“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” ― Octavia E. Butler
In a perfect world, every series would get better as it progressed, the author growing as a writer with every book, while tightening and refining their storylines, and deepening their characters. We’ve all read enough to know that that just doesn’t happen with every series; today though, we are celebrating the times that it does.
Without further ado, based on the combined nominations and votes here on the Discover Sci-Fi blog and the Facebook group, here are the 10 sequels that were better than the first book!
10. After Worlds Collide by Philip Wyle and Edwin Balmer
“The first book (when worlds collide) was a great read, and kept me intrigued throughout the book. This book was, in my opinion, a step up from the first in the series. Extremely well written, imaginative, and captivating story.” —Spencer Hoadley, Goodreads
If you are into really old-school sci-fi, Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer’s After Worlds Collide is for you! Published just a year after When Worlds Collide, the story picks up right after the events of that first book.
Earth is destroyed in a collision with the rogue planet Bronson Alpha, with about a year of warning enabling a small group of survivors to build a spacecraft and escape to the rogue planet's moon, Bronson Beta. Filmed, with major changes to the story, as When Worlds Collide (1951).
After Worlds Collide (1934) by Philip Wylie & Edwin Balmer continues the story of When Worlds Collide, with both exploration of Bronson Beta and conflict with other groups of survivors.
Pick up After Worlds Collide here on Amazon
9. Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries Book 3) by Martha Wells
“Murderbot’s emotional development is also fascinating. It’s done slowly and subtly, but the benefit of binging all the novellas in one sitting is the ability to follow the inevitable change as he gets more comfortable with the idea of personhood.” —Nataliya, Goodreads
Who among us wasn’t immediately taken with the rogue SecUnit, Murderbot? Introduced in Martha Wells All Systems Red, Murderbot, the eponymous character of the Murderbot Diaries is an A.I: a rogue SecUnit with a snarky sense of humor and an incredibly—if reluctantly—soft heart. There is plenty heart-pounding action in these books, and as the series progresses, the reader really gets to know Murderbot and gets to witness them grapple with their surprisingly human emotions. This is especially true when Murderbot meets Miki in Rogue Protocol, which may be one of the reasons it stood out among the series as a fan favorite.
Like some of our other selections, you could read this as a standalone, but it’s probably more satisfying to read the series from the beginning.
Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?
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 about where Dr. Mensah’s SecUnit is.
And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.
Pick up Rogue Protocol here on Amazon.
8. Hell Divers VI: Allegiance (Hell Divers Book 6) by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
“The Hell Divers series has a special place in my heart and it’s rare that six books in an author can not only write exactly what you were hoping but also still surprise you. It’s also rare to have a series that is six books deep and still have as much left to give as this one. There’s a big Earth and things, especially dangerous things, are good at hiding in the shadows until you least expect them.” —Brian, Brian’s Book Blog
Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s Hell Divers is yet another series that just gets better the deeper you get into it. Hell Divers VI: Allegiance isn’t the most recent book in the series, but the absolute, non-stop, intensity of both action and setting have made it a fan favorite.
After a long and bloody battle, legendary Hell Diver Xavier Rodriguez reigns as the dutiful but reluctant new king of the islands. Advised by a council of former sky citizens as well as Cazadores, he works to assimilate the two societies peacefully. But not all Cazadores have accepted the new order.
While X tries to ease tensions at home, a rookie team of divers, led by Michael Everhart, returns to the skies in Discovery, formerly the ITC Deliverance. Their mission: to locate other human survivors throughout the world and rescue them. But Michael’s team aren’t the only ones searching for survivors. A gruesome discovery reveals that android defectors continue to hunt humans across the globe. And they may not be the only ones.
In a race against time, the Hell Divers may be the only obstacle to enemies bent on wiping out the final pockets of survivors and extinguishing the human genome forever.
Get your copy of Hell Divers VI: Allegiance here on Amazon.
