Books like 'The Heretic'
Readers who enjoyed The Heretic by Lucas Bale also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space hard sci-fi dystopia space-opera apocalyptic post-apocalyptic galactic-empire
-
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:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera 21st-century action-adventure aliens amnesia -
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... -
Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsAt last, the costly and bitter war between the two Foundations had come to an end. The scientists of the First Foundation had proved victorious; and now they return to Hari Seldon's long-established plan to build a new Empire on the ruins of the old. But rumors persist that the Second Foundation is not destroyed after all—and that its still-defiant survivors are preparing their revenge...Categorized as:
dystopia galactic-empire space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsLibrarian's Note: Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereHere, from a grand master of science fiction, is the long awaited final novel of the greatest series ever told. Completed just before his death, Forward The Foundation is the crowning achievement of a great writer's life, a stirring testament to the creative genius of Isaac Asimov...Categorized as:
dystopia galactic-empire space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
-
The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe Fated Sky continued the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the moon. Elma York, the noted Lady Astronaut, is working on rotation, flying shuttles on the moon and returning regularly to Earth.But humanity must get a foothold on Mars... -
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
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
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... -
Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThis daring story of humanity’s future introduces one of the great masterworks of science fiction: the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov. Unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, bold ideas, and extensive world-building, they chronicle the struggle of a courageous group of people to save civilization from a relentless tide of darkness and violence—beginning with one exceptional man...Categorized as:
dystopia galactic-empire space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
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... -
Demon in White by Christopher Ruocchio
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe third novel of the galaxy-spanning Sun Eater series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy, as Hadrian Marlowe continues down a path that can only end in fire.Hadrian has been serving the Empire in military engagements against the Cielcin, the vicious alien civilization bent on humanity's destruction... -
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... -
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... -
The Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings“The Wandering Earth” is a collection of short stories by Liu Cixin, China's most acclaimed contemporary science-fiction author. Unabashedly classic in the great tradition of Asimov and Clarke, Liu Cixin's science-fiction is firmly rooted in the cosmic. “[most] literature has always left me with the impression of indulging an intense anthropocentric narcissism...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic 21st-century adult aliens anthologies audiobook -
-
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... -
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 12: Invasion by Randolph Lalonde
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAll signs point to a looming invasion. The Edxi, an intelligent insect race, will lead the charge as they attempt to take the Tamber moon and the worlds around it to hatch their broods and create a new strategic foothold in the Milky Way. The entire fleet is rushing to make last minute preparations as Alice is forced to take a short relaxation leave to recover from recent events... -
The Last Dancer by Daniel Keys Moran
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Manhattan-based Unification government controls the earth, but rebellion brews in Occupied America as the American Revolution's tricentennial approaches... -
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... -
Foundation and Chaos by Greg Bear
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA major science fiction author continues one of the most famous SF stories of all time... -
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 galactic-empire post-apocalyptic space-opera action-adventure adult aliens -
Prelude to Extinction by Andreas Karpf
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEarth's first interstellar mission -- An alien colony in ruins -- Their fight for survival has only just begun.When Jack Harrison climbed down the short ladder from the airlock and stepped onto the debris covered soil, the ground crackled with the sound of dried leaves and twigs... -
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... -
Diamond Mask by Julian May
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe 21st century was drawing to a close, and metapsychic humankind was poised at last to achieve Unity to be admitted into the group mind of the already unified alien races of the Galactic Milieu. But a growing corps of rebels was plotting to keep the people of Earth forever separate in the name of human individuality...Categorized as:
post-apocalyptic space-opera action-adventure adult aliens anthologies cyberpunk female-author -
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... -
-
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... -
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...Categorized as:
dystopia galactic-empire post-apocalyptic space-opera action-adventure adult ai aliens -
The Reporter by Scott Sigler, Mur Lafferty
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Reporter follows Yolanda Davenport, a reporter for Galaxy Sports Magazine, as she searches for the truth about Ju Tweedy's involvement with the murder of Grace McDermott - the incident that drove Ju to join the Ionath Krakens. The Reporter takes place between week three and week six of the 2684 Galactic Football League season, the season that encompasses The All-Pro...Categorized as:
dystopia galactic-empire space-opera action-adventure aliens audiobook book contemporary -
Jupiter's Sword by Nick Webb
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWe barely won the battle at Mercury's shipyards, but the war is just beginning. The Telestines, in control of Earth, now pursue us from planet to planet, moon to moon, leaving terrible destruction in their wake. And now, the unthinkable: a new alien weapon with the power to destroy a whole world...Categorized as:
galactic-empire post-apocalyptic space-opera adult aliens audiobook book colonization -
Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us an extraordinary new space opera about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera 21st-century action-adventure adult ai -
Precipice of Darkness by M.D. Cooper
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe time has come for Tanis to take the fight to the Trisilieds and to free the Pleiades. Meanwhile, Sera must go to Airtha and stop her mother once and for all... -
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 . . -
The Scipio Alliance by M.D. Cooper
