Space ships book series in reading order

C.J. Cherryh

105 books• 23 series

C.J. Cherryh is the pen name of Carolyn Janice Cherry, an American writer of speculative fiction born September 1, 1942. The silent h came at the prompting of editor Donald A. Wollheim, who judged that Cherry read like the name of a romance writer. Downbelow Station (1981) and Cyteen (1988), both set in the Alliance-Union universe, each won the Hugo Award, and the Foreigner series sits alongside them among Cherryh's notable work. The catalogue holds 105 books from Brothers of Earth (1976) to Alliance Unbound (2024). Worldbuilding grounded in research across history, language, psychology and archeology is what Cherryh is known for.

Andre Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 to March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who also produced historical and contemporary fiction, and used the names Andrew North and Allen Weston as well. Norton was the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master, and the first inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. The catalogue carries 209 books from The Prince Commands (1934) onward. Witch World, Solar Queen, Time Traders, Beast Master and Forerunner are series.

William Shatner

33 books• 8 series

William Shatner, born on 22 March 1931, is a Canadian actor who played Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek from 1966 to 1994, from the second pilot of the original television series to Star Trek Generations. Shatner started in Canadian film and television before guest roles on American shows. The catalogue lists 33 Shatner books, from Shatner: Where No Man ... (1979) to Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder (2022), including TekWar (1989), Star Trek Memories (1993) and The Ashes of Eden (1995). Series include Quest for Tomorrow, Star Trek: Odyssey, Star Trek: The Mirror Universe Trilogy and Star Trek: Totality.

Anne McCaffrey

96 books• 20 series

Anne McCaffrey (1 April 1926 to 21 November 2011) was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. McCaffrey was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction, for the novella Weyr Search (1968), and the first to win a Nebula, for Dragonrider (1969). The White Dragon (1978) was among the earliest science fiction books on the New York Times Best Seller list. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master in 2005. The catalogue lists 96 books, from Restoree (1967) to Sky Dragons (2011), plus the Acorna, Crystal Singer and Tower and Hive series.

Jack Campbell

44 books• 13 series

Jack Campbell is the pen name of John G. Hemry, born April 14, 1956, a retired United States Navy officer who writes military science fiction. Under the Campbell name, Hemry has written 21 volumes of The Lost Fleet and the steampunk and fantasy Pillars of Reality series. Beyond the Frontier continues The Lost Fleet as a spin-off. As Hemry, the Stark's War and Paul Sinclair series appeared, along with short stories in Analog. The 44 catalogued books run from Dauntless (2006) to Squad Kill (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.

John Ringo, born March 22, 1963, is an American author of science fiction and military fiction, with several New York Times best sellers. The work ranges from straight science fiction to military and political thrillers, and more than seven million copies are in print in seven languages. The catalogue starts with A Hymn Before Battle (2000), followed by Gust Front, March Upcountry and March to the Sea in 2001, and reaches Beyond the Rift (2026). Series include Posleen War, Black Tide Rising, Council Wars, Looking Glass, Troy Rising, Von Neumann's War and Special Circumstances. Subjects include space warfare, human-alien encounters, Navy SEALs and survival.

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.

Jack McDevitt

35 books• 4 series

Jack McDevitt, born April 14, 1935, is an American science fiction author whose novels often turn on contact with alien races and on archaeology, including xenoarchaeology. Two sets of characters carry most of the books: the relic hunters Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath, and the faster-than-light pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins. Seeker took the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and McDevitt has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards many times. The catalogue lists 35 books from The Hercules Text (1986) to Doorway to the Stars (2024), including A Talent for War (1989), The Engines of God (1994), Eternity Road (1997) and Moonfall (1998). The first published McDevitt story was "The Emerson Effect" in The Twilight Zone Magazine in 1981.

Elizabeth Bear

54 books• 14 series

Elizabeth Bear is the writing name of Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky, born in 1971, an American author working across speculative fiction. Bear took the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo for Best Short Story with Tideline and the 2009 Hugo for Best Novelette with Shoggoths in Bloom, one of the few writers to win multiple fiction Hugos after that Campbell win. Fifty-seven catalogued books run from Hammered (2004) to Angel Maker (2025), across the Promethean Age, Jacob's Ladder, New Amsterdam, Jenny Casey, Eternal Sky, Lotus Kingdoms, White Space and Karen Memory.

