Series

Books like Orphans: 9 series to read next

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

Orphans is 3 books, 2002–2004.

The Orphans page →Narrow this list →

Known Space
Uplift
Heaven Chronicles / Zones of Thought
Ender's Game
CoDominium
The Talents
Old Man's War
Alliance-Union
Catteni Sequence

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 →

UpliftUniverse

universe13 books1980

About uplift.

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

Reading order →

Heaven Chronicles / Zones of ThoughtSeries

seriesJoan D. Vinge & Vernor Vinge8 books1976

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

Reading order →

Ender's GameUniverse

universe39 books1977

Science fiction, set in far future.

“To beat your enemy you must first understand him so completely that you love him — and in the instant you love him, you destroy him.”
from the catalogue description

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CoDominiumUniverse

universe98 books1971

Military science fiction.

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

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The TalentsUniverse

universe18 books1959

About psychic powers.

“Somewhere a Prime holds a Tower, gathers the gestalt of a generator's power, and flings a starship — or a single frightened child — across the light-years between worlds.”
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 →

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 →

Catteni SequenceSeries

seriesAnne McCaffrey5 books1970

About slavery.

“The Catteni series is a tetralogy of science fiction novels by American writer Anne McCaffrey.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Freedom's Landing →

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 Orphans?: Known Space — the closest match to Orphans on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Orphans?: Echoes of Earth. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Orphans.
How big is Orphans?: Orphans is 3 books, 2002–2004.

Books like Orphans: 9 series to read next

Read next in Orphans

Why these

Questions readers ask

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