Books like 'Judgment'
Readers who enjoyed Judgment by Scott McElhaney also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
space action / adventure first-contact exploration space-opera space-travel time-travel
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Into the Serpent's Lair by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.76 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsEmpires at the brink of war…A galactic alliance on the horizon…Worlds on the verge of destruction…Comrades taking up arms against one another…Nathan Scott must use all his cunning to save not only his own world, but the worlds of his friends and his enemies. But to do so, he must make a deal with the devil, and risk everything on a fight no one believes he can win... -
Retaliation by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPart 2: Episode 10 A ship unable to defend itself… A captain determined to revive her… Worlds dependent on them both to survive… An enemy bent on their destruction… With the Aurora unable to fight, the Karuzari Alliance must find a way to not only repair their flagship, but to make the enemy pay dearly. Sometimes, you just have to make do with what you've got... -
A Price Too High by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsPart 2: Episode 12 …An enemy in retreat …A new world to protect …A new potential ally on the horizon …A new chance to go on the offensive The Dusahn have taken a massive blow, and with the Aurora’s improved jump range, Captain Scott and the Karuzari Alliance can finally keep them at arms length... -
The Saints of Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsHumanity is struggling to hold out against a hostile takeover by an alien race that claims to be on a religious mission to bring all sentient life to its God at the End of Time. But while things may look grim in the immediate aftermath of the attack, mankind is busy playing an even longer game than the aliens may have expected...Categorized as:
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Blockade: Age of Expansion - A Kurtherian Gambit Series by Craig Martelle, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHumanity’s greatest export – Justice. Space is a dangerous place, even for the wary, especially for the unprepared. The aliens have no idea. Here comes the Bad Company. When the Bad Company learns of a human colony blockaded by aliens, they take the upgraded War Axe into battle. Once again, nothing is as it seems, but this time, they find a single enemy, evil to its core...Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
Elvians by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwo crises challenge the Omnians. Alex Racine’s fleet draws a first-contact conflict, which faces the Ollassa, a symbiotic flora race. The Omnian fleet sails from alliance space in an effort to interdict an alien ship that arrives at the Worlds of Lights, the Ollassa system. Soon after arriving, the alien ship deploys machines to scour asteroids for resources in the system’s far belt... -
Space Team: The King of Space Must Die by Barry J. Hutchison
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsIt isn't just war. It's space war! Geronimus Krone, the most dangerous man in existence has altered the course of time, appointed himself King of Space, and now rules the galaxy with the help of his four monstrous generals and their armies. Cal Carver and his crew are the galaxy's only hope. But, reeling from their recent loss, they can't stop Krone on their own... -
Nua'll by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Omnian expeditionary fleet sails for the faraway place they call “the wall.” The worlds of humankind have consolidated their resources to create a powerful armada to confront the alien federation.During the Omnians’ previous encounter with an alien fleet at the wall, the Nua’ll comm sphere spoke to them in multiple languages...Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
Delphi Diversion by Bob Blanton
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCatie is on her way back to Earth after having settled the Fazulan slaves when the wormhole her ship is traveling in collapses. They are diverted to another system where big chunks are flying around. They rescue a ship and find themselves in the middle of a series of mysteries...Categorized as:
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Return of the Corinari by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPart 2: Episode 13 A host of new allies… A plethora of advanced technologies… A daring gamble to advance their forces… A chance to retake lost worlds once and for all… The Dusahn have been backed into a corner, barely able to hold the worlds of the Pentaurus cluster, let alone the entire sector. Forced to dig in, they may have to resort to drastic measures to save their fledgling empire... -
Ep.#3.3 - Liberty and Truth, Peace and Prosperity (The Frontiers Saga - Part 3: Fringe Worlds) by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEpisode 3.3A new foe arises…An ugly truth emerges…A long lost friend returns…An iconic ship flies into battle…Captain Scott and the crew of the Aurora face the reality of a galaxy that is, in many ways, worse off than the one they left behind. But in doing so, they discover a new mission for the Aurora’s namesake, her captain, and her crew... -
Lunar Crisis: Age of Expansion by Tom Dublin, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Shadows have been blooded and survived. There was no time for celebration as their next mission came upon them like a gangster in the night. Or missiles out of the blue.Captain Jack Marber, the Yollin Tc’aarlat, and Adina Choudhury take the ICS Fortitude to the moons of Taglen...Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel sci-fi aliens action-adventure fiction -
