Series

Books like This Island Earth: 9 series to read next

This Island Earth is science fiction and first contact, about aliens, set in mid 20th century, tense in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

This Island Earth is 4 books, 1949–1952.

The This Island Earth page →Narrow this list →

CoDominium
Known Space
Alliance-Union
Cosmic Trilogy (C. S. Lewis)
Conquerors
Fractalverse
Interstellar Pig
Rull
Ender's Game

CoDominiumUniverse

universe98 books1971

Military science fiction, set in far future.

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

Reading order →

Known SpaceUniverse

universe142 books1964

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 →

Alliance-UnionUniverse

universe173 books1976

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 →

Cosmic Trilogy (C. S. Lewis)Series

seriesC. S. Lewis4 books1938

About faith and religion.

Start with Out of the Silent Planet →

ConquerorsSeries

seriesTimothy Zahn3 books1994

Military science fiction, about war, set in far future and space.

“Zahn alternates perspective between the human and alien chains of command, using the shifting viewpoints to slowly unpick why the conflict started in the first place.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Conquerors' Pride →

FractalverseSeries

seriesChristopher Paolini2 books2020

About space exploration and survival, set in far future and space.

“Fractal Noise, a parallel entry, follows a separate crew investigating a mysterious signal-emitting structure on another world within the same universe.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Fractal Noise →

Interstellar PigSeries

seriesWilliam Sleator2 books1984

About survival.

Start with Interstellar Pig →

RullSeries

seriesA. E. van Vogt8 books1940

Set in far future and space.

“The War Against the Rull fixes up several previously published short stories into a single novel about humanity's long war against the shape-shifting, technologically formidable Rull.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Gryb →

Ender's GameUniverse

universe39 books1977

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

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 This Island Earth?: CoDominium — the closest match to This Island Earth on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with This Island Earth?: The Alien Machine. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for This Island Earth.
How big is This Island Earth?: This Island Earth is 4 books, 1949–1952.
Is This Island Earth finished?: Yes — 4 books, 1949–1952.

Books like This Island Earth: 9 series to read next

Read next in This Island Earth

Why these

Questions readers ask

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