82 books like Revan

Mass Effect was a very big sci-fi series for me growing up, the technology of which continues to influence my novels to this day. This novel serves as a prequel to the first game in the Mass Effect series, covering an event that was only briefly mentioned within the game itself, where Captain David Anderson works alongside the Spectre Saren, a Turian who despises humanity and believes them to be growing too quickly. Saren’s behavior and beliefs lead to him committing atrocities and then blaming Anderson to sabotage the whole reason why they were asked to team up in the first place, setting the stage for the first game.

The Halo Universe is a massive, sprawling sci-fi series that many assume to be just a random sci-fi shooter franchise. The Fall of Reach acts as a prequel to the first game and to the Halo series as a whole. Focusing on the initial creation of the Spartan-II Super Soldier program, the growth of Spartan John-117 into a super soldier, and culminating in the defense of the planet he’s grown up on, The Fall of Reach serves to set the stage for the Halo franchise. I recommend picking up the reprints from 2011 or later, as it fixes many continuity errors induced later on in the series.

Adventure Quest, and Artix Entertainment’s games as a whole, were a formative part of my childhood and play a big role in what I write now. When I found out that a novel was made in that series, I had to check it out. Set in Adventure Quest, this novel follows the tale of a character who loses his home to a dragon attack, and sets out on a quest to find the dragon in question, while learning how to wield the magic that he is capable of using. It puts a fun spin on an old kind of story if you ask me!

Nothing about the Warhammer 40,000 universe says ‘funny’. The fact that it’s fans call it the ‘grimdark’ is a proud testament to this. I’ve read a lot of Warhammer books, but was surprised when I came across this series. It follows Ciaphas Cain, a Commissar who is trying to survive and find the cushiest job for himself in a universe of constant war, yet somehow, he constantly ends up being the hero.

This book really opened my eyes to the fact that you can humor even in the grittiest settings, and that just because a book is funny, it doesn’t mean it can’t be action-packed and have high stakes. Much of the humor comes from Cain’s futile attempts to avoid any sort of combat and save his own skin.

I always treated Star Wars as a fun series to watch. Lasers, spaceships, some cool droids, but that’s all.

I felt that some element is missing here: the “wars” in "Star Wars” were usually too clean, and the warriors were just some heroes going for some fun adventures. My view was violently changed by two things: Rogue One (movie) and Twilight Company (book). These two things presented wars from a completely different perspective.

Twilight Company tells a story of common soldiers, whose whole purpose is to die and become forgotten, while the famous heroes collect all the glory. This book shows that every epic victory has its ugly side.

Did you ever hear about the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? If you’re a Star Wars fan, this is the book that really humanizes the evil side of the galaxy far, far away. While it has the typical sorcery, lightsaber fights, and sweeping space opera, this book, at its core, is the story of a dark father-son relationship. Even the overarching villain of the Star Wars saga, Palpatine, is given a lot of backstory, depth, and humanity in this story. I read this book in college, and it’s what spurred my writing journey.

Okay, if you try to tell me that Star Wars doesn’t have a magic system, then I will fight you right here and now. I mean it, I will actually fight you. In all honesty, Star Wars is sci-fantasy, not really sci-fi. I think every kid and even adult from my generation can remember trying to move something using the force. In fact, I still wave my hand in front of electric doors and pretend I am a Jedi. Oh, don’t judge me, you know you do it too. Jedi and Sith are, after all, simply space wizards. They even dress the part. Well, maybe more like space clerics, but you get the point. Why I chose this book is because I feel that it gets into a lot of discussion on how each side views the force and its applications. I am particularly fascinated by Malgus and his ideology… show more.

On the surface, OOTSP is about a British linguist who’s kidnapped to Mars, then escapes to meet pensive furry seal-people who teach him Earth sucks. Lewis borrows from H.G. Wells’ space travel and—this was written pre-space-age—his haunting, fantastical solar system doesn’t match what we’ve learned since, but his totally unique take on the physics of interdimensional beings rips the pants off anything anyone else ever wrote in metaphysical sci-fi. These angels aren’t your church’s cherubs, they’re not Frank Peretti’s white-robed super-soldiers, and they’re not Aslan and friends: Lewis actually took the limited science he had at the time about space and dimensional theory, and applied that science to his spirituality with fascinating imagination. The second book in this series, Perelandra, was always my favorite for its tense philosophy, gorgeous floating continents, and tortured protagonist, but Out of the Silent Planet—with ideas comparable in scope to Vernor Vinge’s “Zones… show more.

I loved this book because it blends many religions and faiths and churns out an amazing explanation of the universe and how our realities are created.

I think this was not only an incredibly entertaining book full of fascinating characters and realities, but its spiritual questions and answers just captivated my soul and imagination and expanded my view of life and the universe. I also felt really connected to so many characters in this book and that really made it special.

The third book of the Space Trilogy combines lore of medieval England, Merlin the magician, myth, academic snobbery, the status of marriage, God, and scientists determining what the rules are for the rest of society.

This science fiction tale compares to the best of Jules Verne, with a little bit of Mary Shelley and Ray Bradbury thrown in for good measure. Lewis’s imagination and literary talent are on full display in this swipe at elitism, technocracy, and ambition, all of which points toward the elimination of biological life and the artificial horror that will replace it.

Many may be surprised that this Christian apologist wrote several science fiction books. For those who love this genre, I highly recommend giving this one a try.