You never hear much about David Zindell's Neverness, though it is contemporary with other blockbusters like Revelation Space and The Reality Disfunction. It has over 4 stars on Goodreads which for me indicates something worth checking out. Anyone read it?

I'm looking for a lost book. It had a white cover with a framed picture on it. The story was about the Garden of Eden but there was a wall of energy surrounding it and the main protagonist, a girl/young woman wants to break ot of it(?). I also remeber a sentient robot/drone accompanying her. There also may have been other people involved (possibly an Adam and maybe her family) but I'm not sure.

The focus was not so much on action but on philosophy, I guess.

I found it in a used book shop in the early/mid 2000s. Lost it since... Any guesses on the title/author?

Please, recommend me some easy standalone books, because I'm really terrible with reading series. I'm a slow reader (1 or 2 books per month) and are able to read one book at the time. When I read more books at once I get the stories mixed up pretty easily.

I just finished Dune Messiah and I need a book where I don't have to think that hard and where the words are less difficult (english is my second language, C1 level). I've read it for two months and I'm always in reading slump after more difficult reads. For "short" I would consider cca 150-250ish pages.

I would say that The Martian was pretty easy and fun read and I heard that Dark Matter is also quite easy to read (haven't read it yet).

Thank you all for any rec in advance!

A standalone science fiction book, no prequel or sequel that I know of. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by Orb (Tom Doherty Associates) in 1963 that I bought new on Amazon in 2023. There is an afterward by Samuel R. Delaney apparently in 1974. I am sure that I read this book fifty+ years ago but it was not familiar to me at all.

From the book marketing blurb: "E. C. "Scar" Gordon was on the French Riviera recovering from a tour of combat in Southeast Asia , but he hadn't given up his habit of scanning the Personals in the newspaper. One ad in particular leapt out at him:"

"ARE YOU A COWARD? This is not for you. We badly need a brave man. He must be 23 to 25 years old, in perfect health, at least six feet tall, weigh about 190 pounds, fluent English, with some French, proficient in all weapons, some knowledge of engineering and mathematics essential, willing to travel, no family or emotional ties, indomitably courageous and handsome of face and figure. Permanent employment, very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger. You must apply in person, rue Dante, Nice, 2me étage, apt. D."

So what do you do when you have slain the dragon and won the princess ? You marry her of course and then settle down and have babies. But what if you want to slay more dragons and she already has babies and a really big baby that she takes care of ?

Most people call this Heinlein's first fantasy book but I do not. Arthur C. Clarke said it best, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." There is much magic in this book that is really technology. So, the book is science fiction for me.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,902 reviews)
https://www.amazon.com/Glory-Road-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0765312220/

Lynn

I mean something like car enthusiasts who upgrade and mod their cars with new parts, tuning software, new tech... But in space.

Do you know of books where this is a part of the story or a character trait?

Typical examples would be "Look, I've found a new thingamajiggy to boost the reverse thrusters" or Han Solo's "This baby makes the Kessel run in less than 12 paraseconds" or for example Firefly's Kaylee to whom getting a new engine part is like christmas.

 Concept: A murder has taken place in one of the physically intertwined but mutually exclusive city/states of Beszel/Ul Qoma, and a homicide detective must navigate the restrictive and complex world to find the answer at the heart of the mystery.

 Narrative Style/Plot: Chronologically linear and told from the third person limited perspective fixed to the protagonist, this book thankfully keeps the structure as simple as possible which helps the reader navigate the rather unique and difficult set of rules that the denizens of the dual cities live under. In classic Mieville style, he really commits to the concept and immerses the reader in a fully fleshed out world; while initially complex and challenging to wade through, once the story starts moving along the new concepts and terms become familiar enough that the plot doesn’t feel hindered in the least.

 Characters: We get to experience the strange world in this book through the experiences of a senior homicide detective, who’s familiarity with the unique complexities of Beszel/Ul Qoma help the reader understand the frustrating situation he is presented with. Other minor characters a present in small doses, but we view this story almost exclusively through his eyes. Though most of the book is wrapped up in plot, there is some minor character development for our protagonist, and he is likeable enough to feel attachment to during key events.

 Writing Style: Pure Mieville, through and through. Chock full of extravagant, enjoyable, and obscure language that helps this story feel like the fictional location it takes place in could exist in our reality. Less exposition than his usual style, but the author’s knack for keen descriptions of people and places is still thankfully present to bring the world of the twin cities to life. Beautiful prose, and in this case, it feels trim and purposeful.

 Tone: This semi-noir murder-mystery feels properly gritty, but never strays too far into the darkness to feel grim, and the story is better for it. The seriousness of the developing situation is appropriately tense, but never overwhelmingly so.

