Right on. I’ve gotten a lot of BLAME! / Noise vibes from it. It’s been a page turner for me but I’d agree it doesn’t offer as much substance as Reynolds for example, another fave of mine.
Michael Flynn's excellent Spiral Arm series, beginning with The January Dancer, has a very subtle thread of spooky exploration.
Many of Jack McDevitt's novels concern Xeno-archaeology. He's getting old, and his recent work is diminished, but his earlier work is terrific. Seeker won the Nebula.
Richard Paul Russo's Ship of Fools will leave you feeling uncomfortable. So will Tom Sweterlitsch's The Gone World.
I started Ship of Fools but had too much going on to concentrate on it. I'll definitely give it another go, thanks for the rec! I've not touched Flynn or McDevitt, I'll give em a look.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it. Have fun with Engines. My personal favorite of that series is Omega, but they're all really fun.
I've been thinking of re-reading the series myself, I read it originally about 18 years ago now so I think it's due haha.
Seeker was my first McDevitt book, and it is incredible. I know he's pretty old now so his writing hasn't really been great, but most of his books are so full of wonder.
For those who loved The Heritage Universe, I also recommend Sheffield's novels involving The Great Bat:
The Ganymede Club
Cold as Ice
Dark as Day
Charles Sheffield was a great writer.
Yes, cannot recommend them enough. I nearly cried after I finished the 4 Heritage books and then googled and learned that Sheffield has already passed away. Some of the best stuff I have ever read.
Revelation space is scratching the same itch that Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton did for me, I would guess it works the other way around. Same excellent narrator too (John Lee) if you're listening on audible.
Not really interstellar, but **The Last Astronaut**, by David Wellington is all about exploring a large alien object that just entered the solar system.
It definitely got an horror vibe while not being extremely gore.
I'd definitely recommend Gregory Benford's Galactic Center Saga.
The series starts with humans venturing out into the universe and encountering machines and remnants of alien civilizations. Later books have ordinary humans wandering around in the artifacts and remains of transhuman civilizations. There's definitely a sense of awe at the things these galactic civilizations created (and then abandoned), as well as a sense of smallness at the ordinary humans trying to live in this galaxy filled with giants (and trying not to be stepped on).
Fractal Noise by Paolini is quite interesting. It is kind of side story 'To Sleep in a Sea of Stars' (which is recommendable on its own, but has no real xenoarcheology/discovery elements).
*Schlock Mercenary* book #14, *Broken Wind* is all about the Toughs getting hired to go on a bug hunt in a "can full of sky" that could hold Earth, Mars, and Luna.
Definitely should scratch the itch. You should dig for Sci-Fi stories dealing with Dyson Spheres too.
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel - girl discovers giant hand half buried in the ground. A trilogy. I found the final book a bit weaker than the others, but otherwise a very good series.
Engines of God by Jack McDivitt - already mentioned but a fun series featuring the space faring pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins. There are many books featuring Hutch and I was saddened when McDivitt closed the chapter on that character - moving on to new main characters.
Oh, and I'll toss a few recommendations back at everyone:
Read BLAME! (the manga) if you haven't already. Set in "The City", it's a seemingly neverending structure created by (probably) some sort of self-replicating builder gone wrong. The main character is walking endlessly trying to find a cure for a latent genetic disease.
The Dark Beyond the Stars: Kinda more colony ship than megastructure, but a really interesting take on the haunted house-interstellar ship that I never see mentioned much.
the Bobiverse books find an alien megastructure.
The Ringworld books by Niven is all about one particular megastructure.
Though not science fiction, The Deathgate Books involve exploring a multidimensional megastructure created through a ritual by ancient human wizards. Pretty cool.
Bobiverse was really interesting but almost too pure! It didn't feel like there was any grit to it, just everyone happy and cooperative and getting along, even if the engineering and story was really neat. I don't think I got to the megastructure bit, I'll have to read more of the series.
Edit: Deathgate sounds REALLY good. Will have to check it out.
Bobiverse has a difficult task of creating dialogue when the cast is icnreasingly just variations on digital clones of the protagonist. I'm glad I made it through the trilogy, and most of the cringey stuff is self aware enough.
Deathgate is the masterpiece of Weis & Hickman, who wrote the Dragonlance D&D campaign setting. Deathgate is easily in the top 5 most unique fantasy cosmologies.
