Books like 'Red Dust'
Readers who enjoyed Red Dust by Yoss also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery space action / adventure space-opera aliens humor noir technology robots
-
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars · 80 ratingsA lone astronaut.An impossible mission.An ally he never imagined.Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish.Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time...Categorized as:
aliens humor space-opera technology 21st-century action-adventure amnesia apocalyptic -
Network Effect by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsMurderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel... -
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsMurderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr... -
Adverse Possession by Craig Martelle, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA planet in dispute. Farmers vs miners, and no one knows the full story.The Federation sends Rivka and her team to resolve a case of settlers squatting on a remote planet when the owners finally came calling.Not what it seems. Three generations of settlers and more. A planet that isn’t as welcoming as it appears. Crops coming ripe. Miners ready to dig. Tempers flare as the sides face off... -
-
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsIt has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue... -
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsNo, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall... -
Deception by Craig Martelle, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLies & deceit leading to a domino of crimes.The Trans-Pacific Task Force is getting ready to deploy but they don’t have what they need. Someone’s been skimming. A contract won through mistruths. Incomplete payments limiting the army’s readiness.Colonel Marcie Walton is angry and calling anyone who will answer.Magistrate Rivka Anoa is on the job and thrown into the middle of two shooting wars... -
Infinity Engine by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the outskirts of space, and the far corners of the Polity, complex dealings are in play. Several forces continue to pursue the deadly and enigmatic Penny Royal, none more dangerous than the Brockle, a psychopathic forensics AI and criminal who has escaped the Polity’s confinements and is upgrading itself in anticipation of a deadly showdown, becoming ever more powerful and intelligent... -
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... -
Space Team: The Time Titan of Tomorrow by Barry J. Hutchison
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsCal Carver's time is about to run out. He and his Space Team are broke. Forced to take low-paying gun-for-hire jobs just to keep the food replicator working, their prospects are not looking good. When they pick up a distress signal from a luxury space cruiser, they think their luck might be about to change. And it does. Sadly, not in the way they'd hoped... -
Lab Rat One by Andrea K. Höst
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsPart 2 of the Touchstone trilogy:In the months since Cassandra Devlin walked off Earth onto another planet, she has grappled with everything from making blankets to helping psychics battle the memories of monsters. Not able to find a way home, she has instead gained friends and a purpose... -
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... -
The War Ship: Rise of the Jain, Book Two by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTheir nemesis lies in wait . . . Orlandine has destroyed the alien Jain super-soldier by deploying an actual black hole. And now that same weapon hoovers up clouds of lethal Jain technology, swarming within the deadly accretion disc’s event horizon. All seems just as she planned. Yet behind her back, forces incite rebellion on her home world, planning her assassination... -
Earth Below, Sky Above by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAt last, the Earth and the Colonial Union have begun formal discussions about their relationship in the futurea chance for the divisions in humanity to be repaired. The diplomats and crew of the Clarke are on hand to help with the process, including Ambassador Ode Abumwe and CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson, both of whom were born on Earth. But not everyone wants The Human Division to be repaired.. -
-
Orbus: The Final Book in the Spatterjay Trilogy by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsYet another storming performance from the prolific Asher of high-octane violence, exotic tech, and terrifying and truly alien aliens.”—Daily MailIn book third installment of the Spatterjay series, the Old Captain Orbus, now in charge of a cargo spaceship, flees from a violent and sadistic past. Little does he know, however, that Sniper, a lethal war drone, is a stowaway on his ship... -
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... -
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...Categorized as:
aliens humor robots space-opera 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure audiobook -
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... -
Activated by Ell Leigh Clarke, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the Future, Even the Broken Can Make a Change... When Molly gets called onto a case that she is uniquely qualified for, the team discovers a little more about her past.In the race against the clock to prevent the city of Spire from being subjected to a deadly toxin, it takes both new team members and new allies working together in order to save the millions of lives... -
House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsSix million years ago, at the very dawn of the starfaring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones: the shatterlings. Sent out into the galaxy, these shatterlings have stood aloof as they document the rise and fall of countless human empires. They meet every two hundred thousand years, to exchange news and memories of their travels with their siblings... -
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... -
Discovery by Ken Lozito
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsExploring New Earth should be a thrilling undertaking. Instead, the more the colonists learn about the planet, the more alarmed they become. Alien ruins hint at a species who fought great wars among themselves and disappeared centuries ago.When Connor Gates discovers a hidden bunker, he finds something he never expected... -
