Books like 'The Demon Princes'
Readers who enjoyed The Demon Princes by Jack Vance also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space mystery action / adventure space-opera revenge single-planet crime
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A Night Without Stars by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe planet Bienvenido is in crisis. It has finally escaped the Void, emerging into regular space. But it's millions of light-years from Commonwealth assistance, and humans are battling the Fallers for control of their world... -
Mountain of Mars by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Mage-King of Mars is deadChaos rocks Olympus MonsA new monarch must rise – but she does not stand alone!As the celebration of the victory at Legatus cools, a shuttle accident claims the lives of the Mage-King of Mars and his heir. The Crown and the Mountain fall to the Mage-King’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Kiera Alexander... -
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)... -
Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsRobust, peaceful, and confident, the Commonwealth dispatched a ship to investigate the mystery of a disappearing star, only to inadvertently unleash a predatory alien species that turned on its liberators, striking hard, fast, and utterly without mercy. The Prime are the Commonwealth's worst nightmare... -
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The Last Hunter by J.N. Chaney, Terry Mixon
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThose that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.Two centuries after the Confederation staved off an invasion by the robotic Locusts, Captain Jack Romanoff faces mandatory retirement from an ever-shrinking Navy. Actions speak louder than words. The Confederation doesn’t think the Locusts are coming back... -
Space Specter by Jenny Schwartz
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Saloon Sector is the Federation’s official frontier, but beyond it lurks the Badstars. Bandits hide there. The Saloon Sector is Sheriff Max Smith’s territory. Since the revelation of his secret identity, life has changed for Max and Thelma. Their relationship is under increased pressure... -
Vorkosigan's Game: The Vor Game \ Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOmnibus of The Vor Game and the novella "Borders of Infinity"... -
The Red Admiral by C.R. Daems
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAnna's success as the Eastar NIA station chief has catapulted her into the position of Director of NIA Stations. Anna is uncomfortable with the promotion and bored. She has a master chief secretary, a lieutenant aide-de-camp, and fifteen commanders and their staff to do the work. But she suspects not all of her commanders are happy with their new, very young admiral or are doing their jobs... -
Hijackers by C.R. Daems
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAnna's nice comfortable world is in turmoil. Because of their success in destroying the foreign Raiders, Anna, Kris, and Adrian were promoted to full commander, and the project team was disbanded. Kris and Adrian were given NIA offices to manage on Stone Ring and Westar, and Anna is being pressured to move to Eastar to manage the NIA station... -
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... -
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
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 single-planet space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsLong after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Earthman Elijah Baley, Keldon Amadiro embarked on a plan to destroy planet Earth. But even after his death, Baley's vision continued to guide his robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw, who had the wisdom of a great man behind him and an indestructable will to win... -
The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA millennium into the future two advances have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the Galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together... -
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Doctor Who: Shada by Gareth Roberts
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the unique mind of Douglas Adams, the legendary "lost" Doctor Who story has been completed at last by Gareth Roberts and narrated by Lalla Ward.The Doctor’s old friend and fellow Time Lord Professor Chronotis has retired to Cambridge University—where nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. But now he needs help from the Doctor, Romana and K-9... -
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... -
Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAn artificial intelligence on a star-spanning mission explores the farthest horizons of human potential—and its own purpose—in a mind-bending short story by New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi.Equipped with the entirety of human knowledge, a sentient ship is launched on a last-ditch journey to find a new home for civilization. Trillions of miles. Tens of thousands of years... -
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... -
The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsTom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a policeman of sorts, and one of the best. His force is Panoply, and his beat is the multi-faceted utopian society of the Glitter Band, that vast swirl of space habitats orbiting the planet Yellowstone. These days, his job is his life... -
Raiders by C.R. Daems
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAnna and her Naval Intelligence Agency, NIA, teammates have a new high-priority assignment: foreign raiders who are wreaking havoc within the United Alliance of Stars. They hit high value targets, have access to inside information, kill the security guards, and leave no witnesses. The NIA team soon discovers the raiders' system has been well thought out and has no weak links to exploit... -
