Books like 'The Ballad of Bad Jack'
Readers who enjoyed The Ballad of Bad Jack by Anthony Ryan also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
futuristic sc-fi mystery space action / adventure military, war & conflict cyberpunk law-enforcement dystopia noir
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Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsThirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper... -
![Obsidio by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff]()
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsKady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao... -
![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... -
![Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff]()
Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 60 ratingsMoving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault... -
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![Skyward by Brandon Sanderson]()
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsDefeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot... -
![Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey]()
Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsWe are not alone.On Ganymede, breadbasket of the outer planets, a Martian marine watches as her platoon is slaughtered by a monstrous supersoldier. On Earth, a high-level politician struggles to prevent interplanetary war from reigniting. And on Venus, an alien protomolecule has overrun the planet, wreaking massive, mysterious changes and threatening to spread out into the solar system... -
![Age of Deception by T.A. White]()
Age of Deception by T.A. White
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWar hero and daughter to two Houses, Kira is just beginning to learn how deep the rabbit hole goes. Agreeing to accompany her father’s people back to their homeworld, Kira Forrest prepares for the fight of her life. She’s agreed to undertake the Trial of the Broken, a rite of passage every member of her father’s House must pass... -
![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... -
![Starsight by Brandon Sanderson]()
Starsight by Brandon Sanderson
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsAll her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing.Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her... -
![Miles Errant by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Miles Errant by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsContains: The Borders of InfinityBrothers in Arms Mirror DanceMiles Naismith--in the person of his two alter-egos Admiral Naismith and Lieutenant Lord Vorkosigan--embarks on a perilous series of adventures, from the liberation of Barrayaran allies from a Cetagandan POW camp to the rescue of clone children scheduled to be murdered for their bodies...Categorized as:
military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies female-author fiction -
![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)...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov]()
Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsSo far the Foundation was safe. But there was a hidden Second Foundation to protect the first. The Mule has yet to find it, but he was getting closer all the time. The men of the Foundation sought it, too, to escape from Mule's mind control. Only Arkady, a 14 year-old girl seemed to have the answer, or did she.. -
![Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey]()
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsHumanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach.Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted...Categorized as:
crime dystopia law-enforcement military noir space-opera 21st-century action-adventure -
![Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey]()
Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsAbaddon's Gate is the third book in the New York Times bestselling Expanse series. For generations, the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt - was humanity's great frontier. Until now. The alien artefact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has emerged to build a massive structure outside the orbit of Uranus: a gate that leads into a starless dark... -
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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... -
![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... -
![Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells]()
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 59 ratingsSciFi’s favorite crabby A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good... -
![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:
dystopia military space-opera 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens apocalyptic -
![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... -
![Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff]()
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 70 ratingsThis morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe... -
![Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid]()
Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsS. J. Kincaid has created a fascinating dystopian world for Insignia, her futuristic science-fiction adventure series perfect for fans of Ender's Game. Earth is in the middle of WWIII, battling to determine which governments and corporations will control the resources of the solar system.Teen Tom Raines grew up with nothing, some days without even a roof over his head...Categorized as:
cyberpunk dystopia military action-adventure audiobook boarding-school book children -
![Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov]()
Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsFoundation and Empire tells the incredible story of a new breed of man who create a new force for galactic government. Thus, the Foundation hurtles into conflict with the decadent, decrepit First Empire. In this struggle for power amid the chaos of the stars, man stands at the threshold of a new, enlightened life which could easily be put aside for the old forces of barbarism... -
![Hyperion by Dan Simmons]()
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsOn the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all... -
![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... -
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![Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsThe year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star... vanishes. It does not go supernova... -
![Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey]()
Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsThe fourth novel in James S.A. Corey’s New York Times bestselling Expanse seriesThe gates have opened the way to thousands of habitable planets, and the land rush has begun. Settlers stream out from humanity's home planets in a vast, poorly controlled flood, landing on a new world... -
![Voice of Mars by Glynn Stewart]()
