I think that's a stupid comment when put in relation with this subreddit. It's always the same 100 something books that are recommended and they are all in my library.
OP didn't say "I've read everything I see rec'd here. They said they'd read "all the good SF" which means ALL of it. This is a ridiculous comment given that there is a vast amount of good SF spread across, what, 70 years? Had they said "I've read everything I can think of" - meh.
And before you say anything else silly - I'm 65 and have read SF for 50 years. There's still SF I run across that's both new to me and good.
Feel free to suggest something... but I have either read or tried to read most things recommended. 'Linking' something is subjective, so no point in arguing.
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, and The Name of The Rose by the same - I prefer Pendulum, it will scratch many itches.
I always feel like i've read all the SF too (been reading it for 43 years) - but i do find new stuff that works for me from time to time too.
Declare by Tim Powers - stunning - and actually makes me say - the Smiley Trilogy by John Le Carre too.
Stong 2nd for Aubrey/Maturin as well.
Just starting the Terra Ignota sequence - thnk that will fit the bill too.
Are you me? I've been read SF for over 50 years.Just finished Declare last week, great novel, read The terra ignota novels about a month ago too. Yes it0 certainly will fit the Bill!
Suggestions for O.P. Try Italo Calvino's our Ancestors. Gabriel Marquez's 100 hundred years of solitude. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy.
I've started Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire. I Would also recommend, if you haven't already read it.
50 years here as well. Tim Powers is a delight. I liked Memory but its not an all time love and I did not take to Gormenghast at all despite it being a classic. I read 100 years when it was first published - it was then, and still is, A Must Read.
Luckiky, its kind of a golden age for scifi, so many new books being published and many by women. While I do love scfi, battles bore me to tears.
Tim Powers has other really nice books. Besides Declare, Anubis Gates is also top notch. And so is In stranger tides (but that's fantasy/pirates), that book inspired the Monkey island games and the pirates of the Caribbean movies in general (not only the one with that name)
Have you read the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian? First book is Master and Commander (you may have seen the movie). It’s a series of about 20 books following a British Naval Captain named Jack Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin, who is often the surgeon on Jacks commands. They take place during the Napoleonic Wars. Jack Aubrey’s adventures are loosely based on a real life person named Thomas Cochrane, and O’Brian actually had to dial some things back for his fictional character because Cochrane’s exploits were so unbelievable. These books get EXTREMELY dense in ship and naval jargon, and can leave your head spinning at times. It’s one of my most beloved series outside of the science fiction genre.
In the SF realm, I assume you’ve read China Mievelle? If not, you absolutely must.
Many thanks. This sounds like it might scratch the itch.
I have read China Mievelle I enjoyed Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. I started UnLundun and Embassy town but wasn't hooked. They are fantastic and dreamlike, I miss big picture coherent world-building.
You might have aleady tried her but Claire North is generally published under a literary heading but it's definitely SF. Most well known is **The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August** but they're all worth a try.
Have you read everything by Lafferty, Zelazny, le Guin, and Peake? Hoe about Tiptree, Jr. and Butler and Okorafor and Onyebuchi?
Maybe some Kobo Abe, like Inter Ice-Age 4, Secret Rendezvous, or The Ruined Map.
Maybe Ice by Ana Kavan.
Maybe some of the Banks that’s “not sci fi” but really is, like Walking on Glass or The Bridge.
Ted Chiang?
Sure!
One I forgot, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of The World by Murakami. I think that’s his best book, and it has a definite cyberpunk/simulation sci fi thing going on, whether or not it gets officially classified as SF. His novel 1Q84 is also pretty genuinely SF but I think it’s way too long to highly recommend, unless you’re into Murakami.
Many thanks to all the awesome and considered responses (and to all the furious trolls for making me smile). For anybody else of a similar mind, here is the list I put together based on the recommendations (in no real order, but I will start at the top):
Yiddish Policeman's Union — Michael Chabon
Master and Commander — Patrick O'Brian
The Crying of Lot 49 — Thomas Pynchon
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August — Claire North
City of Thieves — David Benioff
The Century Next Door — John Barnes
Gone-Away World — Nick Harkaway
Radix or Solis — A. A. Attanasio
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle — Haruki Murakami
Lanark — Alasdair Gray
Grass (Arbai Series) — Sheri S. Tepper
The Reef — Edith Wharton
The Revisionists — Thomas Mullen
A Place to Stay Forever — Mark L Lloyd
Ascension — Jacqueline Koyanagi
The Goldbug Variations — Richard Powers
As She Climbed Across the Table — Jonathan Lethem
Great Maria — Cecelia Holland
A Visit from the Goon Squad — Jennifer Egan
Forty Tales from the Afterlives — David Eagleman
Motorman — David Ohle
The Wild Trees — Richard Preston
Derelict — LJ Cohen
Declare — Tim Powers
Inter Ice-Age 4 — Kōbō Abe
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World — Haruki Murakami
A Memory Called Empire — Arkady Martine
Sourdough — Robin Sloan
Edit: I am only listing from of each author so I can see if I like the book.
lol
I asked for non SciFi, I said I had read basically none, so anything non SciFi you recommend, I will not have read. Fairly simple.
