More like The Floating City

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Known SpaceUniverse
universe142 books1964
About aliens.
“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
About aliens.
“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
About aliens.
“The Lhari seem peaceful and friendly, but they go to some lengths to protect their monopoly on faster-than-light travel.”
from the catalogue
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
Start with Foundation →
includes Trantorian Empire, Foundation, Second Foundation Trilogy, The Positronic Robot Stories, The Collected Fiction of Isaac Asimov, Foundation (Original Stories)
The AvatarNovel
Poul Andersonstandalone novel1978
About aliens and political intrigue.
“With the aid of the political opposition, they escape and journey through the portal in search of knowledge, and perhaps even to meet those who created the portal system.”
from the catalogue
Academy / Priscilla (Hutch) HutchinsSeries
series16 books1983
About aliens.
“Beginning with The Engines of God, the series treats deep time and the near-total absence of intelligent alien life as its central mystery, favoring slow-burn discovery over action.”
from the catalogue
Start with The Engines of God →