Good Sci-Fi

[pmrid (Peter)]

I've exhausted my known science fiction authors. So much of what passes for SF these days is adolescent merdre - if it isn't a Star Trek episode, it's some bodice-ripping nonsense with absolutely zero literary merit.
So, a call for suggstions. Adult SF, Who'se your favourite?
Peter

[RickS (Rick)]

What authors did you like, Peter? Just trying to get an idea of the sort of stuff you might like.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

it's some bodice-ripping nonsense with absolutely zero literary merit.

Personally, I'm still young enough not to have an issue with that...

[vlazg (George)]

Hi Peter, i have been reading SF for 50 years and my favourites are
Frederik Pohl esp the Heechee Saga
and my absolute favourite is Iain M Banks who sadly died.

[glend (Glen)]

It would help if you can give us some perspective on the authors whose stories you have exhausted. I share your dismay of available 'new' material. And most of the really good book writers are dead now.

Are you after a more techical look at the future, or space adventure type stuff?. Personally i think scifi book writing is a dying art form, being replaced by adolescent space cowboy stuff made for movies and tv.

[DarkArts]

No real favourites here, but have you tried James P. Hogan? He writes at the science end of sci-fi, and few seem to have heard of him, but I find his ideas and stories quite interesting.

Otherwise there are many in my bookcase:
Raymond E. Fiest
Kim Stanley Robinson
Peter F. Hamilton
Anne McCaffrey
Julian May
William Gibson
Alan Dean Foster
Harry Harrison
Charles Sheffield
Larry Niven
Jerry Pournelle
Robert L. Forward
H. Beam Piper
Greg Bear
David Weber
Ben Bova
Bob Shaw
etc.
plus I kinda like Christopher Stasheff's works if more on the fantasy side.

Maybe it's time to revisit the classics ... Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Herbert ... ?

[iasuka (Dmitry)]

+1 for Heinlein, he's my all-time favorite sci-fi writer. I basically grew up reading his novels. You _might_ not like it though if you don't like libertarian values.

Another good name to add to the list is Robert Sheckley. He's definitely worth checking. And re-checking.

Yet another great one is a Polish writer Stanislaw Lem. He wrote a whole lot of very deep and philosophical (but still quite fun to read) sci-fi books. Your experience may vary depending on a translation quality.

Ah, and don't forget about Kurt Vonnegut. Not exactly sci, but worth trying. Who knows, you might love it.

[redbeard (Damien)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

I've exhausted my known science fiction authors. So much of what passes for SF these days is adolescent merdre - if it isn't a Star Trek episode, it's some bodice-ripping nonsense with absolutely zero literary merit.
So, a call for suggstions. Adult SF, Who'se your favourite?
Peter

Hi Peter,

I'm not a big reader, more of a SF movie buff, BUT, my friend has read more science fiction than anyone I know, so, give him an email on dblood@finder.net.au and ask him. Let him know Damien sent you.
His name is Warrick.
All cool.

Cheers,

Damien.

[csb (Craig)]

This link is to a list of Science Fiction books in which the authors have used real or realistic physics/science in the stories. There is a brief synopsis of what the story is about and the list is categorised by subject.

The website is the Astronomical Society of The Pacific. Perhaps 100 books listed.

https://www.astrosociety.org/educati...l-index/#topic

There's a possibility you may have read some - let us know.

[cfranks (Charles)]

If you like 'Navy battles but transmuted to the future and into space' type of yarn, Jack Campbell writes some excellent ones. The science is very good and very believable. 'The Lost Fleet' is the first series of 6 books and I thoroughly recommend them.
Charles

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Several good authors already listed...

I'd add
Orson Scott Card
Fred Saberhagen

[silv (Annette)]

Hugh Howey - Wool Series
He doesn't go much into the science of his post-apocalyptic earth world and the little he does is kept foggy but it's still questionable...
it's an intriguing society, nonetheless!
So maybe it's more like a "social-fi" rather than a sci-fi.
Same goes for his stand-alone novel Sand. Also very intriguing socially - but vague on the tech side of things.

Initially I began reading Howey because he is self-published without the middle-man publisher - a newly made possible concept of authorship which I have a lot of respect for.

A thriller with sci-fi and a bit more science and technology than Howey that I enjoyed lately was A.G. Riddle - The Atlantis Gene .
part 1 and 2 are set on earth, part 3 goes into space, as well.


Great topic. Will come back here for inspiration.

[pfitzgerald (Paul)]

Joe Haldeman (the Forever War)
Elizabeth Moon
Arthur C. Clarke (Fountains Of Paradise)
and
Frank Herbert

Are two authors worthy of addition to the above list.

Paul

[ZeroID (Brent)]

The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi.
And if you want some true SciFi read The Skies Dark Labyrinth Trilogy. It reads as good as any scifi. I'm re-reading it at present.

[billdan (Bill)]

Hi Peter,
I was researching Omega Centauri and Wikipedia mentioned this novel.


Singularity (2012), by Ian Douglas.
The novel presents as fact that Omega Centauri and Kapteyn's star originate from a disrupted dwarf galaxy, and this origin is central to the novel's plot. A number of scientific aspects of Omega Centauri are discussed as the story progresses, including the likely radiation environment inside the cluster and what the sky might look like from inside the cluster.

Regards
Bill

[guipago (Geoff)]

Don't forget the Dune series by Frank Herbert & his son Brian Herbert, they come up with a lotta a-hole's that should be dropped out of an airlock(which might be too good for 'em)

[Andy01 (Andy)]

My #1 is Larry Niven, who's latest book is a wonderful Conan type fantasy "the Seascape Tattoo", all his hard sci-fi Known space series are well worth reading.
Try Ben Bova, his Mars novels and The Farside Observatory (on the dark side of the moon) was also a wonderful read.
Everything Heinlein, Herbert's Dune series, Brian Herbert's Hellhole series, the rock & rollicking Honor Harrington series by David Weber, most things Greg Bear, Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter, Sheckley, and Stephen Donaldson's Gap series is epic.
Hope that's useful 👍

[The_bluester (Paul)]

An interesting one (Though somewhat odd) was "the long earth" (Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter)

It revolved around "Parallel" earths that were essentially "Discovered" on what was termed "Step day" when plans for a device to enable you to step from one to another were published worldwide. Very different to anything else with Terry Pratchett's name on it as he was more of a humorous fantasy author. It ended up as a series of related books.

I need a new SciFi writer too, many of my favourites have died so I will be looking over this thread a bit! I was prone to A.C. Clarke, Asimov, Anne McCaffery, Greg Bear, Orson Scott Card (Provided I look past his personal politics) Alice Mary Norton (Though like some of the classic writers her work has suffered a bit in the last decade or so and looks really out of date sometimes!)

[silv (Annette)]

really out of date

that's what I thought re-watching Total Recall, yesterday.

Picking a novel for example from Craig's list , I make sure it is younger than 1990.

I'm a sucker for characters and authors with enough empathy to make me care for their action(s).
Sci-Fi is not famous for those traits - so at least I want to be intrigued by currently futuristic ideas and concepts.
Reading dead sci-fi authors, to me, seems a waste of precious reading time.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Hi,

My all time favourite is still Jack Vance. He often leans toward Science Fantasy, and does not do much pure cosmology. His last 2 or 3 though are not so good.

Another one is Dan Simmons, especially the Hyperion Cantos, where he plays with concepts of time distortion.

If you like Stephen King's style (I don't) try his Dark Tower series, featuring Roland the gunslinger.

Cheers