Books like 'The Pluto Debacle: Hard Science Fiction'
Readers who enjoyed The Pluto Debacle: Hard Science Fiction by Brandon Q. Morris also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
hard sci-fi space military, war & conflict first-contact space-travel aliens invasion exploration
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Ice World by B.V. Larson
12 ratingsLong before Earth began conquering her neighboring stars, Legion Varus was deployed on Tau Ceti. Valuable and highly illegal treasures were stolen during the campaign, but McGill never gave it a second thought.The Tau haven’t forgotten him, however. For decades they’ve hunted and plotted, and at last they’ve found the pirate who robbed them. Tau agents invade Earth seeking revenge and profit... -
Visitor by C.J. Cherryh
12 ratingsThe seventeenth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences…The human and atevi inhabitants of Alpha Station, orbiting the world of the atevi, have picked up a signal from an alien kyo ship telling them that the ship is inbound toward Alpha... -
Clone World by B.V. Larson
14 ratingsJames McGill is called upon for a sabotage mission, one that only a man of his unique talents can handle. Unfortunately, he performs too well, and our enemies from Rigel are enraged. They come for us, and war is declared. Both sides call for aid, and it comes from the Core Worlds in the form of two great fleets. The Civil War for the Empire’s Throne spills out into the provinces... -
Edge World by B.V. Larson
14 ratingsA lonely planet circles a star on the very border of Province 921. Critical resources produced there are claimed by both the Mogwa and the Skay. War between the Galactic giants becomes more likely every day.James McGill and Legion Varus are deployed to protect Edge World, a planet that rotates at a walking pace. Each day is as long as a year back on Earth... -
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Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor
25 ratingsCivil war looms in the Bobiverse in this brand-new, epic-length adventure by best seller Dennis E. Taylor.More than a hundred years ago, Bender set out for the stars and was never heard from again. There has been no trace of him despite numerous searches by his clone-mates. Now Bob is determined to organize an expedition to learn Bender’s fate—whatever the cost... -
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... -
TFS Fugitive by Tori L. Harris
10 ratingsHaving successfully repelled the Resistance incursion into the Sol system, Terran Fleet Command must now deal with the far-flung worlds of the Sajeth Collective, which sponsored the attack. Task forces are dispatched to Damara and Lesheera to begin the first Human blockades of entire planets...Categorized as:
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Messinants by S.H. Jucha
10 ratingsPyre is a volatile planet. Its surface belches heat and noxious gases, forcing downsiders to inhabit domes. But Pyre’s instability isn’t limited to its geology. The colonists, who were marooned in the system hundreds of years ago, have endured a tumultuous history.Exploring Triton, Pyre’s third moon, spacers inadvertently activate an alien dome...Categorized as:
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Secrets in the Stars by Mackey Chandler
10 ratingsWhen Lee Anderson and her parents discovered a new world teeming with life, it was the dream of every explorer: they were rich beyond their imaginations. But tragedy struck when a herd of creatures overran their camp and killed her parents. The only other adult in her life had been their partner Gordon, who adopted her as parent. Which didn’t turn out to be easy, because he wasn’t human... -
Green World by B.V. Larson
12 ratingsRebels build a secret base on Green World. Their plan is to attack Earth and retake all the planets the Humans have conquered.Hegemony starships gather to strike the Rebels first, but where is their base? As the fleets search, Earth warships trespass into Skay space igniting a fresh border conflict between rival Galactics...Categorized as:
aliens exploration first-contact invasion space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
Storm World by B.V. Larson
14 ratingsJames McGill is sent to the Core Worlds! In an unprecedented first, Earth sends a message to Mogwa Prime. Unfortunately, the messenger is not met with enthusiasm. Misunderstandings soon threaten all of Humanity. Forced to prove Earth can serve the Empire better than any rival, McGill does his best... -
Protector by C.J. Cherryh
14 ratingsIt's coming up on Cajeiri's birthday. The boy has been promised he can have the young human children he knew from his voyage sent down from the space station for a two week stay. But there's far a darker business going on in the background--a major split compromising the Assassins' Guild, which furnishes security and law enforcement to the whole continent... -
Wherever Seeds May Fall by Peter Cawdron
15 ratingsAstronomers from around the world watch in awe as an extrasolar comet approaches Saturn, being drawn in by its immense gravity. When the comet grazes the planet rather than plunging beneath the clouds, speculation is rife... -
Dark World by B.V. Larson
16 ratingsTwo expanding interstellar powers are about to meet in battle. After the collapse of the Cephalopod Kingdom, Humanity claimed the three hundred rebellious worlds they left behind. But many light years away on the far side of disputed region, a rival power has begun to move. They're stealing our planets, one at a time... -