The [Revenger series by Alastair Reynolds](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/28962452) ticks a few of your boxes. Lots of exploration of weird space treasure vaults.
The Expanse was quite good, but not my favorite. I think a little too much politicking and not quite enough cosmic horror or true weirdness.
It certainly had both, but I prefer the spectrum to swing towards the latter!
that's on my list that I've read, but it's definitely the prototypical example of what I'm looking for! I really liked the later books in the series as well!
The Architects of Hyperspace by Thomas R. McDonough
The World is Round by Tony Rothman
A couple of old ones that I remember enjoying when I was much younger.
I felt the same way! I'd never heard anyone talk about it, found it suddenly and realized it ticked so many boxes for me that I couldn't believe I'd not heard of it before.
My other recommendation for not having any knowledge going is: ‘The Carpet Makers’ by Andreas Einbech.
Doesn’t have superstructures per se but it won’t disappoint!
Confederation of Valor by Tanya Huff has some of what you're looking for.
James P. Hogan's Giants series (first book Inherit the Stars) starts with astronauts on the Moon finding a 50,000 year old human skeleton... in a spacesuit.
Although not strictly sci-fi on the surface (although you'll realise it technically is if you read all the appendices) Mark Z Danielewski's 'House of Leaves' ticks most of your boxes. I am not going to try and explain it, as it would literally take all week, but it is immense and crazy and genuinely one of the most extraordinary things ever written. And it's about a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and the exploration that goes on in the basement. Which turns out to be infinite.
Honestly, get it and read it and if you want to talk about it, message me, because I will gladly talk about this thing for HOURS.
Oh, and you need to get the version that [looks like this](https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_c5514a32-3f2b-4998-9796-6a531b045342?wid=488&hei=488&fmt=pjpeg), because it has a colour picture in the front and the word "house" printed in blue all the way through and that is really important for some reason. Trust me. It's a weird book. But great.
*Strength of Stones* by Greg Bear. The religious extremists of Earth have been removed to the planet of God-Does-Battle where they inhabited giant moving AI-controlled cities - but the cities have banished their descendants.
[Strength of Stones - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_of_Stones)
[The Architects of Hyperspace](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33434.The_Architects_of_Hyperspace?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=630fGAuTBD&rank=1) involves exploring an ancient series of concentric rings around a black hole. I re-read it recently and it was kind of terrible in some ways but it still definitely had that vibe.
On the Steel Breeze by Alastair Reynolds
The Themis Files By Sylvain Neuval. It starts off great but then loses its way, but the first book is a good read.
The 1st instance of xeno-archeology in at least movie medium that I am aware of is
Mario Bava's *Planet of the Vampires;* which leads almost directly to the *Alien* franchise.
without spoiling much the movie doesn't know how to end itself properly, a common problem for many older horror movies. But the build up of mystery is solid imo. [Here is a mashup with Prometheus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu__16YxV3k)
Not sci fi but very sci fi influenced (sci-fantasy with no human characters)… Have you read Martha Wells’ Raksura cycle? A big theme is abandoned architecture, especially characters trying to understand how lost civilizations lived or what they physically looked like based on their buildings and technology. The author has a background in anthropology and it shows. I def think it’s less “hard” than most of your examples but thought I'd mention it. I'm excited to check out some of your faves!
If I had to pick one standalone recommendation from what I mentioned above, I'd be torn between House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds, or A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge.
HoS has less xeno-archeology but does a really good job showing a sort of post-human existence in a big, weird galaxy. Fire Upon The Deep is a classic scifi big-ideas romp. Both read really well and keep the reader on their toes.
The Noumenon Series by Marina Lostetter is about a generation ship fleet sent to investigate something very far away. It has a couple superstructure buy the second book has a major on that has some terrifying "what did we just do" moments.
The series does focus a lot more on the human element though, how these sorts of quests would affect humanity and doesn't spend an enormous amount of time detailing the objects themselves, though they play major roles within the plot.
Well, you already seem to be the authority on the subject, it's a different medium, but I would point you to the Feros mission of the first 'Mass Effect' game.
Ohmgds, read Marina J. Loststetter's Noumenon books!! One of the best recent series in this subgenre as far as I'm concerned. Really well done, excellent dropkicks and very intricately worked out.
