Universe

Books like Rim Worlds: 9 series to read next

Rim Worlds 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.

Rim Worlds is 72 books across 4 series, 1959–2008.

“The man who charts it is A. Bertram Chandler, master mariner before he was a writer, and it shows in every riveted deckplate.”
from the catalogue description

The Rim Worlds page →Narrow this list →

Known Space
Uplift
Heechee
Cities in Flight
CoDominium
Humanx Commonwealth
Academy / Priscilla (Hutch) Hutchins
Old Man's War
Liaden

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 →

HeecheeSeries

seriesFrederik Pohl19 books1972

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

“The Heechee are an advanced alien race that visited the Solar System hundreds of millennia ago and then mysteriously disappeared.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Gateway →

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 →

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 →

Humanx CommonwealthUniverse

universe39 books1972

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

“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 →

Academy / Priscilla (Hutch) HutchinsSeries

seriesJack McDevitt16 books1983

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

“Beginning with The Engines of God, the series treats deep time and the near-total absence of intelligent alien life as its central mystery, favoring slow-burn discovery over action.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Engines of God →

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 →

LiadenUniverse

universe133 books1988

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

“Reckon carefully: in the Liaden Universe every kindness is a debt entered on the ledger, and every debt is balanced — sooner, or graciously.”
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 Rim Worlds?: Known Space — the closest match to Rim Worlds on what it is about, not on what sells.
How big is Rim Worlds?: Rim Worlds is 72 books across 4 series, 1959–2008.
Is Rim Worlds finished?: Yes — 72 books across 4 series, 1959–2008.

Books like Rim Worlds: 9 series to read next

Read next in Rim Worlds

Why these

Questions readers ask

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