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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...Categorized as:
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A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
30 ratingsAlternative Cover Edition can be found here. After thousands of years searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. Two human groups: the Qeng Ho, a culture of free traders, and the Emergents, a ruthless society based on the technological enslavement of minds.The group that opens trade with the aliens will reap unimaginable riches...Categorized as:
aliens exploration first-contact invasion space-travel 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Invaders by Laurence E. Dahners
10 ratings“Invaders” is about events that occur several years after those in the novel “Disc.” GSI (Gettnor Space Industries) is beginning to investigate our solar system and mine the asteroids. Aircraft and automobile companies are beginning to switch over to thrusters from their more traditional products. New uses for thrusters are popping up in the healthcare and sports industries... -
1st to Fight by Rick Partlow
10 ratingsI retired from the USMC, and now I write about space marines. I never thought I’d actually become one. As a sci-fi author with a hit TV show, I have a few ideas about what alien invaders are supposed to look like. In my stories, they’re technologically advanced monsters, with tentacles, and no faces. Turns out I was right about the technology. And about how angry they’d be...Categorized as:
aliens exploration first-contact invasion space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
TFS Guardian by Tori L. Harris
10 ratings— An ancient alliance under siege ... — A threat for which we are not prepared ... — And "Grey" aliens who are not at all what we expected. The enigmatic Greys have returned, bearing a host of stunning revelations regarding their role in Earth’s history, the Pelarans, and Humanity’s place in the cosmos... -
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
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:
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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
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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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... -
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Armor World by B.V. Larson
14 ratingsIn a twist of fate that rocks the Galactic Empire, James McGill finds himself negotiating the future of a thousand inhabited worlds. An artificial object made of compressed stardust is barreling toward Earth. Is it an invasion ship? A doomsday weapon? Perhaps it’s the final response of Squanto, the Warlord of Rigel who McGill has repeatedly humiliated... -
Orion Fleet by B.V. Larson
14 ratingsWhat enemy could be more terrifying than a soulless, alien machine? A year ago the Kher Empire was forced to retreat, but they were not beaten. In ORION FLEET they return with a new weapon. A huge ship driven by AI begins methodically grinding inhabited worlds to dust. This unstoppable enemy is without fear or remorse, and the Rebels begin a desperate battle just to slow its advance...Categorized as:
aliens exploration first-contact invasion space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
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... -
Betrayer by C.J. Cherryh
14 ratingsBetrayer (Foreigner, Book 12)The twelfth novel in Cherryh’s Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences…In the wake of civil war, Bren Cameron, the brilliant human diplomat of the alien atevi civilization, has left the capital and sought refuge at his country estate, Najida...Categorized as:
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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
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... -
Rogue 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. Today, Battle Fleet 921 is returning to Earth. It hasn’t been seen by human eyes since our blissful day of Annexation...Categorized as:
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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...Categorized as:
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Blood World by B.V. Larson
16 ratingsA dirty deal was struck. Humanity was allowed to keep three hundred rebellious worlds. In return, we declared war on a powerful enemy from beyond the frontier. A frantic build-up of forces has begun, but the task is hopeless. Seeking allies, Earth’s legions are sent to BLOOD WORLD. A planet on the fringe of known space, where the people only respect masters of combat...Categorized as:
aliens exploration first-contact invasion space-travel action-adventure adult audiobook -
Hell's Reach by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson
6 ratingsUSA Today bestseller B.V. Larson and Dragon award finalist David VanDyke have released book six in their epic military space opera! The Breakers find a new home among the stars: Utopia. An engineered planet that is vast beyond comprehension with plenty of room to grow. They set up trade routes and work as mercenaries for their supplies… but trouble lurks. Pirates strike their merchant lanes... -
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Enemies & Allies by Rick Partlow