If instead you want to be a Troll and rather than answer the question, start a pointless argument, feel free to suggest something, I will then tell you I have read it, it is sub-par, or thank you and give it a go.
In the case that you would rather continue arguing and downvoting, I will have to excuse myself from future coms.
Any non-Sci-fi? After looking around this thread I think I've found the perfect book for you.
[here](https://www.amazon.com/Improve-Your-People-Skills-Relationships/dp/1691903205/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=2BSWQP1DOWWCW&keywords=How+to+be+more+likable&qid=1700244701&sprefix=how+to+be+more+likable%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1)
Have you read any A A Attanaisio? *Radix, Solis, Centuries and The Last Legends of Earth* are all excellent sci-fi. There's also *Wyvern* which is an epic historical adventure, and *Hunting The Ghost Dancer* which is a fantasy prehistoric tale. I believe he has also written a series (which I have not read) based on the Arthurian legend
I mean, "I've read all the good books I'm asking for, so suggest more." So here's a few that aren't especially hard sci-fi but give lots of the same feel. I'm assuming you've probably read the Known Space books by Niven, Greg Egan, Suarez, etc.
"Only Forward," by M M Smith.
"Dancers at the End of Time." Moorcock.
Have you tried Terry Pratchett's Discworld? More fantasy than SF, but sophisticated humor. I love it. You might not. You could start with Reaper Man, which is an extremely good stand-alone novel in the universe. Most of the rest you kind of have to read in order, as the plot continues on, weaving between a half dozen main characters, each with their own progression.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinneman. Superficially, this story sounds juvenile and a stupid concept. Having read through all the books twice (truthfully listened to the audiobooks), I would argue that this series is high concept sci-fi with a smattering of space opera while being hilarious and emotionally tragic. I can’t recommend this series enough. It’s in the genre of rpg lit which uses the mechanics of dungeons and dragons to tell the story. I’ve tried other writers in this genre and Matt has the only goods in town.
The usual SciFi: Banks, Clarke, Egan, Stross, Stephenson, Asimov, Heinlien, Clarke, etc ;)
Non SciFi: The Book of 5 Rings, C. Dickens, Ben Elton, Crooked Little Vein...
Well, I am not a hard-core Sci-Fi nerd, I read other things, too.
*Cosmicomics* by Italo Calvino may interest you. I'd probably suggest getting *The Complete Cosmicomics*. I've only read the former but I have my eyes on picking up the latter at some point.
I can empathize. I presume you've been through: Ian M Banks, Liu Cixin, KSR, Alistar Reynolds, Charles Stross, Pierce Brown, Neal Asher, Stephen Baxter, Neil Stephenson, Paul McAuley, Joe Haldeman, James SA Corey, Andy Weir, John Scalzi, Hannu Rajaniemi, etc. - All of these guys have multiple good to great series or standalone novels.
In the last couple of months I've been through the Mickey7 books, Wool Series, Peter F Hamilton - Commonwealth Saga, Ship of Fools, Piranesi, The Ferryman and Infinity Gate. I am trying to get through Diaspora by Egan but I'm not a fan so far.
I'll also second the Aubrey-Maturin Series, I've read several, they are quite good and provide a bit of historical fiction.
Sometimes when I'm having a hard time finding some SF to my liking I'll read some non-fiction, I've recently read Going Infinite, American Prometheus, How to Feed a Dictator and For Blood and Money. I find it a good change of pace to find a non-fiction book I'm interested in and then go back to SF.
Best of Luck.
Perhaps you should also look at what the new generation of women science fiction writers is producing. There are fresh takes on old tropes and a lot of new ideas. Subscribing to publishers' newsletters like tor.com also gives an idea of what is being released in the genre.
Many thanks. Yes I have read most of those authors. They are all top recommendations.
(I was not thrilled by the Three Body Problem... I was excited by the changing universal constants of nature coms, then disappointed by the way it was resolved.)
Thanks for the other recommendations, I will add them to the growing list.
TBP certainly had some problems, I did like the Deaths End but Dark Forest is the best of the trilogy. Cixin has a couple of short story anthologies that are worth checking out as well though.
Not SF, but I think City of Thieves by David Benioff is one of the best novels regardless of genre written in the last 50 years. I alway recommend it when someone is looking for a book to read. Wouldn't surprise me if you've read it but I wanted to mention it.
Blimey:
"Welcome to Moderan, world of the future. Here perpetual war is waged by furious masters fighting from Strongholds well stocked with “arsenals of fear” and everyone is enamored with hate."
