Nah, I think Player of Games is like, the perfect introduction to the Culture series. You get a look at the Culture itself, some of its basic underpinning designs and ideals, the galaxy beyond as...
Nah, I think Player of Games is like, the perfect introduction to the Culture series. You get a look at the Culture itself, some of its basic underpinning designs and ideals, the galaxy beyond as a contrast, and the former's interaction with the latter.
Really? I didn't think it was that lighthearted at all. I mean you've got an almost comically brutal star empire that undergoes violent total collapse after the emperor and his court self immolate...
Really? I didn't think it was that lighthearted at all. I mean you've got an almost comically brutal star empire that undergoes violent total collapse after the emperor and his court self immolate in the face of extragalactic invasion. That's aside from the rape, murder and mutilation showcased throughout the book after Gurgeh's arrival in Azad. Not as dark as say, Phlebas, at least not on a personal level, but compared to PoG, Matter is practically an exciting YA fantasy novel. I haven't gotten around to Use of Weapons yet, so I can't compare to that.
2nd for Heinlein but I'd say also consider checking out Job: A Comedy of Justice. I think it's one of his underrated books and is really a fun read and a little bit lighter than some of his other...
2nd for Heinlein but I'd say also consider checking out Job: A Comedy of Justice. I think it's one of his underrated books and is really a fun read and a little bit lighter than some of his other stuff. It's especially fun for people who have an interest in religious ideologies and mixing lore. Cannot recommend it enough.
Though it's a front-loaded on the latter-point, Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi books. It's set in a human tribe of slower-than-light merchants and their...
First, sci-fi's ability to examine the human condition in novel settings and to examine future science before it becomes real.
Second, I enjoy sci-fi with realistic space travel, as it gives us a glimpse of humanity could function in the future, within the confines of science.
Though it's a front-loaded on the latter-point, Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi books. It's set in a human tribe of slower-than-light merchants and their rivals, a feudalistic type society who control people via an mind-virus (think: 1984-esque surveillance executed with future-tech). They are orbiting a planet surrounding a star that is dormant for 215 years out of every 250, studying the native life. Highly recommended
Yes, I loved the Fire Upon the Deep, but Deepness was the first thing I read from VV, and I'll always have a particular fondness for it. Fire isn't as much of the realistic space travel aspect of...
Yes, I loved the Fire Upon the Deep, but Deepness was the first thing I read from VV, and I'll always have a particular fondness for it. Fire isn't as much of the realistic space travel aspect of the OP's question (since a large part of it is outside the "slow-zone"), but OP, or anyone really, if you've read Deepness and enjoyed it Fire Upon the Deep is a must!
Shocked that I haven't seen anybody talk Philip K Dick yet. Obviously, I'm a bit of a fan (see username) but I think his work is some of the most important sci-fi to have ever been published. You...
Shocked that I haven't seen anybody talk Philip K Dick yet. Obviously, I'm a bit of a fan (see username) but I think his work is some of the most important sci-fi to have ever been published. You can point to nearly any sci-fi film/series made today and see it rooted in the works of Philip K Dick. He was obsessed with Platonism and it comes through in all of his work. He was a schizophrenic who dealt with some real issues of anxiety and paranoia and it all comes through. His writing isn't the strongest but his ideas are so wonderful that I can't help but get excited any time somebody brings his work up.
For suggestions, I would say 'Ubik' is my go-to intro book. Then 'A Scanner Darkly' and then 'Valis'. I think between these three you get a great scope running from fiction to semi-autobiographical and then to a work of biography turn post-modern head-trip. But really there are so many more. 'Man in the High Castle' for alternate history. 'Maritain Time Slip' for LSD inspired strange. 'Counter Clock World' for some fun time travel meets biblical rapture. And his most well-known 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' the basis for Blade Runner but IMO Blade Runner is better and DADoES is one of his weaker works that the film elevated.
I listen to the Revisionist History podcast and a recent episode touched on memory and how our memories even round pivotal events (JFK assassination, moon landing, 9/11) all change over time and...
