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Books like Interstellar (movie)

Space, time and love across light-years, for anyone still thinking about that bookshelf.

12 books

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  1. 1Project Hail Mary

    Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir

    A lone astronaut races to save Earth using hard-science problem-solving, with a warm bond at its heart, much like Interstellar's mix of rigor and emotion.

  2. 2The Martian

    The Martian

    Andy Weir

    Stranded on Mars, an engineer improvises through grounded physics and engineering, and the rescue effort is driven by a determination to bring him home.

  3. 3The Calculating Stars

    The Calculating Stars

    Mary Robinette Kowal

    An alternate-history space program race that pairs rigorous orbital mechanics with a personal story of ambition and family, fitting the film's human stakes.

  4. 4Rendezvous with Rama

    Rendezvous with Rama

    Arthur C. Clarke

    A classic hard-SF exploration of a vast alien spacecraft, capturing the sense of wonder and scientific awe that runs through Interstellar.

  5. 5Seveneves

    Seveneves

    Neal Stephenson

    After the Moon breaks apart, humanity must survive in orbit, a sprawling hard-SF saga about saving the species through engineering and sacrifice.

  6. 6A Brief History of Time

    A Brief History of Time

    Stephen Hawking

    An accessible popular-science guide to black holes, relativity and time, the scientific ideas that underpin Interstellar's central concepts.

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  7. 7Cosmos

    Cosmos

    Carl Sagan

    A warm, wide-ranging popular-science tour of the universe and humanity's place in it, conveying the same reverence for exploration as the film.

  8. 8The Forever War

    The Forever War

    Joe Haldeman

    Relativistic time dilation leaves soldiers returning to a future decades ahead of them, with a human story of loss and survival at its core.

  9. 9Contact

    Contact

    Carl Sagan

    A rigorous first-contact novel about a scientist's journey through space and time, with the emotional stakes of a personal quest.

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  10. 10Leviathan Wakes

    Leviathan Wakes

    James S. A. Corey

    Hard-science space opera about the solar system's expansion, where a mystery threatens humanity and the characters' bonds carry the story.

  11. 11Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

    Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

    Carlo Rovelli

    An accessible popular-science book on relativity and the nature of time, the ideas that drive Interstellar's physics.

  12. 12The Sparrow

    The Sparrow

    Mary Doria Russell

    A deeply human interstellar mission story about faith, sacrifice and the cost of exploring the unknown.

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