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Books like The Expanse
Grounded space opera with politics, ships and real consequences.
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Military science fiction that's fast, funny and easy to love.
+ An excellent Heinlein-style novel without the preachiness, with a realistically mature narrator and fine, thoughtful early chapters.
− The sarcastic humour is often repeated until it becomes annoying, and the timing needed work. (summed up from Eagle's Path)Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
Big, dark space opera grounded in hard-ish science, with an ancient mystery at its core.
+ A ravishingly inventive hard-SF tour de force with convincing aliens.
− The cyborg characters can feel cold and dispassionate. (summed up from Publishers Weekly)Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
A sprawling human commonwealth meets something it can't handle. Huge cast and scale.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
A former warship AI in a single human body seeks revenge on an empire. Smart and award-winning.
+ Assured, gripping and stylish space opera, both fun and conceptually ambitious.
− Not entry-level; one critic found the characters weak and the ideas simple. (summed up from Wikipedia (reception))The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
A classic first-contact story with naval-style ship politics.
+ An engrossing first-contact story whose pace and solid plot carry it, with fascinating aliens.
− Critics found the style and characterisation weak, showing the authors' limits. (summed up from Wikipedia (reception))
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