Sci Fi Books (5 Viewers)

[St. Widge]

I’ve owned Hyperion for decades never read it

Read it. The entire Hyperion series of books is amazing. Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion. Just a great story told over such a long time frame.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Read it. The entire Hyperion series of books is amazing. Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion. Just a great story told over such a long time frame.

it's on my endless 'to read' list

This one has been on the list since high school

 

[St. Widge]

(1) The Expanse (epic and fantastic - characters, plot, "realism" all top notch)
(2) Hyperion (excellent world-building in book #1, but #2 is fine but just more of the same plot)
(3) The Black Cloud (old fashioned but tight and "realistic")
(4) Three Body Problem (fresh idea, good writing, sequel even better; but the Chinese names lose me)
(5) Blindsight (clever take on consciousness in context of first-contact story)
(6) Ender's Game (fun little book)
(7) Dune (just read #1 for the first time - great but future installments seem questionable)
(8) Hail Mary (good premise, good writing)
(9) The Sparrow (good premise, poor writing)
(10) The Wall (kind of Young-Adulty but excellent premise)
(11) Long Way To A Small Angry Planet (fun but ultra-woke worldbuilding and dialogue tries too hard to be clever)
(12) Cuckoo Cloud Land ("intellectual" but really just OK)
(13) Red Rising (started, lost interest - seems to be a Young Adult thing)
(14) Station Eleven (started, lost interest)

I personally love the entire series of Dune books. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are very good. But it gets very weird in God Emperor of Dune and that continues through Chapterhouse: Dune. I personally don't mind the weirdness but it turns some people off. But, beyond the original book, there are many side stories and prequels done by Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson that don't include the weirdness of the later Herbert books. The Herbert/Anderson books aren't quite as "deep" as what Frank Herbert wrote, but it's still a good set of stories in a very interesting universe.

If you are looking for hard Sci-Fi, Alastair Reynolds. For more space opera stuff, check on the Empire of Man Series by David Weber and John Ringo. Also the Safehold series by David Weber.

I'm also a huge fan of Neil Stephenson. He crosses lots of genres but his most famous stuff if mostly Cyber Punk. i.e. Snow Crash, The Diamond Age. But, I'm a big fan of all of his work including the Baroque Cycle series, Cryptonomicon, Anathem, and Seveneves.

Edit: I also recommend the entire Altered Carbon series by Richard Morgan. Don't let the Netflix series keep you away. It was mostly nothing like the books and completely changed the story and the characters involved. There is a long story being told, but each of the three books are very different. Really a fun read and a fun world that was built.

 

[St. Widge]

it's on my endless 'to read' list

This one has been on the list since high school

The first book in the series is the best but all of them are worth reading since you don't really get the full story until the last book.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I personally love the entire series of Dune books. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are very good. But it gets very weird in God Emperor of Dune and that continues through Chapterhouse: Dune. I personally don't mind the weirdness but it turns some people off. But, beyond the original book, there are many side stories and prequels done by Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson that don't include the weirdness of the later Herbert books. The Herbert/Anderson books aren't quite as "deep" as what Frank Herbert wrote, but it's still a good set of stories in a very interesting universe.

If you are looking for hard Sci-Fi, Alastair Reynolds. For more space opera stuff, check on the Empire of Man Series by David Weber and John Ringo. Also the Safehold series by David Weber.

I'm also a huge fan of Neil Stephenson. He crosses lots of genres but his most famous stuff if mostly Cyber Punk. i.e. Snow Crash, The Diamond Age. But, I'm a big fan of all of his work including the Baroque Cycle series, Cryptonomicon, Anathem, and Seveneves.

I've tried reading Dune, never could get into it at all - that was probably middle school and haven;t tried since so might feel differently about it now

same story for Lord of the Rings and Asimov's Foundation series

 

[St. Widge]

I've tried reading Dune, never could get into it at all - that was probably middle school and haven;t tried since so might feel differently about it now

same story for Lord of the Rings and Asimov's Foundation series

I think Dune is kind of deep for that age. Lots of things going on that a younger person might not get. My daughter read Dune in 9th grade and loved it, but I don't think she would have felt the same way when she was younger since at that point she was mostly reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter stuff.

I could never get into reading the Lord of the Rings. I do love the Peter Jackson movies, but I didn't enjoy reading the books. The Asimov Foundation series isn't a great read either. I read it, but mostly because it is literally foundational for later Sci-Fi, but I think those books have lost a bit over time.

