85 books like Downbelow Station

I have enjoyed literally hundreds of hours of thrilling military SF in the series of which this book is the first novel. David Weber is one of two authors who have invented new SF sub-genres. In David’s case, the sub-genre is often called space opera. The other author is David Drake. His Hammer’s Slammers stories are now considered the first books in the ‘space marines’ sub-genre.

David Weber’s story universe is huge. I sometimes think it’s too big in the sense that he tries to weave too many sub-plots into the larger story arc. But his first book is quite moderate in this regard. I started writing my own military SF novels partly because Weber wasn’t writing new sequels fast enough to satisfy my thirst for thrilling space combat.

I found this book, the first of four in the series, to be fascinating in its portrayal of a race of intelligent, upright-walking lions. Cherryh’s ability to invent believable and fully fleshed-out alien races is delightful.

In this series, humans are the aliens. I loved how Cherryh made the reader root for the lions and their strange but understandable culture. It's a great concept by a great writer.

This captivating novel draws its imagery and themes from Afro-Caribbean folklore, a refreshing change from the surfeit of Greek/Roman mythology-based stories. The MC, Tan-tan, is ripped from her comfortable life when her father forces her to join him in exile on a prison planet. In her struggle for survival on a brutal and lawless world, Tan-Tan’s greatest enemy proves to be her own father, an abusive monster. After she kills him in self-defense, Tan-tan finds refuge among the douen, an alien race drawn from Caribbean mythology. Here she evolves into a semblance of the Robber Queen of legend, and finds she can be free when she gives back two lives for the one that she took. Following Tan-tan as she makes an amazing journey from victim to hero makes this poetic novel an unforgettable read.

Esen is a shapechanger, a young one. While exploring a world considered ‘safe’ by her matriarch, she is captured by the natives. Her only hope of rescue is to betray her species' strict rules and reveal her true nature to her fellow prisoner, a human.

I adore Esen as a character. She is very relatable. I also love the breadth and scope of species and habitats and worlds in this series. Julie Czerneda is one of my favorite authors. Her storytelling skills shine. Esen is definitely not human, but Czerneda creates such a warm character you can’t help but love her. Beholder’s Eye is part coming-of-age but mostly a darn good science fiction adventure.

Chock full of great characters, political scheming, spaceships, and conflict, Elizabeth Moon’s terrific space saga features a strong, believable female protagonist in Heris Serrano. As the story begins, Heris has been forced to resign from a space fleet she’d lived for, banished to what she believes to be a dead-end job on a private cruiser. The layers of intrigue that underly the action and interactions throughout the story are beautifully realised, and the characters are all recognisable individuals, distinct, human, flawed, each looking for a path to follow. A page-turner that will have you looking for Book 2 (Sporting Chance) as soon as you’ve read it

Young Dane Thorson signs on to the Solar Queen as an apprentice cargo handler. The crew of the independent ship pools all their resources to buy trading rights to a planet in an auction, hoping to strike it rich. But Limbo turns out to be more than they bargained for.

Rich with vivid imagery, weird aliens, ancient artifacts, remnants of a lost civilization, space pirates, and a whole lot more, Sargasso of Space has been one of my favorite books since I was a teen. No list of Female SF authors would be complete without Andre Norton. Her vision of aliens and space travel has been a huge influence on my own writing.

Helva is a ‘brain’, a person with a defective body who becomes meshed with a starship as its controller. Each brain-ship is partnered with a ‘brawn’, a human who acts as the liaison for the ship as well as its partner and protector. Helva loves singing and brings heart to her role as a scoutship brain.

Anne McCaffrey brings her signature romance to this book with a complex relationship that grows between Helva and her brawn as they explore the universe. McCaffrey is deft at creating characters that are vulnerable but still strong in their own way. Though Helva has no physical strength, she has a heart that loves to sing. Even though she is basically a starship, she holds on to her humanity.

This Nebula winner is amazing for many reasons, not the least of which is that it’s almost 25 years old, is set in the present era and gets so much right. It’s certainly the only sci-fi novel you’ll read where wastewater treatment plays such a starring role. The writing is gorgeous, with a skillfully presented narrative, interweaving three stages of the life of the MC, Lore Van Oesterling, from a privileged child, to a wounded (physically and mentally) young woman eking out a life in the gutter, and finally to a mature, self-reliant heroine. Her story demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit and triumph over trauma. Along the way, Griffith challenges the reader to consider the all-consuming yet fluid concept of “identity”. 

Cold Welcome is the first book in the Vatta's Peace Series by Elizabeth Moon (a sequel series to Vatta’s war), but it stands alone and can be read by a newcomer. The MC, Kylara Vatta, rejected a place in her powerful family’s space trading business and instead elected to join the military. Our war hero returns home to find not the accolades she was given to expect but an assassination attempt. The sabotage of her shuttle leaves Vatta and her crew fighting for survival, first in an icy sea and then a frozen wasteland, for history buffs this is a definite nod to Shackleton. Vatta manages to find a clandestine underground facility, which provides somewhat risky shelter for the group since the builders of the facility will do anything to keep their secrets. This is an engaging, fast-paced read; though not actually set in space, it has a classic space-opera… show more.

If you are a fan of alt-rock and alternative history, then this book is for you. It features two MCs: Beth, a Riot Grrrl fan from the 1990s, and Tess, a time-traveling scientist from the future, both of whom are trying in their own way to fix the past. Beth is dealing with the aftermath of using deadly force to defend her friend from a rapist while Tess is hellbent on changing the timeline to fight the "Comstockers” – a group of men who used time travel to change history and remove all women's rights, especially those of the reproductive sort. Newitz manages to thoroughly entertain while telling a riveting story that deals with admittedly heavy subject matter.