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April 2006
Compiled by Phil Eskew, of Indiana University, from contributions by the members of Fiction_L.

(To use this list in your library, book club, etc., please include the following credit line: "Compiled by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list." This list may not be used for commercial purposes.)

Brian Aldiss - If the scope of SW is what grabs your patron, try the excellent two-volume anthology, "Galactic Empires."

Kevin J. Anderson -- has written several sci-fi books that aren't Star Wars (including the Saga of Seven Suns, which starts with "Hidden Empire") and is also writing the new Dune books.

Kevin Anderson - had also written other SF books, including the Saga of Seven Suns, which starts with "Hidden Empire."

Poul Anderson -- especially his earlier work, which is full of alien societies. Try the VanRijn/Falkayn and Dominic Flandry series, "Fire Time," and most of the short stories. "The Winter of the World" and "The Dancer from Atlantis" are also good, and "The High Crusade," in which a whole Medieval village--knights and all--goes to space might make another good suggestion.

Anthologies - "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 1" gives a sense of the range of SF, while still dealing with the kinds of material that Star Wars, in part, is derived from...straightforward short-fiction classics, many definitive treatments of one or another idea or concept.

Isaac Asimov - co-edited a collection titled "Intergalactic Empires." His "Young..." anthology series would be another possibility--especially "Young Star Travelers."

Leigh Brackett - she was an excellent writer of SF adventure, space opera and otherwise. She wrote the treatment and first draft of "The Empire Strikes Back" film script. If the patron likes Leigh Brackett, Lin Carter did a series set on a Brackett-esque Mars, including "The Man Who Loved Mars," "The Valley Where Time Stood Still," "The City Outside the World," and "Down to a Sunless Sea."

Ray Bradbury -- "'S' Is for Space" and "'R' Is for Rocket".

Marion Zimmer Bradley - the Darkover series, which is slightly darker and more mature than the Star Wars novels, but its focus on psychic ability may enchant readers who are fascinated by the Force.

Lois McMaster Bujold

Orson Scott Card -- "Ender's Game" begins an excellent series and was a Hugo winner.

A. Bertram Chandler - his work is unfortunately out-of-print in this country, but the John Grimes series should appeal to the Star Wars fan, especially if s/he enjoys John Maddox Roberts' "Space Angel". Grimes begins in the military space service, then goes on to serve on a freighter.

C. J. Cherryh - series like Foreigner and Chanur.

Jo Clayton - was a prolific writer whose Diadem series has a mixed SF/fantasy feel and many volumes.

A.C. Crispin - has written a number of other books, including some Witchworld novels with Andre Norton.

Brian Daley - If the patron liked Han Solo, try his trilogy about Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh.

Gordon Dickson

David Drake

Alan Dean Foster - His core work is the long series set in the Humanx Commonwealth, including the adventures of Flinx and Pip the Minidrag.

Martin H. Greenberg

Barbara Hambly -- try the Darwath series, which began as a trilogy, now has two pendant volumes as well. It features a wise Kenobi-ish mentor/wizard figure and two young people from our Earth who unexpectedly find their true vocations in the magical world from which he comes.

Edmond Hamilton -- especially his "The Star Kings" and his Starwolfs trilogy. If the patron enjoys him, offer "Secrets of Stardeep" and "When the Star Kings Die," by John Jakes.

Harry Harrison -- "Stainless Steel Rat" would appeal to anyone who loved Han Solo.

Robert Heinlein -- especially his early "juvie" output. His later output is, as one respondee put it, "hit or miss"--which is not to say that he didn't write some classics.

Keith Laumer - the Retief series, which features a hero (Jaime Retief) who serves in the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne but has more than a touch of James Bond in him and constantly redeems his superiors' blunders--usually by making an end run around the accepted way of doing things.

Ursula K. LeGuin -- the Hainish series

Murray Leinster

Karin Lowachee -- try "Cagebird."

C(atherine) L. Moore -- try the Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry stories.

Andre Norton - Much of her SF features young protagonists and/or fascinating alien species--and there's a lot of it. Most of it falls into a huge Future History, too.

H. Beam Piper - Future History series.

John Maddox Roberts -- "Space Angel," which gives a great feel for what life might be like on a small free freighter--sort of like the Millennium Falcon, but bigger. There is a sequel, "Window of the Mind."

Fred Saberhagen -- the Beserker series.

James H. Schmitz - The Hub Series.

Charles Sheffield

Michael A. Stackpole

Harry Turtledove -- "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump." Not typical of HT, but a great fun read that would appeal to readers who like the wry humor of SW scripts. If the patron can deal with long, bulky books and long, bulky casts (and is attracted to the fantastic angle of Star Wars but also likes military), the Darkness series would be a good direction to go: it recasts WW2 in a fantasy milieu.

Jack Vance

David Weber - the Honor Harrington series is an excellent space opera series that has a lot of the action and adventure of the Star Wars books. The first is "On Basilisk Station," followed by "The Honor of the Queen," "A Short Victorious War," etc. There's a strong central character, with good though varying supporting cast (the crew in the first book keep popping up in others, sometimes serving on Honor's ship, sometimes on another). There are lots of space battles, a war with the Havenites, different cultures to deal with, an occasional romance, and strong emphasis on honor (with a small 'h') as well as Honor herself. There are also books of shorter pieces set in the Honorverse written by various writers.

H.G. Wells

Timothy Zahn - has also written several other SF novels, including the recent "Night Train to Rigel." Also try "The Icarus Hunt," which features a main character who is a rogue spacefarer with an alien sidekick that is "vaguely familiar" (think Han Solo).

Fantasy

Lloyd Alexander - Prydain Chronicles.

David Eddings -- The Belgariad (first is "The Pawn of Prophecy") and then the follow-up series, The Mallorean. The magic is interesting, sort of Force-like, and the first series at least is the coming of age story of the protagonist as he becomes a young man and learns to deal with his power.

Robert Jordan -- The Wheel of Time series. The first is "Eye of the World."

Anne McCaffrey -- the Pern series. One respondee said, "Start with 'Dragon's Dawn' which has the most science and is a good intro to the series. I prefer to read them in chronological order, McCaffrey herself thinks publication order is better." Also try the Crystal Singer trilogy and the Brain/Brawn series, which starts with "The Ship Who Sang."

George R.R. Martin - Song of Ice and Fire series.

Garth Nix -- "Sabriel," "Lirael" and "Abhorsen," which is some of the very best recent YA fantasy, very elaborate and well built world, with engaging characters and a pretty fast paced story line...and not overwhelming like, perhaps, Robert Jordan might be to a YA reader.

R.A. Salvatore -- the books he wrote for the Forgotten Realms series. He has also written some of the Star Wars books.

J.R.R. Tolkien -- the inclusion of the Lord of the Rings here seems a given.

Margaret Weis -- the books she wrote for the Dragonlance series.

YA Adventure Ken Oppel -- try his recent books, "Airborn" and "Skybreaker," which are action-packed.

Westerns Louis L'Amour - especially the Sackett books. Basically decent people who mostly just want to live their lives, but must take a stand against a person or group who wishes to take over an area and force everyone to live by their unreasonable rules. Our heroes often get involved because they are defending their way of life, avenging a relative, or because evil must not be allowed to triumph.

www.webrary.org/rs:flbklists/star_wars_readalikes.html
First published on the Web: 7/5/2006
Last updated: 7/5/2006