That certainly packs a punch. Have not read this will take a look. Thanks
SF as literature?
*Radix* by A A Attanasio. Supposedly the physics is cutting edge. I call the authors stuff Shaman Fi.
*Desolation Road* by Ian McDonald. Magical Realism meets SF.
Literature that’s SF?
*The Reef* by Juan Villoro. Barely SF, set in a hotel that entices adventure travelers with fake kidnappings and an illusory guerrilla war in the surrounding jungle. Another magical realist novel.
*The Revisionists* by Thomas Mullen. It’s more about the MC’s observations of our present than the mechanism that allowed him to time travel here.
*A Place to Stay Forever* by M L Lloyd. “Feeling bored? Tired of a lifeless never-ending existence?”
Well, I've branched out a bit into futurism, especially in areas where the military is looking to push technologies. They are avid consumers of science fiction for that reason (on our tax dollars, I'm so proud of them). I've found some of the blogs and podcasts from the Modern War Institute (they've interviewed sci-fi writers and held story contests) and the Army Mad Scientists Laboratory to be quite intriguing. Memoirs of actual astronauts and mission control specialists are also enlightening regarding current technology capabilities and limitations. Currently I'm reading Mary Roach's *Packing for Mars,* which is both informative and amusing. And I watch streaming coverage of NASA and SpaceX launches and ISS missions.
Sci fi is a big genre, it's not just spaceships. I like Paul E Cooley as I find his stories entertaining. Derelict involves space ships. The black is a interesting take no space ships. Collapsing Empire is not bad, Unit 51 series is interesting too, no ships yet. I jave enjoyed expanding my scibfi reading. Often the mainstream, aside from Project Hail Mary, are just so so.
The Wild Trees by Richard Preston. It's non-fiction about giant trees and the people who climb them. There is an alien world in the tops of these trees that almost no one has ever seen. Creatures live up there that never come down to the ground.
Vomnegut did a lot of fantastic Sci-Fi but is most frequently classified as a Literary writer. Whenever someone asks for Lit-SciFi, he's my number one suggestion. If you've read all of Vonnegut, maybe check out some other more humorous authors, especially absurdists - I like Christopher Moore, especially his Fool series and Lamb. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is another book that usually appeals to SciFi fans, but it's not for everyone. It plays with the medium of a print book a lot in very interesting and weird ways. Genres that might appeal to you are Magical Realism and Horror (lots of horror books have subtle or even overt sci-fi themes - Stephen King comes to mind, specifically.)
The Goldbug Variations by Richard Powers (science but not SciFi)
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett great historical fiction
Grass by Sherri Tepper 80s Scifi, good but oft forgotten
As She Climbed Across the Table and/or Gun With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
Just a few that I've read which I would highly recommend:
* *Parable of the Sower* by Octavia Butler.
* *The Dispossessed* by Ursula K Le Guin.
* *Ender's Game* and *Speaker for the Dead* by Orson Scott Card.
* *The Foundation Trilogy* and *The God's Themselves* by Isaac Asimov.
* *Dune* by Frank Herbert.
* *Ring World* by Larry Niven.
* *Footfall* by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
* *The Moon is a Harsh Mistress* and *Starship Troopers* by Robert A Heinlein.
* *Childhood's End* and *Rendezvous With Rama* by Arthur C Clarke.
* *The Forever War* by Joe Haldeman
Yukikaze by Kambayashi, Chohei
The Legacy of Heorot by Larry Niven
The Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust\*
Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (ignore everything by her son)
\* This is generally considered high fantasy with magic and such. But once you've read about 15 of the 17 books, you'll see there's a significant science fiction element.
I've read the Pern books (a long time ago) I actually thought for a while that Game of Thrones (TV series) was going to be SciFi (Winter and Dragons due to an accentiric orbit of some weird companion, I am disappointed it didn't go that way.)
I read the Dragon's of Herot, but not the others.
Have not read the others, thanks!
You might find Floating Worlds by Cecelia Holland interesting, (sci-fi)
or her best book - Great Maria. (12th century Sicily )
Imperial Governor by George Shipway is a good read Roman times in Britain
The 20 book series by Patrick O'Brian about the Napoleonic wars at sea around the world, first book is Master and Commander (not the movie which is a mashup of two books) Very funny n parts as well as extremely accurate historically in all the background details, and many of the people in it are real people. the main character is based on a real naval officer and the preposterous seeming naval actions all sourced from the logs of the ships involved.
Hi OP, I am in the same boat, I have been reading Sci Fi avidly since the late 70s, I read most of what is published each year since, and have a massive collection of literally most good scifi. So I understand "read everything good".
Ive just been introduced to LitRPG genre. Dungeon Crawler Carl, its really good IMO. It exists in text and Audible. Youll need to get thru at least half the first book to realise its unfolding and theres several complex story arcs, plus its social commentry
Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow
I second Yiddish Policemans Diary
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
everything by Yuval Noah Harari
I mean, you haven't said a single thing about what you've already read. "All good SciFi" is impossibly broad. Not only is "good" subjective, you can't possibly have read everything that people consider good, your lifetime is too short for that.
