11 mo. ago • 100%

Your Sci-Fi suggestions

I haven't had any luck in finding sci-fi books recently. I'm looking for a longer story that takes its time to establish the world/universe and the characters living in it. I like the idea of exploring space or futuristic cities/landscapes and being on a journey together with the protagonist. The story doesn't have to have a happy end or flawless characters, but I also don't like it when everything is hopeless/dystopic and all the characters stumble from one flawed decision to the next one. Some examples of what I enjoyed so far are:

Dune
Project Hail Mary
The Expanse Series
Hyperion Cantos Series
Bobiverse Series
The Murderbot Diaries Series
Tuf Voyaging
Night's Dawn Series (Might not be for everyone... contains excessive violence and some smut, but also some very interesting ideas)
Vatta's War Series (I usually don't like military sci-fi, but this one wasn't bad)
The Interdependency Series
Falling Free

If you enjoyed some of these stories and have any similar suggestions, feel free to share them here. If not, maybe consider checking out the list above... I highly recommend each of these entries.

49 comments

Asimov's Foundation series is pretty solid. Mostly the same main character for a few of them and then it's his relatives / friends for the rest. Lots of "space politics" very similar to Dune but with a little less war and more science adventuring. I especially liked the first book in the series. The prequels are good but not required reading. It's one trilogy with two prequels and two sequels released decades later.

edit: I also strongly recommend "The World at the End of Time," which has a couple narratives intertwined but is mostly about one man who gets cryogenically frozen a couple times. Very adventurous and pretty sad. Lots of speculative future visions in that one.

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- Thanks for mentioning it. I definitely should've added it to my post, since I enjoyed that story so much. Also, just in case you haven't seen the Apple TV adaptation of it... don't... They completely botched that one imo.
  
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  I wrote a really long praise of Foundation before I realised that you've just said you already like it.. instead I'll just say have you read Caves of Steel and its sequels? They are set about 20k years before Foundation and are also very good
  
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  I'm not sure if The Expanse (TV series) ruined Foundation (TV) for me, if it's just not a good adaptation, or if the books are just not particularly adaptable (or all three), but I agree. I only made it through the first two episodes before I gave up. I've heard the second season is better, but I don't know if it's worth it to force myself to sit through season 1 for.
  
  The Expanse is just spectacular when it comes to realising its world but also, with how much depth there is to the characters and politics, Foundation immediately felt very shallow in comparison. Obviously The Expanse books lay a lot of the foundations for the TV series to build on, but I think the TV series did a great job of adapting it to a new medium without much being lost in translation, and it even added to it in its own ways. Foundation's world-building, characterisation and politics all kind of just felt like it was going through the motions and showing surface-level stuff because it felt it had to rather than because it actually had any substance to work with. Which wasn't helped by the fact that the books don't provide much in that regard to work with.
  
  Ultimately, I don't think the Foundation books aren't particularly well-suited to being adapted to the screen. It's so focused on the "bigger picture" - on civilisations rather than characters, on philosophical and sociological concepts rather than particular plot points, on macro-narrative - while TV needs characters and micro-narrative.
  
  I will say that the TV series' idea to use three different-aged clones of Emperor Cleon, and to keep the actors persistent through the ages, seemed like a great addition. It's good to try to keep some recognisable faces while jumping across such long time periods.
  
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  Foundation is a great series and I highly agree with the recommendation. To be a bit more specific, there are multiple series that take place within the "Foundation universe".
  
  The Caves of Steel is about a police detective and explores the culture and cities of earth far in the future (but about 20k years before Foundation, assuming the TV series is the same as the books). The next three books explore space and follow known characters.
  
  Then, at the tail end of the series, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth are exploring the whole galaxy so would also fit your criteria nicely.
  
  But I really enjoyed the whole thing and I've reread so many times. The quality and pacing does change quite a bit, especially when you get to the original trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation) because these were among Isaac's first books and originally were a series of shorts from sci-fi magazines.
  
  You can see me collection is nearly complete. I'm missing The Stars, Like Dust and then Foundation's Edge is on loan. The start of the collection is from my grandfather and the rest I've bought over years of looking in charity shops.
  
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Peter F. Hamilton's books may fit the bill: Futuristic, not hopeless/dystopic, and the main characters tend to make reasonable decisions. Be wrned though that he favours deus ex machina conclusions. Most will suggest Pandora's Star as a starting point (with good reason, as the Commonwealth Saga is quite expansive), but it does not have to be. I personally read the Night's Dawn trilogy first. The Salvation trilogy also stands on its own, and for a completely standalone book Great North Road was a good read.

