Recommendations based on The City and the Starsby Arthur C. Clarke

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

  1. 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)

  2. 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)

  3. Rendezvous with Rama

    by Arthur C. Clarke
    A mysterious alien spacecraft discovered in the Solar System, explored by a human team.

    After an asteroid falls in Northeast Italy in 2077, creating a major disaster, the government of Earth sets up the Spaceguard system as an early warning of arrivals from deep space. The "Rama" of the ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Fountains of Paradise

    by Arthur C. Clarke
    An engineer's mission to build a space elevator, connecting Earth to the heavens.

    The novel focuses primarily on a project proposed by the main character, Vannevar Morgan, known as the Orbital Tower. The tower is to stretch from the Earth's equator to a satellite that is in ... (Wikipedia)

  5. 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)

  6. Second Foundation

    by Isaac Asimov
    A quest to find the mysterious force controlling the fate of the galaxy.

    Part I is about The Mule 's search for the elusive Second Foundation, with the intent of destroying it. The executive council of the Second Foundation is aware of The Mule's intent and, in the words ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Hyperion

    by Dan Simmons
    Epic science-fiction story of a journey to the distant planet Hyperion.

    In the 29th century, the Hegemony of Man comprises hundreds of planets connected by farcaster portals. The Hegemony maintains an uneasy alliance with the TechnoCore , a civilisation of AIs . Modified ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Neuromancer

    by William Gibson
    A hacker's journey through a dystopian cyberpunk world, searching for a way to survive.

    Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City , Japan. Once a talented computer hacker , Case was caught stealing from his employer. As punishment for his theft, ... (Wikipedia)

  9. The Gods Themselves

    by Isaac Asimov
    A science-fiction story about a team of interdimensional aliens that come to Earth to save it from destruction.

    In terms of structure, the book opens at chapter six to give context to the other chapters. Thus, the flow is Chapter six overview of Chapter one, then Chapter one. Next, is Chapter six overview of ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Stranger in a Strange Land

    by Robert A. Heinlein
    A human raised by Martians must find his place in a hostile Earth society.

    The story focuses on a human raised on Mars and his adaptation to and understanding of humans and their culture. It is set in a post- Third World War United States, where organized religions are ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Mote in God's Eye

    by Larry Niven
    A journey of first contact between the human race and an alien species.

    In the year AD 3017, humanity is slowly recovering from an interstellar civil war that tore apart the first Empire of Man. The Second Empire is busy establishing control over the remnants of its ... (Wikipedia)

  12. A Canticle for Leibowitz

    by Walter M. Miller Jr.
    A post-apocalyptic tale of a world struggling to rebuild after a devastating nuclear war.

    After 20th century civilization was destroyed by a global nuclear war , known as the "Flame Deluge", there was a violent backlash against the culture of advanced knowledge and technology that had led ... (Wikipedia)

  13. The Demolished Man

    by Alfred Bester
    In a world where telepathy is the norm, a wealthy businessman plans a murder, but a telepathic detective is on his trail.

    Ben Reich is the paranoid, impetuous owner of Monarch Utilities & Resources, a commercial cartel that the Reich family has possessed for generations. Monarch Utilities & Resources is in danger of ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Day of the Triffids

    by John Wyndham
    A post-apocalyptic world overrun by carnivorous plants, exploring themes of survival and morality.

    In 1951 John Wyndham published his novel The Day of the Triffids to moderate acclaim. Fifty-two years later, this horrifying story is a science fiction classic, touted by The Times (London) as having ... (Goodreads)

  15. Gateway

    by Frederik Pohl
    A space exploration journey to a far-off galaxy, with a mission to discover the secrets of an ancient alien race.

    Gateway is a space station built into a hollow asteroid constructed by the Heechee , a long-vanished alien race. Humans have had limited success understanding Heechee technology found there and ... (Wikipedia)

  16. 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)

  17. The Time Machine

    by H.G. Wells
    A scientist travels through time, discovering the future of mankind.

    The book's protagonist is a Victorian English scientist and gentleman inventor living in Richmond , Surrey , identified by a narrator simply as the Time Traveller . Similarly, with but one exception ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

    by Robert A. Heinlein
    Revolutionary group fight for freedom from an oppressive lunar colony.

    In 2075, the Moon (Luna) is used as a penal colony by Earth's government, with three million inhabitants (called "Loonies") living in underground cities. Most Loonies are criminals, political exiles, ... (Wikipedia)

  19. 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)

  20. The Martian Chronicles

    by Ray Bradbury
    Human colonists struggle for survival on Mars, facing the challenges of a new world.

    The strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection. The Martian Chronicles tells the story of ... (Goodreads)

  21. 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)

  22. The Stars My Destination

    by Alfred Bester
    A man's quest for revenge in an intergalactic society, using teleportation and telepathy.

    At the time when the book is set, "jaunting"—personal teleportation—has so upset the social and economic balance that the Inner Planets are at war with the Outer Satellites. Gully Foyle of the ... (Wikipedia)

  23. 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)

  24. 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)

  25. To Your Scattered Bodies Go

    by Philip José Farmer
    A journey of exploration through a mysterious afterlife, revealing the secrets of life and death.

    British adventurer Richard Francis Burton dies on Earth and is revived in mid-air in a vast dark room filled with human bodies, some only half-formed. There, he is confronted by men in a flying ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Way Station

    by Clifford D. Simak
    A man living in a remote Wisconsin town discovers a secret gateway to other worlds.

    Enoch Wallace, an American Civil War veteran, is chosen by an alien to administer a way station for interplanetary travel. His job is to monitor the machinery of the way station and make sure arrival ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Replay

    by Ken Grimwood
    A man relives his life multiple times, each time making different choices.

    Jeff Winston was 43 and trapped in a tepid marriage and a dead-end job, waiting for that time when he could be truly happy, when he died. And when he woke and he was 18 again, with all his memories ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Chrysalids

    by John Wyndham
    A post-apocalyptic tale of survival and the struggle against oppressive forces.

    The inhabitants of post-apocalypse Labrador have vague knowledge of the "Old People", a technologically advanced civilization they believe was destroyed when God sent " Tribulation " to the world to ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Children of Dune

    by Frank Herbert
    Epic saga of a royal family's struggle for power and the fate of their desert planet.

    Nine years after Emperor Paul Muad'Dib walked into the desert, blind, the ecological transformation of Dune has reached the point where some Fremen are living without stillsuits in the less arid ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Speaker for the Dead

    by Orson Scott Card
    A search for the truth about an alien species, uncovering secrets of the past.

    Now available in mass market, the revised, definitive edition of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning classic. In this second book in the saga set 3,000 years after the terrible war, Ender Wiggin is ... (Goodreads)