If what hooked you was the full-bore space-opera sweep of the Sturm’s genocidal return—carrier groups burning in, brutal boarding actions, and a desperate cobbled-together defense led by figures like Lucinda Hardy and the cutthroat pirate Sephina L’trel—then you’ll love how Leviathan Wakes ramps from a missing-ship case into system-shaking conflict. Holden’s crew on the Rocinante gets dragged into an escalating crisis with protomolecule horrors and power blocs maneuvering for advantage, delivering that same blend of thunderous ship combat, edge-of-the-seat chases, and “the whole system might burn” stakes you enjoyed.

If you were drawn to the way The Cruel Stars juggles multiple major players—naval officers like Hardy, ruthless survivors like L’trel, and power brokers scrambling as the Sturm strike—Scalzi’s The Collapsing Empire scratches the same itch. You’ll bounce between an Emperox trapped inside a political hurricane, merchants with knives behind their smiles, and scientists racing a ticking clock as the Flow routes start failing. It’s that same “many pieces, one catastrophe” dynamic where every POV move reshapes the board—and the galaxy.

If the pace of the Sturm blitz—drop pods slamming into hulls, deck-by-deck firefights, and frantic damage control—kept you flipping pages, Terms of Enlistment offers that same propulsive momentum. Following Andrew Grayson from boot camp to urban combat and then into orbital disaster, it delivers kinetic battles, clear stakes, and the same crisp, forward-driving storytelling rhythm that made the defense against the Sturm so addictive.

If the grim edge of The Cruel Stars—the Sturm’s massacres, ugly boarding fights, and the hard choices characters like L’trel make to keep their people alive—hit home, The Red doubles down on that unforgiving tone. Lieutenant James Shelley fights high-tech battles where casualties are personal and political agendas are lethal. It’s the same bleak honesty about violence and command under fire, with a ground-level intimacy that mirrors the most harrowing moments aboard those shattered ships.

If you were fascinated by The Cruel Stars’ willingness to let its saviors be messy—pirates, opportunists, and officers making morally gray calls while the Sturm bear down—then Ninefox Gambit belongs on your list. Captain Kel Cheris teams up with the disgraced, possibly monstrous general Shuos Jedao to crack an impossible siege. Like L’trel’s cutthroat pragmatism and Hardy’s compromises under pressure, their alliance trades purity for survival, all amid dizzying tactical gambits and brutal outcomes.