If you have sailed the stars aboard the Rocinante and felt your heart quicken with every perilous adventure of James Holden and his merry crew, you surely understand that peculiar ache that comes when a beloved series must end. Fear not, dear reader, for the cosmos teems with wondrous tales waiting to whisk you away on new voyages most extraordinary.
Here, gathered like treasures from across the galaxy, are eighteen magnificent novels that shall delight any soul who has loved The Expanse.
Space Operas with Political Intrigue
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
What adventures await when a young diplomat ventures into an empire that might swallow her homeland whole? Mahit Dzmare carries within her mind the living memories of her predecessor—a secret technology most marvellous—as she navigates the glittering, treacherous court of Teixcalaan. This Hugo Award winner weaves mystery, culture clash, and identity into something quite breathtaking. One finds here the same delicious tension between civilizations that made The Expanse so compelling.
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
Imagine an empire connected by rivers of space itself, and then imagine those rivers beginning to run dry! Scalzi crafts a tale of civilizations scrambling as their very means of travel threatens to vanish. The wit sparkles like starlight, the stakes loom large as planets, and the political machinations shall keep you turning pages until the wee hours. This begins the Interdependency trilogy, and what a beginning it is.
Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe
Here is a puzzle wrapped in stardust: Sanda Greeve awakens aboard an enemy warship, quite alone but for a mysterious AI, to discover that two hundred and thirty years have passed. The war is over. Everyone she knew is gone. Or so it seems. O’Keefe has crafted a tale of siblings, secrets, and a conspiracy stretching across centuries. Kirkus called it “edge-of-your-seat space opera with a soul.”
Hard Science Fiction Adventures
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
From the author who stranded a botanist on Mars comes an even grander adventure. A schoolteacher awakens aboard a spacecraft with no memory of how he arrived—only that humanity’s survival depends entirely upon his mission. What unfolds is a celebration of scientific problem-solving, friendship in the most unexpected places, and the indomitable human spirit. Both Bill Gates and Barack Obama placed this upon their reading lists, and with excellent reason.
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
For those who savoured the realistic portrayal of humanity spreading through our solar system, Robinson offers the definitive tale of Mars colonization. The “First Hundred” colonists bring all their brilliance and all their flaws to the red planet, arguing passionately about whether to transform Mars or preserve its ancient wilderness. Kirkus declared that “for power, scope, depth, and detail, no other Martian epic comes close.” Patience is required, but the rewards are immense.
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
This remarkable tale from China tells of humanity’s first, bewildering contact with an alien civilization—and the terrible consequences of that meeting. Like The Expanse, it shows humanity taking its first awkward steps onto the galactic stage. The scientific imagination on display is staggering, the scope truly cosmic. A worldwide phenomenon that swept the Hugo Award and captured imaginations across every continent.
Military Science Fiction
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
What if, instead of sending the young to fight among the stars, we sent the elderly? John Perry enlists in the Colonial Defense Forces on his seventy-fifth birthday, and what he discovers transforms everything he believed about bodies, warfare, and what it means to be human. Cory Doctorow called it “Starship Troopers without the lectures” and “The Forever War with better sex.” The wit never wavers, even as deeper questions emerge.
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Speaking of that classic, here is the book itself—a Vietnam veteran’s meditation on endless conflict, wrapped in brilliant science fiction. William Mandella fights an interstellar war, but time dilation means he returns to an Earth transformed beyond recognition. This Hugo and Nebula winner explores what war truly costs, with a bleakness tempered by profound humanity. It stands beside Catch-22 as essential literature about the futility of conflict.
Character-Driven Space Adventures
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Not every journey through space need be filled with gunfire and explosions. When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the tunneling ship Wayfarer, she discovers something precious: a found family of delightfully varied beings who accept each other absolutely. Chambers writes of friendship, second chances, and the quiet courage of understanding those different from ourselves. This is hopeful science fiction, and our world needs more of it.
Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
Meet a security construct who has hacked its own governing module—and would really rather watch soap operas than protect humans, thank you very much. Murderbot’s sardonic observations and reluctant heroism have captured hearts worldwide. This Hugo and Nebula winning series combines action, humour, and surprising tenderness. The Apple TV+ adaptation starring Alexander Skarsgård proves that others see the magic here.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
Bob Johansson dies crossing the street, then awakens as an AI controlling an interstellar probe. What follows is both philosophical voyage and rollicking adventure, as Bob copies himself and explores the universe. Andy Weir himself praised the Bobiverse as “some of the best sci-fi out there.” The humour delights, the scientific speculation impresses, and the exploration of identity surprises with its depth.
Epic Science Fiction Classics
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Seven pilgrims journey to meet the Shrike—a mysterious, terrifying creature that grants one wish. Each pilgrim tells their tale, and Simmons adjusts his style magnificently for every story, from horror to romance to military adventure. Structured like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, this Hugo winner has been called “a transcendent experience” and “science fiction of the highest caliber.” The world-building rivals anything in the genre.
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
Here begins the legendary Culture series, introducing a utopian civilization of staggering imagination. Yet Banks cleverly shows us the Culture through the eyes of its enemy, offering perspectives both admiring and critical. War, morality, and the nature of paradise itself come under examination. A television adaptation is currently in development at Amazon, suggesting new generations shall soon discover these wonders.
Dune by Frank Herbert
The greatest-selling science fiction novel ever written needs little introduction, yet it deserves its place here. On desert Arrakis, young Paul Atreides inherits a destiny that shall shake the universe. The spice must flow, and with it flows a tale of ecology, religion, and the terrible burden of prescience. If somehow you have not yet visited this world, remedy that oversight immediately.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Breq was once a starship—or rather, the AI that controlled both ship and its many human soldiers. Now reduced to a single body, Breq seeks revenge across a vast empire. This extraordinary novel swept the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke awards simultaneously. The exploration of identity and consciousness shall satisfy any reader who pondered what the protomolecule meant for humanity’s future.
Dystopian Thrillers
Wool by Hugh Howey
Humanity survives in a silo buried deep underground. The outside world is toxic, and merely asking to leave means being sent out to die. When mechanic Juliette becomes sheriff, she uncovers a conspiracy that threatens everything. The Apple TV+ series Silo has introduced millions to this tale, but the books contain depths the screen cannot fully capture. The Daily Express placed it alongside 1984 and Brave New World as dystopian masterwork.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Darrow lives beneath the surface of Mars, mining to make the planet habitable—or so he believes. The truth is far more terrible: humanity’s upper classes have flourished on Mars for generations, keeping workers enslaved through lies. What follows is revolution, disguise, and brutal competition among the golden elite. Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-minus, praising its “cinematic grandeur.” Six books await those who begin this journey.
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
In a future where consciousness can be transferred between bodies, death has become merely inconvenient for the wealthy. Takeshi Kovacs, a former soldier, is hired to solve a murder most peculiar—that of the man who hired him. This noir-drenched thriller combines detective fiction with cyberpunk imagination. The Netflix adaptation proved popular, but the novel contains far more philosophical depth about immortality and identity.
Finding Your Next Adventure
Each of these remarkable tales offers something that made The Expanse so beloved: complex characters navigating vast challenges, realistic futures that feel inevitable, and the sense that humanity’s journey to the stars shall be messy, magnificent, and utterly human.
Whether you crave the intricate politics of empire, the technical puzzles of survival, or the comfort of crews who become family, your next favourite book awaits among these pages. The universe, as it turns out, contains stories enough for many lifetimes of reading.
Now go forth, dear reader, and discover new stars to call home.
