Recommendations based on Timeby Stephen Baxter

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Eon

    by Greg Bear
    A mysterious asteroid appears near Earth, and a team is sent to investigate. They discover a complex alien structure and a dangerous power struggle.

    The 21st century was on the brink of nuclear confrontation when the 300 kilometer-long stone flashed out of nothingness and into Earth's orbit. NASA, NATO, and the UN sent explorers to the asteroid's ... (Goodreads)

  2. Absolution Gap

    by Alastair Reynolds
    A sci-fi adventure featuring a crew of misfits on a mission to save their home world from destruction.

    The plot of the novel takes place in four separate time periods. The bulk of the novel is contained in the 2675 and 2727 sections. Queen Jasmina of the lighthugger Gnostic Ascension wakes Quaiche, a ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Reality Dysfunction

    by Peter F. Hamilton
    Epic sci-fi adventure through space and time, tackling questions of identity and reality.

    The Reality Dysfunction opens in the year 2581 with a war raging between two worlds, Omuta and Garissa, over three hundred and eighty seven mineral-rich asteroids known as the Dorados. The war ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Judas Unchained

    by Peter F. Hamilton
    The thrilling conclusion to the Commonwealth Saga. Humanity faces its greatest threat as ancient alien technology is unleashed.

    The book opens with a short section providing backstory. As part of the first mission to Mars , a team of astronauts exits their spacecraft for the first time, only to see another man standing there, ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Red Mars

    by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Colonists brave the harsh landscapes of Mars, striving to make the planet their new home.

    Red Mars starts in 2026 with the first colonial voyage to Mars aboard the Ares , the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built and home to a crew who are to be the first hundred Martian colonists. ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Consider Phlebas

    by Iain M. Banks
    A thrilling space opera about a galactic war between two powerful civilizations.

    The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans ... (Goodreads)

  7. The Naked God

    by Peter F. Hamilton
    Epic space opera of adventure, mystery, and political intrigue.

    Jay Hilton, one of the surviving children from Lalonde, is awoken when Tranquillity falls under attack by the Organisation and its hellhawk allies. With the habitat in imminent danger of destruction, ... (Wikipedia)

  8. 2001: A Space Odyssey

    by Arthur C. Clarke
    An interstellar journey of exploration, confronting humanity's place in the universe.

    A mysterious alien civilization uses a tool with the appearance of a large crystalline monolith to investigate worlds across the galaxy and, if possible, to encourage the development of intelligent ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Green Mars

    by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Colonization of Mars, as humans seek to terraform and inhabit the red planet.

    Red Mars starts in 2026 with the first colonial voyage to Mars aboard the Ares , the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built and home to a crew who are to be the first hundred Martian colonists. ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Blue Mars

    by Kim Stanley Robinson
    The final book in the Mars Trilogy, following the terraforming and colonization of Mars. The story explores the political, social, and environmental consequences of human expansion into space.

    Red Mars starts in 2026 with the first colonial voyage to Mars aboard the Ares , the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built and home to a crew who are to be the first hundred Martian colonists. ... (Wikipedia)

  11. House of Suns

    by Alastair Reynolds
    Exploring the universe as a powerful family of clones, while struggling against a mysterious enemy.

    Six million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones, which she called shatterlings. But now, someone is eliminating the ... (Goodreads)

  12. Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov
    Exploring the possibilities of a galactic empire in a future driven by science and technology.

    For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future – to a dark age ... (Goodreads)

  13. Childhood's End

    by Arthur C. Clarke
    Human race is transformed by an alien presence, leading to the dawn of a new age.

    The novel is divided into three parts, following a third-person omniscient narrative with no main character. , In some editions, the short first chapter is a separate prologue rather than the ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Look to Windward

    by Iain M. Banks
    The story of two civilizations and their intertwined destinies, spanning thousands of years.

    The Chelgrians are a race of centaur-like cat aliens with three hind-limbs and a humanoid catlike torso. Major Quilan, a Chelgrian, has lost the will to live after the death of his wife, killed ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Forever War

    by Joe Haldeman
    A soldier's story of the horror of war and its consequences in the far future.

