Books like 'The Dream Life of Astronauts'
Readers who enjoyed The Dream Life of Astronauts by Patrick Ryan also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical space action / adventure historical-fiction literary-fiction family explorer lgbtq exploration coming-of-age
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Iron Prince by Bryce O'Connor, Luke Chmilenko
Rated: 4.62 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsReidon Ward will become a god.He doesn't know it yet, of course. Reidon was born weak, sickly and small. Afflicted with a painful disease and abandoned by his parents because of it, he has had to fight tooth and nail for every minor advantage life has allowed him... -
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsA publishing event: Bestselling author Ken Liu selects his award-winning science fiction and fantasy tales for a groundbreaking collection—including a brand-new piece exclusive to this volume.With his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, taking the literary world by storm, Ken Liu now shares his finest short fiction in The Paper Menagerie... -
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsMary Robinette Kowal continues her award-winning Lady Astronaut series, which began with The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky, with The Relentless Moon.The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes more and more clear, but the political situation is already overheated. Riots and sabotage plague the space program...Categorized as:
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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...Categorized as:
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Renegade Children by J.N. Chaney
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPeople are dying. Shortly after Captain Jace Hughes and his team recover hundreds of surviving Eternal refugees, disaster strikes. A recently unearthed fauna dome, one of many biological arks on Earth, is destroyed and several people are killed. All proof points to the Eternals... -
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls... -
The Queen's Pardon by J.A. Sutherland
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsAllies and enemies are not always what they seem. Trapped on a hostile world, hunted by pirate bands and abandoned by her fellow captains, Alexis Carew must lead her small band to safety, even though it seems every hand is set against her...Categorized as:
coming-of-age lgbtq action-adventure audiobook book fiction futuristic galactic-empire -
Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 21 ratings"Mr. Cruse, how high would you like to fly?" A smile soared across my face. "As high as I possibly can." Pilot-in-training Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries, expert on high-altitude life-forms, are invited aboard the Starclimber, a vessel that literally climbs its way into the cosmos. Before they even set foot aboard the ship, catastrophe strikes:Kate announces she is engaged—and not to Matt... -
Hero to the Rescue by Timothy Ellis
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"I'm not in the rescue business," states Jonathon Hunter, to the amusement of his crew. But rescues are the least of his concerns. Darkness is coming, and there are still people out there who don’t like him. The Sirius system has always fascinated Jon, and he is drawn to solve its mysteries... -
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... -
The Dance of Time by Eric Flint, David Drake
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Malwa and their evil have been driven back to their Indian heartland, but there they coil to strike again...Categorized as:
historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction hard-sci-fi historical -
Fortune's Stroke by Eric Flint, David Drake
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAide, a human soul embodied in a jewel, journeys back in time to join forces with Belisarius, the greatest general of the sixth century, to stop Link, an evil supercomputer that is using its vast powers to rewrite history to create the powerful, technologically advance Malwa Empire. Reprint...Categorized as:
historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction historical military -
Dune by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsHere is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family—and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream...Categorized as:
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The Adversary by Julian May
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsPan edition paperback vg++ In stock shipped from our UK... -
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Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon three hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.Edwin St...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult apocalyptic audiobook book disaster -
Blue Gemini by Mike Jenne
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsScott Ourecky wanted to fly—he never dreamed he'd end up in a secret military space program.The year is 1968: The Cold War is far from over, nuclear annihilation is always only a heartbeat away. America is racing the Soviet Union to land men on the Moon, a war is raging, and a pivotal presidential election looms on the horizon...Categorized as:
exploration historical-fiction action-adventure audiobook book espionage fiction historical -
Titanium Texicans by Alan Black
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSixteen-Year-old Tasso Menzies just finished burying his grandfather next to his mother and grandmother on the family farm when he receives an order from his estranged uncle to come to Capital City. He doesn’t want to leave the only home he’s ever known. He doesn’t want to be apprenticed on a space freighter crewed by Texas cowboys of Mexican descent...Categorized as:
coming-of-age action-adventure audiobook book fiction historical industrial-era personal-growth -
The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThirty years ago, Elma York led the expedition that paved the way to life on Mars. For years she's been longing to go back up there, to once more explore the stars. But there are few opportunities for an aging astronaut, even the famous Lady Astronaut of Mars. When her chance finally comes, it may be too late...Categorized as:
exploration family historical-fiction 21st-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book -
Leviathan by Jack Campbell
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsTwo Syndicate World star systems have fallen prey to a mysterious fleet of warships—a fleet controlled entirely by artificial intelligence—that is now targeting Alliance space. The warships are no mystery to Geary. They were developed by his government to ensure security, but malfunctioned. If the Syndics learn the truth, the war with the Alliance will resume with a vengeance... -
Cosmic Christmas by Max Lucado
