Recommendations based on The Calculating Starsby Mary Robinette Kowal

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

  1. The Fated Sky

    by Mary Robinette Kowal
    In an alternate history, a group of astronauts embark on a mission to Mars, facing challenges and personal struggles along the way.

    The Fated Sky continued the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the moon. Elma York, the ... (Goodreads)

  2. All Systems Red

    by Martha Wells
    Murderbot navigates a dangerous world while struggling to maintain its own autonomy.

    "As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure." In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Stone Sky

    by N.K. Jemisin
    A climactic finale to a trilogy, featuring a powerful woman's journey to save her world from destruction.

    Following the events of, The Obelisk Gate, , the former inhabitants of Castrima-under are moving north after damage by rival comm Rennanis has compromised the mechanisms of the geode and made it ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Artificial Condition

    by Martha Wells
    Murderbot, a rogue security unit, investigates its past and uncovers a conspiracy. Action-packed sci-fi adventure with a relatable protagonist.

    A, USA Today, bestseller,The "I love Murderbot!" —Ann Leckie, Artificial Condition, is the follow-up to Martha Wells's Hugo, Nebula, Alex, and Locus Award-winning,, New York Times, bestselling, All ... (Barnes & Noble)

  5. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

    by Becky Chambers
    An intergalactic adventure filled with unlikely friendships and epic space battles.

    Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space-and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe-in this light-hearted debut space ... (Goodreads)

  6. Rogue Protocol

    by Martha Wells
    Murderbot investigates a corporation's illegal experiments on humans while protecting a group of scientists.

    SciFi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions ... (Goodreads)

  7. Trail of Lightning

    by Rebecca Roanhorse
    In a post-apocalyptic world, a monster hunter with supernatural powers must track down a killer while confronting her own past.

    In the 21st century, a worldwide flood caused by multiple earthquakes along the New Madrid fault line destroys most of the United States as magic returns to the world. Dinétah becomes an independent ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Collapsing Empire

    by John Scalzi
    A daring adventure to save humanity's future in a universe connected by portals.

    The Interdependency is a thousand-year-old human empire of 48 star systems connected by the Flow, a network of "streams" allowing faster-than-light travel . Each stream is one way and has an entry ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Children of Time

    by Adrian Tchaikovsky
    A race of intelligent spiders battles to save their species from extinction.

    The book's plot involves a planet inhabited by evolved spiders uplifted by human scientist Avrana Kern, and their much later discovery by the last humans alive in the universe. , , , The work plays ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Gideon the Ninth

    by Tamsyn Muir
    Gideon, a swordswoman, competes in a deadly game of puzzles and challenges to become an immortal servant. But dark secrets lurk in the shadows.

    Gideon the Ninth is set in a galactic empire of nine planets, each ruled by a noble house that practices its own unique type of necromancy . Although advanced technology exists, the Nine Houses ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Binti

    by Nnedi Okorafor
    A journey of self-discovery for a young African girl as she confronts xenophobia, racism, and alien cultures.

    A young woman named Binti is the first member of the Himba ethnic group on Earth (closely modeled on the Himba people ) , to be accepted into the prestigious intergalactic university Oomza Uni. Upon ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Spinning Silver

    by Naomi Novik
    A young woman turns silver into gold and attracts the attention of a dangerous fae king. She must use her wits to outsmart him and save her kingdom.

    Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Dispatcher

    by John Scalzi
    A man discovers an ability to revive the recently dead, leading to a chaotic and dangerous situation.

    Listening Length: 2 hours and 18 minutes One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone - 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back. How? ... (Goodreads)

  14. This Is How You Lose the Time War

    by Amal El-Mohtar
    Two time-traveling agents from warring factions fall in love through letters, risking everything to be together.

    Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the ... (Goodreads)

  15. Shades of Milk and Honey

    by Mary Robinette Kowal
    A romantic tale set in a world where magic is commonplace, following the life of a talented artist and her search for love.

    The fantasy novel you’ve always wished Jane Austen had written Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets ... (Goodreads)

  16. Station Eleven

    by Emily St. John Mandel
    Post-apocalyptic exploration of a world drastically changed after a pandemic.

