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Books like Vorkosigan: 9 series to read next

Vorkosigan is science fiction and space opera, about genetic engineering, set in space station, hopeful in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Vorkosigan is 27 books across 3 series, 1986–2018.

“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

The Vorkosigan page →Narrow this list →

Honorverse
The Expanse
Old Man's War
The Culture
Ender's Game
CoDominium
Dune
Foundation
Red Rising

HonorverseUniverse

universe83 books1993

Loreful pick

The other long military-SF saga built around one officer's career and a very worked-out navy.

“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 →

The ExpanseSeries

seriesDaniel Abraham & Ty Franck18 books2011

Loreful pick

Interplanetary politics carried by a crew who like each other, at the same human scale.

“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

Start with Leviathan Wakes →

Old Man's WarSeries

seriesJohn Scalzi16 books2005

Loreful pick

Same wit and the same interest in what soldiering does to a person.

“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 →

The CultureUniverse

universe21 books1987

Loreful pick

Space opera that is really about societies and the people they use — funnier than it looks.

“No money, no laws, no hunger, no death you didn't choose; a galaxy-spanning anarchy of humans and drones administered, gently and with enormous irony, by superintelligent Minds who name their warships things like *Frank Exchange Of Views*.”
from the catalogue description

Reading order →

Ender's GameUniverse

universe39 books1977

Loreful pick

The small, outmatched, dangerously clever protagonist, if Miles was the whole appeal.

“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 →

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 →

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 →

FoundationUniverse

universe123 books1940

About robots.

“There is a science that reads the future of quadrillions the way an astronomer reads the orbits of stars.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Foundation →

Red RisingSeries

seriesPierce Brown & Rik Hoskin13 books2014

Dystopia, dark in tone.

“Pierce Brown's Red Rising follows Darrow, a lowborn 'Red' miner on a colonized Mars who discovers his caste's suffering is a lie sustained by the ruling Gold elite, and infiltrates their ranks to destroy the system from within.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Red Rising →

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 Vorkosigan?: Honorverse. The other long military-SF saga built around one officer's career and a very worked-out navy.
Where do I start with Vorkosigan?: Shards of Honor. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Vorkosigan, which is a whole world rather than one run.
How big is Vorkosigan?: Vorkosigan is 27 books across 3 series, 1986–2018.

Books like Vorkosigan: 9 series to read next

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Why these

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