Books like Demon in White — picked by fans

Fergus Ferguson is an ordinary man who just happens to be good at one thing – finding stuff. So he becomes an intergalactic repo man, and when the book starts he’s been tasked with finding a stolen starship, as one does. 

He’s also found himself wrapped up in a civil war and a possible alien invasion.

This book is a little darker than the others on the list, in that Fergus has a lot of personal baggage to deal with, the people behind the civil war aren’t nice, and it’s really hard to figure out what the aliens want. But the darkness is leavened by Fergus’s humor and strong moral code. 

It’s also book one of a (very nicely tied-up) trilogy.

Okay, it’s the second book in the tremendously popular series The Expanse (perhaps you’ve heard of this little series turned TV show), but it’s also my favorite. That’s because Corey ramps up the intrigue as Mars, Earth, and the Belt find themselves enmeshed in an open war that has some decidedly murky underpinnings. This volume also introduces two of the series' best and most memorable characters: Martian marine Bobbie Draper and savvy Earth politician Chrisjen Avasarala. The book kicks off with a bang, and doesn’t let up, concluding with perhaps one of the most page-turning action sequences I’ve ever read.

I loved Jadzia Dax in Deep Space Nine, and I was always fascinated by the Trill, a species in which some lucky few are selected to join as hosts with a symbiont creature that lives for several lifetimes and imbues the actual host with the talents and memories of all the previous hosts.

The TV show only scratched the surface of what that means psychologically and culturally, so I was really looking forward to reading this book. White did a lot of research on the Trill and then took the creepy premise of some kind of zombie Trill to really explore what it means to be Trill, to be joined or to be denied the joining by the almighty Symbiosis Commission.

A thrilling (and also empowering) Jadzia adventure.

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.

This science fiction novel, written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pen name James S. A. Corey, was the beginning of the Expanse series (now totaling 9 novels and additional stories). It is one of the best space science fiction novels of the 21st century and became the basis for one of my favorite TV/streaming series, The Expanse.

The books dive deep into the political, social, and cultural complexities of sending humans to live on the Moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt, and it’s a nuanced reflection of our current ideas and ambitions when it comes to spaceflight. I am particularly drawn to the depiction of humans who, after multiple generations off Earth, consider their primary identity to be Martian.

I couldn't put this gripping book down! I loved the plot twists, the complexity and ingenuity of its structure, the clever observations about human nature, the flawed protagonist and their character arc, the criticism of the real-world issues, and how original it was. The story is exciting and well-written, but its brilliant, non-linear narrative made it stand out the most.

It cleverly and mind-bendingly explores the meaninglessness and cruelty of war, inequality, class system, capitalism, exploitation, manipulation, and brainwashing. Even though it's gory, which is suitable for a story about war, human connection and taking care of each other play a crucial role. I really enjoyed the author's style and unique voice.

I find it is a very fun book that nevertheless finds a good balance between rigor, seriousness and sense of humor. It deals with a typical science fiction topic, "What would we do if aliens invaded us," but it does so from what is really feasible.

This captivating read immersed me in the complex world of cosmic defense, the boundaries of space exploration, and modern warfare. After reading it, I realize how unprotected we are.

It became obvious to me early in this book that Nophek Gloss was written by someone who works with their hands. Not only in how the action was choreographed but also in how the world was described.

This brings a real world feel to the writing as we join Caiden helping his father with the menial tasks that keep a farming community running. Soon after, his whole world is destroyed. But as Caiden escapes and throws in with a ragtag bunch of aliens and a ship with a conscience, we can appreciate his point of view as someone who has seen so little of the universe but is suddenly exposed to multitudes of new and unusual things as he adventures into the unknown.

This book is for sci-fi fans who enjoy great worldbuilding, interesting aliens, and action throughout.

This book takes us into a space colony populated solely by females who live in a symbiotic relationship with their organic starship. The ship is their shelter and protector, and in return, the women birth tools and components that the ship needs to function.

I love the gory spectacle of these bloody, mechanical births but also how they allow Hurley to explore ideas about community, duty, and belonging. The book is part of a wider sensibility that can be found throughout Hurley’s work, but for my money, this is the one where her imaginative powers are most successfully harnessed. 

This final work in Banks’ Culture sci-fi series is all about technologically advanced species making the decision to sublime – to depart the “real world” to reside in “higher dimensions”.

As I read the book I found my philosopher’s brain bullied to understand what subliming could possibly be. When techno-enthusiasts propose radical human enhancement are they effectively suggesting that we should sublime? When the aspiring trillionaires of AI are asked about the future in which they make AIs much smarter than us, they get vague about the details.

The throwaway line of OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is “all bets are off” after they achieve their stated goal of artificial superintelligence. Should we approach the future gifts of AI much in the way that Banks’s characters approach the offer of subliming?