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![Head On by John Scalzi]()
Head On by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsJohn Scalzi returns with Head On, the standalone follow-up to the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed Lock In. Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, Head On brings Scalzi's trademark snappy dialogue and technological speculation to the future world of sports... -
![Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines]()
Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen the Krakau came to Earth, they planned to invite humanity into a growing alliance of sentient species. This would have worked out better for all involved if they hadn’t arrived after a mutated plague wiped out half the planet, turned the rest into shambling, near-unstoppable animals, and basically destroyed human civilization. You know—your standard apocalypse... -
![Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson]()
Europe at Midnight by Dave Hutchinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn a fractured Europe, new nations are springing up everywhere, some literally overnight.For an intelligence officer like Jim it's a nightmare. Every week or so a friendly power spawns a new and unknown national entity which may or may not be friendly to England's interests. It's hard to keep on top of it all. But things are about to get worse for Jim...Categorized as:
near-future action-adventure adult alternate-history alternate-universe book dystopia espionage -
![Desiccated Water by Jodi Taylor]()
Desiccated Water by Jodi Taylor
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDesiccated Water I was on my way to Peterson’s office for our Friday afternoon meeting. The one where he opens out a bottle of wine, I get out the glasses, and we both put our feet up and have a huge moan about the previous week. Sometimes the meetings are quite long...Categorized as:
humor near-future time-travel sci-fi fiction historical-fiction audiobook historical -
![The Terminal State by Jeff Somers]()
The Terminal State by Jeff Somers
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAvery Cates is an army man. Between the army's new dental plan and a set of first class augments, he's been given a second chance - albeit a quick one.When a corrupt officer decides to make some money on the side by selling new recruits, Cates finds himself in uncharted territory... -
![Felaheen by Jon Courtenay Grimwood]()
Felaheen by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn a world where secrets kill, an ex-cop discovers he's got the biggest secret of all. . . .Set in a 21st-century Ottoman Empire, Jon Courtenay Grimwood's acclaimed Arabesk series is a noir action-thriller with an exotic twist. Here an ex-cop with nothing to lose finds himself on the trail of a man he doesn't believe in: his father. Ashraf Bey has been a lot of things--and most of them illegal...Categorized as:
near-future 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book crime cyberpunk
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