Series

Books like Great Imperium: 9 series to read next

Great Imperium is science fiction and space opera, set in far future and space, adventurous in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Great Imperium is 3 books, 1966–1971.

“The Carter work has since appeared in stand-alone editions from Moewig in January 1985 and Gateway/Orion in May 2020.”
from the catalogue description of The Man Without a Planet

The Great Imperium page →Narrow this list →

Known Space
Humanx Commonwealth
Uplift
CoDominium
Old Man's War
Cities in Flight
Legion of Space
Shoal Sequence
Vatta

Known SpaceUniverse

universe142 books1964

About aliens.

“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 →

Humanx CommonwealthUniverse

universe39 books1972

About aliens.

“Two species that ought, by every buried instinct, to recoil from one another instead clasp hand to truhand and build a galaxy together.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

UpliftUniverse

universe13 books1980

About uplift and aliens.

“No species, the Galactics insist, ever climbs to sapience alone.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

CoDominiumUniverse

universe98 books1971

Military science fiction.

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

Reading order →

Old Man's WarSeries

seriesJohn Scalzi16 books2005

Military science fiction, about war.

“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 →

Cities in FlightSeries

seriesJames Blish10 books1950

Science fiction and space opera, about space colonization, set in far future and space.

“The stories cover roughly two thousand years, from the very near future to the end of the universe.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with They Shall Have Stars →

Legion of SpaceSeries

seriesJack Williamson7 books1947

About aliens.

“The Medusae bear a vague resemblance to jellyfish, but are actually elephant-sized, four-eyed, flying beings with hundreds of tentacles.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Legion of Space →

Shoal SequenceSeries

seriesGary Gibson4 books2007

Tense in tone, about aliens.

“Gary Gibson's Shoal Sequence opens with Stealing Light, set two centuries into humanity's uneasy dependence on the Shoal, an alien race that alone holds the secret of faster-than-light travel.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Stealing Light →

VattaUniverse

universe10 books2003

Military science fiction, tense in tone.

“Get kicked out of the Academy and the family still hands you a ship.”
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 Great Imperium?: Known Space — the closest match to Great Imperium on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Great Imperium?: The Man Without a Planet. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Great Imperium.
How big is Great Imperium?: Great Imperium is 3 books, 1966–1971.
Is Great Imperium finished?: Yes — 3 books, 1966–1971.

Books like Great Imperium: 9 series to read next

Read next in Great Imperium

Why these

Questions readers ask

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