    The monumental Hugo and Nebula award winning SF classic— Featuring a new introduction by John Scalzi,The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce ... (Barnes & Noble)

  16. Revelation Space

    by Alastair Reynolds
    A space opera that explores the dark side of humanity and the consequences of advanced technology.

    Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to ... (Goodreads)

  17. Matter

    by Iain M. Banks
    Epic space opera featuring powerful, warring civilizations and a mysterious energy source.

    In a world renowned within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Uplift War

    by David Brin
    A story of a species of aliens fighting to survive against a powerful oppressor.

    David Brin's Uplift novels are among the most thrilling and extraordinary science fiction ever written. Sundiver, Startide Rising, and The Uplift War –a New York Times bestseller--together make up ... (Goodreads)

  19. Foundation and Chaos

    by Greg Bear
    A thrilling sci-fi saga set in a distant future, exploring the fate of humanity.

    The novel is the second part of The Second Foundation Trilogy and takes place almost entirely in the same time frame as " The Psychohistorians ," which is the first part of the novel, Foundation, . ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Snow Crash

    by Neal Stephenson
    A hacker's quest in a futuristic America dealing with a mysterious computer virus.

    Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia. He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier ( courier ) who refers to herself in the third person , during ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Ringworld

    by Larry Niven
    A sci-fi adventure to an artificial ring-shaped world, full of unexpected challenges.

    On planet Earth in 2850 AD , Louis Gridley Wu is celebrating his 200th birthday. Despite his age, Louis is in perfect physical condition due to the longevity drug boosterspice . He meets Nessus , a ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Forever Peace

    by Joe Haldeman
    In a future world, soldiers use telepathy to fight wars. A group of scientists discovers a way to end all wars, but at a great cost.

    Though its title is similar to, The Forever War, and both novels deal with soldiers in the future, Forever Peace is not a direct sequel, and takes place on a different future of Earth in the year ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Time Enough for Love

    by Robert A. Heinlein
    A journey through time and space, exploring the boundaries of love, death and existence.

    The book covers several periods from the life of Lazarus Long (born Woodrow Wilson Smith), an early beneficiary of a breeding experiment designed to increase mankind's natural lifespan. The ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Nemesis

    by Isaac Asimov
    A thrilling sci-fi adventure with a gripping mystery, set in a distant future.

    The novel is set in an era in which interstellar travel is in the process of being discovered and perfected. In Chapter 2, the novel states that the year 2220 was 16 years ago. Accordingly, the bulk ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Spin

    by Robert Charles Wilson
    A mysterious force disrupts the Earth, transforming the planet and its inhabitants in unexpected ways.

    The story opens when Tyler Dupree is twelve years old. Tyler and his mother live in a guest house on the property of aerospace millionaire E.D. Lawton and his alcoholic wife, Carol. Tyler is friends ... (Wikipedia)

  26. The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

    by Neal Stephenson
    A young girl's journey of learning and self-discovery, aided by advanced technology.

    The protagonist in the story is Nell, a thete (or person without a tribe; equivalent to the lowest working class) living in the Leased Territories, a lowland slum built on the artificial, diamondoid ... (Wikipedia)

  27. I Am Legend

    by Richard Matheson
    A man is the last survivor of a zombie-creating virus, struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

    Robert Neville appears to be the sole survivor of a pandemic that has killed most of the human population and turned the remainder into " vampires " that largely conform to their stereotypes in ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Nightfall

    by Isaac Asimov
    A planet with six suns experiences a rare eclipse, causing chaos and destruction as the inhabitants face the darkness for the first time.

    The planet Lagash ("Kalgash" in the novel) is constantly illuminated by at least one of the six suns of its multiple star system . Lagash has areas of darkness (in caves, tunnels, etc.), but "night" ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Blindsight

    by Peter Watts
    A sci-fi tale of a journey to the outer reaches of space and a confrontation with alien life.

    In the year 2082, thousands of large, coordinated objects of an unknown origin, dubbed "Fireflies", burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in a precise grid, while momentarily broadcasting across an ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Cryptonomicon

    by Neal Stephenson
    A thrilling journey through the past and present, combining tech, history and adventure.

    The action takes place in two periods—World War II and the late 1990s, during the Internet boom and Asian financial crisis . In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, a young United States Navy code ... (Wikipedia)