I recently started reading The Empire of Silence for a sci-fi/fantasy book club I'm a part of. The book and the writing are quite good but after reading or watching a dozen or so sci-fi works in the past few years[Foundation, Dune, Hyperion] , I find myself fatiguing of Galactic Empire shenanigans.

For me, this is not because the work itself is bad but because this book comes later in my reading life than others. This can happen for books that were among the first to establish these kind of tropes [value neutral term].

What are some sci-fi tropes that you feel tired of, but have enjoyed in works in the past?

I'll start:

1. Far Future Noble Houses / Feudal System - Dune / Locked Tomb / many others
2. Quasi-Religious Limitations to Technology - ex. Dune w/ Butlerian Jihad
3. (Rise and) Fall of the Roman Empire Vibes - large galactic empire Asimov's Foundation is the classic example
4. External Threats to Empire Analogous to Barbarians - can be aliens or outsider humans that have split off
5. "Are We the Baddies?" - Not necessarily stated but if there is anything referred to as an Empire / Hegemony, I'm skeptical at best
6. Nobles Trained in Sword Combat - Often has in world explanation, makes for more dramatic fights
7. Human Computers to Deal with - Mentats / Logothetes(Empire of Silence, they distinct and closer to pure stoic savants than machines)

Is it Andromeda? I can't for the life of me remember.

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I just remember whatever I'm thinking of there were only a handful of seasons. I may be misremembering but I thought the last season of whatever this is had to do with some kind of biological threat reaching Earth...They may have had to finish it with a movie? I could be wrong

I just like the idea of going around and stopping planets, capturing all the massive amounts of energy from a planet spinning to power a civilization. Like a Dyson sphere kind of but using a planets motion instead.

Maybe using the planet as a massive cog, sticking a massive object to it that spins a gear generating energy, or like a massive treadmill thing surrounding the planet capturing the energy of the rotation.

I read Planet of Adventure when I was a teenager so it was quite a few years ago. I remember quite liking it at the time.

However, I never see it mention here. Not that I spend an awful lot of time on this sub but I honestly don't recall seeing it mention once.

Which brings me to the question : is my mind playing tricks ? Maybe it wasn't that good and it's just younger me who find it great but maybe adult me would say it's bad ? Is a good book but there are so many much better that it is hardly remembered ? Is it just a bad story ?

What's your opinion on Planet of Adventure ?

When we talk about what advanced tech we could have in the future we think about spaceships, but why is that the case? Is it cause of our current understanding of physics? Is there any other contributing factors? I guess since space is kind of like the final frontier it’s just what it is but anyone got any other idea?

Edit: Thanks for the replies, I do see how this is a stupid thing to ask. I will now ponder about what kind of scifi could be written without space exploration as the big picture.

It starts of with a cop in a dinner and then the waiter or waitress I forgot if it was a male or female attacks him and the cop ends up killing the human but it turns out it was some kind of alien. He then goes outside and activates like a beacon and flying cop cars start coming in. I been trying to Google the movie but for the life of me can't find the tittle to it. Your guys help would be much appreciated.

I just can’t shake off the feeling in >!The Mercy of Gods, could the world Anjiin was reached by human through the ring gate depicted in the Expanse universe? It would the most logical explanation, right?!<

Was wondering if anyone knew what the first use of portal to describe a connection between two different / unconnected locations was? Tried searching for it myself to no avail.

From Zeta Gundam, the show in which Yoshiyuki Tomino dared to ask; what if autism was in space?

The author just posted this! It was supposed to be released next week.

We all have one of those slightly obscure books/series we love that are never going to get an adaptation because they simply don’t have a following.

I honestly think Robert Charles Wilson’s novel Spin is ripe for adaptation as a prestige television mini-series.

I admit it seems unlikely that it ever will be adapted and has fallen into relative obscurity in the current scifi discourse but it’s fun to dream.

I have another book im trying to find. this was a sci fi book at least 15-20 years ago. I strongly remember a scene in the book where outside of a lab building all of the species were mutating and growing and essentially boiling as they were changing so rapidly. I think that it might have been a biotech company gone wrong? there was some level of scientific knowledge in it, in that I remember promoters and mutations and maybe mutagens. definitely a dystopian sci fi book. I remember the softcover book having yellow green orange cover scheme? im blanking on more details, but that one image was very strong, and I wanted to re read it to see how the science held up. any ideas at ALL appreciated. 20 years ago, im pretty sure. not much, I know, but this group got the book Daemon with about as much detail a few years ago ;).many thanks!

i mean are those lined with unobtainium as well??

Looking for a good scifi series to binge watch, any suggestions?

Been driving me crazy so any help would be great! Thankyou!

What are some of your fav dystopian concepts about space or scifi from movies and games that seem on the verge of coming true?

Mine is from the movie Moon, and human cloning with an expiration date because it suits a capitalist venture.

Hey Sci Fi people,

For Christmas this year my family is doing themes, and my dad picked the theme of the book Old Man's War. My wife and I are both befuddled on what sorts of gifts to give for this theme, and neither of us want to read the books.

Are there any fans of that series here who have any ideas about the sorts of gifts that would compliment the series? I can't imagine there's much official merch, but we are definitely down to make some homemade or custom stuff, especially if there are some good quotes.

Thank you!

I hope I get a lot of responses, but what franchise has the best military ship designs for an Earth that has colonies and all the other Scifi quirks? Franchises like Battlestar Galactica or Eve Online can be included, Earth just has to factor in somehow no matter how little.

I'm a huge fan of sci fi, my favorite book in the world is IRobot. But I have had a hard time finding sci fi that takes into account the changes to the world in the 21st century. Like the Internet and Climate Change(yes I know climate change was discovered 100 years ago but cultural understanding and tremendous fear of it has only been around for the past 2 decades.) As someone who is only 25 the world I live in and the world of the Sci Fi that I love are radically different and I was wondering if this reddit had any recommendations for books that take into account the 21st century. They don't need to be focused on the problems of the 21st century.

A book that says "climate change was stopped" is great. But something that had the internet happen in the late 20th century, and became the internet of the 21st century. Replicators, warp drive, etc are great. I am happy for a wide recommendation list.

Sorry if this was rude. I got so detailed because hopefully this list will also be useful to others.