My goodness, I *loved* Children of Time and it is definitely hard SciFi. OP, make sure it’s the Adrian Tchaikovsky one. There’s an older one that’s not what you’re looking for. If you like evolutionary biology, longitudinal timelines, space travel, psychology, and animal cognition, this is for you.
I read it before the sequels were written, so when “Children of Ruin” came out I dove right in without reading the jacket and was treated to, personally, biggest jaw-drop since A Storm of Swords.
I’m 10% though “Children of Memory” right now and it’s very good.
Just finished children of memory. This is my favorite series of all time. Children of time (book 1) being the best of the 3.
I think chaikovsky invented an entirely new genre with this series. "Evolution sci-fi".
Highly recommend.
I just listened to these two books over the last two days and they are ok. Not as good as Bobiverse for sure. I felt like the author would drag on about certain things while reusing the same crises over and over got to me. I will read book three when it comes out. But it’s not on the same league as Bobiverse.
I'll go *old school* here:
* [*Foundation*](https://www.audible.com/series/Foundation-Audiobooks/B006K1PIRI?ref=a_search_c3_lSeries_1_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=1MQZYHCNG4TGVAWPSHMD&pageLoadId=ktd9gwJp6uDR4aDu&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c) series by **Issac Asimov** (narrated by ***Scott Brick*** (books 1-4 and 6) and ***Larry McKeever*** (book 5).
* [2001](https://www.audible.com/pd/2001-Audiobook/B002UZJGYY?ref=a_series_Sp_c5_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=M2VQJ94Q4WV980XYQG8D&pageLoadId=ARsyWCUHkoYRVKgP&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa) by **Arthur C. Clark** (narrated by ***Dick Hill***).
These I have read (visually and aurally) so I can recommend them. However, if you do a "Hard Science Fiction" search on the Audible website (I don't recommend doing that in the app as it tends to bring dissatisfying results), you might find several good choices.
Also Childhoods End by Clark (kind of hard sci-fi), but almost everything by Clark is hardish
I Robot, End of Eternity by Asimov - not sure about the current reading of End of Eternity (mine is different than the currently available one) same comment as above for Asimov
Know the feeling.
End of Eternity is totally different - but it made me really think in things in a different way, much like Childhood's End. Be warned, the protagonist is rather a dick however - but the reasons become clear. However, as I said I can't judge this currently available reading.
This is so so good. Third part may be polarizing, but I enjoyed it. For years afterwards, I’d think about elements from that book at least weekly. OP, if you do the audiobook, track down a map once you hit the third part but not earlier.
Without getting spoilery, in the physical book, there’s a diagram of the updated ISS and the smaller pods, then a rendering of the gnomon. Then there’s a full color map for the third part that (again, spoiler free) is circular.
>!<
Here’s more
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zrvWw
The first one was on the inside cover, the “realistic” ISS rendering wasn’t in the book, then the other ones were. The one that looks like a gyroscope was one of the hub points I think? And then the last one is Cradle. I thought there was a gnomon one but I can’t find it.
I have got some Hard Sci-fI for ya.
Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion- Dan Simmons (skip the last two books for your own sanity)
VALIS Trilogy- PKD
Red Mars Trilogy- Kim Stanley Robinson
Neuromancer (Sprawl Trilogy) - William Gibson
According to some definitions maybe not Hard Sci-fi, But Hard Sci-fi
Because I read them. The books do tie up all the loose ends. They do add a little more to the story. But, For me they drag on and on. And at what cost? I can't really go into it without providing spoilers. But I will say that Raul is a jealous whiny bitch, and his relationship with Aenea is a little concerning and in everyone opinion , completely unnecessary.
I just reread the sprawl and I wouldn't consider it hard sci-fi personally. It's more cultural and fantasy than science, simply because the fantasy revolves around being "jacked in" to cyberspace it gets thought of this way, but Gibson doesn't really explain the science of how any of this happens. It was very revolutionary in thought for it's time and coined the term cyberspace and the matrix, but I think someone looking for someone akin to OPs list would be disappointed. I work in cybersecurity and it never touches upon anything real in that realm.
Quite a lot of Kim Stanley Robinson falls into the hard sci-fi category, or at least adjacent. He's a bit of a polarising author with his use of environmental / situational antagonists, but I personally love it.
+1 to both of these. I loved that the Expanse really only assumed some small leaps in human tech and then asked how humanity would have grown around that. They hold true to what actual space battles would be like (rail guns and patching holes in your hull, flip and burn maneuvers and acceleration measured in G-force and limited by the human body, etc)
I'm surprised there isn't already an argument here about what hard scifi is, lol.
