Books like Balance point by Robert Buettner

A tactical genius child, Ender Wiggin, is trained through deadly games to defend Earth against an alien menace in this acclaimed science‑fiction classic.

In Xenocide, Ender Wiggin confronts a deadly virus on the alien world Lusitania, where humans, pequeninos, and the Hive Queen coexist, while the Starways Congress weighs a planetary destruction to prevent a wider catastrophe.

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance in the Vorkosigan Saga series by Lois McMaster Bujold.

The Dark Between the Stars is a grand-scale space opera where humanity must overcome internal divides and reignite an alliance with the Ildiran Empire to confront a new, ominous threat that endangers the galaxy.

Invasion, Survival, and the Fight for Survival

In the outer Candela system, General Adolphus confronts the Diadem fleet amid a shadow‑Xayan mind blast, an imminent asteroid collision, and a rogue band of telemancers threatening all aboard.

In the sprawling capital of the Skolian Empire, former Imperial officer Major Bhaajan runs a private investigation firm, taking on cases that range from deeply personal to galaxy‑shattering in the shadowy underbelly of Undercity.

In the waning days of the Forerunner empire, the Flood invades and internal strife weakens defenses, forcing the Librarian and the Ur‑Didact to confront the ancient origins of the threat and decide whether the only way to save the universe is to commit the ultimate atrocity.

In the final sequel of the Vorkosigan Saga, Cordelia must chart a new path as she seeks purpose beyond the forces that once defined her life, navigating political shifts and personal rediscovery.

"At twenty-three, Jazen Parker has completed his Legion hitch a hero. But in four months, he'll have a price on his head. Worse, he's lost his past, and he can't find his future. Worst of all, he's chosen to search for them on the deadliest planet known to mankind. When Jazen reluctantly hires on to a Trueborn Earthman tycoon's safari to bag a deadly trophy, the reluctant mercenary finds himself shipped out to Downgraded Earthlinke 476, the outpost at the end of the universe known to everyone except its tourism bureau as Dead End. But the hunt goes terribly wrong, and Jazen must survive a tough, beautiful local guide who hates mercenaries, an eleven ton beast that can crush main battle tanks with one claw tied behind its back, and the return of a nightmare that has haunted Jazen since birth. Then Jazen learns that the stakes are not merely his own life, but the fate of an entire alien race"--Page 2 of cover.

When Captain Ariane Austin, Leader of the Faction of Humanity, returns from a perilous interplanetary voyage aboard the Holy Grail with a physics‑violating discovery, she must confront her enemies and decide humanity’s fate in the galaxy.

Prince Roger MacClintock, heir to the galaxy‑wide Throne of Man, transforms from spoiled nobility to a capable leader after surviving an assassination attempt on the planet Marduk. Facing a usurper and allied empires, he must avenge his family and secure his rightful rule over a thousand stars.