More like Maxwell's Demons

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Have Space Suit - Will TravelNovel
Robert A. Heinleinstandalone novel1958
Space opera, about aliens and survival.
“One minute Kip Russell was walking about in his own backyard, testing out an old space suit and dreaming about going to the moon - and the next he was out cold and the captive of an insidious space pirate.”
from the catalogue
Islands in the SkyNovel
Arthur C. Clarkestandalone novel1952
About space colonization, set in space station.
“Clarke wrote the story as a travelogue of human settlement of cislunar space in the last half of the twenty-first century.”
from the catalogue
Known SpaceUniverse
universe142 books1964
About aliens, 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
Start with Ringworld →
includes Ringworld, Fleet of Worlds, Man-Kzin Wars
The Rolling StonesNovel
Robert A. Heinleinstandalone novel1952
Lighthearted in tone, set in the moon.
“The Stone family, lunar-born, technically minded, and perpetually restless, buy a secondhand spaceship and set off from the Moon on a family tour of the solar system.”
from the catalogue
Starman JonesNovel
Robert A. Heinleinstandalone novel1953
Space opera, about coming of age, set in far future.
“Starman Jones, a 1953 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, features a farm boy who wants to go to the stars.”
from the catalogue
Heart of the CometNovel
David Brin & Gregory Benfordstandalone novel1986
Hard science fiction, about survival.