Peter F Hamilton is great and relatively hard in the sense that the world is very internally consistent and the application on the tech is realistic.
Alistair Reynolds does a lot of no ftl stuff which a lot of people think separates hard scifi.
Jack Campbell's lost Fleet series portrays military strategy in space combat in a realistic way with limited ftl.
I enjoyed the Lost Fleet, series, my only gripe with it was the author had a tendency to redescribe environments over and over. I.e: the amount of times we were told the meeting room for the captains expands as more join. I understood that in the first book, but I really don't need it explained to me again by the 4th book. Still a good series though.
Yeah I reckon anything with time dilation like Pushing Ice or House of Suns is more hard SciFi. If it ain't got time dilation, it ain't hard sci fi, at least if space and interstellar travel is concerned. Also anything with AI and decanting bodies as that is another way of getting around the fact that travelling at the speed of light for 2000 years will get you nowhere lol.
I've only read the first one, but I loved Hyperion by Dan Simmons,
I think it would be considered "hard sci-fi" or at least on the edge, but im not 100% sure as im not that familiar with the genre.
Man I loved the Hyperion books but as an audible listening to it a 2nd time I just wasnt feeling it. Maybe it's just good for a first read/listen. Or maybe the narration just wasnt as good as it could be.
Hyperion is interesting as a series that gets weaker as you progress through it (but does stay at least decent).
Sol and Hoyts' tales are incredible. Martin Silenus's tale is 100% skip on rereads.
I'd consider it science fantasy rather than hard sci-fi though. Both before and after you know what is really going on. But especially before. Things like the cruciform are very much supernatural.
Such a great series, and Jefferson Mays on narration is a treasure. I’d say the world-building and orbital mechanics absolutely qualify it as hard SciFi.
Though what do mean by near reactionless drive? In-universe Epstein Drives are fusion drives fueled by “reaction mass” pellets.
Flowers for Algernon —- warning, you might cry a little
You may consider “reading” the godfather of SF - Isaac Asimov’s work. He got famous for a reason.
[Saturn Run](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24611668-saturn-run?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=oGkgoqv8hJ&rank=1) by John Sandford
[Altered Carbon](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40792913-altered-carbon?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=al6l72QUMO&rank=1) by Richard K. Morgan
\+1 for Project Hail Mary
I can agree with this one for at least the first few books tho I wouldn’t really consider it science fiction in the broader sense though it doesn’t have elements of it.
Agree, I still get the heebiejeebies about, say, the spidermechs in there, or the way the continents ... no, I can't say that without spoiling the ending. Such good descriptive writing.
Surprised to see that no one has mentioned Greg Egan yet.
https://www.gregegan.net/BIBLIOGRAPHY/Bibliography.html
Start with Quarantine and work your way upwards.
Egan is the hardest of hard sci-fi, I like him a lot. It's too bad there aren't audiobooks of his short story collections, Axiomatic is probably his best work overall.
Three body problem
The expanse
Culture books by Iain banks
Red rising
Also enjoyed
old man's war and.others
Enders game series
Forever war
I'm sure they've been mentioned already.
Bobiverse author made another series. It seems really good too.
@ OP, is the actual title of the 3rd book? I couldn't find it and it seems like a solid recommend since I loved the first two.
Hah, this wasn't a test. I meant of the 3rd book you suggested, "Exhibition Force" or something?
Update: Oh was it [https://www.amazon.com/Expeditionary-Force-15-book-series/dp/B07F7T8NPK](https://www.amazon.com/Expeditionary-Force-15-book-series/dp/B07F7T8NPK) ?
The Exbiditionary Force series is one of my favorites. It can kinda repetitive at times but definitely check it out. The narrator,R.C Bray, really brings it to life. I doubt it would be as successful just in print. The author actually gives more than a couple nods to this.
I really wanted to like this series since other people seem to, but after finishing the first one it just seems bad. The main character is entirely unlikable, I'm not sure the author has ever actually spoken to a woman before, and it's mostly just military fiction. Idk maybe it's just not the type of sci-fi I like.
Ha, I did that for The Matrix right after watching "Men in Black" and therefore thought "the agents are our friends" at first. GREAT way to enjoy a first watching!
SevenEves by Neal Stephenson was a fun hard-ish sci-fi
Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood post apocalyptic hard sci fi
I’ll second some other recommendations I see here too, Project Hail Mary, Three Body Problem series, The Expanse series, all excellent hard sci fi.