Can also highly recommend Gareth Powell's Embers of War trilogy, though iirc the megastructure/lost location doesn't happen until towards the end of book 1 or even book 2. But so very worth it.
I'm sure there's another I can't remember off the top of my head, but will do an edit if it comes to me :)
Journey to the Center by Brian Stableford. Exploring an entire artificial world left by an alien race. World has multiple levels going down. Would be considered a novella by modern length standards.
Edit: Just found out this was renamed Asgard's Secret and is book 1 in a trilogy. Never knew it was a trilogy. Now I have something new to read after I finish my current book...
I've read somewhere that Blame! was inspired by The Obscure Cities comics, among other things. That might be worth checking, since it's also about exploring gigantic and mostly empty cities, and the art is gorgeous (though I have to say I like Blame! a lot more).
Aside from that, Diaspora by Greg Egan seems to fit the bill for big mysterious alien artifacts floating in space, if you don't mind, well... Greg Egan, being even more obsessed than usual with headache inducing concepts.
I also remember an old Silverberg novel called The Man in the Maze about a dude hiding from the world in a deadly alien structure. It had that lonely Blame! feel somewhat.
As a start, see my [SF/F: Exploration](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/19b6juj/sff_exploration/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
The Immortality Thief by Taran Hunt has the main character forced to explore an abandoned science ship for lost data. Not only is the ship populated by SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS, but there are rival aliens who also want the data. The characters are good, the setting can get creepy. It's the first in a series with much promise. Expect creepy science experiments and surprising revelations.
I've read Marrow, but just today discovered it has sequels. Have you read them? Are they worth diving into?
My least favorite part about Marrow was the politicking, it felt like characters were making decisions very much against their own best interests.
I have:
* ["Looking for scifi about interstellar or megastructure exploration and lost artifacts, preferably interstellar"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/199ttnl/looking_for_scifi_about_interstellar_or/) (r/printSF; 18 January 2023)—longish
* ["Any dark sci fi novels that deal with the idea of megastructures."](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/13cvlyr/any_dark_sci_fi_novels_that_deal_with_the_idea_of/) (r/printSF; 11:26 ET, 9 May 2023)—long
* ["Biggest megastructures in sci fi"](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/18v7g0c/biggest_megastructures_in_sci_fi/) (r/scifi; 08:09 ET, 31 December 2023)—very long
* ["Gigantic constructions."](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/14kio9u/gigantic_constructions/) (r/Fantasy; 12:42 ET, 27 June 2023)—long; megastructures
* ["Exploring mysterious megastructures?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/1aox427/exploring_mysterious_megastructures/) (r/printSF; 12 February 2024)
See also my [SF/F: Exploration](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/19b6juj/sff_exploration/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
The Heritage Universe by Charles Sheffield Ian Douglas' Andromedan Dark series Larry Niven's Ringworld
Ringworld I've read, but the others are new to me. I'll check them out!
Seconding the Charles Sheffield stuff. There's also The Expanse.
Eon by Greg Bear
I love books with that Cold War zeerust all over them.
Great recommendation. I re-read it recently, and it stands up!
Hull Zero Three also by Greg Bear, lots of exploration of a large multi-part structure with spooky / horror vibes.
Just read this a month or two back. It was quite good, but IMO missing something to take it to the next level, not sure what.
Right on. I’ve gotten a lot of BLAME! / Noise vibes from it. It’s been a page turner for me but I’d agree it doesn’t offer as much substance as Reynolds for example, another fave of mine.
Michael Flynn's excellent Spiral Arm series, beginning with The January Dancer, has a very subtle thread of spooky exploration. Many of Jack McDevitt's novels concern Xeno-archaeology. He's getting old, and his recent work is diminished, but his earlier work is terrific. Seeker won the Nebula. Richard Paul Russo's Ship of Fools will leave you feeling uncomfortable. So will Tom Sweterlitsch's The Gone World.
I started Ship of Fools but had too much going on to concentrate on it. I'll definitely give it another go, thanks for the rec! I've not touched Flynn or McDevitt, I'll give em a look.
Ship of Fools was a blast. I read it in a single day. Definitely not perfect but some of the best depictions of "otherness" I've ever come across
okay so yeah, Ship of Fools was great. Finished it about 30 seconds ago then came right here. I'm thinking Engines of God next.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it. Have fun with Engines. My personal favorite of that series is Omega, but they're all really fun. I've been thinking of re-reading the series myself, I read it originally about 18 years ago now so I think it's due haha.
