More like Four Complete Novels

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DuneUniverse
universe78 books1963
Space opera.
“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
Start with Dune →
includes Dune, Dune Prequels, Heroes of Dune, Dune Sequels, Background of the Dune Universe
The Gods ThemselvesNovel
Isaac Asimovstandalone novel1972
Hard science fiction, set in parallel universe and the moon.
EmbassytownNovel
China Miévillestandalone novel2011
First contact, mysterious in tone, about space colonization.
“In the far future, humans have colonized a distant planet, home to the enigmatic Ariekei, sentient beings famed for a language unique in the universe, one that only a few altered human ambassadors can speak.”
from the catalogue
TritonNovel
Samuel R. Delanystandalone novel1976
Reflective in tone, about gender and society.
Kefahuchi Tract TrilogySeries
series3 books2002
Space opera.
“M. John Harrison's Kefahuchi Tract trilogy circles a strange, physics-breaking anomaly in deep space that draws scientists, smugglers, and drifters into its pull across different eras.”
from the catalogue
Start with Light →
The AlgebraistNovel
Iain M. Banksstandalone novel2004
Space opera, adventurous in tone.