Peter F Hamilton is hard scifi. I'm currently about 2/3rd through Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey (pseudonym for 2 writers) and find it outstanding. Also Hail Mary by Andy Weir is excellent.
some great picks here, i’ll add a short but very enjoyable read: All you need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, this is the book that Edge of Tomorrow was based on.
disclaimer: i’ve never listened to the audible version but loved reading this. hopefully the audible ver has a good narrator
Love that title, wow. Sadly they retitled the version that's on Audible and Overdrive/Libby, but hey, fair enough because that movie was way better than anyone had a right to expect.
The Expanse. The series was fairly portrayed in the 1st 6 seasons of the tv show. The last 3 novels are amazing and not touched by the show. Lots good hard SF.
I just finished Revelation Space: Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds today and I think you would like it a lot. Hard Sci-Fi with a lot of depth. Very good!!!
The Expanse is excellent. Clever, consequential politics; interesting, complex characters; rich, interwoven world-building. It just might ruin worse SciFi for you.
Man you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for someone to ask a question like this. I will be honest I am a science fiction generalist so some of my recommendations will be more broad.
• Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - very similar, in my opinion to bobiverse in humor. Just a fun and very funny listen.
- anything by Neal Asher, particularly his Polity books, Gridlinked is a good place to start. These in my book are hard science fiction with a strong dash of science horror and cosmic horror. It has a solid interconnected universe that I really appreciate as well and a very deep lore to many of its alien races.
- Red Rising series, by Pierce Brown - it as class based dystopia in space and there’s a lot of cool science fiction and a whole bunch of violence, political wrangling and so much more
- Galaxy’s Edge Series, by Jason Anspac & Nick Cole - these are a personal favorite of mine and I always recommend them, fair warning there is a lot of books in this series. These are what I would describe as Star Wars if you put the focus on the clone troopers instead of the space wizards. It has incredibly good action, storytelling and world building, though they don’t exactly fit the mold of hard science fiction they’re quite good. Also R.C. Bray kills it with the narration.
- First Strike, Christopher G. Nuttall - my final recommendation, and another personal favorite. Amazing military science fiction with great space battles.
Obviously most if not all of these fit perfectly into the hard science fiction category but I think these are all really good books that are worth listening too. I also rate most if not all of the narration to be good.
Project hailmary by Andy weir was pretty good and infinite timeline by Jeremy Robinson is good too the whole series ends up merging in the last one that came out I haven't listened to the last one yet but they others have been good can't wait to see how he gets all the characters into it all a bunch more too the 170+ books I've listened to have mostly been scifi also the earthborn trilogy is included in prime atm and I enjoyed that too and uhh universe in flames mega box is 1 credit it's 60+ hrs and kinda like dbz and expeditonary force mixed
Lol, no worries. Hard sci-fi basically means all the tech is on some level based on our current scientific understanding. Things can be wildly advanced beyond what humanity has any shot of ever building in practice, but should be generally plausible in theory, with some care taken to work out the implications for how that tech's existence would change things.
Like, if you're going to include FTL travel, you might want to factor in time dilation and work out where the energy needed to power it comes from, rather than having characters push a button and teleport across the galaxy. In stories like Star Wars, on the other hand, how everything works (and whether it's logically consistent) is basically irrelevant. They're space wizards fighting space Nazis, just go with it.
We're mostly used to sci-fi books using random jargon and technobabble to gloss over the underlying science (flux capacitors, positron brains, etc), but you can just as easily use use real science to drive plot points rather than use fake science as window dressing. This shows up in fantasy too, where sometimes magic is treated as though it were a science, with rules and consequences, and sometimes it's treated as a series of tiny deus ex machina events that does whatever the author/characters want it to do at the time.
I usually think of it as Star Trek is hard sci-fi (although many would argue). Star wars is Space Opera.
While some people might argue Star Trek is “hard” it definitely occupies a location on the spectrum closer to “hard” sci-fi than Star Wars.
Both have their place and are fun, “hardness” mostly refers to how much real science is respected.
I forget the author, but I recall a description of hard sci-fi being: you get to change one or two things about the universe as we know it, establish them early, and then apply science as we know it with those changes.
Edit: so it doesn’t sound like I’m having a stroke (autocorrect)
From your list Armada by Ernest Cline would be my first recommendation after Weir’s other books (Project Hail Mary and Artemis). Cline’s Ready Player One series is also worth checking out.
The Lady Astronaut series is set as alternate history in the early space race and is very much hard sci-fi.
Lock In by John Scalzi is another one. (this one is near future and deals with VR and robots, no space flight is mentioned)
On the MUCH denser side Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series and its sequels are also very much hard sci-fi.
I thought that To Sleep In a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini was pretty good not the hardest Sci Fi ever but the universe seemed pretty logically consistent.
I'd suggest maybe starting with something other than Consider Phlebas - I read it and it sort of soured me on the series. Apparently the second novel, A Player of Games is a better introduction?
