Series

Books like The Expanse: 9 series to read next

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

The Expanse is 18 books, 2011–2022.

“Five short stories that take place before, during, or after Leviathan Wakes were published between 2011 and 2019.”
from the catalogue description of Leviathan Wakes
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

The The Expanse page →Narrow this list →

Revelation Space
Vorkosigan
The Lost Fleet
Old Man's War
Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson)
Dune
Alliance-Union
CoDominium
Honorverse

Revelation SpaceUniverse

universe27 books1990

Loreful pick

Hard, cold, lived-in solar-system SF that also ends up staring at something very old and very hostile.

“Reach far enough, listen hard enough, and something older than starlight stirs to make certain you never finish the sentence.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

VorkosiganUniverse

universe27 books1986

Loreful pick

Interplanetary politics carried by one crew and one voice, with the same competence-under-pressure pleasure.

“Beyond his backwater lies the wormhole nexus: a scatter of human worlds strung along unstable jump-routes, where a blood-and-honor warrior aristocracy, a coolly egalitarian utopia, and a hundred lesser polities trade, spy, and go to war.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Shards of Honor →

The Lost FleetUniverse

universe27 books2006

Loreful pick

If the fleet actions and the orbital mechanics were the draw: war fought at realistic speeds and distances.

“A war a hundred years old has forgotten how to fight it.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Old Man's WarSeries

seriesJohn Scalzi16 books2005

Loreful pick

Same register — working people, plain prose, big war — pointed outward instead of in-system.

“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 →

Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson)Series

seriesKim Stanley Robinson36 books1982

Loreful pick

The political economy of settling the solar system, argued out at book length.

“Ultimately more utopian than dystopian, the story focuses on egalitarian, sociological, and scientific advances made on Mars, while Earth suffers from overpopulation and ecological disaster.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Red Mars →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 The Expanse?: Revelation Space. Hard, cold, lived-in solar-system SF that also ends up staring at something very old and very hostile.
Where do I start with The Expanse?: Leviathan Wakes. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for The Expanse.
How big is The Expanse?: The Expanse is 18 books, 2011–2022.

Books like The Expanse: 9 series to read next

Read next in The Expanse

Why these

Questions readers ask

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