More like Checkerboard Planet

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Known SpaceUniverse
universe142 books1964
Set in space.
“Give a clever species a few centuries and a working fusion drive, and it will fill the sky with problems.”
from the catalogue
Start with Ringworld →
includes Ringworld, Fleet of Worlds, Man-Kzin Wars
HeecheeSeries
series19 books1972
completed
Set in space.
“The Heechee are an advanced alien race that visited the Solar System hundreds of millennia ago and then mysteriously disappeared.”
from the catalogue
Start with Gateway →
The Colors of SpaceNovel
Marion Zimmer Bradleystandalone novel1963
Adventurous and mysterious in tone, set in space.
“The Lhari seem peaceful and friendly, but they go to some lengths to protect their monopoly on faster-than-light travel.”
from the catalogue
CoDominiumUniverse
universe98 books1971
Military science fiction.
“The body of work runs along a few hard threads rather than one line.”
from the catalogue
Start with The Mote in God's Eye →
includes Moties, Falkenberg's Legion, War World, Laurie Jo Hansen
Humanx CommonwealthUniverse
universe39 books1972
Adventurous in tone, set in space.
“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
Start with For Love of Mother-Not →
includes Pip & Flinx, Icerigger Trilogy, The Founding of the Commonwealth
Pushing IceNovel
Alastair Reynoldsstandalone novel2005
Hard science fiction and first contact, about survival, set in space.