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... -
The Worst Ship in the Fleet by Skyler Ramirez
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA Military Science Fiction Adventure!Brad Mendoza is an idiot. He knows it, and so does everyone else. A promising naval career down the drain just because he accidentally killed 504 civilians. So, it's time for him to give up and accept a dead-end command on Persephone, the worst ship in the fleet... -
The Horror at Murden Cove by D.D. Black
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA triple homicide. A blind witness. What is the sound of evil?Late one night, two young couples walked to a park in an affluent Bainbridge Island neighborhood to celebrate the sale of their tech startup. The next morning, three mutilated bodies were found.One witness was left alive. Blind from birth, she didn't see anything. But she heard everything... -
Challenges of the Deeps by Ryk E. Spoor
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSEQUEL TO GRAND CENTRAL ARENA AND SPHERES OF INFLUENCE. The climax of the Arenaverse adventure SF series!The Arena: a vast alien otherspace that all species were forced to enter when they discovered faster-than-light travel. The Arena: where the lives of entire species might hang in the balance in a single Challenge... -
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Space Murder by N.L. Haverstock, Nikki Haverstock
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor everything there is a season…Once the star student of her training class, Captain Liz Laika is now an outcast, a casualty of family scandal. Now stuck in the worst post in the Fleet, she should keep her head down. But when a Cerulean passenger is found decapitated, and Liz is framed for the murder, she has no choice but to fight for her life... -
The Bronze Skies by Catherine Asaro
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMajor Bhaajan achieved the impossible. Born Undercity, the slums below the City of Cries on the planet Raylicon, she broke free to become a military officer with Imperial Space Command. Now retired from military duty, she works as a private investigator on retainer to the Majda Family.Hired by The Ruby Pharaoh herself, Major Bhaajan is tasked with finding a killer... -
Junkyard by Lindsay Buroker
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMcCall Richter works as a skip tracer, tracking down criminals, con men, and people who stop making payments on their fancy new spaceships. Her job description says nothing about locating vast quantities of stolen maple syrup, but thanks to her helpful new android employee, she finds herself tramping through a “sugar house” on a frosty moon full of suspicious characters... -
The Face by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKirth Gersen tracks Lens Larque across several worlds, most notably Aloysius, the desert world Dar Sai and the more temperate Methel. He eventually learns that Larque is a Darsh, born Husse Bugold. He had been deprived of an earlobe and made a rachepol or outcast from his clan for a crime considered "repulsive but not superlatively heinous... -
Hail the Hero by Timothy Ellis
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B015AYA7CGAs the war comes to an end, Jonathon Hunter sees the good and bad sides to being considered the hero, but which is which? All he wants to do is go home, but home isn’t any closer than it was a month ago, and this time, he's going the long way around... -
Red Angel by C.R. Daems
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAnna nearly dies, along with all her family, at age four from the deadly Cacao virus. But she survives, thanks to a poisonous red-headed krait. The medical community is excited since there is no known cure for the virus, but Anna and her snake, Red, have a symbiotic relationship—containment, not cure. If she is ever separated from Red, she will die.Anna struggles through foster homes... -
Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsThis Hugo-nominated novella adds a delightful extra chapter to Bujold's Vorkosigan series, describing the wedding of Miles and Ekaterin and events leading up to it. In the festive season of Winterfair on the planet Barrayar, Lord Miles Vorkosigan is making elaborate preparations for his wedding... -
The Churn by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author James S.A. Corey...Before his trip to the stars, before the Rocinante, Amos Burton's was confined to a Baltimore where crime paid you or killed you. Unless the authorities got to you first.Set in the hard-scrabble solar system of Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War, Abaddon's Gate and the upcoming Cibola Burn, Beloved of Broken Things deepens James S. A... -
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThis short story is told from the point of view of Dr. Mensah and follows the events in Exit Strategy.Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory was originally given free to readers who pre-ordered Martha’s Murderbot novel, Network Effect... -
The Gangster by Scott Sigler
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTHE GANGSTER is the sixth book in the Galactic Football League series.The ongoing mental battle between star quarterback Quentin Barnes and team owner Gredok the Splithead is coming to a head. Endless threats and the promise of ultraviolence hangs on their every word... -
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Mission Inadvisable by J.S. Morin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPart-time heroes. Full-time outlaws. Carl Ramsey has done the unthinkable: he turned down a lucrative job. When the deed is too despicable even for outlaws like the Mobius crew, someone nasty had to be behind it. Carl and his friends decide to hunt down their potential employer and turn him over to the authorities... -