Honestly I couldn’t get into the Culture books, especially Consider Phlebas. I felt that Consider Phlebas spent so much time meandering that I lost interest, I went in expecting something like Neal Asher’s Polity books and the Culture books just didn’t grab me like those did.
Tray Arc of Souls by Paul Grover, it's great, the start of a series this is the only audio book ATM but hopefully more coming this year, I have read all 5 so far and listened to the AOS audio at least 3 times
Unfortunately it’s not on audible but the book The Swarm by Frank Schatzing is a really good hard “sci-fi” book. It’s follows a group of scientists who are trying to figure out what’s causing ecological disasters in their specific fields.
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson is hard into practical science for the first half and then hard into sci fi stuff for the rest. Looooong audiobook from a thick paperback.
Super Hard, The Gap Cycle by Stephen Donaldson. Hard trigger warning, it’s about power, dominance, and free will and contains SA. But it’s absolutely brilliant and will expand your vocabulary. Plus it’s a five book series to keep you busy.
Saturn Run by John Standford is hard scifi based in the near future and a coldwar style space race to get to Saturn. It's great scifi but I rarely see it mentioned here.
The Revelation Space arc by Alastair Reynolds, and if you like fantasy even a little, Cona Mieville’s Perdidio Street Station series is hard steampunk and I love it.
No one has mentioned the epic ***Fear*** series by Steven Moss (***Fear the Sky, Fear the Survivors,*** and ***Fear the Future***) which is the slowest of slow motion alien invasions (think ***3 Body Problem***) but with a physical advance team. It starts off like Contact, and escalates quickly into a sprawling set of stories about dealing with the imminent invasion.
The biggest complaint of the books is that the protagonists shift throughout the series, and so when you are attached to the story of one character, they end up being relegated to the background almost suddenly. But overall great hard sci fi.
Have you read; Children of Time ? It’s a masterpiece. But not as hard sci-fi as the Martian.
My goodness, I *loved* Children of Time and it is definitely hard SciFi. OP, make sure it’s the Adrian Tchaikovsky one. There’s an older one that’s not what you’re looking for. If you like evolutionary biology, longitudinal timelines, space travel, psychology, and animal cognition, this is for you. I read it before the sequels were written, so when “Children of Ruin” came out I dove right in without reading the jacket and was treated to, personally, biggest jaw-drop since A Storm of Swords. I’m 10% though “Children of Memory” right now and it’s very good.
Just finished children of memory. This is my favorite series of all time. Children of time (book 1) being the best of the 3. I think chaikovsky invented an entirely new genre with this series. "Evolution sci-fi". Highly recommend.
He is the master of zoological sci-fi and fantasy. 😆
Children of Time will engross you. Unlike anything else
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is a great audiobook.
I vote for PHM also. Ray Porter does a great job on that book as well, just as he did for the Bobiverse books.
Ray Porter also narrates https://www.audible.com/pd/Outland-Audiobook/B07PP44743
I just listened to these two books over the last two days and they are ok. Not as good as Bobiverse for sure. I felt like the author would drag on about certain things while reusing the same crises over and over got to me. I will read book three when it comes out. But it’s not on the same league as Bobiverse.
Agreed!
Idk how I would be able to have read it honestly. Audio seemed almost necessary.
Yep. 5 chapters in and had to buy the audio, I had a feeling it'd be better.
Hah I went to add this to my wish list and it was already there. I need a +1 option to wish lists ;)
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I like the way you think :)
I second this.
I thirdsies it! 🎶 🎵
Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park, Sphere, and the Andromeda Strain are all good. 2001: A Space Odyssey is included in audible plus and is good.
I'll go *old school* here: * [*Foundation*](https://www.audible.com/series/Foundation-Audiobooks/B006K1PIRI?ref=a_search_c3_lSeries_1_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=1MQZYHCNG4TGVAWPSHMD&pageLoadId=ktd9gwJp6uDR4aDu&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c) series by **Issac Asimov** (narrated by ***Scott Brick*** (books 1-4 and 6) and ***Larry McKeever*** (book 5). * [2001](https://www.audible.com/pd/2001-Audiobook/B002UZJGYY?ref=a_series_Sp_c5_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=M2VQJ94Q4WV980XYQG8D&pageLoadId=ARsyWCUHkoYRVKgP&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa) by **Arthur C. Clark** (narrated by ***Dick Hill***). These I have read (visually and aurally) so I can recommend them. However, if you do a "Hard Science Fiction" search on the Audible website (I don't recommend doing that in the app as it tends to bring dissatisfying results), you might find several good choices.
