Books like Consider Phlebas
30 science fiction books to read after Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks, the closest match first.
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Culture book 2
1. Player Of Games
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
Probably the best of Ian Bank's Culture novels. Strong characters and a light-hearted tone to the novel despite the "seriousness" of the actual plot make this an easy, addicting read....
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Culture book 3
2. Use Of Weapons
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
Features a Utopian society (culture) that's post scarcity, controlled by benevolent A. I.'s who act for the good of the society. When Culture encounters less enlightened societies, the fun begins.
Iain Banks burst onto the literary scene with his controversial first novel, The Wasp Factory, the violent story of a girl who had been brought up as an emasculated boy....
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Culture book 4
3. The State Of The Art
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
A collection of short fiction set in Iain M. Banks's Culture, including the title novella about a Culture contact officer on Earth in the 1970s.
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Culture book 5
4. Excession
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
This novel features spaceships that are sentient.
The only negative accusation that the Culture Novels series receives is that it's too complicated and detailed, with so many AI characters to remember. Now of course, we don't think...
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Culture book 6
5. Inversions
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
A Culture novel set among a pre-industrial people, where a doctor-spy serves a king and learns that outside forces are watching her world. Iain M. Banks tells it in two...
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Culture book 7
6. Look To Windward
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
A Culture novel in which a composer from the Chelgrian people and a visitor with a secret mission both come to the Culture's Orbital, in a story of memory, loss...
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Culture book 9
7. Surface Detail
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
The story of what happens to Hell in a galaxy where humans live without physical form eternally.
A Culture novel about a virtual Hell, built by a civilisation to punish the digital copies of the dead, and a woman who escapes it to take her revenge in...
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Culture book 10
8. The Hydrogen Sonata
by Iain M. Banks
- Same series
- Same author
The tenth Culture novel, a story of an ancient music, a dying civilisation and a war that touches the Culture, from Iain M. Banks.
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9. Dune Chronicles
by Herbert, Frank
- On the same lists
What a crazy ass ride this series is. Still wildly popular and selling off the shelves after nearly 50 years, the Dune series has spawned a movie, computer games, board...
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Hyperion Cantos book 2
10. The Fall Of Hyperion
by Simmons, Dan
- On the same lists
A more recent example of a winning space opera series is the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. The series contains four novels and several short stories, and they've been wildly successful with fans and critics alike. In 1990 the first novel in the series, Hyperion, won both the Hugo and Locus Awards.
This work is the only comprehensive guide to sequels in English, with over 84,000 works by 12,500 authors in 17,000 sequences.
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Takeshi Kovacs book 3
11. Woken Furies
by Morgan, Richard K.
- On the same lists
Mixing classic noir sensibilities with a searing futuristic vision of an age when death is nearly meaningless, Richard K. Morgan returns to his saga of betrayal, mystery, and revenge, as...
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Gap book 1 Start here
12. The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story
by Donaldson, Stephen R.
- On the same lists
Angus Thermopyle is a vicious but unsuccessful pirate who walks in with a beautiful woman on his arm. She is Morn Hyland, a police officer until she met him. His...
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13. Old Man’s War Series
by John Scalzi
- On the same lists
Got popularity? I don't know if you can find a more popular science fiction writer right now. He's socially astute, spot on with his commentary and is nearly too cool...
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14. Zone Of Thought
by Vernor Vinge
- On the same lists
Ever bought some electronic thing and two days later discovered it was already obsolete? Sucks. This whole idea about broken things is defined by the concept of The Singularity --...
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15. Ender Series
by Card, Orson Scott
- On the same lists
Ever read a book that is good in spite of its author's controversial reputation? Card has landed himself in a lot of hot water for his political commentary, primarily driven...
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16. The Uplift Saga
by Brin, David
- On the same lists
A series with a complex universe where politics can decide the fate of an entire race. Feudalism, bureaucracy, indentureship, international relations, ecology, there is a lot happening in this universe.