Junkyard Spaceship by Jamie McFarlane
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsWhen aliens threaten his country, one grumpy old vet will take the fight to the stars.Albert Jenkins would like nothing more than to putter around his junkyard, selling parts and working on old cars. When an alien spacecraft is shot down by US Air Defense and crash lands on his newly rebuilt home, he’s dragged back into the fight of his life...Categorized as:
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Quantum Space by Douglas Phillips
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThis is an alternate Cover Edition for ASIN: B06ZY9T5Y5.If you liked the authenticity of The Martian, the page-turning pace of Da Vinci Code, and the inspirational world view of Arthur C. Clarke, you'll love Quantum Space.High above the windswept plains of Kazakhstan, three astronauts on board a Russian Soyuz capsule begin their reentry...Categorized as:
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The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet by Mackey Chandler
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the first book of this series "Family Law", Lee's parents and their business partner Gordon found a class A habitable planet. They thought their quest as explorers was over and they'd live a life of ease. But before they could return and register their claim Lee's parents died doing a survey of the surface...Categorized as:
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Refuge by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA dying world, shattered by a broken machineA desperate flight, their only hope for refugeA robotic race, ally and destroyer alikeThe Republic of Exilium has grown in strength and confidence at the far end of the galaxy from the rest of mankind, sending out scout ships to survey the worlds around them as they try to learn more about the mysterious Construction Matrix AIs... -
Ep.#3.11 - "The First Ranger" by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPart 3: Episode 11Sacrifices are made…Training is endured…Wrongs are righted…Heros are born…The Free Fleet’s plans are finally coming together. Now, there is a new force for good in the galaxy, and they’re known as ‘Rangers’."The First Ranger" is the 11th episode in Part 3 of the Frontiers Fringe Worlds...Categorized as:
space-opera exploration space-travel sci-fi audiobook fiction action-adventure space -
Omnia by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAlex Racine, who led an elite group of humans and SADEs (self-ware digital entities), left the newly discovered planet of Celus-5 under difficult circumstances. Few of the Harakens with Alex thought there was little he could do to bring peace to the embroiled planet...Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
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...Categorized as:
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Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFor the Sojourn’s initial mission, the Haraken explorer ship undertakes the investigation of Celus-5, a world identified by Willem, a SADE (self-aware digital entity), and his team of scientists, as the best prospect for a new colony.What should be a routine survey mission becomes a disaster. To the Harakens’ surprise, they discover, not one, but two alien species engaged in conflict...Categorized as:
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Ep.#1 - "Aurora: EV-01" (The Frontiers Saga - Part 3: Fringe Worlds) by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA new ship...A new crew...A new crisis...A friend at risk... The Confederated Systems Alliance has spread to dozens of systems, creating the first true interstellar alliance dedicated to bringing peace and prosperity to all inhabited worlds. Unfortunately, some see this new alliance as a threat to their own seats of power, and would do anything to stop it... -
Fall of the Core by Ryk Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA freelance reporter struggling to get into the 'big time'...A rookie officer starting her career in public safety...A cargo ship captain trying to outlive a terminal illness that has no cure...A bounty hunter returning a long-hunted fugitive to Earth...A terrible plague that threatens to destroy the human race...The 25th century is not starting off very well... -
Stardust by Edward W. Robertson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe invaders have arrived. The last battle for humanity is about to begin. STARDUST is the final book in the Rebel Stars series...Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens book -
The Dark Between by J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Messenger must prepare for war. With the Archetype damaged, Dash and his crew will need more than a quick fix to prepare for what’s coming. A secret facility known only as the Forge lies in cold sleep, built by the Unseen for the greatest war in history. Dash has no idea what awaits him there, but he hopes to find some kind of advantage in the war that is to come...Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure audiobook book cyberpunk -
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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...Categorized as:
exploration first-contact space-opera space-travel time-travel 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...Categorized as:
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Gravity Storm: Age of Expansion by Tom Dublin, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsDon’t dump the cargo - I paid for it fair and square with money I stole! And so begins the saga of Jack Marber, former Special Assault Marine and his alien band of traders as they cross the galaxy doing the only job that doesn’t leave them homeless. “I need eyes and ears in every system that would benefit the Federation...Categorized as:
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Space Rogues 2: Big Ship, Lots of Guns by John Wilker
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPreviously, on Space Rogues...Thanks to an intergalactic crime boss and all around horrible being, Xarrix, there's a price on the crews' heads, no good deed goes unpunished, as they say.What do you do to keep food on the table and fuel in the tank? Take jobs as privateers of course.This page-turning adventure kicks off with Zephyr answering a call from an old friend... -
Interstellar War by G.P. Hudson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA homeland in ashes. A merciless ancient enemy. A vicious new foe. A galaxy convulsing with war. With humanity on the brink of annihilation, only one option remains, Interstellar War. Can Jon Pike achieve victory, and revenge, for himself and humanity? Find out in Interstellar War, Book 5 of The Pike Chronicles...Categorized as:
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Space Rogues 3: The Behemoth Job by John Wilker
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor the crew of the Ghost, it's never just a job The last one nearly cost them a member of the crew.Well, they fight spider-bears, meet Bennie’s family and learn more than anyone wants to about Wil’s digestive tract, and Wil reveals what he’s been hiding under his bed all this time...Categorized as:
first-contact space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book fiction galactic-empire -
Unreconciled by W. Michael Gear
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNow in paperback, the fourth 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.Where does one put a messianic cult of practicing cannibals? That becomes the question when Ashanti appears in Donovan's skies. She was designed for no more than four years in space. It's taken ten...Categorized as:
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Uncommon Purpose by P.J. Strebor
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFollowing the bloody war between the Athenian Republic and the Pruessen Empire, an uneasy peace has settled over the region of space known as The Tunguska Fault. The Telford family’s independent trading vessel, the Belinda is captured by Pruessen slavers and the crew forced into a life of brutal servitude. Their desperate bid for freedom succeeds but a tragic price is paid...Categorized as:
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EVA (Field Series Book 4) by Simon Winstanley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAll good thingsmust come to a beginning... Beyond Time: The Boundary.Beyond reason: Human nature.Beyond coincidence: A convergence.Time itself was always the key.Across 64 years, the manipulation of events reaches its conclusion.The outcome shapes the future of Mankind.At the epicentre is a set of coordinatesand three letters...EVA...Categorized as:
exploration space-travel time-travel action-adventure adult book fiction hard-sci-fi -
Aces High by Richard Tongue
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOnce again the Battlecruiser Alamo is launched on an expedition deep into unknown space, but instead of a farewell party Fleet Captain Daniel Marshall faces an assassin's blade wielded by a mysterious assailant... -
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Mu Arae (Adrian Tarn (standalone) Book 5) by E.R. Mason
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLegend told of a rogue planetoid once inhabited by an extremely advanced society that vanished without explanation. It was said that anyone bold enough to find this runaway planet might be rewarded with technology beyond imagination. But, this ghost planet was traveling at nearly the speed of light and only known to pass through a single set of coordinates once every thousand years... -
The First Duty by Richard Tongue
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe crew of the Battlecruiser Alamo has accomplished their mission, rescuing their lost crewmen from the clutches of the Cabal's slave markets, but at a terrible price... -
Hierarchy by Nathan Hystad
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn impending promotion. A colony world. A betrayal of trust. Captain Thomas Baldwin has made a name for himself in a short period of time. The Statu have finally been defeated, and the Concord has Tom and his crew to thank for the victory. With the construction of more sophisticated cruise ships, offers are being extended to capable leaders...Categorized as:
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Between Mountain and Sea: Paradisi Chronicles by M. Louisa Locke
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBetween Mountain and Sea, a science fiction coming of age novel, introduces Mei Lin Yu, a young New Eden girl, and Mabel, her ancestor who took the journey to New Eden from Earth over a century and a half earlier. This work is part of the Paradisi Chronicles. Mei Lin Yu should have been looking forward to the next stage in her life...Categorized as:
space-opera space-travel time-travel action-adventure book colonization coming-of-age crime -
Kestrel Class by Toby Neighbors
