Books like 'Hold Up the Sky'
Readers who enjoyed Hold Up the Sky by Liu Cixin also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi space hard sci-fi action / adventure military, war & conflict dystopia time-travel military first-contact
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Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey
34 ratingsThirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper...Categorized as:
dystopia first-contact military 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey]()
Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey
29 ratingsThe Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again...Categorized as:
dystopia first-contact military 21st-century action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![The Human Factor by Joshua Dalzelle]()
The Human Factor by Joshua Dalzelle
16 ratingsCaptain Jason Burke is a man apart, and not just because he's the only of his kind for thousands of lightyears in any direction. The changes to his body and to his genetic code have made him faster, stronger, more able to survive in his dangerous occupation ... but they've also ensured that he'll never truly fit in with others of his species... -
![That Which Other Men Cannot Do by Ryk Brown]()
That Which Other Men Cannot Do by Ryk Brown
16 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... -
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![Redemption by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Redemption by Joshua Dalzelle
16 ratingsThere is a fine line between right and wrong, good and evil. For years Jason Burke has straddled that line as best he can, always convinced that despite the violence carried out by him and his team they were firmly on the right side of that line. But as he reflects on his time with Omega Force, he begins to have his doubts... -
![Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
33 ratingsThe year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star... vanishes. It does not go supernova... -
![Destroyer by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Destroyer by Joshua Dalzelle
14 ratingsA relentless enemy… An old wolf's last hunt… The future of two species hanging in the balance… The Darshik war machine is flagging, but the war is far from over. Even as an exhausted Federation military tenses up for a counterattack after repelling the last Darshik invasion, reports are coming in of a new, more powerful class of ship that's striking deep into Terran space... -
![Odysseus Ascendant by Evan Currie]()
Odysseus Ascendant by Evan Currie
16 ratingsA mysterious entity may be the key to a starship’s survival—or a terrifying new threat—as the Odyssey One series continues… The Empire has set its sights on its next target: human Terrans. As effective allies of the Priminae, the denizens of Earth have proven themselves enemies to the Empire, and now the Imperial forces know more about the Terran home world than ever before... -
![Secret of the Phoenix by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Secret of the Phoenix by Joshua Dalzelle
16 ratingsCaptain Jason Burke has begun to suspect that the random attacks on his ship and crew over the last couple of years may not be so random after all. Evidence is mounting that there is something on the Phoenix ... something that powerful factions will stop at nothing to get their hands on... -
![Infinity Engine by Neal Asher]()
Infinity Engine by Neal Asher
16 ratingsIn the outskirts of space, and the far corners of the Polity, complex dealings are in play. Several forces continue to pursue the deadly and enigmatic Penny Royal, none more dangerous than the Brockle, a psychopathic forensics AI and criminal who has escaped the Polity’s confinements and is upgrading itself in anticipation of a deadly showdown, becoming ever more powerful and intelligent... -
![Quantum Space by Douglas Phillips]()
Quantum Space by Douglas Phillips
18 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... -
![Iron & Blood by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Iron & Blood by Joshua Dalzelle
14 ratingsThe Black Fleet Saga continues… A human planet has been invaded. The enigmatic Darshik have landed troops on a frontier world and have begun subduing major cities even as their blockade repels all attempts by the fledgling United Terran Federation to mount a counteroffensive... -
![The Solar War by A.G. Riddle]()
The Solar War by A.G. Riddle
24 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]()
Columbus Day by Craig Alanson
25 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... -
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![The Weak and the Innocent by Ryk Brown]()
The Weak and the Innocent by Ryk Brown
16 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]()
Born of the Ashes by Ryk Brown
16 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]()
Resistance by Ryk Brown
16 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... -
![Rise of the Alliance by Ryk Brown]()
Rise of the Alliance by Ryk Brown
16 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... -
![Return of the Archon by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Return of the Archon by Joshua Dalzelle
16 ratingsListening length: 9 hoursEach member of Omega Force carries his own baggage. Most of them are running from their pasts or simply trying to forget them. One member of the small mercenary crew is not who he claims to be, however. When his former life collides with his current one, the team is drawn into a conflict that could have profound consequences for the future of an entire species... -