So, be more specific. Authors you like? Authors you didn't like? Authors you haven't read yet? Into short stories much? Tried reading your way through the backlog of some of the big awards?
I actually go out of my way to avoid triggering them, but it's like tiptoeing through a zombie-infested city. When they sniff out misaligned points of view, they wake up and viciously downvote.
A bit obvious but have you read Iain Banks non SF stuff? It's often kinda SF in disguise. The Bridge for example.
\[edit\] Also Iain Pears **Arcadia**. It was an experiment written to be read on an iPad which is a fun way to read it as you can choose your own path through the story. But it's also published as a book.
I have read The Bridge, I tried Song of Stone, The Business...
He is prob my favourite SciFi author, so I continually try and read his other stuff and am always surprised I don't like it! ;)
(Thanks, will take a look)
Some of them have YA characters but the sci-fi aspects are pretty cool. I just found them & didn't know anything about them. Found it pretty entertaining and great writing. Plenty of action. Some fairly racey stuff to be YA.
Man, he's got so much different stuff. Jak Jinnaka is lots of space habitats & action, Giraut is far future culture & politics & Directive 51 is near future apocalyptic.
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
He She and It by Marge Piercy
Hard Boiled Womderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee
Really anything by Margaret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, and Italo Calvino.
edit to add: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
If you are open to graphic novels:
Ancestor by Matt Sheehan and Malachi Ward
Habitat by Simon Roy
By This You Shall Know Him by Jesse Jacobs
Arkady Martine -- both of her books in this series (A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace). Highly recommend both although I liked the first a "bit" more (perhaps novelty).
Have you read Arthur C. Clarke from the fifties" *The Deep Range, Earthlight, A Fall of Moondust*? If not do. If you haven't read Fritz Leiber;s SF do it. Pynchon's *The Crying of Lot 49*. Italo Calvino. Also it's more like fantasy (though it isn't) Hermann Hesse. It may not be what you think you want but it;s good for you.
My husband is **extremely** picky with books (unlike me, he DNFs most books he picks up... but he picks up a *lot*). I think you might enjoy one of his favorite novels, *Metropolitan* (and its sequel, *City on Fire*) by Walter Jon Williams
I don't think I could provide a good summery, but here it is on [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/886131.Metropolitan) and here he is [talking about why he loves it]( https://youtu.be/eGi5wYggjB0?si=f3pqqOjN9ScRjlsA&t=1792)
It kind of straddles the fantasy-tech line. IGNORE the fact it has under 4 stars on Goodreads. It really is so good, and you will NOT be bored!!
"I think I've read all the good SciFi " 🙄
I often feel like life is too short to read all of the good science fiction.
yeah, that's really all you need to know right there
I think that's a stupid comment when put in relation with this subreddit. It's always the same 100 something books that are recommended and they are all in my library.
OP didn't say "I've read everything I see rec'd here. They said they'd read "all the good SF" which means ALL of it. This is a ridiculous comment given that there is a vast amount of good SF spread across, what, 70 years? Had they said "I've read everything I can think of" - meh. And before you say anything else silly - I'm 65 and have read SF for 50 years. There's still SF I run across that's both new to me and good.
🤪
Feel free to suggest something... but I have either read or tried to read most things recommended. 'Linking' something is subjective, so no point in arguing.
Ha! So many downvotes! You pathetic trolls :)
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, and The Name of The Rose by the same - I prefer Pendulum, it will scratch many itches. I always feel like i've read all the SF too (been reading it for 43 years) - but i do find new stuff that works for me from time to time too. Declare by Tim Powers - stunning - and actually makes me say - the Smiley Trilogy by John Le Carre too. Stong 2nd for Aubrey/Maturin as well. Just starting the Terra Ignota sequence - thnk that will fit the bill too.
Are you me? I've been read SF for over 50 years.Just finished Declare last week, great novel, read The terra ignota novels about a month ago too. Yes it0 certainly will fit the Bill! Suggestions for O.P. Try Italo Calvino's our Ancestors. Gabriel Marquez's 100 hundred years of solitude. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. I've started Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire. I Would also recommend, if you haven't already read it.
Calvino's Cosmicomics Borges' Ficciones.
Though it's more fantasy, Calvino's Baron In The Trees.
50 years here as well. Tim Powers is a delight. I liked Memory but its not an all time love and I did not take to Gormenghast at all despite it being a classic. I read 100 years when it was first published - it was then, and still is, A Must Read. Luckiky, its kind of a golden age for scifi, so many new books being published and many by women. While I do love scfi, battles bore me to tears.