Adrian Tchaikovsky is another wonderful author! the Children of Time and Final Architecture series were quite enjoyable.

Redemption Space (Alastair Reynolds) is another series one that I like to recommend. Closer to The Expanse. House of Suns also is a great read by the same author, as are several of his other stories.

The White Space books by Elizabeth Bear should be on your reading list.

Vorkosigan Saga (Lois McMaster Bujold) is a bit dated but similar to Vatta's War in the earlier books. Later on the plot tends to be more along the lines of whodunnit mystery... in space.

And let's not forget another scifi favourite, Iain M. Banks! The Culture series are great of course, but I liked The Algebraist the best.

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Alright, we've got some overlap here, let's see...

The Red Rising Saga. I'm working through book 6 right now as an audiobook and I'm sneaking in a few minutes wherever I can. Definitely expands its scope as the series goes on and while I feel like I'm losing context for some of the new/returning characters at this point, I can follow enough to go along with it. The main character is born into the lowest caste of the society and works to infiltrate the highest caste. It's a long ride and ebbs and flows from hopelessness to triumph throughout the course of it.

The Combat Codes Saga. Probably closer to science-fantasy then fiction, but an interesting idea about nations using hand-to-hand combat to settle wars, territory, etc...I have only read the first book so far but I enjoyed it a lot.

Alex Benedict - I would encourage this more as a filler or inbetween books series. Binging all of the books can make them feel very samey. The core idea is that all of the books except the first one are told from the perspective of a colleague/assistant/"jill of all trades" woman who works with one of the most famous artifact hunters in the far future. Each book is essentially chasing an archeological mystery of some sort.

The Jubilee Cycle - I found the first book a long time ago at random in one of those discount bookstores and picked it up based on the cover alone. It's about a future where everything you do costs you money, to the point where political parties debate whether or not autonomic functions like breathing should cost money. The prose is a little dry and the author works as a translator, but I enjoyed the world that he built up as the main character peels back the layers of this society after he gets essentially bankrupted by a mysterious and unknown transaction.

Teixcalaan - Can't link the series for some reason. The main character is an ambassador to the ruling empire of the galaxy, trying to figure out who killed her predecessor and a conspiracy surrounding him. It felt very dense when I started it but I enjoyed it a lot!
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- Thanks! All of these stories sound interesting. Red Rising has actually been on my bucket list for a while now, but I've been hesitant to try it because the summary sounded like the "stumbling from one flawed decision to the next" thing I was mentioning earlier. Having another person suggest it here, makes me want to try it now.
  
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  I think the flaws of the characters decisions either come from gambles that don’t pay off or there are levels and movements they don’t see happening (and sometimes both). Their failures feel…earned if that makes sense? To be fair, it’s been a few years since I started the series so it can mush all together in my head :)
  
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  For sure give Red Rising a shot. First book gets going pretty quickly and I like the sci-fi with spaceships, energy weapons/shields, but also some fantasy elements mixed in. I haven't found a series like it so far.
  
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You've already had a recommondation for most of what I would suggest to you, but I will happily second the suggestions for the Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds, the Teixcalaan series by Arkady Martine, and the Imperial Raadch/Ancillary series by Ann Leckie. All have excellent worldbuilding and tell stories that depend heavily upon how their characters interface with the worlds they inhabit.

A little pulpier in tone, but still very well put together, I'd suggest as well the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, and especially the Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. The latter is a bit more fantastic space opera as opposed to some of the harder sci-fi you've mentioned, but Muir knows how to write a setting that is absolutely dripping in gothic horror, and still take you on an emotional roller coaster fully of highs, lows, and humor as you read it. It seems to be a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it series from the other conversations I've had about it, but I love it and I'd be remiss not to suggest it.

I'd also suggest, if you're not averse, dipping your toe into the fantasy genre as well. There's a broad range of authors there who have done excellent work building fantasy worlds that are structurally deep and compelling, and have many science-fictional qualities. Along these lines I'd suggest Robert Jackson Bennett's Founders trilogy, or N. K. Jemison's Broken Earth trilogy -- though, fair warning, both of these broke me in the end emotionally. Worth it, though!

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- Yes. Read all of these books.
  
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I've been plowing through Three Body Problem series by Cixin Liu recently and it's been really great. I'm on the home stretch of the last book and so excited to finish it.

All about space exploration, first contact, invasion, advancement and philosophy. A really great thinking book and leaves me with lots of uncomfortable feelings to ponder over. The pacing of the book took a little bit to get used to but it does well to help grapple with the time and space scale it is working with.

