Non-Elite Sci-Fi universes that feel a bit similar...

[Shurimal]

Though it's not sci-fi per se, more dark fantasy, Attack on Titan has been on my backburner for a looong time, but this holidays I actually managed to dive in, and I have to say it resonates strongly with the Thargoid war story in Elite

 

[Valorin]

Just for some holiday entertainment... space gamers like us tend to include quite a high percentage of Sci-Fi readers and watchers. Over the years, there have been some amazing stories in this genre, in books, movies and TV shows, that have come with some incredibly good world building. So, my fellow Sci-Fi nerds and Elite commanders, what  other universes have you read or watched that give you something of the feel of the Elite universe?

 Not other  games, we're looking exclusively at other media here and that includes disqualification of books etc derived from computer games.

Since it was my idea, I'll go first...

The alliance/union universe created by C J Cherryh. The factions of that space, particularly if you also include the multispecies Compact space in the related Chanur stories always had a very "Elite-like" feel to me, with the absence of FTL inter-system comms, the need for all data to be couriered back and forth between stars, along with the trade goods you hoped, assuming your market data wasn't too out of date, would make you a profit at the other end. In its own way, the Pilots Federation feels a wee bit like the Merchants Alliance, poised uneasily between Sol and Cyteen and having to deal with both.

So, what have you encountered that felt a bit like the space were flying in?

To me, the Expanse actually feels most like Elite to me, just in the far past before hyperdrive jumps and system colonisation.
I think it could be a version of Elite's historic past.

 

[Shurimal]

I think it could be a version of Elite's historic past.

An alternate history for an alternate history But yes, all the political shenanigans, pirate groupings, mysterious and scary aliens with even more mysterious and scary magitech feels very Elite-like. Plus both use spinny things to make artificial gravity and railguns to make neat little holes in stuffz

Now, come to think of it, the human tech in Cameron's Avatar also feels very Elite-like, futuristic but grounded. Venture Star is probably my favourite space ship I've seen in movies. Those huge glowing radiators and tensile truss are reaallly nice

 

[DaveB]

I am loving the way you all think and have added at least two series to my kindle wishlist as a result of comments in this thread Keep 'em coming

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Nothing of the contemporary trash compares to Stanislaw Lem. I do recommend "The Invincible" both book and video game. "Fiasko" is a good read, too. Don't watch "Solaris" movies - read the book. Basically, you want good SciFi - read a book. HW Franke is also recommendable.

 

[Doctor Dread]

Don't watch "Solaris" movies - read the book.

As a tourist, I was in Zakopane in Poland, a mountainous town/ski resort in the middle of January, with snow up to the waist and still falling.

Found a house where Lem lived at the time he wrote "Solaris" and stood below the window of the room I guess he used for work - a quiet place with huge windows and a view on the next mountain top. No one was in the vicinity, no one passing, just me and the falling snow and a distant mountain, and being acutely aware that exactly this view and atmosphere influenced some of the "Solaris".

It was a great moment.

 

[Brieus]

Some of Andre Norton's old classic books from the 50's & 60's have small time traders wandering around the galaxy getting into trouble.

Particularly Search for the Star Stones, or The Forerunner Factor. You can get these as ebooks from Baen.com as well.

Andre Norton Collection

Andre Norton Collection

www.baen.com

And a couple of free ones to start with:

Time Traders

DRAFTED INTO THE ARMY OF TIME Intelligence agents have uncovered something which seems beyond belief, but the evidence is incontrovertible: the USA's greatest adversary on the world stage is sending its agents back through time! And someone or something unknown to our history is presenting them...

www.baen.com

Star Soldiers

CONTROLLING AUTHORITY Andre Norton-Grand Mistress of science fiction-presents a grand tapestry of the far-flung interstellar future, in which the first starships from Earth have burst out into the universe . . . only to run straight into the restraining grasp of the stagnant alien federation...

www.baen.com