I listen to the Revisionist History podcast and a recent episode touched on memory and how our memories even round pivotal events (JFK assassination, moon landing, 9/11) all change over time and studies show that only about 50% of the circumstances around a given event actually occurred.
This immediately made me think of Philip K Dick's work and the recurring theme of not trusting memory nor one's own body comes up over and over again.
The fact that the Culture series was plugged twice within fifteen minutes of posting this makes me happy. I'll give it a third recommendation and suggest Consider Phlebas, Player of Games or...
The fact that the Culture series was plugged twice within fifteen minutes of posting this makes me happy. I'll give it a third recommendation and suggest Consider Phlebas, Player of Games or Surface Detail as first books.
Neal Stephenson's definitely an author I'd recommend as well. Snow Crash is a hilarious satirical action movie in book form, the Diamond Age is a book set about 60 years later in the same universe (not a sequel though) that explores the implications of nanotechnology and social balkanization, and Seveneves is a sort of space epic about the narrow survival of humanity after the Earth is rendered uninhabitable by the explosion of the moon.
Another I'd definitely take a look at would be Charles Stross. My favorite works by him are of a genre I'd call information age scifi, in that even more so than Banks, his stuff takes into account the implications of the computer revolution and transhumanism. Accelerando and Glasshouse were both phenomenal standalones, and I'm also a fan of the (sadly cut short) Eschaton series. Alastair Reynolds is likewise great for scratching that hard scifi itch, Revelation Space is fantastic and formed some of the basis for Mass Effect.
Back to softer stuff, the zones of thought series from Vernor Vinge was really good, and True Names predated Neuromancer while introducing many of the same concepts. The Long Earth is a great collaborative effort between Stephen Baxter and the late great Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame, that takes place in a near future world where cheap transport to empty alternate Earths becomes widely available. Everyone should read Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. And finally if you haven't read it, Ringworld was an absolute classic, even if the later books were somewhat less so.
Anyway I'll cut it off here since I could probably keep going for hours or days.
I'll second this, I would recommend this over Consider Phlebas or Surface Detail as your intro to The Culture if only because: a) it's actually set in the same time-period as the rest of the books...
Player of Games
I'll second this, I would recommend this over Consider Phlebas or Surface Detail as your intro to The Culture if only because:
a) it's actually set in the same time-period as the rest of the books (unlike Phlebas, which is a prequel-ish thing)
and
b) It largely takes place far outside the culture, and doesn't throw as much at you as quickly (unlike Surface Detail).
All three are excellent though.
Accelerando and Glasshouse
Yes, I love both of these. Glasshouse has stood up a bit better to me, but the vision of Accelerando is quite breathtaking.
the zones of thought series from Vernor Vinge was really good, and True Names predated Neuromancer while introducing many of the same concepts
I rec'd VV elsewhere in the thread, but it's great to see True Names get a mention -- that is a fabulous book. I also love his Marooned in Realtime series (set in the nearish-future, where technology has make nuclear weapons obsolete), and Rainbow's End was top notch as well (near-future, heavy on tech and bio-hacking)
Well glasshouse is more recent to be fair. And I do generally recommend PoG as the best intro novel but I started with phlebas and it's got a special place in my heart. I do know it's kinda the...
Well glasshouse is more recent to be fair. And I do generally recommend PoG as the best intro novel but I started with phlebas and it's got a special place in my heart. I do know it's kinda the odd one out, but damned if the first two thirds aren't a great sci-fi adventure and intro to the Culture's milky way as a setting. It does kinda lose its way ironically once Horza's back on task though.
This is more for the "examining the human condition requirement", but I'd like to suggest Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente and A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet & A Closed and Common Orbit...
This is more for the "examining the human condition requirement", but I'd like to suggest Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente and A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet & A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.
The space travel in Valente's novel is completely unrealistic, but it fits the premise: two washed up glam rockers must represent humanity at Eurovision-in-Space to prove that homo sapiens is in fact sentient. The Chambers novels are best read for characterization.
Blindsight: It has a very cool premise (all about free will) and really makes you question things. The Foundation Series (Original Trilogy, maybe the sequels): Well written with an interesting...