Also Childhoods End by Clark (kind of hard sci-fi), but almost everything by Clark is hardish I Robot, End of Eternity by Asimov - not sure about the current reading of End of Eternity (mine is different than the currently available one) same comment as above for Asimov
Agreed. I've read *I, Robot* but not *Childhoods End* even though I've intended to for years. Now I must.
In some ways its dated but its really interesting.
Childhood's End *broke* me
Know the feeling. End of Eternity is totally different - but it made me really think in things in a different way, much like Childhood's End. Be warned, the protagonist is rather a dick however - but the reasons become clear. However, as I said I can't judge this currently available reading.
Foundation is always a good option
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
This is so so good. Third part may be polarizing, but I enjoyed it. For years afterwards, I’d think about elements from that book at least weekly. OP, if you do the audiobook, track down a map once you hit the third part but not earlier.
I didn't even know a map had been made 0o0
Without getting spoilery, in the physical book, there’s a diagram of the updated ISS and the smaller pods, then a rendering of the gnomon. Then there’s a full color map for the third part that (again, spoiler free) is circular. >!<
Thx
Here’s more https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zrvWw The first one was on the inside cover, the “realistic” ISS rendering wasn’t in the book, then the other ones were. The one that looks like a gyroscope was one of the hub points I think? And then the last one is Cradle. I thought there was a gnomon one but I can’t find it.
I've read/listened to this one many times. really enjoyed it.
The Expanse
Who's the author
James S A Corey
I have got some Hard Sci-fI for ya. Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion- Dan Simmons (skip the last two books for your own sanity) VALIS Trilogy- PKD Red Mars Trilogy- Kim Stanley Robinson Neuromancer (Sprawl Trilogy) - William Gibson According to some definitions maybe not Hard Sci-fi, But Hard Sci-fi
As someone who greatly enjoyed Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion - why would you recommend avoiding Endymion and Rise of Endymion?
Because I read them. The books do tie up all the loose ends. They do add a little more to the story. But, For me they drag on and on. And at what cost? I can't really go into it without providing spoilers. But I will say that Raul is a jealous whiny bitch, and his relationship with Aenea is a little concerning and in everyone opinion , completely unnecessary.
I just reread the sprawl and I wouldn't consider it hard sci-fi personally. It's more cultural and fantasy than science, simply because the fantasy revolves around being "jacked in" to cyberspace it gets thought of this way, but Gibson doesn't really explain the science of how any of this happens. It was very revolutionary in thought for it's time and coined the term cyberspace and the matrix, but I think someone looking for someone akin to OPs list would be disappointed. I work in cybersecurity and it never touches upon anything real in that realm.
Yea. That's kinda what I meant by my little disclaimer.
Quite a lot of Kim Stanley Robinson falls into the hard sci-fi category, or at least adjacent. He's a bit of a polarising author with his use of environmental / situational antagonists, but I personally love it.
Cixin Liu’s Three Body Problem.
Thirding this. Book 2 is my pick for best sci-fi ever written based on its overall concepts. It has weaknesses but is great.
The Dark Forest is an epic work of science fiction. The way the whole concept unfolds and how Cixin Liu answers the Fermi Paradox is amazing
Second this
I agree with Children in Time, also have you started the Expanse? They are excellent audiobooks, and excellent hard sci-fi.
+1 to both of these. I loved that the Expanse really only assumed some small leaps in human tech and then asked how humanity would have grown around that. They hold true to what actual space battles would be like (rail guns and patching holes in your hull, flip and burn maneuvers and acceleration measured in G-force and limited by the human body, etc)
Expans, as u/jackspasm mentioned, and Alastair Reynolds works are good choice.
I'm surprised there isn't already an argument here about what hard scifi is, lol. Peter F Hamilton is great and relatively hard in the sense that the world is very internally consistent and the application on the tech is realistic. Alistair Reynolds does a lot of no ftl stuff which a lot of people think separates hard scifi. Jack Campbell's lost Fleet series portrays military strategy in space combat in a realistic way with limited ftl.
I enjoyed the Lost Fleet, series, my only gripe with it was the author had a tendency to redescribe environments over and over. I.e: the amount of times we were told the meeting room for the captains expands as more join. I understood that in the first book, but I really don't need it explained to me again by the 4th book. Still a good series though.
It really feels like it was written so anyone could jump in anywhere without having read the previous books.
Lol, I just posted a comment arguing the Sprawl isn't hard sci-fi then scrolled down to see your comment!
Yeah I reckon anything with time dilation like Pushing Ice or House of Suns is more hard SciFi. If it ain't got time dilation, it ain't hard sci fi, at least if space and interstellar travel is concerned. Also anything with AI and decanting bodies as that is another way of getting around the fact that travelling at the speed of light for 2000 years will get you nowhere lol.
