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Books like Tom Swift: 9 series to read next

Tom Swift is science fiction, set in near future and early 20th century, adventurous and tense in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Tom Swift is 144 books across 14 series, 1910–2022.

“There is always another idea waiting in the workshop at Shopton, and Tom Swift is always the boy to build it.”
from the catalogue description

The Tom Swift page →Narrow this list →

Known Space
Cavor
Rama
H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds
Humanx Commonwealth
Lucky Starr
Ender's Game
Fifth Imperium
Alliance-Union

Known SpaceUniverse

universe142 books1964

Set in far future.

“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 →

CavorSeries

seriesH. G. Wells & Stephen Baxter2 books1901

“H. G. Wells's 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon is narrated by the businessman Bedford, who joins the reclusive scientist Cavor after Cavor invents cavorite, a gravity-blocking substance that carries the two men to the Moon.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The First Men in the Moon →

RamaUniverse

universe7 books1973

Set in spaceship.

“Something is falling through the solar system on a hyperbolic orbit, and it is not a comet.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

H. G. Wells' War of the WorldsUniverse

universe65 books1898

Alien invasion.

“No one would have believed, in the closing years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely from the timeless worlds of space.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The War of the Worlds →

Humanx CommonwealthUniverse

universe39 books1972

Set in far future.

“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 →

Lucky StarrSeries

seriesIsaac Asimov8 books1952

Set in far future.

“Conceived partly as a science-fictional take on the Lone Ranger, the six-book series lets Asimov work real planetary science into old-fashioned adventure plots.”
from the catalogue description

Start with David Starr: Space Ranger →

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 →

Fifth ImperiumSeries

seriesDavid Weber3 books1991

About artificial intelligence, set in far future.

“The three novels were later collected as the omnibus Empire from the Ashes.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Mutineers' Moon →

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 →

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 Tom Swift?: Known Space — the closest match to Tom Swift on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Tom Swift?: Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Tom Swift, which is a whole world rather than one run.
How big is Tom Swift?: Tom Swift is 144 books across 14 series, 1910–2022.

Books like Tom Swift: 9 series to read next

Read next in Tom Swift

Why these

Questions readers ask

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