Books like 'Helliconia Summer'
Readers who enjoyed Helliconia Summer by Brian W. Aldiss also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical sc-fi 20th century far-future epic aliens colonization dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera
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Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
43 ratingsFoundation and Empire tells the incredible story of a new breed of man who create a new force for galactic government. Thus, the Foundation hurtles into conflict with the decadent, decrepit First Empire. In this struggle for power amid the chaos of the stars, man stands at the threshold of a new, enlightened life which could easily be put aside for the old forces of barbarism... -
![Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks]()
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
33 ratingsThe man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought... -
![Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov]()
Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
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... -
![Endymion by Dan Simmons, Guy Abadia]()
Endymion by Dan Simmons, Guy Abadia
33 ratingsThe multiple-award-winning SF master returns to the universe that is his greatest success--the world of Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion--to tell a story of love and memory, triumph and terror in a novel even more magnificent than its predecessors.Two hundred and seventy-four years after the fall of the WorldWeb in Fall of Hyperion, Raoul Endymion is sent on a quest... -
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![Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov]()
Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
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... -
![Excession by Iain M. Banks]()
Excession by Iain M. Banks
28 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... -
![Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick]()
Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick
16 ratingsPhilip K. Dick was a master of science fiction, but he was also a writer whose work transcended genre to examine the nature of reality and what it means to be human. A writer of great complexity and subtle humor, his work belongs on the shelf of great twentieth-century literature, next to Kafka and Vonnegut...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia epic post-apocalyptic 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
![Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin]()
Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon’s World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin
16 ratingsUrsula K. Le Guin is one of the greatest science fiction writers and many times the winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Her career as a novelist was launched by the three novels contained in Worlds Of Exile And Illusion. These novels, Rocannon's World, Planet Of Exile, and City Of Illusions, are set in the same universe as Le Guin's ground-breaking classic, The Left Hand Of Darkness...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia epic post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![First and Only by Dan Abnett]()
First and Only by Dan Abnett
18 ratingsIn the Chaos-infested Sabbat system, Imperial Commissar Gaunt must lead his men through as much in-fighting amongst rival regiments as against the forces of Chaos. For a thousand years, the Sabbat Worlds have been lost to the Imperium, claimed by the dread powers of Chaos. Now, a mighty crusade seeks to return the sector to Imperial rule... -
![Sandkings by George R.R. Martin]()
Sandkings by George R.R. Martin
18 ratingsWhen Simon Kress returned to his home planet of Baldur from an offworld business trip, he was amused to find that his tank of Earth piranhas had cannibalized themselves into extinction, and of the two exotic animals that roamed his estate, only one remained...Categorized as:
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![The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 3: Second Variety by Philip K. Dick]()
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 3: Second Variety by Philip K. Dick
18 ratingsMany thousands of readers consider Philip K. Dick the greatest science fiction mind on any planet. Since his untimely death in 1982, interest in Dick's works has continued to mount and his reputation has been further enhanced by a growing body of critical attention. The Philip K. Dick Award is now given annually to a distinguished work of science fiction, and the Philip K... -
![The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 2: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick]()
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 2: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick
20 ratingsMany thousands of readers consider Philip K. Dick the greatest science fiction mind on any planet. Since his untimely death in 1982, interest in Dick's works has continued to mount and his reputation has been further enhanced by a growing body of critical attention. The Philip K. Dick Award is now given annually to a distinguished work of science fiction, and the Philip K...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia post-apocalyptic 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies classics -
![Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke]()
Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke Collection) by Arthur C. Clarke
46 ratingsIn the Retro Hugo Award–nominated novel that inspired the Syfy miniseries, alien invaders bring peace to Earth—at a grave price: “A first-rate tour de force” (The New York Times). In the near future, enormous silver spaceships appear without warning over mankind’s largest cities. They belong to the Overlords, an alien race far superior to humanity in technological development...Categorized as:
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![The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 5: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick]()
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 5: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick
14 ratingsContents:- Introduction (October 1986) by Thomas M...Categorized as:
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![Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.]()
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
16 ratingsThese 18 darkly complex short stories and novellas touch upon human nature and perception, metaphysics and epistemology, and gender and sexuality, foreshadowing a world in which biological tendencies bring about the downfall of humankind. Revisions from the author's notes are included, allowing a deeper view into her world and a better understanding of her work...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
![The Nonborn King by Julian May]()
The Nonborn King by Julian May
18 ratingsOn Earth, six million B.C., two species of alien ruled, the graceful humanoid Tanu and their twisted brethren, the Firvulag. Then men from twenty-second century Earth arrived through a one-way time tunnel — and soon the aliens were locked in a battle to the death, for the humans had upset the precarious balance of power that existed between them...Categorized as:
aliens epic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies -
![Diaspora by Greg Egan]()
Diaspora by Greg Egan
19 ratingsBy the end of the 30th century humanity has the capability to travel the universe, to journey beyond earth and beyond the confines of the vulnerable human frame... -
![Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny]()
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
32 ratingsEarth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rule their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha and is now Mahasamatman. Binder of Demons, Lord of Light...Categorized as:
aliens colonization dystopia epic post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Golden Torc by Julian May]()
The Golden Torc by Julian May
18 ratingsBy A.D. 2110 nearly 100,000 humans had fled the civilized strictures of the Galactic Milieu for the freedom they thought existed at the end of the one-way time tunnel to Earth, six million B.C.But all of them had fallen into the hands of the Tanu, a humanoid race who'd fled their own galaxy to avoid punishment for their barbarous ways... -
![The Invincible by Stanisław Lem]()
The Invincible by Stanisław Lem
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")... -
![Gateway by Frederik Pohl]()
Gateway by Frederik Pohl
33 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... -
![City by Clifford D. Simak]()
City by Clifford D. Simak
25 ratingsSimak's "City" is a series of connected stories, a series of legends, myths, and campfire stories told by Dogs about the end of human civilization, centering on the Webster family, who, among their other accomplishments, designed the ships that took Men to the stars and gave Dogs the gift of speech and robots to be their hands...Categorized as:
aliens colonization dystopia post-apocalyptic 20th-century action-adventure adult animals -
![The Naked God by Peter F. Hamilton]()
The Naked God by Peter F. Hamilton
25 ratingsThe Confederation is starting to collapse politically and economically, allowing the 'possessed' to infiltrate more worlds. Quinn Dexter is loose on Earth, destroying the giant arcologies one at a time. As Louise Kavanagh tries to track him down, she manages to acquire some strange and powerful allies whose goal doesn't quite match her own... -
![A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge]()
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
35 ratingsAlternate Cover Edition can be found here. A Fire upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale... -
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![The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World by Harlan Ellison]()
The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World by Harlan Ellison
14 ratings"It crouches near the center of creation. There is no night where it waits. Only the riddle of which terrible dream will set it loose. It beheaded mercy to take possession of that place. It feasts on darkness from the minds of men. No one has ever seen its eyeless face. When it sleeps we know a few moments of peace. But when it breathes again we go down in fire and mate with jackals...Categorized as:
dystopia post-apocalyptic 20th-century adult anthologies apocalyptic classics fiction -
![Beast Master by Andre Norton]()
Beast Master by Andre Norton
15 ratingsLeft homeless by the war that reduced Terra to a radioactive cinder, Hosteen Storm Navaho commando and master of beasts is drawn to the planet Arzor, to kill a man he has never met.On that dangerous frontier world, aliens and human colonists share the land in an uneasy truce. But something is upsetting the balance, and Storm is caught in the middle...Categorized as:
aliens post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book -
![Fiasco by Stanisław Lem]()
Fiasco by Stanisław Lem
16 ratingsThe planet Quinta is pocked by ugly mounds and covered by a spiderweb-like network. It is a kingdom of phantoms and of a beauty afflicted by madness. In stark contrast, the crew of the spaceship Hermes represents a knowledge-seeking Earth. As they approach Quinta, a dark poetry takes over and leads them into a nightmare of misunderstanding. Translated by Michael Kandel... -
![The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher]()
The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher
18 ratingsWill, Beanpole, and Henry have managed to escape the Tripods. But instead of living in safety, in the small community of free people, they have chosen to embark upon a mission that may cost them their lives...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia post-apocalyptic 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book -
![Return of the Jedi by James Kahn, George Lucas]()
Return of the Jedi by James Kahn, George Lucas
20 ratingsIt was a dark time for the Rebel Alliance...Han Solo, frozen in carbonite, has been delivered into the hands of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt. Determined to rescue him, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian launch a hazardous mission against Jabba's Tatooine stronghold... -
![The Many-Colored Land by Julian May]()
The Many-Colored Land by Julian May
24 ratingsWhen a one-way time tunnel to Earth's distant past, specifically six million B.C., was discovered by folks on the Galactic Milieu, every misfit for light-years around hurried to pass through it. Each sought his own brand of happiness. But none could have guessed what awaited them. Not even in a million years...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia epic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![Star Wars: A New Hope by George Lucas, Alan Dean Foster]()
Star Wars: A New Hope by George Lucas, Alan Dean Foster
24 ratingsLuke Skywalker challenged the stormtroopers of a distant galaxy on a daring mission - where a force of life became the power of death! Luke Skywalker was a twenty-year-old who lived and worked on his uncle's farm on the remote planet of Tatooine ... and he was bored beyond belief... -
![The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton]()
The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton
29 ratingsIn AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary spaceborn creatures... -
![The City and The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke]()
The City and The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
30 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:
aliens dystopia far-future post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Grass by Sheri S. Tepper]()
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
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:
aliens colonization dystopia post-apocalyptic space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison]()
Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison
20 ratingsThe planet was called Pyrrus...a strange place where all the beasts, plants and natural elements were designed for one specific purpose: to destroy man.The settlers there were supermen...twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder.. -
![Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke]()
Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke
19 ratingsONE BILLION YEARS FROM NOW . . .Mankind has reached the heights of civilization. Men live thousands of years in perfect freedom and leisure—their wants are attended to by ingenious machines—peace and culture flourish in ways undreamed of in our time. And yet ... mankind is dying...Categorized as:
dystopia far-future post-apocalyptic 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies apocalyptic -
![Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon]()
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
19 ratingsStar Maker is a science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, published in 1937. The book describes a history of life in the universe, dwarfing in scale Stapledon's previous book, Last and First Men (1930), a history of the human species over two billion years... -
![The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe]()
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe
18 ratingsBack in print for the first time in more than a decade, Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a universally acknowledged masterpiece of science fiction by one of the field's most brilliant writers.Far out from Earth, two sister planets, Saint Anne and Saint Croix, circle each other in an eternal dance. It is said a race of shapeshifters once lived here, only to perish when men came...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
![The Pool of Fire by John Christopher]()
The Pool of Fire by John Christopher
18 ratingsAlternate cover edition can be found here. Will Parker has managed to escape from the City of Gold and Lead, where he served as a slave to one of the Masters who rule the modern world. And He has not only discovered what lies behind the Tripods' power, but also how the Masters heartlessly plan to destroy the earth...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia post-apocalyptic 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book -
