Universe

Books like Babylon 5: 9 series to read next

Babylon 5 is science fiction and space opera, about political intrigue, set in far future, tense in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Babylon 5 is 80 books across 6 series, 1989–2019.

“The saga was conceived whole — a single arc with a beginning, a middle, and an end, unusual for the form — and on the page it lives as a companion line rather than a loose shared world.”
from the catalogue description

The Babylon 5 page →Narrow this list →

Dune
Honorverse
Vatta
Old Man's War
CoDominium
Janissaries
The Saga of Seven Suns Universe
Alliance-Union
Known Space

DuneUniverse

universe78 books1963

Science fiction and space opera, about political intrigue, set in far future and other star systems.

“The desert planet, where empire runs on a single substance: the spice melange, which folds space, prolongs life, and unlocks prescience, and which exists nowhere else in the known universe.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Dune →

HonorverseUniverse

universe83 books1993

Science fiction and space opera, set in far future and other star systems.

“At the center stands one officer, Honor Harrington — captain, then something far larger — and the six-limbed empathic treecat who rides her shoulder.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

VattaUniverse

universe10 books2003

Science fiction and space opera, tense and adventurous in tone, set in far future and space.

“Get kicked out of the Academy and the family still hands you a ship.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Old Man's WarSeries

seriesJohn Scalzi16 books2005

Science fiction and space opera, adventurous in tone, about war, set in far future and space.

“Sign a document at 65, saying you intend to join up 10 years later.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Old Man's War →

CoDominiumUniverse

universe98 books1971

Science fiction and military science fiction, set in far future and other star systems.

“The body of work runs along a few hard threads rather than one line.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

JanissariesSeries

seriesJerry Pournelle, Roland J. Green, David Weber & Phillip Pournelle4 books1979

About slavery.

“Janissaries are an American series of military and political-based science fiction novels are set in an interstellar confederation of races, in which humans are a slave race entrusted with military affairs and law enforcement.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Janissaries →

The Saga of Seven Suns UniverseSeries

seriesKevin J. Anderson16 books2002

Set in galactic scale.

Start with Veiled Alliances →

Alliance-UnionUniverse

universe173 books1976

Science fiction, set in far future.

“Around that spine cluster the merchanter novels of trader Families, the Faded Sun trilogy of human envoys among the martial alien Mri, and the Chanur books, narrated from the hierarchical, whiskered viewpoint of the hani.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Known SpaceUniverse

universe142 books1964

Science fiction, about aliens, set in far future and space.

“Give a clever species a few centuries and a working fusion drive, and it will fill the sky with problems.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Why these

No sales rank, no star ratings, no readers also bought.

Shared terms are not a promise that a book feels the same. Two series can be far-future political intrigue and read nothing alike — what the ranking can say is what they are about, and each card says which parts it shares.

Questions readers ask

What should I read after Babylon 5?: Dune — the closest match to Babylon 5 on what it is about, not on what sells.
How big is Babylon 5?: Babylon 5 is 80 books across 6 series, 1989–2019.

Books like Babylon 5: 9 series to read next

Read next in Babylon 5

Why these

Questions readers ask

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