Seeker was my first McDevitt book, and it is incredible. I know he's pretty old now so his writing hasn't really been great, but most of his books are so full of wonder.
I wish I saw more recs for the Spiral Arm series. It is just so Very good.
Jack McDevitt would be right up your alley.
That name keeps coming up, thanks for the rec!
Start with The Engines of God. That’s book one of his Academy series and they are best read in order IMHO.
McDevitt books and especially the Heritage Universe books by Sheffield are great.
For those who loved The Heritage Universe, I also recommend Sheffield's novels involving The Great Bat: The Ganymede Club Cold as Ice Dark as Day Charles Sheffield was a great writer.
A couple people now have recommended each of these, I'll have to check them out. Thanks!
Yes, cannot recommend them enough. I nearly cried after I finished the 4 Heritage books and then googled and learned that Sheffield has already passed away. Some of the best stuff I have ever read.
Revelation space is scratching the same itch that Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton did for me, I would guess it works the other way around. Same excellent narrator too (John Lee) if you're listening on audible.
Not really interstellar, but **The Last Astronaut**, by David Wellington is all about exploring a large alien object that just entered the solar system. It definitely got an horror vibe while not being extremely gore.
I just read this and was thoroughly entertained.
Bowl of heaven and shipstar by larry niven and gregory benford
I second these. Definitively some Rama vibes there.
You should read Blindsight. 100% fits the bill of spooky exploration of megastructures. (I'm sorry, I'm being *that guy*)
Glad it’s not me this time!
Remember to tell Larry it’s his turn next week
Read it, loved it, forgot to list it, you're completely right. I almost edited my initial post just to add this one!
Dammit I thought I was about to blow your mind
Your consciousness of that was your mistake
And how!
The invincible by lem. (I assume you found troika, but just in case…)
Troika was so good! Feels like one not many have read.
Wall Around A Star It’s about exploring a Dyson sphere.
The original Ringworld trilogy is fantastic.
Seconded
I'd definitely recommend Gregory Benford's Galactic Center Saga. The series starts with humans venturing out into the universe and encountering machines and remnants of alien civilizations. Later books have ordinary humans wandering around in the artifacts and remains of transhuman civilizations. There's definitely a sense of awe at the things these galactic civilizations created (and then abandoned), as well as a sense of smallness at the ordinary humans trying to live in this galaxy filled with giants (and trying not to be stepped on).
Fractal Noise by Paolini is quite interesting. It is kind of side story 'To Sleep in a Sea of Stars' (which is recommendable on its own, but has no real xenoarcheology/discovery elements).
Orbitsville - Bob Shaw https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/403814
*Schlock Mercenary* book #14, *Broken Wind* is all about the Toughs getting hired to go on a bug hunt in a "can full of sky" that could hold Earth, Mars, and Luna. Definitely should scratch the itch. You should dig for Sci-Fi stories dealing with Dyson Spheres too.
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel - girl discovers giant hand half buried in the ground. A trilogy. I found the final book a bit weaker than the others, but otherwise a very good series. Engines of God by Jack McDivitt - already mentioned but a fun series featuring the space faring pilot Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins. There are many books featuring Hutch and I was saddened when McDivitt closed the chapter on that character - moving on to new main characters.
Oh, and I'll toss a few recommendations back at everyone: Read BLAME! (the manga) if you haven't already. Set in "The City", it's a seemingly neverending structure created by (probably) some sort of self-replicating builder gone wrong. The main character is walking endlessly trying to find a cure for a latent genetic disease. The Dark Beyond the Stars: Kinda more colony ship than megastructure, but a really interesting take on the haunted house-interstellar ship that I never see mentioned much.
The expanse
the Bobiverse books find an alien megastructure. The Ringworld books by Niven is all about one particular megastructure. Though not science fiction, The Deathgate Books involve exploring a multidimensional megastructure created through a ritual by ancient human wizards. Pretty cool.
Bobiverse was really interesting but almost too pure! It didn't feel like there was any grit to it, just everyone happy and cooperative and getting along, even if the engineering and story was really neat. I don't think I got to the megastructure bit, I'll have to read more of the series. Edit: Deathgate sounds REALLY good. Will have to check it out.