No science fiction list would be complete without the inclusion of a science fiction mystery that morphs into an action adventure. Published in 1987 Startide Rising won the Hugo, Nebula...
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Chanur book 1 Start here
17. The Pride Of Chanur
by Cherryh, C. J.
- On the same lists
Starts with Downbelow Station. The aliens are coming. The aliens are coming! Until you read Cherryh you haven't really read good aliens. She's got this peculiar gift for summoning aliens...
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18. Majipoor Series
by Silverberg, Robert
- On the same lists
At the core of all the best science fiction series is good story telling in one form or the other. I mean, who wants to read only about novel ideas...
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Night's Dawn book 1 Start here
19. The Reality Dysfunction
by Iii, David R. George
- On the same lists
Space is not the only void... In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a...
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Heechee Saga book 1 Start here
20. Gateway (1978)
by Pohl, Frederik
- On the same lists
Robinette Broadhead is rich, and he has a lot to feel guilty about. In sessions with his robot psychiatrist, he talks about how he got there: he won a lottery...
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21. Mote Series
by Niven, Larry
- On the same lists
and Jerry Pournelle. A far future story of first contact after human societies already span hundreds of star systems. This story explores alien biology, society, art and impacts on humanity's economics, politics, and religions.
Starts with A Mote in God's Eye, the award winning first book in the series of 2 with the 3rd book written by one of the authors. Nothing will prepare...
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22. Miles Vorkosigan Saga
by Bujold, Lois Mcmaster
- On the same lists
There's a time for everything. There's a time to read heavy novels filled with grand ideas and space, the universe, and the destiny of mankind through Hard Science Fiction. There's...
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Hainish Cycle book 4
23. The Left Hand Of Darkness (1970)
by Guin, Ursula K. Le
- On the same lists
Pacifism and a anarchy—both have merits.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin won the 1970 Nebula Award for Best Novel.One of the best examples of science fiction in the genre.
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Oxford Time Travel book 1 Start here
24. Doomsday Book (1993)
by Willis, Connie
- On the same lists
In 2054, Oxford historians send students back in time to study the past. Kivrin Engle, a young historian, is sent to the English countryside in 1320. But a technician falls...
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Mars Trilogy book 1 Start here
25. Red Mars (1994)
by Robinson, Kim Stanley
- On the same lists
A mission is launched to terraform Mars in this scientific epic.
In 2026, a hundred colonists set off on the first long voyage to Mars. Among them are John Boone, the first man to walk on the planet, and his rival...
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Space Odyssey book 1 Start here
26. 2001 A Space Odyssey
by Clarke, Arthur C.
- On the same lists
This novel is an epic story, a story in which two astronauts must fight for their lives, against an extraordinary computer named HAL.
The classic science fiction novel that captures and expands on the vision of Stanley Kubrick’s immortal film—and changed the way we look at the stars and ourselves. From the savannas...
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27. Lilith's Brood
by Butler, Octavia E.
- On the same lists
Science fiction isnât always meant to be comfortable or easy reading. Quite the opposite, any literature so based on ideas must challenge the reader, make them think differently (if only...
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Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy book 1 Start here
28. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
- On the same lists
It began as a radio series on the BBC. It was quickly adapted for television (with many of the same cast), and much later there came a film version (though...
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29. Foundation
by Asimov, Isaac
- On the same lists
Some softer elements, like FTL and antigrav cars, but otherwise a rational series.
Book Flap Description One of the great masterworks of science fiction, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive...
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Ringworld book 1 Start here
30. Ringworld (1971)
by Niven, Larry
- On the same lists
One of the most famous books of the genre, that follows the pros and cons of living on a spinning ring instead of a round planet. The fact that makes this book so famous is that after the author’s ideas were proven impracticable, he wrote a sequel explaining the inadequacies.
In the year 2850, Louis Wu turns 200 and is bored with life. Then a two-headed alien Puppeteer called Nessus offers him a job: join a small expedition to a...
Matches come from series and authors, from the lists the books share, and from the books readers open together. They are rebuilt every night. Back to Consider Phlebas.
The shortlist
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