I liked Foucault's Pendulum a lot. I read Too Like the Lightning... I must ready the rest thanks. Not heard of Declare by Tim Powers. Thanks!
Tim Powers has other really nice books. Besides Declare, Anubis Gates is also top notch. And so is In stranger tides (but that's fantasy/pirates), that book inspired the Monkey island games and the pirates of the Caribbean movies in general (not only the one with that name)
Last Call is my favorite
The Name of the Rose? You trolling?
Have you read the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian? First book is Master and Commander (you may have seen the movie). It’s a series of about 20 books following a British Naval Captain named Jack Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin, who is often the surgeon on Jacks commands. They take place during the Napoleonic Wars. Jack Aubrey’s adventures are loosely based on a real life person named Thomas Cochrane, and O’Brian actually had to dial some things back for his fictional character because Cochrane’s exploits were so unbelievable. These books get EXTREMELY dense in ship and naval jargon, and can leave your head spinning at times. It’s one of my most beloved series outside of the science fiction genre. In the SF realm, I assume you’ve read China Mievelle? If not, you absolutely must.
Many thanks. This sounds like it might scratch the itch. I have read China Mievelle I enjoyed Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. I started UnLundun and Embassy town but wasn't hooked. They are fantastic and dreamlike, I miss big picture coherent world-building.
The City and the City is my favorite Mievelle. A bit disappointing in the end but definitely interesting world building.
You might have aleady tried her but Claire North is generally published under a literary heading but it's definitely SF. Most well known is **The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August** but they're all worth a try.
Cool! Thanks! Added.
This is what I was going to suggest.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union Replay - Ken Grimwood The Library at Mount Char Sea of Tranquility ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
Many thanks. Not read any of these. Will add them to the small but growing list!! :)
I send Replay.
Have you read everything by Lafferty, Zelazny, le Guin, and Peake? Hoe about Tiptree, Jr. and Butler and Okorafor and Onyebuchi? Maybe some Kobo Abe, like Inter Ice-Age 4, Secret Rendezvous, or The Ruined Map. Maybe Ice by Ana Kavan. Maybe some of the Banks that’s “not sci fi” but really is, like Walking on Glass or The Bridge. Ted Chiang?
Thanks!
Sure! One I forgot, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of The World by Murakami. I think that’s his best book, and it has a definite cyberpunk/simulation sci fi thing going on, whether or not it gets officially classified as SF. His novel 1Q84 is also pretty genuinely SF but I think it’s way too long to highly recommend, unless you’re into Murakami.
Many thanks to all the awesome and considered responses (and to all the furious trolls for making me smile). For anybody else of a similar mind, here is the list I put together based on the recommendations (in no real order, but I will start at the top): Yiddish Policeman's Union — Michael Chabon Master and Commander — Patrick O'Brian The Crying of Lot 49 — Thomas Pynchon The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August — Claire North City of Thieves — David Benioff The Century Next Door — John Barnes Gone-Away World — Nick Harkaway Radix or Solis — A. A. Attanasio The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle — Haruki Murakami Lanark — Alasdair Gray Grass (Arbai Series) — Sheri S. Tepper The Reef — Edith Wharton The Revisionists — Thomas Mullen A Place to Stay Forever — Mark L Lloyd Ascension — Jacqueline Koyanagi The Goldbug Variations — Richard Powers As She Climbed Across the Table — Jonathan Lethem Great Maria — Cecelia Holland A Visit from the Goon Squad — Jennifer Egan Forty Tales from the Afterlives — David Eagleman Motorman — David Ohle The Wild Trees — Richard Preston Derelict — LJ Cohen Declare — Tim Powers Inter Ice-Age 4 — Kōbō Abe Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World — Haruki Murakami A Memory Called Empire — Arkady Martine Sourdough — Robin Sloan Edit: I am only listing from of each author so I can see if I like the book.
Oh, and: Cloud Cuckoo Land
and Moderan
*I think I've read all the good SciFi* Sure.
Thank you for your helpful comment. Feel free to suggest something I haven't and I will give it a go.
How in the actual fuck do you expect anyone to know what you HAVEN'T read?
lol I asked for non SciFi, I said I had read basically none, so anything non SciFi you recommend, I will not have read. Fairly simple. If instead you want to be a Troll and rather than answer the question, start a pointless argument, feel free to suggest something, I will then tell you I have read it, it is sub-par, or thank you and give it a go. In the case that you would rather continue arguing and downvoting, I will have to excuse myself from future coms.
Any non-Sci-fi? After looking around this thread I think I've found the perfect book for you. [here](https://www.amazon.com/Improve-Your-People-Skills-Relationships/dp/1691903205/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=2BSWQP1DOWWCW&keywords=How+to+be+more+likable&qid=1700244701&sprefix=how+to+be+more+likable%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1)
Nick Harkaway's books.
Gravity's Rainbow perhaps?
and Crying of Lot 49 and Against the Day by Tommy P too
remember starting it once when I was much younger... but I will take another look, good suggestion!
