Interstellar travel book series in reading order

Mike Moscoe, born 2 August 1947, is an American science fiction writer living in Vancouver, Washington, who also publishes as Mike Shepherd. Moscoe grew up in a Navy family and moved often as a child. The catalogue holds 44 books from First Dawn (1996) to The South Shall Rise Again (2022), including Mutineer (2004) and Audacious (2007). Series include Kris Longknife, Vicky Peterwald, Rita Longknife: Iteeche War, Jump Universe, Lost Millennium and BattleTech: Mechwarrior Dark Age. Subjects cover space opera, navies, space warfare and women soldiers.

Ann Aguirre, born on 27 August 1970, is an American writer of speculative fiction across urban fantasy, romantic science fiction and post-apocalyptic dystopian young adult fiction. Apocalyptic paranormal romance appears under the shared name Ellen Connor with Carrie Lofty, and paranormal romantic suspense under the name Ava Gray. The catalogue lists 160 books, from Grimspace (2008) and Wanderlust (2008) to The Hocus Pocus Handbook (2026). Series include Sirantha Jax, Razorland, Corine Solomon and Ars Numina, plus Ava Gray series such as Alpha Billionaire and Valkov Bratva. Subjects include interstellar travel and women astronauts.

John C. Wright, born October 22, 1961, is an American author of science fiction and fantasy novels. The Golden Age (2002) is the debut novel, and Orphans of Chaos (2005) made Wright a Nebula Award finalist. The catalogue records 47 books through Sinister Syndicate of Space (2026). Series include Golden Oecumene, Count to the Eschaton Sequence, Chronicles of Chaos, Moth & Cobweb, Superluminary and StarQuest, and Null-A Continuum (2008) also appears.

Orson Scott Card

114 books• 29 series

Orson Scott Card, born August 24, 1951, is an American writer known chiefly for science fiction. Card is the only person, as of 2024, to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in consecutive years, for Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). Card coproduced the 2013 film of Ender's Game. The Tales of Alvin Maker won the Locus Fantasy Award. The catalogue counts 114 books from A Planet Called Treason / Treason (1978) to Ender's Tribe (2026), with Homecoming Saga, Mither Mages, Worthing and Women of Genesis among the other series.

Steven Erikson

33 books• 5 series

Steven Erikson writes epic fantasy. The Malazan Book of the Fallen, opened by Gardens of the Moon (1999), is the central sequence, and 33 catalogued books reach Legacies of Betrayal in 2026 by way of the Kharkanas Trilogy, the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas and the Willful Child science fiction. Imaginary wars, magic and invented places run through the subjects.

Nnedi Okorafor

40 books• 11 series

Nnedi Okorafor, born Nnedimma Nkemdili Okorafor on April 8, 1974, is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for children and adults. The Binti series and the novels Who Fears Death, Zahrah the Windseeker, Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, Lagoon and Remote Control lead Okorafor's body of work, which also takes in comics and film. Okorafor coined the terms Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism for this writing and has won the Hugo, Nebula, Eisner and World Fantasy awards. The catalogue lists 40 books from Zahrah the Windseeker (2005) to The Daughter Who Remains (2026).

Eric Brown was a British science fiction author and a critic for The Guardian, born on 24 May 1960 and died on 21 March 2023. Catalogue subjects include space opera, human-alien encounters, space colonies and mystery. The earliest listed book is The Time Lapsed Man And Other Stories (1990), followed by Meridian Days (1992) and Engineman (1994). Series credited to Brown include Langham and Dupré Mystery, Starship Seasons, Telemass Quartet, Virex Trilogy and Bengal Station.

Dave Bara writes science fiction catalogued under space warfare, human-alien encounters, interstellar travel and time travel. Two series carry Bara's name: Lightship Chronicles and Second Empire. Eight books run from Speedwing (2012) to Trinity's Children (2022), taking in Impulse (2014), Starbound (2016), Defiant (2017), Saint Cochrane's World (2017), Void Ship (2018) and Trinity (2021). The median recorded length is 288 pages across seven volumes measured, and no new title has been catalogued since 2022.

Robert A. Heinlein

83 books• 11 series

Robert A. Heinlein wrote science fiction from 1939, starting with the short story Life Line. Interplanetary voyages, space colonies, space opera and time travel are the recurring subjects, and the catalogue carries a Hugo Award winner. The Future History timeline groups a large part of the early work; the Juveniles were written for younger readers, and World As Myth came later. Eighty-two titles are catalogued, with editions dated through 2025.