William Joyce

50 books• 6 series

William Joyce, born in 1957, is an American writer, illustrator and filmmaker who has produced more than 50 children's books, translated into over 40 languages. Rolie Polie Olie, the Guardians of Childhood and Dinosaur Bob are his main series, working with robots, dogs, adventure and the contest of good and evil, often in rhyme. Joyce started in film as a concept artist on Toy Story (1995) and took credits on A Bug's Life (1998) and Robots (2005); his A Day with Wilbur Robinson (1988) became the Disney film Meet the Robinsons (2007). The catalogue runs from William Joyce's Mother Goose (1984) to Scarecrow and the Nightingale (2020), at a median of 40 pages a book.

George R.R. Martin

90 books• 19 series

George R.R. Martin, born George Raymond Martin on September 20, 1948 and known by the initials GRRM, is an American author, screenwriter and television producer. A Song of Ice and Fire, the epic fantasy series adapted by HBO as Game of Thrones (2011–2019) and the prequel House of the Dragon, is Martin's best-known work; the related Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas became A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The catalogue begins in 1976 with A Song for Lya, Starlady and Fast-Friend and The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr, followed by Dying of the Light (1977), Sandkings and Windhaven (1981), and Fevre Dream (1982). Science fiction, fantasy and short stories appear among the subjects.

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.

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.

S.M. Stirling

96 books• 25 series

Born in France on September 30, 1953, Stephen Michael Stirling writes science fiction and fantasy as S.M. Stirling and holds Canadian and American nationality. Stirling is the author of the Draka alternate history novels, the Nantucket books combining time travel with alternate history, and the Emberverse. The catalogue starts with Snow Brother (1985), then The Sharpest Edge (1986), Marching Through Georgia (1988) and Under the Yoke (1989). Series include Raj Whitehall, Fifth Millennium, Island in the Sea of Time, Dies the Fire, Lords of Creation, Shadowspawn and T2. Subjects include time travel, the regression of civilization, imaginary wars and space warfare.

Neal Asher

44 books• 10 series

Neal Asher, born in 1961, is an English science fiction writer living near Chelmsford. Asher's fiction works in space opera and military science fiction: artificial intelligence, human-alien encounters, space warfare and dystopias run through it. The Polity universe holds most of the catalogue, with Agent Cormac, Spatterjay, Rise of the Jain and Far Future Polity set inside it, and the Owner Trilogy standing apart. Forty-four books span 1994 to 2026, from Africa Zero to Dark Agent.

Joshua Dalzelle writes science fiction built on human-alien encounters, space colonies and imaginary wars. Omega Force is his first sequence, opening with Omega Rising (2013), and Terran Scout Fleet, the Black Fleet Trilogy, the Expansion Wars Trilogy, the Unification War Trilogy and Gates of Babylon follow it. Thirty-eight books reach Killshot (2026), and Dalzelle is still publishing.

Arthur C. Clarke

74 books• 10 series

Sir Arthur C. Clarke (16 December 1917 to 19 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer and television host. Clarke promoted space travel in books and magazine essays, received UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for popularising science in 1961, and was called the Prophet of the Space Age. The Space Odyssey and Rama series appear in the catalogue with A Time Odyssey and Blue Planet, and Against the Fall of Night (1948), Prelude to Space (1950) and The Sands of Mars (1951) are among the early titles.

Scott Westerfeld

42 books• 18 series

Scott David Westerfeld, born May 5, 1963, is an American young adult writer known for the Uglies and Leviathan series. Other series include Midnighters, Peeps, Impostors, Zeroes and Spill Zone. The 42 catalogued books include Polymorph (1997), Fine Prey (1998), Evolution's Darling (2000) and The Risen Empire (2003). Subjects include science fiction, personal beauty, brainwashing and teenage girls. The Mortons (2026) is the newest title.

Ken MacLeod

31 books• 8 series

Ken MacLeod, born in 1954, is a Scottish science fiction writer whose novels The Sky Road and The Night Sessions each won the BSFA Award, with further nominations for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Campbell Memorial awards. A techno-utopianist, MacLeod works libertarian socialist themes through his fiction and has taken the Prometheus Award three times. He was a Guest of Honour at the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow in 2024 and sits on the advisory board of the Edinburgh Science Festival. Twenty-six books span 1995 to 2024, including the Fall Revolution, Engines of Light and Corporation Wars sequences.

Beth Revis

24 books• 7 series

Beth Revis is an American author of fantasy and science fiction, mostly for young adults, who lives in North Carolina. The Across the Universe trilogy comprises Across the Universe (2011), A Million Suns (2012) and Shades of Earth (2013). The catalogue lists 26 titles through Last Chance to Save the World (2025), with Dragon of the Deep due in 2027. Chaotic Orbits, Give the Dark My Love, Museum of Magic and Winterflame Dragon are further series. Interplanetary voyages, cryonics and plague appear among the subject headings.