Books like “Old Man's War”

What to read after “Old Man's War” by John Scalzi: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Gateway
Frederik Pohl · 1977
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
- Space Ship
Prospectors ride alien ships left behind at Gateway, gambling their lives on unknown destinations in search of fortune. A miner haunted by his past signs on for one more trip, and the station's robot therapist records the fears he cannot voice.
2
Leviathan Wakes
James S. A. Corey · 2011
From the same world: “Space Opera”
A detective on Ceres and an ice-hauler's executive officer are thrown together when a missing woman and a derelict ship point to something buried on an asteroid. Their search uncovers a conspiracy that could ignite war between Earth, Mars and the Belt.
3
Ancillary Justice
Ann Leckie · 2013
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
A soldier who was once a starship's artificial intelligence wakes in a single human body. Cut off from her many selves, she crosses a collapsing empire to find the officer who destroyed everything she was, and to settle a debt of revenge.
4
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Becky Chambers · 2014
From the same world: “Space Opera”
A young woman joins the crew of a tunnelling ship that builds wormholes between distant worlds. The long haul to a new client planet is told through its mismatched crew, a pilot, a doctor, an engineer and an AI, all looking for somewhere to belong.
5
Starship Troopers
Robert A. Heinlein · 1959
Same genre: “Military science fiction”
- War Fiction
A young man joins the mobile infantry and is shaped into a soldier through brutal training and interstellar war. Told as his reflections on duty, citizenship and violence, the novel follows his rise from recruit to officer against an enemy unlike humanity.
6
Hyperion
Dan Simmons · 1989
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
On the eve of war, seven pilgrims travel to the planet Hyperion to seek the Shrike, a deadly creature of legend. Each tells the story of what brought them there, and their tales circle the fate that awaits them at the Time Tombs.
7
A Fire Upon the Deep
Vernor Vinge · 1992
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
In a galaxy where thought and technology work differently at its edges, a human expedition releases an ancient menace from a lost archive. Two children stranded on a medieval world and a crew racing to stop the Blight are drawn into the same crisis.
8
Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir · 2021
Similar setting: “Space Ship”
- Space Ship
- Found Family
A man wakes on a spacecraft with no memory of his name and two dead crewmates. As his past returns, he learns he is humanity's last hope against a dying sun, and that his only ally may be something he never expected.
9
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card · 1985
Same genre: “Military science fiction”
- War Fiction
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is taken from his family to a battle school in space, where gifted children are trained to command fleets against an alien enemy. Ender's talent lifts him above his classmates, but the games meant to shape him may cost everything he is.
10
The Collapsing Empire
John Scalzi · 2017
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
- Space Ship
The Interdependency is bound together by the Flow, a network of routes that made the empire rich. When a scientist proves the Flow is shifting, an heir to the throne must hold together feuding houses before trade and power collapse.
11
Foundation
Isaac Asimov · 1951
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
As the Galactic Empire begins to decay, mathematician Hari Seldon foresees thirty thousand years of chaos. To shorten the coming dark age he gathers scholars on the remote world Terminus, where the Foundation must survive plots, warlords and its own predictions.
12
A Memory Called Empire
Arkady Martine · 2019
From the same world: “Space Opera”
- Space Opera
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives at the heart of the Teixcalaanli Empire to replace a predecessor who died under unclear circumstances. Guided by his recorded memories, she must survive court politics, assassins, and a capital that hides its own plans.