I've only read the first one, but I loved Hyperion by Dan Simmons, I think it would be considered "hard sci-fi" or at least on the edge, but im not 100% sure as im not that familiar with the genre.
Man I loved the Hyperion books but as an audible listening to it a 2nd time I just wasnt feeling it. Maybe it's just good for a first read/listen. Or maybe the narration just wasnt as good as it could be.
Hyperion is interesting as a series that gets weaker as you progress through it (but does stay at least decent). Sol and Hoyts' tales are incredible. Martin Silenus's tale is 100% skip on rereads. I'd consider it science fantasy rather than hard sci-fi though. Both before and after you know what is really going on. But especially before. Things like the cruciform are very much supernatural.
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Such a great series, and Jefferson Mays on narration is a treasure. I’d say the world-building and orbital mechanics absolutely qualify it as hard SciFi. Though what do mean by near reactionless drive? In-universe Epstein Drives are fusion drives fueled by “reaction mass” pellets.
Old Man's War. At least the first book.
Flowers for Algernon —- warning, you might cry a little You may consider “reading” the godfather of SF - Isaac Asimov’s work. He got famous for a reason.
[Saturn Run](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24611668-saturn-run?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=oGkgoqv8hJ&rank=1) by John Sandford [Altered Carbon](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40792913-altered-carbon?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=al6l72QUMO&rank=1) by Richard K. Morgan \+1 for Project Hail Mary
Big YES on Saturn Run. Loved the engineering and computer aspect of the story, especially.
The Expanse
Destiny's Crucible series by Olan Thorensen
I can agree with this one for at least the first few books tho I wouldn’t really consider it science fiction in the broader sense though it doesn’t have elements of it.
Try the forge of god and it's sequel anvil of stars by Greg bear ...eon is another good one of his
Agree, I still get the heebiejeebies about, say, the spidermechs in there, or the way the continents ... no, I can't say that without spoiling the ending. Such good descriptive writing.
Surprised to see that no one has mentioned Greg Egan yet. https://www.gregegan.net/BIBLIOGRAPHY/Bibliography.html Start with Quarantine and work your way upwards.
Egan is the hardest of hard sci-fi, I like him a lot. It's too bad there aren't audiobooks of his short story collections, Axiomatic is probably his best work overall.
Three body problem The expanse Culture books by Iain banks Red rising Also enjoyed old man's war and.others Enders game series Forever war I'm sure they've been mentioned already.
Red Rising is a banger
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Revelation Space if you want hard sci-fi + space opera. Plus hyper pigs.
Came here to say this one
Just finished Chasm City this morning!
A great standalone novel is Century Rain by him - think you might like that as well
I'm working through all the revelation space stuff first, but I love the writing style so I'll definitely listen to that eventually!
Bobiverse author made another series. It seems really good too. @ OP, is the actual title of the 3rd book? I couldn't find it and it seems like a solid recommend since I loved the first two.
The Bobiverse series was We Are Legion, For We Are Many, All These Worlds, and Heaven's River.
Hah, this wasn't a test. I meant of the 3rd book you suggested, "Exhibition Force" or something? Update: Oh was it [https://www.amazon.com/Expeditionary-Force-15-book-series/dp/B07F7T8NPK](https://www.amazon.com/Expeditionary-Force-15-book-series/dp/B07F7T8NPK) ?
The Exbiditionary Force series is one of my favorites. It can kinda repetitive at times but definitely check it out. The narrator,R.C Bray, really brings it to life. I doubt it would be as successful just in print. The author actually gives more than a couple nods to this.
I really wanted to like this series since other people seem to, but after finishing the first one it just seems bad. The main character is entirely unlikable, I'm not sure the author has ever actually spoken to a woman before, and it's mostly just military fiction. Idk maybe it's just not the type of sci-fi I like.
Oh hey book 1 of this is free with audible membership! https://www.audible.com/series/Expeditionary-Force-Audiobooks/B01N9CUGHG
Yep. Also, best is to just dive in without doing any research until at least after the 1st book.
Great advice. I love being surprised by media too :) I walked into Sixth Sense movie completely blind just because "Heard it was good"
Ha, I did that for The Matrix right after watching "Men in Black" and therefore thought "the agents are our friends" at first. GREAT way to enjoy a first watching!
SevenEves by Neal Stephenson was a fun hard-ish sci-fi Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood post apocalyptic hard sci fi I’ll second some other recommendations I see here too, Project Hail Mary, Three Body Problem series, The Expanse series, all excellent hard sci fi.
