Books like 'Pillar to the Sky'
Readers who enjoyed Pillar to the Sky by William R. Forstchen also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space hard sci-fi military, war & conflict apocalyptic post-apocalyptic dystopia space-travel disaster soldiers
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Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsThe Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again... -
![Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey]()
Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 61 ratingsThe fifth novel in Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series--now being produced for television by the SyFy Channel!A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia military politics post-apocalyptic space-travel 21st-century action-adventure -
![Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey]()
Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsIn the thousand-sun network of humanity's expansion, new colony worlds are struggling to find their way. Every new planet lives on a knife edge between collapse and wonder, and the crew of the aging gunship Rocinante have their hands more than full keeping the fragile peace...Categorized as:
dystopia military politics post-apocalyptic space-travel 21st-century action-adventure adult -
![Into the Serpent's Lair by Ryk Brown]()
Into the Serpent's Lair by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.76 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsEmpires at the brink of war…A galactic alliance on the horizon…Worlds on the verge of destruction…Comrades taking up arms against one another…Nathan Scott must use all his cunning to save not only his own world, but the worlds of his friends and his enemies. But to do so, he must make a deal with the devil, and risk everything on a fight no one believes he can win... -
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![For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor]()
For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsBob Johansson didn't believe in an afterlife, so waking up after being killed in a car accident was a shock. To add to the surprise, he is now a sentient computer and the controlling intelligence for a Von Neumann probe. Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets. But that's the only part of the plan that's still in one piece...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia military post-apocalyptic space-travel 21st-century action-adventure ai -
![All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor]()
All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsBeing a sentient spaceship really should be more fun. But after spreading out through space for almost a century, Bob and his clones just can't stay out of trouble.They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct. But political squabbles have a bad habit of dying hard, and the Brazilian probes are still trying to take out the competition...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia military politics post-apocalyptic space-travel action-adventure ai -
![We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor]()
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsAlternate Cover Edition can be found here. Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia military post-apocalyptic space-travel 21st-century action-adventure ai -
![Battle for New Canaan - The Orion War Books 1-3 by M.D. Cooper]()
Battle for New Canaan - The Orion War Books 1-3 by M.D. Cooper
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratings***The drums of war thunder across the stars...***The final negotiations between the Silstrand Alliance and the Scipian Empire are complete, and it's time for Tanis and Sera to part ways. Sera must return to Khardine, where new challenges await, and preprations for the march on Airtha begin. Meanwhile Tanis turns toward the Praesepe Cluster... -
![That Which Other Men Cannot Do by Ryk Brown]()
That Which Other Men Cannot Do by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEpisode 15 New forces grow… Old friends are lost… New alliances are forged… Old weapons are made new… With political unrest growing, the Alliance must rush to rebuild their fleet and expand their 'sphere of influence' before their support runs out. But when the Jung up the ante, the Alliance must turn up the heat... -
![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:
apocalyptic dystopia military politics post-apocalyptic 21st-century action-adventure adult -
![Rescue The Princess by John Hindmarsh]()
Rescue The Princess by John Hindmarsh
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJack suffered from an attack by the Blue Caps. He sued the RSN and won. He also sued the Royal Family and won. Now he’s acquired his own warship and his first mission is to rescue the princess.What? Yes, Sofia is missing. The Queen has taken an intense dislike to her daughter’s ambitions and Sofia has disappeared. Jack sets out to rescue her with the assistance of Black Company marines... -
![Return of the Corinari by Ryk Brown]()
Return of the Corinari by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPart 2: Episode 13 A host of new allies… A plethora of advanced technologies… A daring gamble to advance their forces… A chance to retake lost worlds once and for all… The Dusahn have been backed into a corner, barely able to hold the worlds of the Pentaurus cluster, let alone the entire sector. Forced to dig in, they may have to resort to drastic measures to save their fledgling empire... -
![Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor]()
Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsCivil war looms in the Bobiverse in this brand-new, epic-length adventure by best seller Dennis E. Taylor.More than a hundred years ago, Bender set out for the stars and was never heard from again. There has been no trace of him despite numerous searches by his clone-mates. Now Bob is determined to organize an expedition to learn Bender’s fate—whatever the cost... -
![TFS Guardian by Tori L. Harris]()
TFS Guardian by Tori L. Harris
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings— An ancient alliance under siege ... — A threat for which we are not prepared ... — And "Grey" aliens who are not at all what we expected. The enigmatic Greys have returned, bearing a host of stunning revelations regarding their role in Earth’s history, the Pelarans, and Humanity’s place in the cosmos... -
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![Shakedown by Scott Sigler]()
Shakedown by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"A gritty tale of cosmic dread.”— Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of RED RISINGFew know the warship’s actual name. Fewer still know what it really is. And almost no one knows of its unique ability, an ability that could tilt the balance of power if not outright win the war.But everyone has heard the rumors. Rumors about the worst place the Planetary Union Fleet can send you... -
![Old Man's War by John Scalzi]()
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsJohn Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-- and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia military politics space-travel 21st-century action-adventure adult -
![The Weak and the Innocent by Ryk Brown]()
The Weak and the Innocent by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsEpisode 14 A ship in the hands of their enemy… A liberation gone wrong… A chance to double their ranks… A bold and daring plan… Their support from the Pentaurus cluster dwindling fast, the Alliance faces new and unpleasant realities in the Sol sector. But untoward changes also bring unexpected opportunities… The 'trick' is in how you use them... -
![Born of the Ashes by Ryk Brown]()
Born of the Ashes by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsEpisode 11 A world in chaos… An eager new ally… A newly acquired ship… An even greater threat on its way… Captain Nathan Scott must decide whether to stand and fight to the end, or live to fight another day… even if it means the end of his world. “Born of the Ashes” is a 122,000 word novel, and is the 11th episode in The Frontiers Saga... -
![Resistance by Ryk Brown]()
Resistance by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsEpisode nine of The Frontiers Saga...A chance to gain much needed resources… A group of highly trained, merciless soldiers… A half-completed ship on a trajectory to nowhere… A lone operative on familiar yet dangerous ground… Captain Scott and the crew of the Aurora have a chance to get everything they need to liberate their home world, but they may have to fight someone else's war first... -
![Comet! by Laurence E. Dahners]()
Comet! by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"Comet!" is the fifth in a series of near future SciFi/Thrillers whose young heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation which has rendered her a genius and an athletic phenomenon. In “Comet!” she and her team begin exploring outer space using the wormholes she produced in "Rocket." Unfortunately Comet Hearth-Daster is on a trajectory to strike the Earth... -
![Rise of the Alliance by Ryk Brown]()
Rise of the Alliance by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEpisode 12A new ally providing aid…An old ally joining the fight…Their resources growing with each passing day…Their homeworld finally on the road to recovery…Things finally seem to be coming together for Captain Scott and the Alliance, as he takes his forces on the offensive. However, the Jung may in turn give him more trouble than he bargained for... -
![The Solar War by A.G. Riddle]()
The Solar War by A.G. Riddle
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWe thought the war was over.We were wrong.They decimated Earth during the Long Winter.Now the grid has returned, and they won't stop until the human race is extinct.On a ruined world, humanity's last survivors fight against impossible odds. In their darkest hour, they discover a new hope for survival. But it comes at an unthinkable price, with consequences that will change everything... -
![A Line in the Sand by Ryk Brown]()
A Line in the Sand by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPart 2: Episode 14An enemy lashing out in desperation…An alliance poised to expand…A new fleet of ships to help them…A covert mission to get answers…The Dusahn Empire has been contained for the moment. But there is much work to be done in order to keep them from reasserting their dominance over the Pentaurus sector... -
![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... -
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![Columbus Day by Craig Alanson]()
Columbus Day by Craig Alanson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsWe were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news. The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other... -