Blindsight: It has a very cool premise (all about free will) and really makes you question things.
The Foundation Series (Original Trilogy, maybe the sequels): Well written with an interesting premise.
The Culture Series: Really makes you think about the whole utopia idea.
The Forever War/A Mote In Gods Eye: Really good military sci-fi.
I'll second The Mote In Gods Eye as a fantastic exploration of a very alien society. The follow up The Gripping Hand is also great. Niven is a good writer, but needs someone to keep him on track...
I'll second The Mote In Gods Eye as a fantastic exploration of a very alien society. The follow up The Gripping Hand is also great. Niven is a good writer, but needs someone to keep him on track IMO, he and Pournelle make a great team.
The Forever War is also excellent, a great story about a soldier and future war, but I'm not sure I'd put them under the same banner as the other books I think of when I read "military sf".
John Ringo, for all his faults, is among the best for military/tactical science fiction, especially when he has someone to keep things grounded. The John Ringo/David Weber trilogy starting with March Upcountry is an old favorite romp with great tactical action writing.
I'll also throw in a suggestion for Weber's solo space opera "Honor Harrington" series, starting with On Basilisk Station, which remains one of my favorite series.
For the first category, an exploration of the human condition in future technology, I'd like to suggest Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers. For the second, space travel and future of...
For the first category, an exploration of the human condition in future technology, I'd like to suggest Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers.
For the second, space travel and future of humanity, it's not exactly a novel, but I'd recommend Ursula K. Le Guin's novella, Paradise Lost. It is in the collection The Birthday of the World and Other Stories.
Yes! Such a good book, and it inspired both an excellent film (Tarkovsky's Stalker) and one of the most beloved game series of all time (S.T.A.L.K.E.R) I'll have to keep an eye out for that one,...
Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers
Yes! Such a good book, and it inspired both an excellent film (Tarkovsky's Stalker) and one of the most beloved game series of all time (S.T.A.L.K.E.R)
Ursula K. Le Guin's novella, Paradise Lost. It is in the collection The Birthday of the World and Other Stories.
I'll have to keep an eye out for that one, Ursula was such a treasure :(
Really, Wanda? I would never have guessed! ;) If you're looking for an examination of the human condition in a novel setting, I'd recommend Robert Sawyer's The Neanderthal Parallax. This trilogy...
I have read most of Asimov's works (Robots and Foundation series) which I enjoyed a lot.
Really, Wanda? I would never have guessed! ;)
If you're looking for an examination of the human condition in a novel setting, I'd recommend Robert Sawyer's The Neanderthal Parallax. This trilogy posits an alternate universe where Homo Neanderthalensis became the dominant human species rather than Homo Sapiens - and we manage to open a portal between that universe and this. The Neanderthals show us a very different way to be human, and give us a different lens through which to consider our own humanity.
A lot of excellent recommendations already, but I've got to mention Ian McDonald here - one of my favorite books of all time is Chaga, along with a few other alternate non-Anglophone futures...
A lot of excellent recommendations already, but I've got to mention Ian McDonald here - one of my favorite books of all time is Chaga, along with a few other alternate non-Anglophone futures (River of Gods, Cyberabad Days, Brasyl) that make William Gibson look medieval. The Luna series is one of those sprawling generational things, but the best part is that the characters, cultures, and technologies are plausible and well-plotted.
David Brin can be a little hard to stomach sometimes, but the Uplift series is eminently digestible and chock full of space opera goodness.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Larry Niven's Ringworld series, or Frederick Pohl's Gateway books, golden oldies that fed into the creation of The Expanse. [John Varley's Titan series is another older-but-still-worthwhile read, complete with some fully weird politics of gender and sexuality.]
Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series has everything you could want in realistic space travel and outrageous technology extrapolation, but his characters can be very difficult to warm up to because they're just as technologized and alienated as the environments can possibly make them. Revenger may be his most accessible book, because it's a fantastical pirate adventure set in a belt of thousands of wrecked cultural-splinter habitats!