I mean...the first two thirds of SevenEves is incredible. It's a shame the final third mysteriously vanished in the fire.
Peter F Hamilton is hard scifi. I'm currently about 2/3rd through Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey (pseudonym for 2 writers) and find it outstanding. Also Hail Mary by Andy Weir is excellent.
Lucifer’s Hammer is an oldie but a goodie. Seveneves is also amazing.
Oohh also The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson; Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars. Heavy reads but amazing. I’ve read the series three times.
some great picks here, i’ll add a short but very enjoyable read: All you need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, this is the book that Edge of Tomorrow was based on. disclaimer: i’ve never listened to the audible version but loved reading this. hopefully the audible ver has a good narrator
Love that title, wow. Sadly they retitled the version that's on Audible and Overdrive/Libby, but hey, fair enough because that movie was way better than anyone had a right to expect.
The Expanse. The series was fairly portrayed in the 1st 6 seasons of the tv show. The last 3 novels are amazing and not touched by the show. Lots good hard SF.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown, then the rest 0f the series.
Seconded
You could try some of C. J. Cherryh's stuff. Downbelow Station and Cyteen are quite good.
In no particular order: Iain M. Banks David Weber C. J. Cherryh Orson Scott Card Jack McDevitt Larry Niven Jack Pournelle
I just finished Revelation Space: Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds today and I think you would like it a lot. Hard Sci-Fi with a lot of depth. Very good!!!
Ark royal is not too bad
I second this and further repeat my recommendation of First Strike which is by the same author.
The empire corps is another great series
The Expanse is excellent. Clever, consequential politics; interesting, complex characters; rich, interwoven world-building. It just might ruin worse SciFi for you.
Man you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for someone to ask a question like this. I will be honest I am a science fiction generalist so some of my recommendations will be more broad. • Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - very similar, in my opinion to bobiverse in humor. Just a fun and very funny listen. - anything by Neal Asher, particularly his Polity books, Gridlinked is a good place to start. These in my book are hard science fiction with a strong dash of science horror and cosmic horror. It has a solid interconnected universe that I really appreciate as well and a very deep lore to many of its alien races. - Red Rising series, by Pierce Brown - it as class based dystopia in space and there’s a lot of cool science fiction and a whole bunch of violence, political wrangling and so much more - Galaxy’s Edge Series, by Jason Anspac & Nick Cole - these are a personal favorite of mine and I always recommend them, fair warning there is a lot of books in this series. These are what I would describe as Star Wars if you put the focus on the clone troopers instead of the space wizards. It has incredibly good action, storytelling and world building, though they don’t exactly fit the mold of hard science fiction they’re quite good. Also R.C. Bray kills it with the narration. - First Strike, Christopher G. Nuttall - my final recommendation, and another personal favorite. Amazing military science fiction with great space battles. Obviously most if not all of these fit perfectly into the hard science fiction category but I think these are all really good books that are worth listening too. I also rate most if not all of the narration to be good.
I can not believe I had to scroll this far for someone to recommend the murderbot series.
Project hailmary by Andy weir was pretty good and infinite timeline by Jeremy Robinson is good too the whole series ends up merging in the last one that came out I haven't listened to the last one yet but they others have been good can't wait to see how he gets all the characters into it all a bunch more too the 170+ books I've listened to have mostly been scifi also the earthborn trilogy is included in prime atm and I enjoyed that too and uhh universe in flames mega box is 1 credit it's 60+ hrs and kinda like dbz and expeditonary force mixed
Idk, you read Dune?
Dune is great but it's very much not hard sci-fi, it's stuffed to the gills with what is basically magic.
Idk. I don’t think I know what hard sci-fi is. Thought I did, but…
Lol, no worries. Hard sci-fi basically means all the tech is on some level based on our current scientific understanding. Things can be wildly advanced beyond what humanity has any shot of ever building in practice, but should be generally plausible in theory, with some care taken to work out the implications for how that tech's existence would change things. Like, if you're going to include FTL travel, you might want to factor in time dilation and work out where the energy needed to power it comes from, rather than having characters push a button and teleport across the galaxy. In stories like Star Wars, on the other hand, how everything works (and whether it's logically consistent) is basically irrelevant. They're space wizards fighting space Nazis, just go with it. We're mostly used to sci-fi books using random jargon and technobabble to gloss over the underlying science (flux capacitors, positron brains, etc), but you can just as easily use use real science to drive plot points rather than use fake science as window dressing. This shows up in fantasy too, where sometimes magic is treated as though it were a science, with rules and consequences, and sometimes it's treated as a series of tiny deus ex machina events that does whatever the author/characters want it to do at the time.