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor self-taught engineer Ben Griminski, life is perilous and hard. Living on the junk world of Torrent Four, Ben scours the vast fields of trash, wreckage, and derelict ships in search of anything of value while avoiding the Salvage Scalpers, a gang that takes whatever it wants and enslaves anyone with a knack for finding valuables in the endless mounds of trash...Categorized as:
exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure book fiction galactic-empire military -
Another World by Samuel Best
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLeaving Earth is the easy part. Surviving the trip to a nearby spiral arm of our own galaxy is a journey like no other.Merritt Alder is done with Earth. The planet is polluted and overpopulated, and its people are hungry.Earth’s first colony, Galena, is a pioneer world 10,000 light years away. It has clean air, unpolluted water, and continents of arable land...Categorized as:
exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult alternate-history book colonization -
Entropy by Gerald M. Kilby
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe science vessel, Hermes, has been urgently recalled from its mission to survey the moons of Saturn, just as First Officer Miranda Lee receives bad news from home—her mother is dying so she must leave the ship and return to Earth—for good... -
Dawn of Empire by J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Messenger and his people continue their long fight against the Golden, but the war has just begun.When they discover reports of a missing colony ship, their search will uncover a crime so terrible that the battle lines will be drawn in blood.Following clues across the stars, Dash will bring the forces of his new navy to a cause that will only end in one of two ways:Total victory..Categorized as:
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Rare Earth by Kurt Allan, Derek Shoales
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA lost mining crew, 400 million miles from Earth. A retired miner journeys to find out why. “There’s something out there…” Waldo Packwood has had a rough time of things lately. He’s lost his job, his friends, and finally his family. At 50 years old, he’s living alone in a small apartment wondering what’s happened to his life... -
Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century by Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsAn overview of the best science fiction short stories of the 20th century as selected and evaluated by critically-acclaimed author Orson Scott Card...Categorized as:
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Hellfire by C.H. Gideon, Caleb Wachter
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMechanized Warfare on a Galactic Scale The Brick. An inhospitable planet in Finjou space. Humans settled there anyway. Now the aliens want them gone. Captain Xi Bao. Your orders are to conduct Operation Red Rock. Evacuate the human colonists from the Brick before the Finjou find them. Collect material evidence of the Jemmin conspiracy buried more than thirty kilometers below the surface...Categorized as:
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Raven's Children by Sabrina Chase
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMoire Cameron, former NASA explorer and web pilot, now has a working ship, a loyal crew, an unexpected son, and a valuable Earthlike planet to protect from the clutches of Toren. Then Ennis, the only one to discover her secret, is captured by Toren--and Moire discovers crucial information that could help end the crab-human war...Categorized as:
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Double Contact by James White
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNow, in the latest adventure, the empathic Dr. Prilicla, a veteran of Sector General for years, is put in command of an expedition answering three distress beacons. What he finds is two hitherto-unknown intelligent species, one of which has nearly wiped out the other. And he also finds evidence of a botched first contact--along with a rare opportunity to set matters right...Categorized as:
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The Big Front Yard: And Other Stories by Clifford D. Simak
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTales of the unknown in which a fix-it man crosses into another dimension--and moreHiram Taine is a handyman who can fix anything. When he isn't fiddling with his tools, he is roaming through the woods with his dog, Towser, as he has done for as long as he can remember. He likes things that he can understand...Categorized as:
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Planetfall: A Story of the Dark by J.A. Sutherland
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDenholm Carew enjoys a life most would envy. Scion of a wealthy family on New London, he can have almost anything he wants. But what he wants more than anything is the freedom to make his own way and build his own legacy to pass down to his children. Together with his wife, Lynelle, he sells everything to buy shares in colonial company and settle the newly discovered world of Dalthus IV...Categorized as:
exploration space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult book colonization fiction -
Recon by Devon C. Ford
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHundreds of years in Earth’s future sees the united global territories striving to colonize the Moon and Mars. The discovery of a clean energy source ended the world’s reliance on fossil fuels overnight, and years after the resulting wars, a new discovery puts the tenuous world peace at risk; that of faster than light travel...Categorized as:
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