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWas the birth of Jesus a quietly profound event? Or could it have included heavenly battles, angel armies, and a scheming Satan? Come along as Lucado takes us on a journey into his imagination-pulling back the curtain as we see what might have taken place on "Cosmic Christmas...Categorized as:
historical-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook book christian fiction historical -
Blood in the Water by Taylor Anderson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTaylor Anderson’s enthralling New York Times bestselling series of alternate history continues as game-changing revelations upend the Grand Alliance in a potentially cataclysmic war. Ever since the USS Walker came from another world war to defy the terrifying Grik and diabolical Dominion, Matt Reddy and his crew have given their all to protect the oppressed Lemurians... -
Legacy by David L. Golemon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratings"Fans of Clive Cussler, Verne, X-Files, and military tactical thrillers will find much to enjoy in this increasingly clever series." -"Booklist" on "Leviathan"The "New York Times" bestselling author of "Leviathan" and "Primeval" is back at full throttle with an adrenaline-pumping addition to the Event Group Thriller Series...Categorized as:
exploration historical-fiction action-adventure adult aliens book conspiracies fiction -
I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA funny and heartwarming middle-grade historical fiction novel about a girl who writes letters to her favorite astronaut as America prepares for the moon landing.It’s 1969 and the country is gearing up for what looks to be the most exciting moment in U.S. history: men landing on the moon. Ten-year-old Mamie’s class is given an assignment to write letters to the astronauts...Categorized as:
coming-of-age exploration explorer family historical-fiction action-adventure animals audiobook -
The Tide of Victory by Eric Flint, David Drake
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsArmed with lancers, breech-loading rifles, steamships, and galleys, General Belisarius, accompanied by his own ally from the future, ventures into the Malwa Empire, a sixth-century kingdom ruled by Link, a horrifying and evil entity from the future...Categorized as:
historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction historical military -
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Destiny's Shield by Eric Flint, David Drake
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEric Flint and David Drake's alt-history epic devoted to real-life Byzantine butt-kicker Belisarius has reached part three--Destiny's Shield--and this installment finally busts loose with some serious head-to-head...Categorized as:
historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book fiction historical -
Damnation by Jean Johnson
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt began with a terrible vision of the future. Compelled by her precognitive abilities, Ia must somehow save her home galaxy long after she’s gone... -
Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAt the far end of our universe, on the twin planets of Werel and Yeowe, all humankind is divided into "assets" and "owners," tradition and liberation are at war, and freedom takes many forms. Here is a society as complex and troubled as any on our world, peopled with unforgettable characters struggling to become fully human...Categorized as:
lgbtq literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens anthologies audiobook -
R Is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsContents:Introduction · in R Is for Rocket [“King of the Gray Spaces”] · ss Famous Fantastic Mysteries Dec ’43 The End of the Beginning [“Next Stop: The Stars”] · ss Maclean’s Oct 27 ’56 The Fog Horn [“The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”] · ss The Saturday Evening Post Jun 23 ’51 The Rocket [“Outcast of the Stars”] · ss Super Science Stories Mar ’50 The Rocket Man · ss Maclean’s Mar 1 ’51 The Golden...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure anthologies children-books classics dystopia fiction -
Earth Bound by Emma Barry, Genevieve Turner
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsHouston, Texas, 1961 The race to the moon is on, and engineer Eugene Parsons has two enemies: danger and distraction. Nothing is more distracting than his attraction to the brilliant, beautiful computer scientist on his team, but he’s determined to overcome it since he needs her to help America win. Charlie Eason is used to men underestimating her...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book female-mc fiction -
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsIn one of Robert Heinlein's most controversial bestsellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe--and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry against mankind's most frightening enemy...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure aliens audiobook book classics -
Terra Stands Alone by Chris Kennedy
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Drakuls have found the Solar System. A merciless race, there is nothing left once the Drakuls have conquered a civilization except the bones of its dead. When the first Drakul exploratory ship emerged from the stargate, Earth's days became numbered...Categorized as:
exploration literary-fiction action-adventure adult aliens audiobook book colonization -
The Dawn of the Iron Dragon by Robert Kroese
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA new beginning, 1300 years in the past... In medieval Europe, three explorers from the distant future begin an ambitious project: build a craft capable of reaching the stars. While their leader oversees the construction of a secret underground base in Iceland, the other two travel thousands of miles to negotiate with the rulers of Europe and recruit the most brilliant minds of the age...Categorized as:
historical-fiction action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook book europe fiction -
Revenge by Jasper T. Scott
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDARK SPACE WON THE BATTLE Humanity has just won a major victory against the invading Sythians--the first victory in the history of the war. The savage Gors have joined forces with Dark Space, and now for the first time since the invasion, it looks like the tide is turning. But the Sythians weren't defeated. Humanity just bloodied their noses... -
The Englor Affair by J.L. Langley
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn hiding who he was, Payton found himselfand the man he would grow to love. After his brother is kidnapped, Prince Payton Townsend masquerades as an Admirals assistant in order to track the culprits through the tangled mysteries of the planet Englor. He finds way more than he bargained for in the form of Marine Colonel Simon Hollister. Simon is no ordinary soldier... -