 Overall: Though initially strange and confusing, The City & the City soon hits its stride and continues long enough to be satisfying, but not so long as to overstay it’s welcome and lose my interest. Mieville created a truly unique premise for this novel, and despite the difficulties it presents to the reader at times, he committed to it, absolutely, and successfully. Though not the best of his works that I’ve had the pleasure to read, it was still a solid novel, and would make a good entry point for readers curious about his works but apprehensive to tackle longer works such as Perdido Street Station for a first read.

 Rating: 4/5

I am Looking for horror/mystery recommendations scifi/ space.

Hear me out before you recommend- I tried Dead silence, the last astronaut, Luminous dead and none of them worked for me.

The last story that really packed a punch was annihilation, and Sphere.

But I am not looking for "another story just like annihilation ", rather the haunting-mysterious- atmospheric elements of it, suspense and if there's any reveal of "entity(s)" it shouldn't be some same old cliche. Like "tendrils" in The last astronaut, it was underwhelming ( read my other post).

The luminous dead was better on some front but it stretched too long, should have been edited to 1/4th the length and the twists weren't good.

Basically looking for books from this genre which has novelty.

Hi!

I was looking for a book exploring a setting where humanity (or maybe others) has proliferated among the stars and has formed interstellar civilizations, but there is no FTL travel in the setting, so no wormholes/gates, warp drives, even if the technology by our standards is super advanced, due to this limitation, travel between star systems takes years to millennia from the point of ground observers. Of course, such a journey might not take a long time people on the spaceship due to time dilation.

I'm looking for a setting how a civilization would function under these constraints, what people's attitudes would be towards space travel etc. Are there any books that explore this theme?

I love the space horror genre in movies and started exploring books, since I love book formats more than movies. First o tried dead silence which fell flat despite a decent premise, then this again. Despite a suppposedly good premise.

Where are the better space horror books that actually packs a punch?

About The Last Astronaut, and I have to say, I’m pretty underwhelmed. The premise was so promising: an astronaut sent on a high-stakes mission after Earth faces a mysterious threat. I was expecting some serious suspense, thought-provoking sci-fi, and a real emotional punch. Instead, I got a slow-paced, somewhat flat experience.

First off, the pacing was all over the place. There were parts where I felt like nothing was happening, and then suddenly, a major twist would come out of nowhere, without much buildup. But what really did it for me were the aliens. They were supposed to be this terrifying, mysterious force, but when they were finally revealed… “tendrils”? Seriously? I mean, tendrils?? It just felt so unimaginative and kind of cheesy. I was hoping for something a lot more chilling and inventive, but it fell flat.

And the characters—while they had potential—never really felt real or fleshed out. I didn’t find myself emotionally invested in any of them, and that’s a big miss in a story like this. I wanted to care, but instead, I was just waiting for the next plot point to hurry up and get me through to the end.

https://conversationtreepress.com/pages/solaris-stanislaw-lem-murphy

I guess most of you here are familiar or have read Stanisław Lem's Polish-language novel Solaris or watched its Russian or Hollywood film adaptations.

You might know the issues about the first English translation. It's a real mess, done through an equally awful French version. Lem, who knew English, was bummed about it. In 2011, Bill Johnston finally translated it directly from the Polish, and Lem's family loved his work. But legal stuff kept it off the shelves until now (it had been only available on kindle and as audiobook)

Conversation Tree Press is finally publishing it, but only in super expensive collector's editions. I mean, the artwork and all is really beautiful, sure. But let's face it, how many of us are willing to get a book for 275 bucks?!

It feels like they're more interested in making a quick buck than getting this amazing book into the hands of readers.

What you guys all think about this?

So this is based on lukehumphris little youtube series about how society collapse but it's actually well and not war torn. Like you got a couple of a farmer Daniel and lady giganotosaurus rex who works in the thunder barn (i know refrence) but they cook meals and grow foods and take donations to make other meals. And I've heard that there's a term for a type of story like that and I'm looking for it. Or other stories like that. Thanks for the help

Read a book in the early 70s, it took place in a world where iirc the population were basically hoarders and a robot starts destroying his stuff. At first he doesn’t want it to, but later realizes its advantages.

Memory is fuzzy. This could be misleading info. Thanks for trying! Worth a shot to ask.

What did you read last month, and do you have any thoughts about them you'd like to share?

Whether you talk about books you finished, books you started, long term projects, or all three, is up to you. So for those who read at a more leisurely pace, or who have just been too busy to find the time, it's perfectly fine to talk about something you're still reading even if you're not finished.

(If you're like me and have trouble remembering where you left off, here's a handy link to last month's thread)

Hannu Rajaniemi's Jean Le Flambeur trilogy (The Quantum Thief, The Fractal Prince, The Causal Angel), about the plots the titular gentleman thief gets swept in an extremely transhumanist future of our solar system, are some of my favorite books. Not without their flaws, but I keep coming back to them & their density of ideas.