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Battle for New Canaan is over, but the war has just begun… Tanis and Sera have taken the I2 to Khardine, the new capital of the Transcend, and must now travel to the Inner Stars and meet with Scipian Empress, Diana—who they hope will be an ally to the Transcend... -
Midst Toil and Tribulation by David Weber
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsDavid Weber's New York Times bestselling Safehold series of military Science Fiction adventure, which began with Off Armageddon Reef, continues with Midst Toil and TribulationWAR AND FAMINEOnce the Church of God Awaiting dominated all the kingdoms of Safehold...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera action-adventure adult ai alternate-history -
Casimir Bridge by Darren D. Beyer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA manned, interstellar survey ship has gone missing. A nuclear terror plot is thwarted just outside Washington, D.C. And it’s an election year...Categorized as:
dystopia galactic-empire space-opera action-adventure adult audiobook book colonization -
-
First Contact by Dean M. Cole
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the Bestselling Author of Solitude!As part of the Greatest Generation, Major Anthony Spinelli, a World War II fighter pilot, flew into combat to save his family and keep them free. Two years later, he lost them in the blink of an eye, leaving Tony rudderless and without purpose...Categorized as:
apocalyptic post-apocalyptic space-opera action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history audiobook -
The Gilded Cage by Blaze Ward
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJavier still tinkers with his machines, and tends his gardens and his chicken, despite being a slave, held by pirates. Who are just starting to realize how important the Science Officer is becoming. When Wilhelmina returns, with news that the ship's Dragoon, Djamila Sykora has been kidnapped, all bets are off regarding who survives. And who doesn't... -
A Rain of Fire by Ralph Kern
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWar has come to the Galaxy. The dark forces of the Neo Hegemony strike, sweeping across the worlds of the Arcadian sector and crushing all in their path. One system stands against the onslaught, the Kingdom of New Avalon. But the men and women of their expeditionary forces are trapped behind enemy lines on a besieged planet. Losing those troops will lose the war...Categorized as:
galactic-empire space-opera action-adventure adult audiobook book fiction hard-sci-fi -
The Orion Plague by David VanDyke
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMilitary science fiction post-apocaplyptic thriller / alien invasion. BOOK 7 OF THE SERIES.Guns blazing, Master Sergeant Jill Repeth and her team search the nuclear wasteland for her kidnapped fiancé, while Spooky Nguyen prepares Earth's first-ever Space Marines for duty aboard the experimental battleship Orion... -
The Deep Beyond: Cuckoo's Egg / Serpent's Reach (Union-Alliance Universe) by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsTwo of Cherryh's stand-alone SF novels--including the Hugo Award finalist "Cuckoo's Egg"--are now available in this omnibus volume. Original.Cuckoo's EggThey named him Thorn. They told him he was of their people, although he was so different. He was ugly in their eyes, strange, sleek-skinned instead of furred, clawless, different... -
The Gabble And Other Stories by Neal Asher
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMost of Neal Asher's stories are set in a galactic future-scape called 'The Polity', and with this collection of marvellously inventive and action-packed short stories, he takes us further into the manifold diversities of that amazing universe... -
Regenesis by C.J. Cherryh
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe direct sequel to the Hugo Award- winning novel "Cyteen", "Regenesis" continues the story of Ariane Emory PR, the genetic clone of one of the greatest scientists humanity has ever produced, and of her search for the murderer of her progenitor -- the original Ariane Emory... -
Little Noises by Hugh Howey
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFor centuries, men and women have manned lighthouses to ensure the safe passage of ships. It is a lonely job, and a thankless one for the most part. Until something goes wrong. Until a ship is in distress. In the 23rd century, this job has moved into outer space. A network of beacons allows ships to travel across the Milky Way at many times the speed of light... -
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 Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin, Юрий Гуржий
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFirst published in Science Fiction World, July 2000.I’ve never seen the night, nor seen a star; I’ve seen neither spring, nor fall, nor winter. I was born at the end of the Reining Age, just as the Earth’s rotation was coming to a final halt.The Sun is about to unleash a helium flash, threatening to swallow all terrestrial planets in the solar system...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera adult anthologies audiobook contemporary -
-
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn 1941, Astounding Science Fiction magazine published a short story by a little-known writer named Isaac Asimov. The story was called "Nightfall", and many years later it has long been recognized as a classic, its author a legend...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens -
Reckoning by W. Michael Gear
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe sixth book in the thrilling Donovan sci-fi series returns to a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the colonists.Three years after Ashanti spaced for Solar System, Turalon reappears in the Donovanian sky. The Corporation has returned. Donovan's wealth is a lure for the powerful families who control the Board... -
Before Mars by Emma Newman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAfter months of travel, Anna Kubrin finally arrives on Mars for her new job as a geologist and de facto artist-in-residence. Already she feels like she is losing the connection with her husband and baby at home on Earth--and she'll be on Mars for over a year. Throwing herself into her work, she tries her best to fit in with the team... -
Lyssa's Dream by James S. Aaron, M.D. Cooper
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt has been one-hundred and seventy-five years since the birth of the first truly sentient AI. It has been just two short years since Lyssa's birth... Captain Andy Sykes just wants to keep his family in one piece.Once a combat pilot for the TSF, he gave it all up for love and a family... -
The City and The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsMen had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar; for millennia its protective dome shutout the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it held powers that rules the stars. But then, as legend had it, The invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens -
The Robots of Gotham by Todd McAulty
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsAfter long years of war, the United States has sued for peace, yielding to a brutal coalition of nations ruled by fascist machines. One quarter of the country is under foreign occupation. Manhattan has been annexed by a weird robot monarchy, and in Tennessee, a permanent peace is being delicately negotiated between the battered remnants of the U.S. government and an envoy of implacable machines...Categorized as:
apocalyptic dystopia galactic-empire post-apocalyptic action-adventure adult ai audiobook
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.