For me I would say “The Expanse” is a huge one. If there was ever a self made family, the crew of the Rocinante is one of the best. The amount of time they spend together and how they congeal into life long partners and friends in the face of some truly awful events is really inspiring to me.
I recall Becky Chambers’ “A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet” emphasizing the found family theme pretty heavily over the course of the story, especially non-traditional relationships. In fact, the ship crew’s relationships with one another forms the crux of the drama. Even though there are big “Important” events happening in the background, the narrative is focused on what those events mean for the characters on the ship, rather than what they mean for the galaxy as a whole.
‘The Lurking Fear’ by HP Lovecraft is about family. Actually a lot of his stories are. Just never in a good way.
For a less snarky answer I’d go with the original Star Wars trilogy as a good answer. Yes, I know the meme phrase regarding this, but it’s true that what elevated the trilogy above mere space adventure was the reveal (retcon, but who is counting) of Darth Vader and Luke’s connection. It gave the entire conflict a real sense of weight. The showdown in Return Of The Jedi where Luke cracks and goes beserk, followed by Vader sacrificing himself and unmasking is really great emotional closure for that story.
All of Octavia Butler’s books. Not that all the stories are uplifting tales, not by a long shot. But the perspectives of the characters are rooted in family, she explores the ideas of family a lot.
I love and hate the Expanse because it’s entirely believable that we’d finally clear out the bullshit infighting/politics on earth today just to trade for bullshit infighting/politics in space. It’s realistic if a bit depressing in such. :-) The actual acting is also pretty great in the show, and the relationship between the crew kinda reminds me of Firefly.
As far as sci-fi shows go, The Orville was also cool this way, if a bit goofy at times. The crew acts like a large family in many ways but with a diversity of cultures/personalities that are used to reflect real societal issues kinda like the old Star Trek series did.
In terms of books… the Spellmonger series has a bunch of characters that aren’t all related but have a fairly familial relationship with each other.
Self-made vs inherited/familial greatness is a pretty major theme in The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson. First thing that comes to mind.
Is your image a reference to events from “thousands of years ago”?
@Tenthrow for your consideration… https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-Second-Chance-for-Yesterday/R-A-Sinn/9781786188274