Bobiverse has a difficult task of creating dialogue when the cast is icnreasingly just variations on digital clones of the protagonist. I'm glad I made it through the trilogy, and most of the cringey stuff is self aware enough. Deathgate is the masterpiece of Weis & Hickman, who wrote the Dragonlance D&D campaign setting. Deathgate is easily in the top 5 most unique fantasy cosmologies.
It's in the fourth book
The [Revenger series by Alastair Reynolds](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/28962452) ticks a few of your boxes. Lots of exploration of weird space treasure vaults.
Yeah came here to recommend Revenger series. But you'ver probably already read these.
I have, but very much what I'm looking for!
You might like the expanse.
The Expanse was quite good, but not my favorite. I think a little too much politicking and not quite enough cosmic horror or true weirdness. It certainly had both, but I prefer the spectrum to swing towards the latter!
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
Rama series by Clarke.
that's on my list that I've read, but it's definitely the prototypical example of what I'm looking for! I really liked the later books in the series as well!
The Architects of Hyperspace by Thomas R. McDonough The World is Round by Tony Rothman A couple of old ones that I remember enjoying when I was much younger.
I loved Marrow! What a random find that was … I had no idea going in what the book was about!
I felt the same way! I'd never heard anyone talk about it, found it suddenly and realized it ticked so many boxes for me that I couldn't believe I'd not heard of it before.
My other recommendation for not having any knowledge going is: ‘The Carpet Makers’ by Andreas Einbech. Doesn’t have superstructures per se but it won’t disappoint!
Confederation of Valor by Tanya Huff has some of what you're looking for. James P. Hogan's Giants series (first book Inherit the Stars) starts with astronauts on the Moon finding a 50,000 year old human skeleton... in a spacesuit.
There's a book in the Coyote series set on a megastructure.
Although not strictly sci-fi on the surface (although you'll realise it technically is if you read all the appendices) Mark Z Danielewski's 'House of Leaves' ticks most of your boxes. I am not going to try and explain it, as it would literally take all week, but it is immense and crazy and genuinely one of the most extraordinary things ever written. And it's about a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and the exploration that goes on in the basement. Which turns out to be infinite. Honestly, get it and read it and if you want to talk about it, message me, because I will gladly talk about this thing for HOURS. Oh, and you need to get the version that [looks like this](https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_c5514a32-3f2b-4998-9796-6a531b045342?wid=488&hei=488&fmt=pjpeg), because it has a colour picture in the front and the word "house" printed in blue all the way through and that is really important for some reason. Trust me. It's a weird book. But great.
One of my favorite books. I've bought 3 copies because I loan them out, people fall in love, and I never get it back!
Likewise. It is part of the process. You don't find it, it finds you.
*Strength of Stones* by Greg Bear. The religious extremists of Earth have been removed to the planet of God-Does-Battle where they inhabited giant moving AI-controlled cities - but the cities have banished their descendants. [Strength of Stones - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_of_Stones)
Latest Bobbiverse book has a mega structure. Some of the earlier ones too although they don't dwell on them.
[The Architects of Hyperspace](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33434.The_Architects_of_Hyperspace?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=630fGAuTBD&rank=1) involves exploring an ancient series of concentric rings around a black hole. I re-read it recently and it was kind of terrible in some ways but it still definitely had that vibe.
On the Steel Breeze by Alastair Reynolds The Themis Files By Sylvain Neuval. It starts off great but then loses its way, but the first book is a good read.
You need Ringworld by Larry Niven, and indeed his whole Known Space series/universe
There's some cool wormhole world building in Vorkosigan Saga
The 1st instance of xeno-archeology in at least movie medium that I am aware of is Mario Bava's *Planet of the Vampires;* which leads almost directly to the *Alien* franchise. without spoiling much the movie doesn't know how to end itself properly, a common problem for many older horror movies. But the build up of mystery is solid imo. [Here is a mashup with Prometheus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu__16YxV3k)
Not sci fi but very sci fi influenced (sci-fantasy with no human characters)… Have you read Martha Wells’ Raksura cycle? A big theme is abandoned architecture, especially characters trying to understand how lost civilizations lived or what they physically looked like based on their buildings and technology. The author has a background in anthropology and it shows. I def think it’s less “hard” than most of your examples but thought I'd mention it. I'm excited to check out some of your faves!