7. Soldier, Ask Not (Childe Cycle #3) by Gordon R. Dickson
“Of all the Childe Cycle novels, this one seems to most fully flesh out the interstellar politics and issues that characterize Dickson's "Childe Cycle" stories. It builds on "The Tactics of Mistake" and "Dorsai" and takes the politics that those two novels create to the next higher level. Happily, this novel does this without bogging down as some of the later Childe Cycle novels do -- this one moves along smartly, and holds the reader's interest, perhaps aided by the fact that it is written in the first person from the protagonist's point of view.” —Roger J. Buffington, Amazon Reviewer
Gordon R. Dickson’s Soldier Ask Not is the third book in his Childe Cycle series, known to many as the Dorsai series. The series is regarded by many as one of the first military sci-fi series; fans of the series often cite the deep philosophical nature of the story as being a major draw and what sets it apart.
A Hugo Award-winning novel of destiny and revenge. On the sixteen colonized worlds, mankind had changed: men of War on the Dorsai worlds, men of Faith on the Friendly worlds. Jamethon Black, a Friendly, is a true soldier, and a true man of faith. Now he must face a deadly enemy--an enemy whose defeat will forever separate him from the only woman he has ever loved.
Start reading Soldier, Ask Not here on Amazon.
6. Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
“Messiah might be set in the same glorious universe as the first book, but the perspective is altogether different, askew. In Dune we battled alongside Paul Atreides and the Fremen, fighting the good fight, weaving through the cruelties and political intrigues of an infinitely complex universe. In Dune we helped to build an empire. In Messiah we’re fighting to keep it while not being entirely sure that we’re the good guys anymore.” —Edward Cox
Frank Herbert’s Dune, a longstanding favorite among Discover Sci-Fi readers, is so beloved it recently topped our list of the 10 Most Re-Read Sci-Fi Books. For many, it’s hard to imagine any book could be better than Dune, and given readers have been known to express strong feelings about the first book versus the rest of the series, we were a wee bit surprised to see Dune Messiah nominated to our poll.
And yet, dig a little deeper and there are plenty of folks who feel—for a variety of reasons— that Messiah was the stronger book. Maybe not the majority, but enough to see it land in our top 10.
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known—and feared—as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the known universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremen, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne—and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.
And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty…
Grab Dune Messiah here on Amazon.
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5. Uncompromising Honor (Honor Harrington Book 14) by David Weber
Through David Weber’s truly epic military sci-fi series Honor Harrington, exhilarated fans have watched Honor work—and battle—her way up through the military ranks before moving on to a political career. The story is gripping, the heroine badass and for many fans, the deeper into the series they go, the more connected they feel. As the most recent book published in the main series, it's no question why Uncompromising Honor was a fan favorite!
The Solarian League—for hundreds of years they have borne the banner of human civilization. But the bureaucratic Mandarins who rule today’s League are corrupt and looking for scapegoats. They’ve decided the upstart Star Kingdom of Manticore must be annihilated.
Honor Harrington has worn the Star Kingdom’s uniform for half a century. So far, hers has been a voice of caution. But now the Mandarins have committed atrocities such as the galaxy has not known in a thousand years. They have finally killed too many of the people Honor Harrington loves.
Now Honor Harrington is coming for the Solarian League. And Hell is riding in her wake.
Get your copy of Uncompromising Honor here on Amazon.
4. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
“...as much as I loved Ender’s Game as a thrilling action-packed YA adventure, I liked Speaker for the Dead even more. This is a more mature, thoughtful, and far-reaching story.” —Kat Hooper, Fantasy Literature
Not too long ago, we asked Discover Sci-Fi Facebook members which they liked better, Ender’s Game or Speaker for the Dead. Between the two, Ender’s Game won out; still, we weren’t entirely surprised to see Speaker nominated, nor to see it make its way to the top 10. While it doesn’t have the flash of Ender’s Game, it is thought-provoking and it's equally gripping. Whether or not you’ve read Ender’s Game, this one is definitely worth checking out.
In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: The Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War.
Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth.
Dive into Speaker For the Dead here on Amazon.
3. Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
“Ahh, yes. This is much more like it. After a decade of being harassed by fans, Larry Niven caved in and wrote a sequel (which he admits in the introduction he "hadn't the slightest intention" of doing "without [fans'] unsolicited help") to his dazzling yet maddeningly unsatisfying Ringworld. And this time, we get the depth and substance the first book lacked.”—Thomas M. Wagner, SF Reviews
Written almost a decade after Ringworld, Ringworld Engineers benefited maybe not so much from Niven’s maturation as a writer, but from a fine-tuning of his vision of the larger universe in which the book is set and his vision for the Ringworld storyline, specifically.