Douglas Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humourist and screenwriter, born in Cambridge and died in Santa Barbara, California, of a heart attack at 49. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began as a BBC radio comedy in 1978 and grew into a five-book trilogy that sold more than 14 million copies during Adams's lifetime, with a 1981 television series, a 1984 video game and a 2005 feature film. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979), The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980), Life, the Universe and Everything (1982) and So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984) appear in the catalogue, as do The Meaning of Liff (1983) and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987).

Alan Dean Foster

162 books• 30 series

Alan Dean Foster, born on 18 November 1946, is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, with several book series, more than 20 standalone novels and many film novelizations. Catalogued titles open with The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972), followed by Bloodhype (1973), Icerigger (1974), Star Trek Log One (1974) and Midworld (1975). Lost on Paradise (2026) is the newest title. Foster series include Pip & Flinx, Icerigger, Journeys of the Catechist, Damned, Star Trek: The Animated, Alien Movie and Transformers. Subjects include the Humanx Commonwealth, interplanetary voyages and human-alien encounters.

Kevin J. Anderson

182 books• 44 series

Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author, born March 27, 1962. Tie-in work covers Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E. and The X-Files, including comics such as Tales of the Jedi with Tom Veitch. Original series include the Saga of Seven Suns, Saga of Shadows, Terra Incognita, Gamearth and Dan Shamble, Zombie PI, and Assemblers of Infinity was nominated for a Nebula Award. Rebecca Moesta shares credit on 9 catalogued books. The catalogue lists 182 books from Resurrection, Inc. (1984) to Sleep With the Fishes (2026).

Peter Watts

15 books• 3 series

Peter Watts is a Canadian author of hard science fiction, born January 25, 1958. Watts earned a Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of British Columbia's Department of Zoology and Resource Ecology, went on to academic research and teaching posts, and worked as a marine-mammal biologist; fiction publication began around the end of graduate school. The catalogue lists 15 books from 1994 to 2026, among them Starfish (1999), Maelstrom (2001), Blindsight (2006) and Fold Catastrophes (2026). Rifters and Firefall are the series credited to Watts.

Peter David

272 books• 94 series

Peter David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025), often called PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games. A 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk won awards, and other comics runs include Aquaman, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Captain Marvel, X-Factor, Young Justice, SpyBoy and Spider-Man 2099. Star Trek: New Frontier is among David's Star Trek novels. Original series include Knight Life and Apropos of Nothing. The catalogue lists 272 books, beginning in 1984 with Picture Perfect, High Society and Sapphire Star.

James Blish was an American science fiction and fantasy writer who lived from May 23, 1921 to July 30, 1975. Blish is best known for the Cities in Flight novels and for Star Trek novelisations written with J. A. Lawrence, and A Case of Conscience (1958) won the Hugo Award. Blish is credited with coining the term "gas giant". Criticism of science fiction appeared under the pen name William Atheling Jr. The catalogue lists 64 books, opening with Jack of Eagles (1952), and includes Earthman, Come Home (1956) and The Seedling Stars (1957).

Sean Williams

43 books• 15 series

Sean Williams, full name Sean Llewellyn Williams and born 23 May 1967, is an Australian science fiction author living in Adelaide, South Australia, with several New York Times bestsellers. Catalogue subjects include space opera, hard science fiction, space warfare and fantasy. The 43 books run from Doorway to eternity (1994) to Little Labyrinths: Speculative Microfictions (2021), and Shane Dix shares the credit on 3. Series include Books of the Cataclysm, Evergence, Orphans Trilogy, Astropolis, Twinmaker and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Mike Shepherd writes military science fiction built around Kris Longknife, the character the catalogue lists against the name. Recorded subjects include interstellar travel, navies, space warfare, human-alien encounters, women soldiers and life on other planets. Titles include Deserter (2004), Defiant (2005), Resolute (2006), Furious (2012), Defender (2013), Kris Longknife Emissary (2017) and Kris Longknife's Successor (2018). Thirteen books sit under the name in total, at a median of 346 pages.

Marina J. Lostetter writes science fiction, with hard science fiction and space opera both recorded among the catalogue's subjects, alongside interstellar travel, human cloning, space ships and space stations. Two series carry the name: Noumenon and Five Penalties. Nine books run from Lifeboats (2017) to The Teeth of Dawn (2025), taking in Noumenon (2017), Activation Degradation (2021) and The Helm of Midnight (2021). Four books have a recorded length, at a median of 512 pages.