    An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse,, Station Eleven, tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of ... (Barnes & Noble)

  17. The Book of the Unnamed Midwife

    by Meg Elison
    In a post-apocalyptic world, a midwife embarks on a dangerous mission to save the human race.

    When she fell asleep, the world was doomed. When she awoke, it was dead. In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth’s population—killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the ... (Goodreads)

  18. Every Heart a Doorway

    by Seanan McGuire
    A portal fantasy exploring the stories of children who have ventured through magical doorways and returned to the mundane world.

    Rarely, children may find doorways which transport them to other worlds. As a child, Nancy found a doorway that led her to the land of the dead, based on the story of Persephone and Hades . When she ... (Wikipedia)

  19. An Unkindness of Ghosts

    by Rivers Solomon
    A powerful story of survival, set on a generational spaceship, as a young woman fights to free herself from oppressive social structures.

    Odd-mannered, obsessive, withdrawn, Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She's used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If ... (Goodreads)

  20. Tiamat's Wrath

    by James S.A. Corey
    The eighth book in the Expanse series, Tiamat's Wrath follows the crew of the Rocinante as they fight against a new enemy threatening humanity's survival.

    Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper. In the dead systems ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Night Masquerade

    by Nnedi Okorafor
    The final installment of the Binti trilogy, as she returns to Earth to face her family and the traditions she left behind.

    The Night Masquerade received a starred review from Booklist . It recommended reading Binti" and Home first, but went on to praise Okorafor's "painterly imagery" to reach a satisfying ending to the ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

    by Douglas Adams
    An eccentric detective's surreal journey through time and space to solve a mysterious case.

    Richard MacDuff attends the Coleridge dinner at his old college St Cedd's , where he witnesses his former tutor, Professor Urban "Reg" Chronotis , perform an inexplicable magic trick in which he ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Adulthood Rites

    by Octavia E. Butler
    A tale of two alien species, their struggles and conflicts, and the coming of age of one of the species.

    In this sequel to Dawn, Lilith Iyapo has given birth to what looks like a normal human boy named Akin. But Akin actually has five parents: a male and female human, a male and female Oankali, and a ... (Goodreads)

  24. Home

    by Nnedi Okorafor
    A Nigerian-American girl with magical abilities returns to Nigeria to discover her roots and confront a dangerous family legacy.

    It’s been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared a hero for uniting two warring planets. A year since she abandoned her family in the dawn of a new ... (Goodreads)

  25. Lord of Light

    by Roger Zelazny
    A cosmic struggle between ancient Hindu gods and a man, who uses technology to gain freedom.

    Lord of Light is set on a planet colonized by some of the remnants of "vanished Urath", or Earth. The crew and colonists from the spaceship Star of India found themselves on a strange planet ... (Wikipedia)

  26. A Wizard of Earthsea

    by Ursula K. Le Guin
    A young wizard embarks on a quest to master his own magical powers and battle a mysterious force of evil.

    Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon ... (Goodreads)

  27. Uprooted

    by Naomi Novik
    A young woman's battle to save her home from a magical force, while uncovering secrets of her past.

    “Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human ... (Goodreads)

  28. Wild Seed

    by Octavia E. Butler
    A shape-shifting immortal and a mortal healer's lives intertwine over centuries, exploring power, oppression, and the human condition.

    Wild Seed is the story of two immortal Africans named Doro and Anyanwu. Doro is a spirit who can take over other people's bodies, killing anyone and anything in his path, while Anyanwu is a woman ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Wool Omnibus

    by Hugh Howey
    Uncovering the truth behind a post-apocalyptic world, where society is hidden beneath a giant dome.

    The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. , Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending one hundred forty-four stories beneath the surface. The series ... (Wikipedia)

  30. The Ballad of Black Tom

    by Victor LaValle
    A retelling of Lovecraft's "The Horror at Red Hook" from the perspective of a black man in 1920s New York City.

    People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there. Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to ... (Goodreads)