While they don't necessarily involve space travel, I'm going to recommend a couple of other "culture trip" writers who focus on the question of what alternate political and economic futures are possible - Malka Older, for Infomocracy and Null States; Ken McLeod is good for a thrill, including a couple of heavy space travel series, if you're up for anarcho-everything.
Finally, though it won't be everyone's cup of tea and may be somewhat over-promoted thanks to all those awards, Ann Leckie's Ancillary series is a basketful of wonderful space travel, world-building, and the cultural twists arising from an imperium run by a true immortal, threatened by the biological remnant of a fractured AI. Good times!
Let me know if you run out any time soon, there's more.
One I have not seen mentioned, that I really enjoyed, was Beacon 23. And why am I the first to mention Neuromancer? Yeah, it's more cyberpunk than scifi, but it is one of my favorites!
One I have not seen mentioned, that I really enjoyed, was Beacon 23.
And why am I the first to mention Neuromancer? Yeah, it's more cyberpunk than scifi, but it is one of my favorites!
Big fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, pretty much everything by Philip K. Dick but especially VALIS, A Scanner Darkly, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Also love the Discworld series...
Big fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, pretty much everything by Philip K. Dick but especially VALIS, A Scanner Darkly, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Also love the Discworld series but idk if that counts as science fiction. I loved the Dune series but didn't read the sixth book or any of the ones written by Hebert's son. And in as much that dystopian fiction counts, I love 1984, Brave New World, and Infinite Jest (the latter of which is written by David Foster Wallace).
Nah, I think Player of Games is like, the perfect introduction to the Culture series. You get a look at the Culture itself, some of its basic underpinning designs and ideals, the galaxy beyond as a contrast, and the former's interaction with the latter.
Agreed. It was the first one of the culture books I read and I thought it was a blast.
Really? I didn't think it was that lighthearted at all. I mean you've got an almost comically brutal star empire that undergoes violent total collapse after the emperor and his court self immolate in the face of extragalactic invasion. That's aside from the rape, murder and mutilation showcased throughout the book after Gurgeh's arrival in Azad. Not as dark as say, Phlebas, at least not on a personal level, but compared to PoG, Matter is practically an exciting YA fantasy novel. I haven't gotten around to Use of Weapons yet, so I can't compare to that.
2nd for Heinlein but I'd say also consider checking out Job: A Comedy of Justice. I think it's one of his underrated books and is really a fun read and a little bit lighter than some of his other stuff. It's especially fun for people who have an interest in religious ideologies and mixing lore. Cannot recommend it enough.
Though it's a front-loaded on the latter-point, Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi books. It's set in a human tribe of slower-than-light merchants and their rivals, a feudalistic type society who control people via an mind-virus (think: 1984-esque surveillance executed with future-tech). They are orbiting a planet surrounding a star that is dormant for 215 years out of every 250, studying the native life. Highly recommended
Did you ever read the one before it, a fire upon the deep? Definitely one of my favorite sci-fi books.
Yes, I loved the Fire Upon the Deep, but Deepness was the first thing I read from VV, and I'll always have a particular fondness for it. Fire isn't as much of the realistic space travel aspect of the OP's question (since a large part of it is outside the "slow-zone"), but OP, or anyone really, if you've read Deepness and enjoyed it Fire Upon the Deep is a must!
Shocked that I haven't seen anybody talk Philip K Dick yet. Obviously, I'm a bit of a fan (see username) but I think his work is some of the most important sci-fi to have ever been published. You can point to nearly any sci-fi film/series made today and see it rooted in the works of Philip K Dick. He was obsessed with Platonism and it comes through in all of his work. He was a schizophrenic who dealt with some real issues of anxiety and paranoia and it all comes through. His writing isn't the strongest but his ideas are so wonderful that I can't help but get excited any time somebody brings his work up.