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- I've read the first and parts of the second book and I think it has one of the best antagonistic characters. I didn't put it on this list because I was looking more for stories, that explore new worlds and places. Its definitely on the list of books I want to finish at some point. Idk what it is, but it needs to be the right time and place for me to be able to appreciate books like those.
  
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You should check out Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire and Ann Leckie's Ancillary trilogy.

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Not sure if it tickles your fancy, but if you're in the mood for a humorous space adventure with an elaborate story and serious undertones, give Ben Yahtzee Croshaw's Will Save The Galaxy For Food a try.

Also, I haven't seen Adrift and the Outer Earth Trilogy by Rob Boffard being mentioned here. Especially the former managed to instill a sense of dread in me while the story unfolded. The latter is a rather long read, though the first book (Tracer) is self-contained.

ETA: a somewhat different style, but if you like futuristic worlds / galaxies with tons of intricate details, try The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Her world (universe, in fact) is incredibly rich in detail and diversity. Each alien race she introduces has its own complex backstory, values, language and culture.
The other books in the series didn't grip me like this one - they add a lot of background, and in that she's a genius, but for my taste the story was somewhat lacking.

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- Ditto on the Becky Chambers series. I actually liked the second book the most narratively, and if the OP likes Murderbot, they may really enjoy similar themes around artificial intelligence. I also really liked the final installment. It's a familiar setup with strangers locked in a room together, but I found it very meditative. Also, it wraps up one series character's journey to a decision that I found very profound.
  
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- I'll add "Will Save The Galaxy For Food" to my list, thanks! I've actually read Angry Planet a while ago and enjoyed it. A story that is really cozy and easy to read, that helped me through difficult times. In case you haven't read the Murderbot Diaries, I'd highly recommend those. Despite the name, it's also very nice to read.
  
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  Will look at Murderbot, thanks for the suggestion!
  I hope you'll enjoy WSTGFF.
  
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Have you tried CJ Cherryh, particularly the Alliance-Union universe? If you'd like to start with a longer novel, I'd suggest Downbelow Station or perhaps Cyteen (though DS is one of my favorites) if you'd like a faster and less deep introduction, I'd suggest Merchanter's Luck or The Pride of Chanur.

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- I haven't tried those, thanks for the suggestion!
  
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You've got some moderately highbrow and transhumanist stuff in there; have you tried Greg Egan? The two starting places I like to recommend are the Clockwork Rocket books (natives of a universe with alternate physics explore it and figure out what's going on, kind of Flatland turned up to 11.. and then up to 121..), and Permutation City which I think will meet your "some very interesting ideas" and then keep accelerating.

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- I haven't heard of any of those books and especially Permutation City sounds interresting to me, thanks!
  
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Iain M Banks's Culture series; Consider Phlebas, for instance, or The Player of Games, seem to be pretty much what you're asking for.

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- I haven't read anything from Iain M Banks so far but multiple people suggested him here so I'm adding those books to my list now. Thanks!
  
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I see a number of things on your list I also enjoy (and some I haven't seen so thanks for the recs!).

I've got a pretty long list, but I think only the first three are scifi in the space faring long run series sense. Including some others in the genre more broadly, in case any look interesting too:

The Final Architecture, Adrian Tchaikovsky

Altered Carbon, Richard K Morgan

A deepness in the sky, Vernor Vinge

The Acts of Caine, Matthew Stover

Roadside Picnic, Arkady Strugatsky

Broken Earth Trilogy, NK Jemison

Nexus Trilogy, Ramez Naam

Old man's War, John Scalzi
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- Nexus is a great and pretty fluid read.
  
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Frank Herberts 'WorShip' saga is one of my personal favorites after Dune. Although the first book in the series, 'Destination: Void' is a hard slow burn.

All the 4 books can be read as individuel stories, but just give a "bigger picture" if read as a series.

There's also something to be said about some of the more 'Classic' Sci-Fi books, like: 'Starship Troopers', Do Androids Dream...' and '2001'.

'Annihilation' is another really good book. I haven't read the sequels yet, so I can't speak on those.

'The Void' trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton is another series that might interest you. It's sci-fi with a hard 'S' if remember correctly.

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- The Annihilation / Southern Reach sequels were short enough books that I figured I might as well read them despite some people not liking them. They're definitely different from the space related stuff I normally pick up, but I'm glad I read them.
  
  I thought they were good! They both made me not want to put them down and kept weaving the horror and mystery together, closed out some of the loose ends and answered questions, but also opened a lot of new cans of worms.
  
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  I also found the first book hard to put down once I got started. I'm hoping that trend continues with the other two books.
  