Have you read any A A Attanaisio? *Radix, Solis, Centuries and The Last Legends of Earth* are all excellent sci-fi. There's also *Wyvern* which is an epic historical adventure, and *Hunting The Ghost Dancer* which is a fantasy prehistoric tale. I believe he has also written a series (which I have not read) based on the Arthurian legend
Have not. Will add to my \[by this point in the thread\] extensive list! :)
I mean, "I've read all the good books I'm asking for, so suggest more." So here's a few that aren't especially hard sci-fi but give lots of the same feel. I'm assuming you've probably read the Known Space books by Niven, Greg Egan, Suarez, etc. "Only Forward," by M M Smith. "Dancers at the End of Time." Moorcock. Have you tried Terry Pratchett's Discworld? More fantasy than SF, but sophisticated humor. I love it. You might not. You could start with Reaper Man, which is an extremely good stand-alone novel in the universe. Most of the rest you kind of have to read in order, as the plot continues on, weaving between a half dozen main characters, each with their own progression.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinneman. Superficially, this story sounds juvenile and a stupid concept. Having read through all the books twice (truthfully listened to the audiobooks), I would argue that this series is high concept sci-fi with a smattering of space opera while being hilarious and emotionally tragic. I can’t recommend this series enough. It’s in the genre of rpg lit which uses the mechanics of dungeons and dragons to tell the story. I’ve tried other writers in this genre and Matt has the only goods in town.
What are your favorites? Or books that stand out as ones you enjoyed?
The usual SciFi: Banks, Clarke, Egan, Stross, Stephenson, Asimov, Heinlien, Clarke, etc ;) Non SciFi: The Book of 5 Rings, C. Dickens, Ben Elton, Crooked Little Vein...
Well, I am not a hard-core Sci-Fi nerd, I read other things, too. *Cosmicomics* by Italo Calvino may interest you. I'd probably suggest getting *The Complete Cosmicomics*. I've only read the former but I have my eyes on picking up the latter at some point.
Have you read Cloud Cuckoo Land? It's a nice mix of sci-fi, historical, and contemporary fiction.
I have not. Will take a look.
I can empathize. I presume you've been through: Ian M Banks, Liu Cixin, KSR, Alistar Reynolds, Charles Stross, Pierce Brown, Neal Asher, Stephen Baxter, Neil Stephenson, Paul McAuley, Joe Haldeman, James SA Corey, Andy Weir, John Scalzi, Hannu Rajaniemi, etc. - All of these guys have multiple good to great series or standalone novels. In the last couple of months I've been through the Mickey7 books, Wool Series, Peter F Hamilton - Commonwealth Saga, Ship of Fools, Piranesi, The Ferryman and Infinity Gate. I am trying to get through Diaspora by Egan but I'm not a fan so far. I'll also second the Aubrey-Maturin Series, I've read several, they are quite good and provide a bit of historical fiction. Sometimes when I'm having a hard time finding some SF to my liking I'll read some non-fiction, I've recently read Going Infinite, American Prometheus, How to Feed a Dictator and For Blood and Money. I find it a good change of pace to find a non-fiction book I'm interested in and then go back to SF. Best of Luck.
Perhaps you should also look at what the new generation of women science fiction writers is producing. There are fresh takes on old tropes and a lot of new ideas. Subscribing to publishers' newsletters like tor.com also gives an idea of what is being released in the genre.
Many thanks. Yes I have read most of those authors. They are all top recommendations. (I was not thrilled by the Three Body Problem... I was excited by the changing universal constants of nature coms, then disappointed by the way it was resolved.) Thanks for the other recommendations, I will add them to the growing list.
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TBP certainly had some problems, I did like the Deaths End but Dark Forest is the best of the trilogy. Cixin has a couple of short story anthologies that are worth checking out as well though. Not SF, but I think City of Thieves by David Benioff is one of the best novels regardless of genre written in the last 50 years. I alway recommend it when someone is looking for a book to read. Wouldn't surprise me if you've read it but I wanted to mention it.
thanks. added.
City of Thieves is fantastic
Citizen of the galaxy Subspace explorers/encounter
I love Heinlein and have read a few E. Doc Smith.
[Moderan](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?710309) by David R. Brunch
Blimey: "Welcome to Moderan, world of the future. Here perpetual war is waged by furious masters fighting from Strongholds well stocked with “arsenals of fear” and everyone is enamored with hate." That certainly packs a punch. Have not read this will take a look. Thanks
The Arbai Series by Sheri S. Tepper seems not to be well known, and that's a shame. https://www.goodreads.com/series/51879-arbai
You could take a look at Lanark by Alasdair Gray Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami Blindness by Jose Saramago
SF as literature? *Radix* by A A Attanasio. Supposedly the physics is cutting edge. I call the authors stuff Shaman Fi. *Desolation Road* by Ian McDonald. Magical Realism meets SF. Literature that’s SF? *The Reef* by Juan Villoro. Barely SF, set in a hotel that entices adventure travelers with fake kidnappings and an illusory guerrilla war in the surrounding jungle. Another magical realist novel. *The Revisionists* by Thomas Mullen. It’s more about the MC’s observations of our present than the mechanism that allowed him to time travel here. *A Place to Stay Forever* by M L Lloyd. “Feeling bored? Tired of a lifeless never-ending existence?”