Earth Star by Janet Edwards
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsSequel to Earth Girl.18-year-old Jarra has a lot to prove. After being awarded one of the military’s highest honours for her role in a daring rescue attempt, Jarra finds herself – and her Ape status – in the spotlight. Jarra is one of the unlucky few born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets...Categorized as:
aliens space-opera technology action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age dystopia -
Brass Man by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIan Cormac, a legendary Earth Central Security agent, the James Bond of a wealthy future, is hunting an interstellar dragon, little knowing that, far away, his competition has resurrected an horrific killing machine named "Mr. Crane" to assist in a similar hunt, ecompassing whole star systems. Mr... -
-
The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsSmuggler Jordan McKell has partner Ixil, an alien whose two "ferrets" ride his shoulders and telepathically exchange simple messages. They take a job on the odd-shaped ship Icarus. But the ragtag crew was found at taverns, the secret cargo sealed tight, the employer missing, and a saboteur is aboard... -
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... -
Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsAn unexpected offer threatens the bond between Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi as the two Jedi navigate a dangerous new planet and an uncertain future.A Jedi must be a fearless warrior, a guardian of justice, and a scholar in the ways of the Force. But perhaps a Jedi’s most essential duty is to pass on what they have learned...Categorized as:
aliens space-opera action-adventure audiobook book far-away-galaxy female-author fiction -
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... -
Hard Luck Hank: Stank Delicious by Steven Campbell
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBelvaille has cemented its place as the most important System in the galaxy and Hank is working as an official Factotum, negotiating deals between gangs and noblemen under the watchful eye of the Arch Minister. When his ever-capable butler, Cliston, is approached to become the general manager of a Super Class glocken team, Hank is hired not only as protection, but as a player... -
Terminal Uprising by Jim C. Hines
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’s been four months since Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos learned the truth. Four months since she and her team of hygiene and sanitation specialists stole the EMCS Pufferfish and stopped a bioterrorism attack against the Krakau homeworld. Four months since she set out to find proof of what really happened on Earth all those years ago... -
The Observers by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn an effort to improve relations with the Earth, the Colonial Union has invited a contingent of diplomats from that planet to observe Ambassador Abumwe negotiate a trade deal with an alien species. Then something very bad happens to one of the Earthings, and with that, the relationship between humanitys two factions is on the cusp of disruption once more... -
The Gentle Art of Cracking Heads by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsUnited States Diplomat Danielle Lowen was there when one of her fellow diplomats committed an unthinkable act, which had consequences for the entire planet. Now shes trying to figure out how it happened before it can happen again. Putting the puzzle pieces together could solve the mystery or it could threaten her own life... -
Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA deadly competition for the throne will determine more than just the fate of the empire in this duology opener.Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy. Her mother sacrificed everything to bring peace to the quadrant, and her uncle has successfully ruled as emperor for decades... -
A Gift of Time by Jerry Merritt
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Micajah Fenton discovers a crater in his front yard with a broken time glider in the bottom and a naked, virtual woman on his lawn, he delays his plans to kill himself. While helping repair the marooned time traveler’s glider, Cager realizes it can return him to his past to correct a mistake that had haunted him his entire life... -
-
Demon by John Varley
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsISBN moved from less recent editionThe satellite-sized alien Gaea has gone completely insane. She has transformed her love of old movies into monstrous realities. She is Marilyn Monroe. She is King Kong. And now she must be destroyed... -
Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis humorous tale describes how aliens, rather than visiting Earth to take over the planet, really visit to steal your pants... -
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 84 ratings"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern... -
The Invincible by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe Invincible (Polish: Niezwyciężony) is a science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem, published in 1964. The Invincible originally appeared as the title story in Lem's collection Niezwyciężony i inne opowiadania ("The Invincible and Other Stories")... -
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... -
Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn utterly gripping story of alien encounter and survival from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . -
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... -
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... -
-
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... -
Sweet Alien Savage by Sadie Carter
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings* The last thing Koran Al’a desires is a human mate. They are illogical, emotional and show no respect for tradition and rules. His mate will be rational, sensible and obedient. Mila has always lived in the shadow of her successful, beautiful, older sister. But that’s okay with her, she likes being in the background. That is, until the day that Koran walks into her life... -
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...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.