But I haven't managed to find something else similar to them.

Weirdly enough, 'The Locked Tomb' books (which I also love), while quite different in attitude, might be the closest - due to being books that throw you right at the deep of it & expect you to follow with the not outright explained terminology & complex setting, while also serving by themselves as mysteries that you have to tease out what's exactly going on & how things fit together, oft times through allusions & references to past events & unique PoVs, plus having some good action & characters (also both set in our own far future, come to think of it).

Any suggestions? (ideally available in audiobook)

Hey, y'all! A friend is searching for an alternate history book she read some time ago. What she remembers: it's set in New York, features two artists as protagonists, is set in the future, and is set in a world where the Nazis won WWII.

Any directions to point me in would be much appreciated!

I don't think I've ever read a book that I will literally think about everytime I read a book with an AI; Scott Bartlett's "I, Starship" should have about a million trigger warnings for the constant emotional abuse that the once-human ship's AI suffers throughout the trilogy - whenever I read a line in a book where the MC is being a dick to their AI, I think about this - it has totally changed how I read literally every other SF novel I read from now on, and I really don't know how to feel about that?

The first manned expedition to Mars finds a line of holes drilled through the landscape. Pretty sure it's a Larry Niven story. Anyone know the name?

Edit: It was indeed The Holes Around Mars, by Jerome Bixby. Thank you!

It’s a really old one. Not quite Wells or Vern old but close. Humanity evolved into different species like in a generational way. Like “these human became hardy” or “this one became smart but frail”. Anyone know the name of the book?

I just wanted to thank the sub for helping me over the past year. My New Year's Resolution last year was to be a better reader and I decided that I was going to read a book every two weeks. Except for two books, everything I've read this year has been SciFi and this sub really helped me find books to read. Here is what I have read this year (including the two that will close out my year):

Chapterhouse: Dune (I had already read the first five books, but it had taken me forever)
The Left Hand of Darkness
2001: A Space Odyssey
Hyperion
The Fall of Hyperion
Kaleidoscope Century
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
Ubik
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Neuromancer
The Art of War (Not SciFi; DNF a book and this got me back on schedule)
Fahrenheit 451
CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties (not SciFi)
Slaughterhouse-Five
Ancillary Justice
Altered Carbon
The Forever War
Foundation
Foundation and Empire
Second Foundation
The Gods Themselves
The Three-Body Problem
Childhood's End
A Canticle for Leibowitz
I, Robot (starting today)
1984

I'll actually end up with 27 books read instead of 26, so I was a little ahead of schedule (the PKD novels being pretty short is when that happened).

So what did I miss? I'd like for this to be a new habit instead of something I just did for a year. Again, thanks for all of the recommendations that I was able to find in this sub!

Edit: Additional information...

I'm looking for some "classics" that I might have missed generally, but I am truly appreciative of all the recommendations that I'm getting. Because I was sticking to a "new novel every two weeks" timeline, there are certainly some "classics" that I didn't read because their length scared me off ("Stranger in a Strange Land" is definitely one that I put back on the shelf when I saw how big it was). Moving forward, I will not necessarily be beholden to that time limit and could certainly pick up some of the lengthier "classics". Here are some other thoughts:

From what I've read, I really enjoyed all of the Asimov and PKD novels.

I loved LeGuin's writing style, but wanted it to be more SciFi-y, but will certainly be checking out "The Dispossessed" based off of all the times it has been recommended in here, haha.

I wasn't a huge fan of how "Neuromancer" just dropped you into a world that you didn't understand, but I get that that was part of the point.

I really liked how "A Canticle for Leibowitz" included religion as the backbone of its story (I'm Catholic so I found that really interesting).

The books that were part of a series, aside from the Foundation books, didn't hook me enough to continue down that road when I knew that there were "classics" out there that I still wanted to read. Not saying that I'll never revisit those series, just that reading other works first took precedence.

Last night I finished M.R.Carey’s Pandominion duology (Infinity Gate & Echo of Worlds). The world building and character development made these two of the most enjoyable books I’ve read all year, and it’s sad that I have to now let these characters go!

I’ve just ordered Mercy of the Gods. But can anyone that’s read the Pando books recommend something similar in terms of leaving me with the bitter sweet feeling of having to leave characters behind once the book is finished? Preference is space opera, but not adverse to the wider sci-fi genre.

So as much as I enjoy proud warrior alien races like the Klingons, after watching this video by the Templin Institute I agree with their conclusion that proud warrior races like them are doomed to fail because of the following reasons:

1. They place too much emphasis on combat prowess and skill, over developing new technologies.
2. Their code(s) of honor is less about limiting carnage and combat pragmatism, and more about personal glory.
3. Most of them have governments that are too decentralized to reign in the numerous Houses, Clans, tribes or whatnot. In order for any civilization to work it needs internal unity. And for that to happen they need a coherent national identity that can create solidarity across diverse groups of people, a strong political order that can address internal divisions, and a belief in the state's institutions.
4. They neglect civilian or other non-military components of their economy which often leaves them ill-suited against civilizations/nations/states that utilize industrial-era warfare which relies heavily on civilian industries and expertise.