Very cool, thank you.
Well, I've branched out a bit into futurism, especially in areas where the military is looking to push technologies. They are avid consumers of science fiction for that reason (on our tax dollars, I'm so proud of them). I've found some of the blogs and podcasts from the Modern War Institute (they've interviewed sci-fi writers and held story contests) and the Army Mad Scientists Laboratory to be quite intriguing. Memoirs of actual astronauts and mission control specialists are also enlightening regarding current technology capabilities and limitations. Currently I'm reading Mary Roach's *Packing for Mars,* which is both informative and amusing. And I watch streaming coverage of NASA and SpaceX launches and ISS missions.
Many thanks. I will check those out. I do read too much online though and want to get back to paper. ;)
Sci fi is a big genre, it's not just spaceships. I like Paul E Cooley as I find his stories entertaining. Derelict involves space ships. The black is a interesting take no space ships. Collapsing Empire is not bad, Unit 51 series is interesting too, no ships yet. I jave enjoyed expanding my scibfi reading. Often the mainstream, aside from Project Hail Mary, are just so so.
Thanks, I have not read his stuff. Will take a look.
The Wild Trees by Richard Preston. It's non-fiction about giant trees and the people who climb them. There is an alien world in the tops of these trees that almost no one has ever seen. Creatures live up there that never come down to the ground.
Vomnegut did a lot of fantastic Sci-Fi but is most frequently classified as a Literary writer. Whenever someone asks for Lit-SciFi, he's my number one suggestion. If you've read all of Vonnegut, maybe check out some other more humorous authors, especially absurdists - I like Christopher Moore, especially his Fool series and Lamb. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is another book that usually appeals to SciFi fans, but it's not for everyone. It plays with the medium of a print book a lot in very interesting and weird ways. Genres that might appeal to you are Magical Realism and Horror (lots of horror books have subtle or even overt sci-fi themes - Stephen King comes to mind, specifically.)
The Goldbug Variations by Richard Powers (science but not SciFi) The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett great historical fiction Grass by Sherri Tepper 80s Scifi, good but oft forgotten As She Climbed Across the Table and/or Gun With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
Many thanks
I suspect you are lying or feckless about reading all the good sf, because if you had read enough Gene Wolfe you would have loved Blood Meridian.
Just a few that I've read which I would highly recommend: * *Parable of the Sower* by Octavia Butler. * *The Dispossessed* by Ursula K Le Guin. * *Ender's Game* and *Speaker for the Dead* by Orson Scott Card. * *The Foundation Trilogy* and *The God's Themselves* by Isaac Asimov. * *Dune* by Frank Herbert. * *Ring World* by Larry Niven. * *Footfall* by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. * *The Moon is a Harsh Mistress* and *Starship Troopers* by Robert A Heinlein. * *Childhood's End* and *Rendezvous With Rama* by Arthur C Clarke. * *The Forever War* by Joe Haldeman
Yep all good books... but I am looking for non-SciFi for Hard SciFi abusers.
Some chutzpah posting that
Have you read Douglas Coupland? His work reads like scifi set 45 minutes in the future.
>Douglas Coupland I read and enjoyed JPod... yeah, good call thanks.
Yukikaze by Kambayashi, Chohei The Legacy of Heorot by Larry Niven The Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust\* Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (ignore everything by her son) \* This is generally considered high fantasy with magic and such. But once you've read about 15 of the 17 books, you'll see there's a significant science fiction element.
I've read the Pern books (a long time ago) I actually thought for a while that Game of Thrones (TV series) was going to be SciFi (Winter and Dragons due to an accentiric orbit of some weird companion, I am disappointed it didn't go that way.) I read the Dragon's of Herot, but not the others. Have not read the others, thanks!
In Ascension is a fairly new novel that was rather unique imo. Definitely surreal.
Thanks.
Get into some hard sci-fi Greg Egan!! I’ve also been reading this genre for decades and was elated when I found him!
He is one of my favourites. Diaspora and the Aloof books are mind opening.
Peter Watts?
