Series

Books like Thistledown: 9 series to read next

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

Thistledown is 5 books, 1978–1999.

The Thistledown page →Narrow this list →

CoDominium
Ender's Game
Dune
Known Space
Heaven Chronicles / Zones of Thought
Commonwealth
Uplift
Xeelee
Blindsight / Firefall

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 →

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

Reading order →

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 →

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 →

Heaven Chronicles / Zones of ThoughtSeries

seriesJoan D. Vinge & Vernor Vinge8 books1976

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

Reading order →

CommonwealthUniverse

universe12 books2002

Science fiction and space opera, set in far future.

“Step aboard the train at the Second Chance terminal and ride the wormhole to another star.”
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 →

XeeleeSeries

seriesStephen Baxter & uncredited89 books1987

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

“The Xeelee are described as symbiotic entities composed of spacetime defects, Bose–Einstein condensates, and baryonic matter.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Raft →

Blindsight / FirefallSeries

seriesPeter Watts3 books2006

Dark in tone, about artificial intelligence.

Start with Blindsight →

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 Thistledown?: CoDominium — the closest match to Thistledown on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Thistledown?: The Wind from a Burning Woman. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Thistledown.
How big is Thistledown?: Thistledown is 5 books, 1978–1999.
Is Thistledown finished?: Yes — 5 books, 1978–1999.

Books like Thistledown: 9 series to read next

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Why these

Questions readers ask

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