For suggestions, I would say 'Ubik' is my go-to intro book. Then 'A Scanner Darkly' and then 'Valis'. I think between these three you get a great scope running from fiction to semi-autobiographical and then to a work of biography turn post-modern head-trip. But really there are so many more. 'Man in the High Castle' for alternate history. 'Maritain Time Slip' for LSD inspired strange. 'Counter Clock World' for some fun time travel meets biblical rapture. And his most well-known 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' the basis for Blade Runner but IMO Blade Runner is better and DADoES is one of his weaker works that the film elevated.
I listen to the Revisionist History podcast and a recent episode touched on memory and how our memories even round pivotal events (JFK assassination, moon landing, 9/11) all change over time and studies show that only about 50% of the circumstances around a given event actually occurred.
This immediately made me think of Philip K Dick's work and the recurring theme of not trusting memory nor one's own body comes up over and over again.
The fact that the Culture series was plugged twice within fifteen minutes of posting this makes me happy. I'll give it a third recommendation and suggest Consider Phlebas, Player of Games or Surface Detail as first books.
Neal Stephenson's definitely an author I'd recommend as well. Snow Crash is a hilarious satirical action movie in book form, the Diamond Age is a book set about 60 years later in the same universe (not a sequel though) that explores the implications of nanotechnology and social balkanization, and Seveneves is a sort of space epic about the narrow survival of humanity after the Earth is rendered uninhabitable by the explosion of the moon.
Another I'd definitely take a look at would be Charles Stross. My favorite works by him are of a genre I'd call information age scifi, in that even more so than Banks, his stuff takes into account the implications of the computer revolution and transhumanism. Accelerando and Glasshouse were both phenomenal standalones, and I'm also a fan of the (sadly cut short) Eschaton series. Alastair Reynolds is likewise great for scratching that hard scifi itch, Revelation Space is fantastic and formed some of the basis for Mass Effect.
Back to softer stuff, the zones of thought series from Vernor Vinge was really good, and True Names predated Neuromancer while introducing many of the same concepts. The Long Earth is a great collaborative effort between Stephen Baxter and the late great Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame, that takes place in a near future world where cheap transport to empty alternate Earths becomes widely available. Everyone should read Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. And finally if you haven't read it, Ringworld was an absolute classic, even if the later books were somewhat less so.
Anyway I'll cut it off here since I could probably keep going for hours or days.
I'll second this, I would recommend this over Consider Phlebas or Surface Detail as your intro to The Culture if only because:
a) it's actually set in the same time-period as the rest of the books (unlike Phlebas, which is a prequel-ish thing)
and
b) It largely takes place far outside the culture, and doesn't throw as much at you as quickly (unlike Surface Detail).
All three are excellent though.
Yes, I love both of these. Glasshouse has stood up a bit better to me, but the vision of Accelerando is quite breathtaking.
I rec'd VV elsewhere in the thread, but it's great to see True Names get a mention -- that is a fabulous book. I also love his Marooned in Realtime series (set in the nearish-future, where technology has make nuclear weapons obsolete), and Rainbow's End was top notch as well (near-future, heavy on tech and bio-hacking)
Well glasshouse is more recent to be fair. And I do generally recommend PoG as the best intro novel but I started with phlebas and it's got a special place in my heart. I do know it's kinda the odd one out, but damned if the first two thirds aren't a great sci-fi adventure and intro to the Culture's milky way as a setting. It does kinda lose its way ironically once Horza's back on task though.
This is more for the "examining the human condition requirement", but I'd like to suggest Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente and A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet & A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.
The space travel in Valente's novel is completely unrealistic, but it fits the premise: two washed up glam rockers must represent humanity at Eurovision-in-Space to prove that homo sapiens is in fact sentient. The Chambers novels are best read for characterization.
Blindsight: It has a very cool premise (all about free will) and really makes you question things.
The Foundation Series (Original Trilogy, maybe the sequels): Well written with an interesting premise.
The Culture Series: Really makes you think about the whole utopia idea.
The Forever War/A Mote In Gods Eye: Really good military sci-fi.
I'll second The Mote In Gods Eye as a fantastic exploration of a very alien society. The follow up The Gripping Hand is also great. Niven is a good writer, but needs someone to keep him on track IMO, he and Pournelle make a great team.