![A Show of Force by Ryk Brown]()
A Show of Force by Ryk Brown
16 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... -
![The Enemy Within by Joshua Dalzelle]()
The Enemy Within by Joshua Dalzelle
16 ratingsThe quadrant is burning. Violent, deadly uprisings are breaking out, seemingly at random, all across the Confederation’s sphere of influence. The response by the powerful Confederation Fleet has been swift and decisive, but for every planet they restore order to, another erupts into chaos... -
![Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric S. Nylund]()
Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric S. Nylund
26 ratingsAs the bloody Human-Covenant War rages on Halo, the fate of humankind may rest with one warrior, the lone SPARTAN survivor of another legendary battle... the desperate, take-no-prisoners struggle that led humanity to Halo--the fall of the planet Reach. Now, brought to life for the first time, here is the full story of that glorious, doomed conflict... -
![Homeworld by Evan Currie]()
Homeworld by Evan Currie
18 ratingsWar comes home to the Sol system when the Drasin track a human ship back to Earth, with devastating consequences. Facing massive force of invading alien ships wielding terrible power, the crew of the NAC spacecraft, their allies, and the people of Earth must mount a desperate effort to stop them... -
![Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton
19 ratingsThe comparative utopia of twenty-third century Earth is about to go dreadfully awry when a seemingly benign alien race is abruptly revealed to be one of the worst threats humanity has ever faced. Driven by an intense religious extremism, the Olyix are determined to bring everyone to their version of god as they see it... -
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![The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet by Mackey Chandler]()
The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet by Mackey Chandler
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... -
![Omnia by S.H. Jucha]()
Omnia by S.H. Jucha
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... -
![Allora by S.H. Jucha]()
Allora by S.H. Jucha
12 ratingsUntil the Confederation created Allora, it had produced SADEs (self-aware digital entities) for hundreds of years with enormous consistency and harnessed their capabilities to power the society. But this particular, young SADE was disturbed by her confinement... -
![Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha]()
Celus-5 by S.H. Jucha
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... -
![Sol by S.H. Jucha]()
Sol by S.H. Jucha
14 ratingsSol’s warships paid the ultimate price for threatening the Haraken and New Terran worlds. Now, Haraken President Alex Racine and his Méridien partner, Renée de Guirnon, are engaged in a desperate gamble to stop a war between their worlds and United Earth’s (UE) massive forces before it starts... -
![Intruder by C.J. Cherryh]()
Intruder by C.J. Cherryh
14 ratingsThe civil war among the alien atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri his son and heir, and his human paidhi, Bren Cameron, have returned to the Bujavid, their seat of power.But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over... -
![Deceiver by C.J. Cherryh]()
Deceiver by C.J. Cherryh
14 ratings"One of the best long-running SF series in existence" (Publishers Weekly) continues with the second novel in a brand-new Foreigner sequence. The civil war among the alien Atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri, his son and heir, has returned to the Bujavid, his seat of power... -
![Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio]()
Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio
14 ratingsThe second 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 Marlowe is lost. For half a century, he has searched the farther suns for the lost planet of Vorgossos, hoping to find a way to contact the elusive alien Cielcin... -
![Haraken by S.H. Jucha]()
Haraken by S.H. Jucha
14 ratingsNine years of tranquility came to an abrupt end when a Méridien starship entered the Hellébore system, sounding a dire warning for Alex Racine, the Haraken president. Unwanted visitors had arrived again. But this time, they’re not alien; they’re human... -
![Explorer by C.J. Cherryh]()
Explorer by C.J. Cherryh
16 ratingsIt has been nearly ten years since the starship Phoenix returned to Alpha, the station orbiting the world of the atevi, which had been abandoned following a rift between a faction of the station's inhabitants and the spacers' Pilot's Guild... -
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![Celestia CV-02 by Ryk Brown]()
Celestia CV-02 by Ryk Brown
16 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... -
![Home World by B.V. Larson]()
Home World by B.V. Larson
16 ratingsThe Galactics arrived with their Battle Fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined a vast Empire that spanned the Milky Way. When the Earth is invaded by a rival empire, James McGill’s legion must defend the Home World. The top brass has complex plans, but none of that matters much to McGill, who chooses his own unique path... -
![By Other Means by Evan Currie]()