 

[Sun Wukong]

This is probably an unpopular take, but while I understand the importance of the legendary hard scifi writers like Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, etc. to popular fiction and absolutely respect and enjoy their ideas, I never found any of them to be particularly great writers in the sense of crafting prose that draws you in or has great readability. I always found their stuff very dense and matter of fact and was never really pulled into their works because of that.

I contrast that with someone like Frank Herbert who, despite having some really out there ideas, I always found easy to read because his previous career as a journalist gave him an accessible way with words.

Just my experience.

 

[Sailorsaint]

This is probably an unpopular take, but while I understand the importance of the legendary hard scifi writers like Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, etc. to popular fiction and absolutely respect and enjoy their ideas, I never found any of them to be particularly great writers in the sense of crafting prose that draws you in or has great readability. I always found their stuff very dense and matter of fact and was never really pulled into their works because of that.

I contrast that with someone like Frank Herbert who, despite having some really out there ideas, I always found easy to read because his previous career as a journalist gave him an accessible way with words.

Just my experience.

Asimov and Clarke were definitely hard sci-fi writers but Bradbury could tell a story and draw you into his world. I think he and Weir are on the same level.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Asimov and Clarke were definitely hard sci-fi writers but Bradbury could tell a story and draw you into his world. I think he and Weir are on the same level.

Yeah, in retrospect I shouldn't have lumped Bradbury in there. I never had an issue reading his stuff.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Asimov and Clarke were definitely hard sci-fi writers but Bradbury could tell a story and draw you into his world. I think he and Weir are on the same level.

there was a discussion when I was in school about the difference between, author, novelist and storyteller

I don't remember anything about the differences, but I recall thinking it was very interesting

 

[St. Widge]

This is probably an unpopular take, but while I understand the importance of the legendary hard scifi writers like Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, etc. to popular fiction and absolutely respect and enjoy their ideas, I never found any of them to be particularly great writers in the sense of crafting prose that draws you in or has great readability. I always found their stuff very dense and matter of fact and was never really pulled into their works because of that.

I contrast that with someone like Frank Herbert who, despite having some really out there ideas, I always found easy to read because his previous career as a journalist gave him an accessible way with words.

Just my experience.

I agree. As much as Asimov and Clarke had interesting ideas and concepts for their time, the writing isn't great. Which is why I think their stuff, while important from a study of literature aspect, isn't really great for the modern reader either because what was fiction then is reality now or because our reality is different from what they predicted. It makes their stuff feel really dated.

As far as Bradbury, all I ever read from him was Something Wicked This Way Comes which I tend to think holds up, but it is more or less told from child's perspective so that makes it more acceptable to be more "naive" and now as well written.

 

[zeetes]

i've been on a john scalzi kick for a while now. lock in hooked me in.

 

[Sailorsaint]

I agree. As much as Asimov and Clarke had interesting ideas and concepts for their time, the writing isn't great. Which is why I think their stuff, while important from a study of literature aspect, isn't really great for the modern reader either because what was fiction then is reality now or because our reality is different from what they predicted. It makes their stuff feel really dated.

As far as Bradbury, all I ever read from him was Something Wicked This Way Comes which I tend to think holds up, but it is more or less told from child's perspective so that makes it more acceptable to be more "naive" and now as well written.

Science Fiction tends to become Science Fact over time. You should try more of Bradbury's stuff, he was very good at the short story as well as the novel....A Sound of Thunder (the movie was horrible), The Martian Chronicles (there should be an updated movie of this, the original was made for TV), Fahrenheit 451 (I've never watched any of the film adaptations)....those are just a few examples.

 

[St. Widge]

Science Fiction tends to become Science Fact over time. You should try more of Bradbury's stuff, he was very good at the short story as well as the novel....A Sound of Thunder (the movie was horrible), The Martian Chronicles (there should be an updated movie of this, the original was made for TV), Fahrenheit 451 (I've never watched any of the film adaptations)....those are just a few examples.

I forgot Fahrenheit 451 was Bradbury. That is a great book. It is a bit dated, but the message is obviously still very important. Probably the first book that made me really think about those issues and led me to read 1984 and Slaughterhouse 5.

 

[Sailorsaint]

I forgot Fahrenheit 451 was Bradbury. That is a great book. It is a bit dated, but the message is obviously still very important. Probably the first book that made me really think about those issues and led me to read 1984.

It may not be as dated as you think......things seem like they circle around when you don't learn the lesson correctly.