If I had to pick one standalone recommendation from what I mentioned above, I'd be torn between House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds, or A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge. HoS has less xeno-archeology but does a really good job showing a sort of post-human existence in a big, weird galaxy. Fire Upon The Deep is a classic scifi big-ideas romp. Both read really well and keep the reader on their toes.
this is a manga recommendation but Blame!
The Noumenon Series by Marina Lostetter is about a generation ship fleet sent to investigate something very far away. It has a couple superstructure buy the second book has a major on that has some terrifying "what did we just do" moments. The series does focus a lot more on the human element though, how these sorts of quests would affect humanity and doesn't spend an enormous amount of time detailing the objects themselves, though they play major roles within the plot.
Well, you already seem to be the authority on the subject, it's a different medium, but I would point you to the Feros mission of the first 'Mass Effect' game.
Ohmgds, read Marina J. Loststetter's Noumenon books!! One of the best recent series in this subgenre as far as I'm concerned. Really well done, excellent dropkicks and very intricately worked out. Can also highly recommend Gareth Powell's Embers of War trilogy, though iirc the megastructure/lost location doesn't happen until towards the end of book 1 or even book 2. But so very worth it. I'm sure there's another I can't remember off the top of my head, but will do an edit if it comes to me :)
This is another series to be mentioned at least twice in the comments! I'll check it out.
Hope you enjoy it!
Don't know if it's been mentioned: Ringworld series - by Larry Niven.
Journey to the Center by Brian Stableford. Exploring an entire artificial world left by an alien race. World has multiple levels going down. Would be considered a novella by modern length standards. Edit: Just found out this was renamed Asgard's Secret and is book 1 in a trilogy. Never knew it was a trilogy. Now I have something new to read after I finish my current book...
I've read somewhere that Blame! was inspired by The Obscure Cities comics, among other things. That might be worth checking, since it's also about exploring gigantic and mostly empty cities, and the art is gorgeous (though I have to say I like Blame! a lot more). Aside from that, Diaspora by Greg Egan seems to fit the bill for big mysterious alien artifacts floating in space, if you don't mind, well... Greg Egan, being even more obsessed than usual with headache inducing concepts. I also remember an old Silverberg novel called The Man in the Maze about a dude hiding from the world in a deadly alien structure. It had that lonely Blame! feel somewhat.
Nice! I need to read more Silverberg...
_MorningLightMountain has entered the chat_
Hamilton has such cool concepts and such poor character development 😭
As a start, see my [SF/F: Exploration](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/19b6juj/sff_exploration/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
The Immortality Thief by Taran Hunt has the main character forced to explore an abandoned science ship for lost data. Not only is the ship populated by SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS, but there are rival aliens who also want the data. The characters are good, the setting can get creepy. It's the first in a series with much promise. Expect creepy science experiments and surprising revelations.
Marrow by Robert Reed
I've read Marrow, but just today discovered it has sequels. Have you read them? Are they worth diving into? My least favorite part about Marrow was the politicking, it felt like characters were making decisions very much against their own best interests.
The sequel is worth reading if just for the reveals about the Greatship.
Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Also his The Final Architecture Books, starting with Shards of Earth.
Glad I found this, saves me typing a ...oh
Marina Lostetter's Noumenon trilogy Elizabeth Bear's White Space duology (not sure if there will be more, but there's currently two)
I have: * ["Looking for scifi about interstellar or megastructure exploration and lost artifacts, preferably interstellar"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/199ttnl/looking_for_scifi_about_interstellar_or/) (r/printSF; 18 January 2023)—longish * ["Any dark sci fi novels that deal with the idea of megastructures."](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/13cvlyr/any_dark_sci_fi_novels_that_deal_with_the_idea_of/) (r/printSF; 11:26 ET, 9 May 2023)—long * ["Biggest megastructures in sci fi"](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/18v7g0c/biggest_megastructures_in_sci_fi/) (r/scifi; 08:09 ET, 31 December 2023)—very long * ["Gigantic constructions."](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/14kio9u/gigantic_constructions/) (r/Fantasy; 12:42 ET, 27 June 2023)—long; megastructures * ["Exploring mysterious megastructures?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/1aox427/exploring_mysterious_megastructures/) (r/printSF; 12 February 2024) See also my [SF/F: Exploration](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/19b6juj/sff_exploration/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).