By Other Means by Evan Currie
16 ratingsThe Hayden War has ended and now SOLCOM and the Alliance are face to face in talks, but neither side has the slightest idea what happened in the ultimate battle of the war... -
![Osiris by Ralph Kern, Michael Kramer]()
Osiris by Ralph Kern, Michael Kramer
6 ratingsBeyond the apocalypse, humanity's future is being decided.It's been three months since the cruise ship M/S Atlantica arrived in a hostile new world.The survivors dream of building a home, but just as their hopes rise, they learn the true cost of saving thousands of people from catastrophe.Conrad Wakefield, the architect of the Locus project, killed billions...Categorized as:
dystopia military time-travel action-adventure adult ai alternate-history assassinations -
![The Forever War by Joe Haldeman]()
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
46 ratingsThe Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy that they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away...Categorized as:
dystopia first-contact military time-travel 20th-century action-adventure adult aging -
![The Long-Range War by Christopher G. Nuttall]()
The Long-Range War by Christopher G. Nuttall
8 ratingsThe gloves have finally come off ... The Tokomak, the unquestioned masters of the galaxy, have dispatched a massive fleet to crush the Solar Union - and the fledgling Galactic Alliance - before the human race and its alien allies can tear the galactic order asunder. Hundreds of thousands of starships under the command of an alien tactical genius, bent on exterminating the entire human race .. -
![TFS Navajo by Tori L. Harris]()
TFS Navajo by Tori L. Harris
12 ratingsOnly a few short months after Humanity’s first interstellar flights, the first shots have been fired in what will eventually become known as the Alliance Wars. Terran Fleet Command teeters on the edge of chaos in the aftermath of Chairwoman Crull’s removal from power, while in space, Earth’s defense falls squarely on the shoulders of Admiral Kevin Patterson... -
![Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1: Resurrection by Randolph Lalonde]()
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1: Resurrection by Randolph Lalonde
12 ratingsCaptain Jacob Valance has no memory of his past. Left on a strange ship in an unfamiliar sector of the galaxy, he's forced to begin a new life. Possessing a skill set that leads to bounty hunting and object repossession, he gathers a crew from the rough fringe of the galaxy... -
![The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle]()
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
37 ratingsIn 3016, the 2nd Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to faster-than-light Alderson Drive. Intelligent beings are finally found from the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud. The bottled-up ancient civilization, at least one million years old, are welcoming, kind, yet evasive, with a dark problem they have not solved in over a million years...Categorized as:
dystopia first-contact military 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![The Dance of Time by Eric Flint, David Drake]()
The Dance of Time by Eric Flint, David Drake
14 ratingsThe Malwa and their evil have been driven back to their Indian heartland, but there they coil to strike again...Categorized as:
military time-travel action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction hard-sci-fi -
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![Méridien by S.H. Jucha]()
Méridien by S.H. Jucha
14 ratingsThe Méridiens are fleeing to their far colonies—and they have reason to run. Over the course of decades, they have lost hundreds of ships, billions of people, and seven Confederation colonies to an alien enemy: an advancing swarm of silver ships transported in the bowels of a gigantic, spherical vessel... -
![Prelude to Extinction by Andreas Karpf]()
Prelude to Extinction by Andreas Karpf
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... -
![Soldiers of Fortune by Joshua Dalzelle]()
Soldiers of Fortune by Joshua Dalzelle
16 ratingsAfter the daring rescue of a political dissident, Omega Force is contracted to investigate a rash of violent attacks on civilian shipping lanes within a group of star systems known as the Concordian Cluster... -
![March to the Stars by David Weber, John Ringo]()
March to the Stars by David Weber, John Ringo
18 ratingsStranded on Marduk with his Royal Marine protectors, spoiled prince Roger MacClintock experiences a change in attitude during a long journey back to civilization across a sea filled with dangerous monsters and well-armed enemies... -
![The Heart of Matter by Evan Currie]()
The Heart of Matter by Evan Currie
20 ratingsAfter an epic maiden voyage that introduced Earth to a larger universe—and a cosmos full of terrifying new enemies—Captain Eric Weston and the crew of the NAC spacecraft Odyssey have spent months cooling their heels under their admiral’s watchful eye... -
![Wizard by John Varley]()
Wizard by John Varley
20 ratingsISBN moved from less recent editionOne of the greatest science fiction epics ever written, John Varley's Titan, Wizard, and Demon comprise a groundbreaking trilogy that will live forever. Human explorers have entered the sprawling mind of Gaea. Now they must fight her will. For she is much too powerful...and definitely insane..
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