  It was quite different from what I usually read, but highly engaging.
  
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- I have to admit that I've never really gotten into other books by Frank Herbert. I've tried Messiah and a few of his short stories but nothing came close to Dune. I haven't tried the 'WorShip' trilogy yet (which is the same as The Pandora Sequence I'm guessing?... I can't find anything with that name tbh)
  
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  Yes, the second book in the series "The Jesus Incident" is very Dune-esq. I'd recommend that one above the others.
  
  Edit: There's four books! I forgot about "The Lazarus Effect"
  
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You might enjoy Larry Niven's "Known Space" series? It's less one long story than many, many stories (some more interconnected than others) set in the same universe, but there's a lot of it. Some stories are darker than others, but overall the tone is optimistic and the characters have their flaws but don't suffer from the "stumbling from one flawed decision to the next one" problem.

I suspect some of the stories won't have aged well, given some of them were written over 50 years ago, but Niven plays with a lot of interesting ideas, and I have never encountered a sci-fi author that writes genuinely alien aliens the way he does. There's also lots of exploring space, futuristic cities, and alien landscapes.

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- I've only read Ringworld from that list (earlier this year). The story did a cool job of introducing the concept of an orbital ring and giving it a sense of scale, plus introducing some other cool concepts/ideas. It also introduced more species and planets and technology that made sense for a big Star Wars-like space opera book series. It was definitely dated as far as how female characters were written, though.
  
  I thought Consider Phlebas did a better job of using a Ring World without it being the whole plot on its own, but I suppose Ringworld had to walk so others could run with it.
  
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- Currently, I'm looking for longer stories, but I'll definitely come back to your suggestions at some point. Thanks!
  
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Not really space-y but I'm obsessed with storm light archives which I think checks some of the boxes you're talking about. That and everything else cosmere too.

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- I'm on Oathbringer right now, and other than the physical size of the books, I don't really have any complaints. I legit had to switch to Kindle version because the paperback was a pain to hang onto while reading.
  
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- Thank you for the suggestion! I've actually read that one and It's my favorite story from Brandon Sanderson. I loved the characters and the fantasy setting! But yeah... it doesn't really fit the sci-fi/futuristic world that I was looking for here.
  
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  Yeah it def is a lot more fantasy but I also feel the world is so alien seeming it could fit the bill. I love how crustacean heavy the fauna is. But yeah not a traditional sci-fi setting by any means
  
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Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer. Interesting world where people choose their nationality and legal structure independent of physical borders.

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- Thanks! Added it to my list.
  
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C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series spans 22 volumes (currently). I enjoyed it immensely.

While not sci-fi, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series is great for "on a journey" across the seas of the Napoleonic era.

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- Thanks for the suggestions! I added them to the list.
  
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Here are a few more...

“True Names” by Vernor Vinge (1981)

Themes: Hackers, NSA, Privacy concerns, VR, social network, “true death" is what we call “doxxing” today.

“Daemon” [Series] by Daniel Suarez (2006,2010)

Themes: Artificial Intelligence runs amock.

“Children of the New World” by Alexander Weinstein (2016)

Themes: Social Media, VR, robotics, dependance on technology.

“Cumulus” by Eliot Peper (2016)

Themes: Tech giant (Social Network) with too much power.
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- This looks a lot like hard scifi and cyberpunk to me and I'm not sure if they fit the "exploring new worlds and places" part I was looking for. When I eventually come back to those genres, I'll have a great list of recommendations though. Thanks!
  
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I haven't read a lot of science fiction recently, but if you like adventure and world building, then March Upcountry is a great read. The books are short, but it's a series, so all together it makes up a thick book. :)

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Recently: a friend bugged me until I finally got around to Red Rising

I haven't actually read the series, because it's heavy and I wanted to let it breathe a little. It's dark, and the first one has kind of a feudal setting for most of the book I can't explain without spoiling it, but it's a ride. I always listen to audiobooks at 2x and had to go back and listen to the closing song at regular speed to get the full impact of the emotion.

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Red Rising by Pierce Brown. You seem to like a lot of the same books I do. I just found this series and I loved it.

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Another vote for Cherryh - pretty much anything by Cherryh. And in the "journey" department, perhaps also look at John Varley's Gaia trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon)? (Probably falls into your "excessive violence and some smut" category)

You might also try the "far future/dying Earth" genre as a way of getting the exploration without necessarily being tied to the space/hard sf milieu. I think the most awarded member of this subgenre (and I liked it quite a bit) is Gene Wolfe's three Sun series (Book of the New Sun, Book of the Long Sun, Book of the Short Sun).

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