Voice of Mars by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsYOU CAN NEVER GO HOMEWhen accusations of piracy and mass murder are laid against his homeworld, Damien Montgomery is sent to resolve the crisis.As counter-accusations fly and an old flame re-enters his life, the newest Hand of the Mage-King of Mars finds himself in the midst of a bloody interstellar shadow war... -
![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... -
![Iron Gold by Pierce Brown]()
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsThey call him father, liberator, warlord, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the pale blue planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-second of his life. A decade ago, Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society... -
![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...Categorized as:
military space-opera action-adventure adult anthologies comedy female-author fiction -
![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... -
![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...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens -
![Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen]()
Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the highly anticipated Nyxia Triad series finale, Emmett and the Genesis team must join forces with a surprising set of allies if they’re ever to make it home alive.Desperate to return home to Earth and claim the reward Babel promised, Emmett and the Genesis team join forces with the Imago. Babel’s initial attack left their home city in ruins, but that was just part of the Imago’s plan...Categorized as:
dystopia space-opera action-adventure aliens apocalyptic audiobook book coming-of-age -
![The Enemy Within by Joshua Dalzelle]()
The Enemy Within by Joshua Dalzelle
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe quadrant is burning. Violent, deadly uprisings are breaking out, seemingly at random, all across the Confederation’s sphere of influence. The response by the powerful Confederation Fleet has been swift and decisive, but for every planet they restore order to, another erupts into chaos... -
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![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...Categorized as:
military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book classics coming-of-age -
![Line War by Neal Asher]()
Line War by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAsher is brilliant at conveying the vastness of space, the strangeness of alien life, and the sweep of planetary horizons.”—SFX MagazineFrom the mind of Neal Asher and his Polity universe comes Line War, which has Agent Cormac once again on the trail, investigating an attack of his AI masters... -
![Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks]()
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsThe man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought... -
![The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 30 ratings[A Miles Vorkosigan Story] Twenty year old Ensign Miles Vorkosigan plays detective in a murder case, and tests the balance of power as a member of the Barrayaran nobility. [Publisher's Note: The Mountains of Mourning was originally published as a stand-alone novella in the May 1989 issue of Analog...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![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... -
![Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff]()
Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsOur heroes are back… kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just might be the galaxy’s best hope for survival.First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed... -
![Vortex by S.J. Kincaid]()
Vortex by S.J. Kincaid
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe impossible was just the beginning. Now in their second year as superhuman government weapons-in-training at the Pentagonal Spire, Tom Raines and his friends are mid-level cadets in the elite combat corps known as the Intrasolar Forces. But as training intensifies and a moment arrives that could make or break his entire career, Tom’s loyalties are again put to the test...Categorized as:
cyberpunk dystopia military action-adventure audiobook boarding-school book coming-of-age -
![Inversion Point by Jenn Burke, Kelly Jensen]()
Inversion Point by Jenn Burke, Kelly Jensen
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsZander and Felix's relationship has been to the brink and back: the Human-Stin War, imprisonment and an actual death/resurrection. Zander's death, to be specific, and the experience has left him…changed. The mysterious race known as the Guardians chose to revive him and appointed him as their emissary... -
![The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury]()
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 74 ratingsFrom "Rocket Summer" to "The Million-Year Picnic," Ray Bradbury's stories of the colonization of Mars form an eerie mesh of past and future. Written in the 1940s, the chronicles drip with nostalgic atmosphere--shady porches with tinkling pitchers of lemonade, grandfather clocks, chintz-covered sofas...Categorized as:
dystopia space-opera 20th-century action-adventure aliens anthologies apocalyptic audiobook -
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![A Pocket Full of Lies by Kirsten Beyer, Martin Frei]()
A Pocket Full of Lies by Kirsten Beyer, Martin Frei
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Full Circle Fleet has resumed its unprecedented explorations of the Delta Quadrant and former Borg space. Commander Liam O'Donnell of the U.S.S. Demeter makes a promising first contact with the Nihydron—humanoid aliens that are collectors of history... -
![Chains of Duty by Anthony James]()
Chains of Duty by Anthony James
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor Captain John Duggan, it seems like war never ends. Each success brings another mission and more death. Following events at the Helius Blackstar, Duggan is given the Space Corps’ newest warship – a heavy cruiser armed to the teeth with the latest weapons and technology... -
![Excession by Iain M. Banks]()
Excession by Iain M. Banks
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe international sensation Iain M. Banks offers readers a deeply imaginative, wittily satirical tale, proving once again that he is "a talent to be reckoned with" ("Locus"). In Excession, the Culture's espionage and dirty tricks section orders Diplomat Byr Gen-Hofoen to steal the soul of a long-dead starship captain... -
![The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton]()
The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsNot every fallen angel comes from heaven...The ancient menace has finally escaped from Lalonde, shattering the Confederation's peaceful existence. Those who succumbed to it have acquired godlike powers, but now follow a far from divine gospel as they advance inexorably from world to world...Categorized as:
military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens apocalyptic audiobook -
![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...Categorized as:
crime law-enforcement military space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![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...
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