![Ringworld by Larry Niven]()
Ringworld by Larry Niven
43 ratingsThe artefact is a circular ribbon of matter six hundred million miles long and ninety million miles in radius. Pierson's puppeteers, the aliens who discovered it, are understandably wary of encountering the builders of such an immense structure and have assembled a team of two humans, a mad puppeteer and a kzin, a huge cat-like alien, to explore it... -
![Rimrunners by C.J. Cherryh]()
Rimrunners by C.J. Cherryh
16 ratingsMeet Elizabeth Yeager, "Spacer, machinist, temp." A refugee waiting for a ship to call home, Bet Yeager was once a marine. Now she's on the run. In the action-packed tradition of Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers, David A. Drake's Hammer's Slammers, and her own bestselling Chanur series, C.J...Categorized as:
dystopia space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook female-author -
![Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh]()
Kesrith by C.J. Cherryh
14 ratingsThis is the story of three people: Sten Duncan, a soldier of humanity; Niun, last warrior of the mri, humanity's enemies; and Melein, priestess-queen of the final fallen mri stronghold. It is the story of two mighty species fighting for a galaxy, humanity driving out from Earth, and the enigmatic regul struggling to hold their stars with mri mercenaries... -
![The Time Wanderers by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky]()
The Time Wanderers by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
12 ratingsIN THE FAR FUTURE...Mankind knows contentment until the Earth is besieged by a wave of unexplained phenomena. First come the mass phobias. Then, the creatures. Finally, the transformations.Is this the work of the mysterious Wanderers? Could they be manipulating humanity - and to what end? When agent Toivo Glumov is sent to investigate, he's in for some superhuman surprises.. -
![The Fifth Element by Terry Bisson]()
The Fifth Element by Terry Bisson
10 ratingsEvery five thousand years, a door opens between the dimensions. In one dimension lies the universe and all of its multitude of varied life forms. In another exists an element made not of earth, air, fire or water, but of an anti-energy, anti-life. This "thing", this darkness, waits patiently at the threshold of the universe for an opportunity to extinguish all life and all light... -
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![Warm Worlds and Otherwise by James Tiptree Jr.]()
Warm Worlds and Otherwise by James Tiptree Jr.
8 ratingsStories:All the Kinds of YesThe Milk of Paradise [1973 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Fiction (Place: 18)]And I Have Come upon This Place by Lost WaysThe Last Flight of Dr. Ain [nominated, 1969 Nebula Award]AmberjackThrough a Lass DarklyThe Girl Who Was Plugged In [winner, 1974 Hugo Award. Nominated, 1973 Nebula Award... -
![A Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer]()
A Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer
6 ratingsNightmare at StonehengeWhen Legion meets a strange old millionaire called "Foster,"" he doesn't know that his whole life will never be the same again. For "Foster" has a strange story to tell. Part of his story is contained in his diary, which not only describes things in the very recent past, but goes back for centuries. . .Foster has hired Legion to help him regain his lost memory...Categorized as:
aliens space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook fiction -
![Chronopolis, and other stories by J.G. Ballard]()
Chronopolis, and other stories by J.G. Ballard
6 ratingsNobody has had more influence on the development of modern science fiction than Ballard. Above all, no one has done more to set new standards for sheer technique in this field. He is a man of towering imagination and acknowledged genius at handling the most intricate of plots.It is an invidious task to choose from such a rich body of work as Ballard's the sixteen finest stories... -
![Palace by Katharine Kerr, Mark Kreighbaum]()
Palace by Katharine Kerr, Mark Kreighbaum
6 ratingsBestselling author Katharine Kerr joins with Mark Kreighbaum to present a vivid, alluring and terrifying world of the future. They call it Palace, the capital of a planet located in a region of space known as the Pinch... -
![Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling]()
Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling
18 ratingsSchismatrix Plus, is Bruce Sterling's new trade paperback. For the first time in one volume: every word Bruce Sterling has ever written on the Shapers-Mechanists Universe.In the last decade, Sterling has emerged a pioneer of crucial, cutting-edge science fiction...Categorized as:
aliens dystopia space-opera 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
![Psion by Joan D. Vinge]()
Psion by Joan D. Vinge
14 ratingsWhen first published, readers young and old eagerly devoured the tale of a street-hardened survivor named Cat, a half-human, half-alien orphan telepath. Named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Cat's story has been continued by Hugo-award winning and international best-selling author Joan D. Vinge with the very popular Catspaw and Dreamfall...
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