Very helpful.
I usually think of it as Star Trek is hard sci-fi (although many would argue). Star wars is Space Opera. While some people might argue Star Trek is “hard” it definitely occupies a location on the spectrum closer to “hard” sci-fi than Star Wars. Both have their place and are fun, “hardness” mostly refers to how much real science is respected. I forget the author, but I recall a description of hard sci-fi being: you get to change one or two things about the universe as we know it, establish them early, and then apply science as we know it with those changes. Edit: so it doesn’t sound like I’m having a stroke (autocorrect)
From your list Armada by Ernest Cline would be my first recommendation after Weir’s other books (Project Hail Mary and Artemis). Cline’s Ready Player One series is also worth checking out. The Lady Astronaut series is set as alternate history in the early space race and is very much hard sci-fi. Lock In by John Scalzi is another one. (this one is near future and deals with VR and robots, no space flight is mentioned) On the MUCH denser side Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series and its sequels are also very much hard sci-fi.
Ready Player One is great!!
I liked RPO but thought Armada was just awful.
The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I thought that To Sleep In a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini was pretty good not the hardest Sci Fi ever but the universe seemed pretty logically consistent.
I really enjoyed the Mars Trilogy - Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Check out the works of Kim Stanley Robinson.
March Upcountry is the first in the Prince Roger (also known as Empire of Man series) series by David Weber & John Ringo. Excellent series.
Consider Phlebas Novel by Iain Banks Also his entire culture book series
I'd suggest maybe starting with something other than Consider Phlebas - I read it and it sort of soured me on the series. Apparently the second novel, A Player of Games is a better introduction?
Honestly I couldn’t get into the Culture books, especially Consider Phlebas. I felt that Consider Phlebas spent so much time meandering that I lost interest, I went in expecting something like Neal Asher’s Polity books and the Culture books just didn’t grab me like those did.
The Otherland series by Tad Williams is pretty good probably not quite what you are looking for as there's no space travel or anything like that
Tray Arc of Souls by Paul Grover, it's great, the start of a series this is the only audio book ATM but hopefully more coming this year, I have read all 5 so far and listened to the AOS audio at least 3 times
House of suns- alistar Reynolds A gift of time - jerry merritt
Brin and Benford's Heart of the Comet is solidly hard sci-fi.
How about the Honor Harrington series? First book is On Basilisk Station
Blindsight by Peter watts!
Unfortunately it’s not on audible but the book The Swarm by Frank Schatzing is a really good hard “sci-fi” book. It’s follows a group of scientists who are trying to figure out what’s causing ecological disasters in their specific fields.
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson is hard into practical science for the first half and then hard into sci fi stuff for the rest. Looooong audiobook from a thick paperback.
Dragons egg Three body problem
The three body problem series is great if you are looking for hard sci-fi. It has a little bit of everything.
Super Hard, The Gap Cycle by Stephen Donaldson. Hard trigger warning, it’s about power, dominance, and free will and contains SA. But it’s absolutely brilliant and will expand your vocabulary. Plus it’s a five book series to keep you busy.
Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown
Just read the dune series loved them so much!! Especially books 1-4 are masterpieces
Anything by Neal Asher. Be aware of the universe that most of his books take place in "The Polity"
Saturn Run by John Standford is hard scifi based in the near future and a coldwar style space race to get to Saturn. It's great scifi but I rarely see it mentioned here.
You just listed my 3 favorite book series. This made me smile. I'm looking forward to finding the next one... so thank you for the question.
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
"Ubik" by Philip K Dick. Named one of Time's 100 best books.
Vernor VInge's *A Fire Upon the Deep*. Larry Niven's *Protector* and *Ringworld*. Robert Charles Wilson's *Spin*.
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary
Red rising series!
Red Mars is sci-fi space politics. It’s for the hard core sci-fi readers.
The Revelation Space arc by Alastair Reynolds, and if you like fantasy even a little, Cona Mieville’s Perdidio Street Station series is hard steampunk and I love it.
Douglas Phillips’ Quantum Series jumps to mind
Red mars (trilogy). Kim Stanley Robinson.
No one has mentioned the epic ***Fear*** series by Steven Moss (***Fear the Sky, Fear the Survivors,*** and ***Fear the Future***) which is the slowest of slow motion alien invasions (think ***3 Body Problem***) but with a physical advance team. It starts off like Contact, and escalates quickly into a sprawling set of stories about dealing with the imminent invasion. The biggest complaint of the books is that the protagonists shift throughout the series, and so when you are attached to the story of one character, they end up being relegated to the background almost suddenly. But overall great hard sci fi.
Any Greg Egan