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Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanisław Lem
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn Pilot Pirx, Lem has created an irresistibly likable character: an astronaut who gives the impression of still navigating by the seat of his pants-a bumbler but an inspired one. By investing Pirx with a range of human foibles, Lem offers a wonderful vision of the audacity, childlike curiosity, and intuition that can give humans the courage to confront outer space. Translated by Louis Iribarne...Categorized as:
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Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 47 ratingsRich or dead. Those were the choices Gateway offered. Gateway opened on all the wealth of the Universe & on reaches of unimaginable horror. The humans who rode the alien Heechee spacecraft stored on the planetoid couldn't know whether the trip would make them millionaires or corpses... -
Sword in the Stars by A.R. Capetta, Cory McCarthy
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsIn this epic sequel to Once & Future, to save the future, Ari and her Rainbow knights pull off a heist...thousands of years in the past.Ari Helix may have won her battle against the tyrannical Mercer corporation, but the larger war has just begun...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq action-adventure alternate-history arthurian audiobook book disability -
Birds of a Feather (Stormcrow #2) by N.C. Reed
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHow much trouble can a doctor's appointment be? It depends on whether you're a member of the space freighter Celia’s crew, and where the doctor is... -
Stormcrow by N.C. Reed
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Border Wars are over but even in the vastness of space old rivalries between the Freeborn and the Commonwealth die hard. Captain Meredith Simmons and her pilot husband Lincoln were formerly officers for the Commonwealth but each of them have now traded their commissions for civilian life and now make a living running cargo on their space freighter Celia...Categorized as:
exploration action-adventure adult book colonization fiction historical industrial-era -
A Persistent Echo by Brian Kaufman
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Kaufman is a fantastic writer with a distinctive poetic touch... It will be the rare reader who will not be moved by this soulful, poignant novel." –Kirkus Reviews"It's a powerfully rendered novel that holds the rare ability to traverse genres to attract a wider audience of reader than the 'historical fiction' label portends." –Midwest Book Review1897...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction fiction rural action-adventure historical paranormal space -
A Wrinkle in Time: With Related Readings by Madeleine L'Engle
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsNow, 40 years after A Wrinkle in Time was first published to become one of the landmark books in childrens' literature, Square Fish is proud to present this Newbery Medal winner, completely redesigned and with bonus material, including an appreciation by Anna Quindlen, a new interview with Madeleine L'Engle, and the author's Newbery Medal acceptance speech...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure aliens audiobook book -
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsGenerations ago, humans fled to the cosmic anomaly known as Grass. But before humanity arrived, another species had already claimed Grass for its own. It too had developed a culture...... Now a deadly plague is spreading across the stars, leaving no planet untouched, save for Grass. But the secret of the planet's immunity hides a truth so shattering it could mean the end of life itself...Categorized as:
exploration literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens apocalyptic audiobook -
1634 The Baltic War by Eric Flint, David Weber
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe Baltic War which began in the novel 1633 is still raging, and the time-lost Americans of Grantville - the West Virginia town hurled back into the seventeenth century by a mysterious cosmic accident - are caught in the middle of it... -
Starcross by Philip Reeve
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsArt, Myrtle, and their mother accept the kind invitation of a holiday to an up-and-coming asteroid resort...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction action-adventure aliens alternate-history audiobook book children -
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Mothstorm by Philip Reeve
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA sinister cloud had appeared on the edge of the Solar System, and seemed to be moving closer. Rather than sit idly by, my family and I decided that we should investigate whatever monstrous force of darkness hid within...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction action-adventure aliens alternate-history audiobook book children -
My Regelence Rake by J.L. Langley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSebastian Hastings, Viscount Wentworth, is captain of the Royal Guard by day and scandalous rake by night. To protect the royal family of Regelence from the plots of the Intergalactic Navy, Sebastian makes it his priority to personally oversee their safety. Prince Colton Townsend is done pining after the roguish viscount and focuses his attention on his second love—horses...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction lgbtq action-adventure adult age-gap aliens alternate-universe -
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThe desert planet of Arrakis has begun to grow green and lush. The life-giving spice is abundant. The nine-year-old royal twins, possesing their father's supernatural powers, are being groomed as Messiahs.But there are those who think the Imperium does not need messiahs.. -
Orion Colony by J.N. Chaney, Jonathan Yanez
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHumanity’s Exodus is about to begin.When half of mankind revolts and demands more opportunity, those at the top decide on a compromise: they will build the first colony ships and allow those who are willing to discover new worlds to leave and start over. Twelve ships are built, the first of which is called Orion. Many are eager to go, but only one hundred thousand are chosen for each vessel... -
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThis new collection of short fiction by the only science fiction author to win the National Book Award celebrates her understanding that narrative is the shining thread with which we create our common humanity...Categorized as:
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Blood Binds the Pack by Alex Wells
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJoin the fight for the people and power of Tanegawa’s world in this thrilling sequel to Hunger Makes the Wolf War is coming to Hob Ravani's world...
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