The Forever War is also excellent, a great story about a soldier and future war, but I'm not sure I'd put them under the same banner as the other books I think of when I read "military sf".
John Ringo, for all his faults, is among the best for military/tactical science fiction, especially when he has someone to keep things grounded. The John Ringo/David Weber trilogy starting with March Upcountry is an old favorite romp with great tactical action writing.
I'll also throw in a suggestion for Weber's solo space opera "Honor Harrington" series, starting with On Basilisk Station, which remains one of my favorite series.
For the first category, an exploration of the human condition in future technology, I'd like to suggest Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers.
For the second, space travel and future of humanity, it's not exactly a novel, but I'd recommend Ursula K. Le Guin's novella, Paradise Lost. It is in the collection The Birthday of the World and Other Stories.
Yes! Such a good book, and it inspired both an excellent film (Tarkovsky's Stalker) and one of the most beloved game series of all time (S.T.A.L.K.E.R)
I'll have to keep an eye out for that one, Ursula was such a treasure :(
Really, Wanda? I would never have guessed! ;)
If you're looking for an examination of the human condition in a novel setting, I'd recommend Robert Sawyer's The Neanderthal Parallax. This trilogy posits an alternate universe where Homo Neanderthalensis became the dominant human species rather than Homo Sapiens - and we manage to open a portal between that universe and this. The Neanderthals show us a very different way to be human, and give us a different lens through which to consider our own humanity.
Did you just call Asimov's writing low-brow??? Them's fightin' words!
That's better! "Low-brow", indeed... Hmph!
No kidding. He might not have been much shakes at characterization, but he wasn't Doc Smith or Elrond Hubbard.
I think you mean L. Ron Hubbard. He wasn't a ruler of the Elves! :P
His followers seem to be living in some kind of fantasy world, though. :)
A lot of excellent recommendations already, but I've got to mention Ian McDonald here - one of my favorite books of all time is Chaga, along with a few other alternate non-Anglophone futures (River of Gods, Cyberabad Days, Brasyl) that make William Gibson look medieval. The Luna series is one of those sprawling generational things, but the best part is that the characters, cultures, and technologies are plausible and well-plotted.
David Brin can be a little hard to stomach sometimes, but the Uplift series is eminently digestible and chock full of space opera goodness.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Larry Niven's Ringworld series, or Frederick Pohl's Gateway books, golden oldies that fed into the creation of The Expanse. [John Varley's Titan series is another older-but-still-worthwhile read, complete with some fully weird politics of gender and sexuality.]
Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series has everything you could want in realistic space travel and outrageous technology extrapolation, but his characters can be very difficult to warm up to because they're just as technologized and alienated as the environments can possibly make them. Revenger may be his most accessible book, because it's a fantastical pirate adventure set in a belt of thousands of wrecked cultural-splinter habitats!
While they don't necessarily involve space travel, I'm going to recommend a couple of other "culture trip" writers who focus on the question of what alternate political and economic futures are possible - Malka Older, for Infomocracy and Null States; Ken McLeod is good for a thrill, including a couple of heavy space travel series, if you're up for anarcho-everything.
Finally, though it won't be everyone's cup of tea and may be somewhat over-promoted thanks to all those awards, Ann Leckie's Ancillary series is a basketful of wonderful space travel, world-building, and the cultural twists arising from an imperium run by a true immortal, threatened by the biological remnant of a fractured AI. Good times!
Let me know if you run out any time soon, there's more.
Seconding Alastair Reynolds! His House of Suns is also a good read.
One I have not seen mentioned, that I really enjoyed, was Beacon 23.
And why am I the first to mention Neuromancer? Yeah, it's more cyberpunk than scifi, but it is one of my favorites!
Big fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, pretty much everything by Philip K. Dick but especially VALIS, A Scanner Darkly, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Also love the Discworld series but idk if that counts as science fiction. I loved the Dune series but didn't read the sixth book or any of the ones written by Hebert's son. And in as much that dystopian fiction counts, I love 1984, Brave New World, and Infinite Jest (the latter of which is written by David Foster Wallace).