![How Firm a Foundation by David Weber]()
How Firm a Foundation by David Weber
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Charisian Empire, born in war, has always known it must fight for its very survival. What most of its subjects don't know even now, however, is how much more it's fighting for. Emperor Cayleb, Empress Sharleyan, Merlin Athrawes, and their innermost circle of most trusted advisers do know... -
![A Show of Force by Ryk Brown]()
A Show of Force by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsEpisode 13 The liberation old worlds… The addition of new allies… The fall of a regime… The death of a trusted friend… The Aurora begins clearing a 20 light year sphere of safety around Earth, taking out Jung forces as they liberate the core systems. However, Captain Scott and the Alliance quickly discover that not every world wants to be liberated, and the Jung have a few surprises of their own... -
![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... -
![Osiris by Ralph Kern, Michael Kramer]()
Osiris by Ralph Kern, Michael Kramer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBeyond the apocalypse, humanity's future is being decided.It's been three months since the cruise ship M/S Atlantica arrived in a hostile new world.The survivors dream of building a home, but just as their hopes rise, they learn the true cost of saving thousands of people from catastrophe.Conrad Wakefield, the architect of the Locus project, killed billions...Categorized as:
dystopia military post-apocalyptic space-travel action-adventure adult ai alternate-history -
![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... -
![Auberon by James S.A. Corey]()
Auberon by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsA novella set in the universe of James S. A. Corey’s NYT-bestselling Expanse series, Auberon explores a new and alien world and the age-old dangers that humanity has carried with it to the stars. Now a Prime Original series.Auberon is one of the first and most important colony worlds in humanity’s reach, and the new conquering faction has come to claim it...Categorized as:
dystopia military political-intrigue politics 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens -
![The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 3 by David Drake]()
The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 3 by David Drake
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWith a veteran ’s eye for the harsh and gritty details of war, David Drake depicts a futuristic analog of Vietnam-era tank combat in his Hammer’s Slammers fiction. Upon this tactical foundation, Drake uses historical metaphor to provide a rich and detailed future-history that is both unique and strangely familiar...Categorized as:
military soldiers space-travel action-adventure adult anthologies fiction hard-sci-fi -
![Been There, Done That by Mackey Chandler]()
Been There, Done That by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsApril and her partners Jeff and Heather have a secret. They’ve been to another star, and are sending a crew to a couple more close-by stars. The Earthies have tried to do this already, and failed. The Three have just a hair better technology, and with a little luck and April’s good sense, managed not to kill themselves right away... -
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![TFS Fugitive by Tori L. Harris]()
TFS Fugitive by Tori L. Harris
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsHaving successfully repelled the Resistance incursion into the Sol system, Terran Fleet Command must now deal with the far-flung worlds of the Sajeth Collective, which sponsored the attack. Task forces are dispatched to Damara and Lesheera to begin the first Human blockades of entire planets...Categorized as:
military post-apocalyptic soldiers space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![Angles of Attack by Marko Kloos]()
Angles of Attack by Marko Kloos
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe alien forces known as the Lankies are gathering on the solar system's edge, consolidating their conquest of Mars and setting their sights on Earth. The far-off colony of New Svalbard, cut off from the rest of the galaxy by the Lanky blockade, teeters on the verge of starvation and collapse. The forces of the two Earth alliances have won minor skirmishes but are in danger of losing the war...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia military post-apocalyptic soldiers space-travel action-adventure adult -
![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... -
![April by Mackey Chandler]()
April by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsApril is an exceptional young lady and something of a snoop. She finds herself involved with intrigues that stretch her abilities after a chance run in with a spy. There is a terrible danger she and her friends and family will lose the only home she has ever known in orbit and be forced to live on the slum ball below. It's more than a almost teen can deal with...Categorized as:
military political-intrigue space-travel action-adventure adult book espionage female-mc -
![TFS Navajo by Tori L. Harris]()
TFS Navajo by Tori L. Harris
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOnly a few short months after Humanity’s first interstellar flights, the first shots have been fired in what will eventually become known as the Alliance Wars. Terran Fleet Command teeters on the edge of chaos in the aftermath of Chairwoman Crull’s removal from power, while in space, Earth’s defense falls squarely on the shoulders of Admiral Kevin Patterson...Categorized as:
military post-apocalyptic soldiers space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1: Resurrection by Randolph Lalonde]()
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1: Resurrection by Randolph Lalonde
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCaptain Jacob Valance has no memory of his past. Left on a strange ship in an unfamiliar sector of the galaxy, he's forced to begin a new life. Possessing a skill set that leads to bounty hunting and object repossession, he gathers a crew from the rough fringe of the galaxy...Categorized as:
dystopia military political-intrigue politics space-travel action-adventure adult book -
![Kantovan Vault by Joel Shepherd]()
Kantovan Vault by Joel Shepherd
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe UFS Phoenix is on a mission to find a lost data-core that may contain the secret to defeating the alo-deepynine alliance. But the means to find the data-core is hidden deep in tavalai space, in a highest-security vault where the tavalai's manipulative State Department keep all their most treacherous secrets. To recover it, Phoenix must pull off the most daring heist the Spiral has ever seen... -
![TFS Theseus by Tori L. Harris]()
TFS Theseus by Tori L. Harris
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Welcome to the Pelaran Alliance …” With those simple words, the Guardian spacecraft openly revealed itself to Humanity, heralding a new chapter in its 500-year-long mission to cultivate our world...Categorized as:
military post-apocalyptic soldiers space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![Defiant by Laurence E. Dahners]()
Defiant by Laurence E. Dahners
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsIn “Defiant”, Ell Donsaii, her husband Shan Kinrais, and their friend Gary Pace begin working on commercialization of the carbon allotrope technology they learned about in “Allotropes”.Also, new uses, both beneficial and dangerous are being found for her ports. These wormholes aren’t big enough to send people through, yet they make possible technologies that have created huge changes in our world... -
![Echoes of Honor by David Weber]()
Echoes of Honor by David Weber
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsFor eight bloody years, the Star Kingdom of Manticore and its allies have taken the war to the vastly more powerful People's Republic of Haven, and Commodore Honor Harrington has been in the forefront of that war.But now Honor has fallen, captured by the Peep Navy, turned over to the forces of State Security ... and executed on the interstellar network's nightly news... -
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![Home World by B.V. Larson]()
Home World by B.V. Larson
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way. When the Earth is invaded by a rival empire, James McGill’s legion must defend the Home World. The top brass has complex plans, but none of that matters much to McGill, who chooses his own unique path... -
![Celestia CV-02 by Ryk Brown]()
Celestia CV-02 by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsEpisode 8A world divided…A ship under construction…A military scrambling to prepare a defense…A moment that everyone hoped would never come…The Earth Defense Force must find a way to defend their world against invasion by the Jung Empire. More importantly, they must protect their newest ship, the UES Celestia, as she may be their last hope... -
![The Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin]()
The Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCixin Liu is China's bestselling science fiction author and one of the most important voices in world SF. His novel, The Three-Body Problem, was the first translated work of SF ever to win the Hugo Award.Here is the first collection of his short fiction: eleven stories, including five Chinese Galaxy Award-winners, form a blazingly original ode to planet earth, its pasts and its futures... -
![Wizard by John Varley]()
Wizard by John Varley
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsISBN moved from less recent editionOne of the greatest science fiction epics ever written, John Varley's Titan, Wizard, and Demon comprise a groundbreaking trilogy that will live forever. Human explorers have entered the sprawling mind of Gaea. Now they must fight her will. For she is much too powerful...and definitely insane..Categorized as:
dystopia military post-apocalyptic soldiers space-travel action-adventure adult aliens -
![Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber]()
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsHumanity pushed its way to the stars - and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out.Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia military politics post-apocalyptic soldiers action-adventure adult -
![Lines of Departure by Marko Kloos]()
Lines of Departure by Marko Kloos
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsVicious interstellar conflict with an indestructible alien species. Bloody civil war over the last habitable zones of the cosmos. Political unrest, militaristic police forces, dire threats to the Solar System…Humanity is on the ropes, and after years of fighting a two-front war with losing odds, so is North American Defense Corps officer Andrew Grayson...
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