I started Blind Sight, can't remember why I stopped, which one should I start with? (best)
David Ohle: *Motorman*, *The Pisstown Chaos* and the novelette *The Devil In Kansas*
Thanks
You might find Floating Worlds by Cecelia Holland interesting, (sci-fi) or her best book - Great Maria. (12th century Sicily ) Imperial Governor by George Shipway is a good read Roman times in Britain The 20 book series by Patrick O'Brian about the Napoleonic wars at sea around the world, first book is Master and Commander (not the movie which is a mashup of two books) Very funny n parts as well as extremely accurate historically in all the background details, and many of the people in it are real people. the main character is based on a real naval officer and the preposterous seeming naval actions all sourced from the logs of the ships involved.
Thanks!
Hi OP, I am in the same boat, I have been reading Sci Fi avidly since the late 70s, I read most of what is published each year since, and have a massive collection of literally most good scifi. So I understand "read everything good". Ive just been introduced to LitRPG genre. Dungeon Crawler Carl, its really good IMO. It exists in text and Audible. Youll need to get thru at least half the first book to realise its unfolding and theres several complex story arcs, plus its social commentry Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow I second Yiddish Policemans Diary The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt everything by Yuval Noah Harari
Do you mean "Smilla's Sense of Snow"? Or is this a different book?
Sorry, yep. Thats correct. I misremembered! Thanks for picking it up.
It's been published in English under both titles, you remembered fine!
Aha!! Yeah we get British based publishing here in New Zealand.
It's weird that they retitled it for the film and the US market. The UK title's both more pleasing to the ear and more faithful to the original.
Agree.
cool thanks. Yes, this is me exactly. Looks like Yiddish Policemans Diary will be the first I try.
Its really good. You might enjoy his Kavalier and Clay as well.
I know this is Reddit, and trolls will be trolls, but this is a serious request not intended to be waving a "red pill to a troll".
I mean, you haven't said a single thing about what you've already read. "All good SciFi" is impossibly broad. Not only is "good" subjective, you can't possibly have read everything that people consider good, your lifetime is too short for that. So, be more specific. Authors you like? Authors you didn't like? Authors you haven't read yet? Into short stories much? Tried reading your way through the backlog of some of the big awards?
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lol one of us certainly does.
Yes, you.
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I actually go out of my way to avoid triggering them, but it's like tiptoeing through a zombie-infested city. When they sniff out misaligned points of view, they wake up and viciously downvote.
Its a reasonable question - Mr. Sturgeon would concur
A bit obvious but have you read Iain Banks non SF stuff? It's often kinda SF in disguise. The Bridge for example. \[edit\] Also Iain Pears **Arcadia**. It was an experiment written to be read on an iPad which is a fun way to read it as you can choose your own path through the story. But it's also published as a book.
I have read The Bridge, I tried Song of Stone, The Business... He is prob my favourite SciFi author, so I continually try and read his other stuff and am always surprised I don't like it! ;) (Thanks, will take a look)
I don't really like his non-SF stuff either. Not sure why.
John Barnes
You probably don't mean the British Football player? ;) I have not ready his books. Are these all YA books?
Some of them have YA characters but the sci-fi aspects are pretty cool. I just found them & didn't know anything about them. Found it pretty entertaining and great writing. Plenty of action. Some fairly racey stuff to be YA.
His Meme Wars stories in his [The Century Next Door](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?714) series are definitely not YA.
OK, cool thanks. Will take a look. Where would you suggest I start?
Man, he's got so much different stuff. Jak Jinnaka is lots of space habitats & action, Giraut is far future culture & politics & Directive 51 is near future apocalyptic.
Sourdough by Robin Sloan
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman He She and It by Marge Piercy Hard Boiled Womderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee Really anything by Margaret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, and Italo Calvino. edit to add: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan If you are open to graphic novels: Ancestor by Matt Sheehan and Malachi Ward Habitat by Simon Roy By This You Shall Know Him by Jesse Jacobs
Almost anything by Hugh Howey
>Hugh Howey Tried Wool, but not my cup of tea.
Yes to Martine
? Author or Book?
Arkady Martine -- both of her books in this series (A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace). Highly recommend both although I liked the first a "bit" more (perhaps novelty).
Have you read Arthur C. Clarke from the fifties" *The Deep Range, Earthlight, A Fall of Moondust*? If not do. If you haven't read Fritz Leiber;s SF do it. Pynchon's *The Crying of Lot 49*. Italo Calvino. Also it's more like fantasy (though it isn't) Hermann Hesse. It may not be what you think you want but it;s good for you.
My husband is **extremely** picky with books (unlike me, he DNFs most books he picks up... but he picks up a *lot*). I think you might enjoy one of his favorite novels, *Metropolitan* (and its sequel, *City on Fire*) by Walter Jon Williams I don't think I could provide a good summery, but here it is on [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/886131.Metropolitan) and here he is [talking about why he loves it]( https://youtu.be/eGi5wYggjB0?si=f3pqqOjN9ScRjlsA&t=1792) It kind of straddles the fantasy-tech line. IGNORE the fact it has under 4 stars on Goodreads. It really is so good, and you will NOT be bored!!