6 ratingsThe war is over and Andy Clanton is ready to live happily ever after.Space Force has other ideas.Recruited to follow the last signal of the mysterious Elders to a system halfway across the galaxy, Andy joins the crew of the James Bowie for another adventure into the unknown... -
Connection Unknown by Michael Chatfield
6 ratingsLuke Tavares has dreamed of joining the vast gaming guilds of the hypernet. After recently graduating high school, his parents have given him the same ultimatum as his siblings; he has one month to get a job to pay for his air, gravity, and water aboard the Dahlia.The freighter needs more hands, but Luke doesn’t want to be a trader-ship engineer...Categorized as:
aliens first-contact invasion space-travel action-adventure book fiction hard-sci-fi -
Jungle World by B. V. Larson
6 ratingsA new threat arrives from the rim of the galaxy. From the colorless depths of space, unknown invaders strike worlds across the Frontier Zone. Rigel is a thousand lightyears farther from the Core Worlds than Earth, so they suffer the first attacks.The mood at Central is jubilant... -
Straker's Breakers by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson
8 ratingsFrom Hugo and Dragon Award finalist David VanDyke, and millions-selling science-fiction legend and Dragon finalist B.V. Larson, comes book five in the epic military space opera adventure saga! It’s been five years since the end of the Hive Wars. Straker has handed over the burden of governing the Earthan Republic to civil authorities... -
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 .. -
Hive War by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson
8 ratingsFrom Hugo and Dragon Award finalist David VanDyke, and millions-selling science-fiction legend and Dragon finalist B.V. Larson, comes book four in the epic military space opera adventure saga! The Republic, the Opters and a strange Crystalline race of unknown origin all meet in a series of titanic battles... -
Divergence by C.J. Cherryh
10 ratingsThe twenty-first book in the beloved Foreigner saga continues the adventures of diplomat Bren Cameron, advisor to the atevi head of state... -
Flagship Victory by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson
10 ratingsFrom Hugo and Dragon Award finalist David VanDyke, and million-selling science-fiction legend and Dragon Award finalist B.V. Larson, comes book three in the epic military space opera adventure saga!Commodore Straker faces new enemies as neighboring interstellar empires decide his New Republic is a growing threat... -
These Alien Skies by C.T. Rwizi
12 ratingsAccidents happen in the strange realms of the African Union system. One of them sends two humans to the far side of a star gate in a thrilling short story of hope, survival, and new dimensions.Copilots Msizi and Tariro are testing a newly constructed wormhole jump that presumably leads to unsettled habitable worlds...Categorized as:
aliens exploration invasion space-travel action-adventure adult afrofuturism anthologies -
Alpha Fleet by B.V. Larson
12 ratingsThe Imperials have devised a cunning new method of destroying Rebel worlds. Captain Leo Blake is largely responsible for both our survival and our current predicament. He and his crew are infamous among the stars. As a result, when ships of an unknown configuration begin flowing out of swirling rifts above Earth, Blake is called upon again to deal with the problem...Categorized as:
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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...Categorized as:
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Battleship Indomitable by David VanDyke, B.V. Larson
12 ratingsFrom Hugo Award finalist David VanDyke and million-selling science-fiction legend B.V. Larson comes book two in the epic military space opera adventure saga!Commodore Straker's rebellion grows in strength--but his enemies are growing even faster...Categorized as:
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Earth Fleet by B.V. Larson
12 ratingsAt long last Earth has a handful of starships. Surrounded by Rebel Kher, Imperials and the mysterious Nomads, Humanity dares to assert our right to independence. The interstellar community reacts harshly. In the eyes of our neighbors, we’re upstarts, dangerous beings that don’t know our place. For the Kher, freedom can only be won through battle...Categorized as:
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First Strike by Raymond L. Weil
12 ratingsThe cryosleep chambers are beginning to fail. Surveillance of Hocklyn space has revealed that the Hocklyns are thirty years ahead of their projected schedule and will soon reach human occupied space. War could break out any day if something isn't done... -
Deep Black (Infinite Sky #1) by Samuel Best
12 ratingsTwo crews return to Titan. Who will survive?Titan. Sixth moon of Saturn. A deadly enigma harboring the greatest secret in the history of humankind.In the wake of the first mission, two companies with very different goals plot a return to that distant moon. Their ships are safer, their technology has improved…and they want answers... -
Demon Star by B.V. Larson, David VanDyke
14 ratingsThree stars, three worlds, three civilizations…one massive war. In a triple star system, not all planets are equal. When the DEMON STAR swings closest in her orbit, the Insectoids always invade. They raid the inner worlds with grim regularity, riding hordes of stealthed ships in ever growing waves. Their mission is to destroy all opposition—alien, human or otherwise...
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