Stowaway to Heaven by J.S. Morin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIf you can't beat 'em, hijack 'em. Push a man hard enough and long enough and he's going to push back. Carl Ramsey finally has a plan to deal with transgalactic megacorp Harmony Bay. With the aid of a new ace up his sleeve, the Mobius crew finally have a heist that can put an end to the company's harassment. They're going to steal the ship responsible for Harmony Bay's black ops... -
Masterminds by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe fate of the Alliance hangs in the balance as the masterminds behind the Anniversary Day bombings trigger the final stages of a plan decades in the making. A plan that will bring about the total destruction of every dome on the Moon... -
The Dust of Kaku by Julia Huni
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThey say you can never go home. But, you can clean it. Triana Moore, maintenance bot technician on Station Kelly-Kornienko, prefers life in orbit where the air is purified, the commute is short, and nature doesn’t get all over you. But when a minor infraction gets her sent to remedial training dirtside, she doesn’t complain... -
The Ballad of Bad Jack by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Asteroid Belt, home to mining corporations and those who prefer to live beyond the heavily policed habitats of Earth orbit - the perfect hunting ground for Bad Jack, captain of the Dead Reckoning and the most feared pirate in the solar system... -
House of Shards by Walter Jon Williams
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsDrake Maijstral, the most daring Allowed Burglar in the galaxy, is now setting his sights on the Eltdown Shard, a spectacular necklace embodying the flame of a dying star. Through the media vids, the audience watches him--in an intricate plot designed to both steal the necklace and foil his major rival... -
Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Moon, shaken by the Anniversary Day tragedies, deals with devastation. The Earth Alliance believes another attack imminent, but no one knows where or when it will strike. Just like no one knows who ordered the attacks in the first place.The Moon’s chief security office, Noelle DeRicci, does her best to hold the United Domes government together... -
The Vacuum of Space by Julia Huni
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen her maintenance bot found a body, Triana lost her lunch. Then she lost the body. How did she lose her memory? When a highly connected security agent interrupts her routine with stories of murder and missing bodies, Triana can’t ignore him; it’s cooperate or find a new job. A girl has to pay the rent, even on a crappy studio compartment... -
Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs a Retrieval Artist, Miles Flint helps the Disappeared, saving the lives of those oppressed under the Earth Alliance regime. He owes his livelihood, and his very sense of honor, to a woman known as Paloma. It was she who was responsible for setting him on this path—and now she has been murdered.Summoned by Paloma’s desperate call, Miles reaches her apartment too late... -
Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsForensic anthropologist Aisha Costard has been summoned to Mars to examine skeletal remains recently discovered beneath a building erected by the Disty aliens. The bones belong to a human who vanished thirty years ago with her children. She is believed to have been one of the Disappeared, outlaws wanted for crimes against alien civilizations... -
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Spaceside by Michael Mammay
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA military legend is caught in the web between alien intrigue and human subterfuge… Following his mission on Cappa, Colonel Carl Butler returns to a mixed reception. To some he is a do-or-die war hero. To the other half of the galaxy he’s a pariah... -
Choices of One by Timothy Zahn
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Timothy Zahn comes a brand-new Star Wars adventure, set in the time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and featuring the young Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and the beloved Mara Jade. The fate of the Rebellion rests on Luke Skywalker’s next move... -
Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMultiple Hugo Award winner Vernor Vinge takes readers on a fifty-million-year trip to a future where humanity's fate will be decided in a dangerous game of high-tech survival.In this taut thriller, a Hugo finalist for Best Novel, nobody knows why there are only three hundred humans left alive on the Earth fifty million years from now... -
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn a world in which the police have telepathic powers, how do you get away with murder?Ben Reichs heads a huge 24th century business empire, spanning the solar system. He is also an obsessed, driven man determined to murder a rival. To avoid capture, in a society where murderers can be detected even before they commit their crime, is the greatest challenge of his life... -
Redoubtable by Mike Shepherd
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsLieutenant Commander Kris Longknife has precise orders: seek out, engage, and destroy pirates, slavers, and drug lords operating beyond the rim of human space-without interfering in Peterwald family affairs. But when slavers kidnap a twelve-year-old girl, Kris's mission becomes personal. And if destroying the pirate compound flattens some Peterwald interests-well, to hell with politics... -
Killashandra by Anne McCaffrey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsKillashandra Ree's life was one of catastrophic changes. She had joined the Heptite Guild to become a crystal singer, get rich, and forget her past. And at first everything went just as she had hoped. In one season on the deadly beautiful world of Ballybran, she had sung Black Crystal, grown wealthy, and met a man who made her sorrows seem unworthy of notice...Categorized as:
single-planet space-opera action-adventure audiobook book classics dragons female-author
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