Over twenty years after returning to Earth from the Ringworld, Louis Wu is kidnapped, along with a warrior kzin named Chmeee, by a Pierson's puppeteer, a brilliant 2-headed alien who calls himself the "Hindmost". The puppeteer hopes to regain status with his fellow citizens by traveling to the Ringworld to bring back treasures. Upon reaching the vast and mysterious Ringworld, Louis and his companions encounter many surprises, including that the Ringworld is unstable. Its billions of inhabitants will die within months if Louis and his companions do not find a way to locate the Control Center of its mysterious builders, the Ringworld engineers, and fix the problem.
Get your copy of Ringworld Engineers here on Amazon.
2. Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov is regarded as one of the best science fiction writers of all-time. He topped the list in our 2019 poll featuring the Top 10 Greatest Sci-Fi Writers, and the Foundation series took first place in the our 2020 list featuring the Top 10 Multi-Book Sci-Fi Series of All Time.
Foundation’s Edge was written 30 years after Foundation. Benefiting from the inevitable growth Asimov made as a writer in the intervening years, many fans of the series have said that Foundation’s Edge feels tighter, and the quality of the writing is what makes it stand above the books of the original trilogy.
You could read Foundation’s Edge without reading the first three books in the Foundation Series, but given this is a continuation of the original story it’s probably best to read them before jumping in here (of course, we won’t judge you if you do.)
At last, the costly and bitter war between the two Foundations has come to an end. The scientists of the First Foundation have proved victorious, and now they return to Hari Seldon’s long established plan to build a new Empire on the ruins of the old. But rumors persist that the Second Foundation is not destroyed after all—and that its still-defiant survivors are preparing their revenge. Now two exiled citizens of the Foundation—a renegade Councilman and a doddering historian—set out in search of the mythical planet Earth . . . and proof that the Second Foundation still exists.
Start Foundation's Edge here on Amazon.
1. The White Dragon (Dragonriders of Pern #3) by Anne McCaffrey
“Of the first three novels in the series, The White Dragon is my favorite. I remember as a young teen, waiting for it to come out in my local bookstore and saving my pennies in order to purchase the book. I was not disappointed. Many of the themes that Anne McCaffery developed in her first two novels mature in this one. The dragons take on a new life of their own and become far more interesting as characters instead of being backdrops of the humans who ride them.” —Wendy Van Camp, Luna Station Quarterly
Anne McCaffrey’s award-winning The White Dragon, the third book in the original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, was initially published as the short story A Time When. The book, a clear favorite of series fans, was the first sci-fi book make the New York Times Hardcover Bestsellers list. While the series as a whole appears frequently on these polls, this is also the second time The White Dragon, specifically, has been honored. The first time was for the Michael Whelan’s incredible cover art, which took first place in our poll on Top 10 Sci-Fi Covers.
Many, maybe even most of the folks reading this will have read the Dragonriders of Pern series, but if you haven’t, you can actually jump right in with this book and come back to the first two later.
Never in the history of Pern has there been a dragon like Ruth. Mocked by other dragons for his small size and pure white color, Ruth is smart, brave, and loyal—qualities that he shares with his rider, the young Lord Jaxom. Unfortunately, Jaxom is also looked down upon by his fellow lords, and by other riders as well. His dreams of joining the dragonriders in defending Pern are dismissed. What else can Jaxom and Ruth do but strike out on their own, pursuing in secret all they are denied? But in doing so, the two friends will find themselves facing a desperate choice—one that will push their bond to the breaking point . . . and threaten the future of Pern itself.
Grab The White Dragon here on Amazon.
And there we have it. The top 10 sequels that were better than the first book!
Thank you to every one of you who contributed nominations, voted, and participated in the debates around the proposed titles. We couldn't do it without you!
Want to let us know your thoughts on the list? Feel free to weigh in on the comments here on the blog, or visit us here in our Facebook group and make sure to check out our most recent poll while you're there!
*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.