However, they do point out that found way a proud warrior alien race can survive is by evolving into a martial state run by a proud "solider" race.

According to them the tenets of a martial state are:

1. Immense influence placed within a military industrial complex that can drastically affect public policy.
2. Earlier traditions, practices and ceremonies considered useful are adopted, exploited and modified to support the aims of the state.
3. A centralized government that exerts unrivaled authority across its constituent parts.
4. Civilian institutions include paramilitary elements, designed to ease the transition between peacetime and wartime.

In summary a martial state, places less emphasis on training people to be warriors and more emphasis on soldiers, their code of honor is more about discipline and less about personal glory, and they have a strong central government that is more willing to utilize and develop new technologies, and creating, developing, and supporting an the necessary industrial and scientific infrastructure that is capable of backing up the military.

So with that said are there any good science fiction stories that feature or are about alien martial state(s)? Right now the only example I can think of is the Turian Hierarchy from Mass Effect.

Note: For any works involving martial states and pacifists groups/cultures, please avoid stories that make the latter look obstructive, cowardly, obnoxious, stupid, or naive (Ex: Stargate, Star Wars). Instead, either focus on stories where the pacifists are the good guys and the alien martial states are the bad guys, or focus on stories where the pacifists help the martial states in other ways besides becoming soldiers. I know that last one sounds paradoxical, but I have discovered evidence that during the World Wars countless pacifists like Desmond Doss and John Weir Foote served in the war as medics and chaplains and saved countless lives through their acts of heroism. Others joined alternative services like becoming factory workers, firefighters, hospital workers, sappers, and even test subjects either out of patriotism, out of a moral duty to defeat fascism, or just to show people they weren't lightweights.

Sources:

British Pacifists in WW1

American Pacifists in WW2

Great Pacifists Part 1

Great Pacifists Part 2

Badass Pacifists

I remember reading this in my science fiction class, and I'm trying to find it for reference for my own writing.

It was a story about a barbarian woman who was being toyed with by a time traveler who in reality was a dumbass who didn't truly understand the tech he wielded. I remember there being a husband who was being held hostage. Themes of high tech defeated by wisdom and actual intelligence.

Hi, I’m 25/M and a complete beginner to reading altogether and have just recently finished The Kite Runner and reading As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow.

Although I liked The Kite Runner and also loving what I am reading right now, I thought since I like watching SciFi movies/shows revolving around time travel etc, wouldn’t it be a good idea to also read that genre.

So do you have any recommendations for someone like me who hasn’t yet read a lot of books.

I’m also open to suggestions with non time travel plots as I want to get into the SciFi genre

Context: My dad reads a lot of science fiction (a *lot*) and I get him a few books for Christmas every year of new stuff so he can keep up with what's out there. I used to read a lot of science fiction as well so it was easy for me to kind of keep tabs on what's going on in the genre, but I haven't been in it as much these past couple years and our tastes have diverged a bit so I don't know what's good.

He is also not a fan of anything too cutesy or too purposefully feel-good - i.e. he hated Becky Chambers

"New" - meaning sometime in the past let's say 5 years ideally. This is mostly because I think stuff before that will have already been covered, by me or by him - so like Greg Egan, Ben Bova, all those like 80's - 90's guys I think he's read all of.

"Not too depressing" - meaning a relatively positive ending, I don't think everyone has to make it out alive or anything, but dystopias, bleak stories, even some antiheroes are not really his jam. For example, he hated all of the Paolo Bacigalupi he's read and even some of the later Alastair Reynolds stuff was a little much (I think some of the later Revelation Space books were pretty bleak although I have not read them in years)

Stuff he's liked (from all eras) - Peter F Hamilton, The Expanse, Ringworld, the Rama books, Alastair Reynolds stuff (mostly - especially liked Blue Remembered Earth), Vernor Vinge, the Vorkosigan saga, Red Mars trilogy and a lot of KSR's other stuff. Liked Embassytown. Liked Ann Leckie's series, whatever that was called, which I didn't care for. Iain M Banks. Scalzi is kind of right on the line, his writing I think is almost too self aware and Joss Whedon-y. Outside of sci-fi I know he's liked the Joe Abercrombie books but those are kind of right on the line in terms of darkness and gore and evil winning, I think he liked The Traitor Baru Cormorant surprisingly, he's a huge fan of Brandon Sanderson.

Contemporary stuff he didn't care for necessarily - Tchaikovsky (sorry to the entire subreddit but I agree with him on this, the guy has a lot of interesting ideas but IMO cannot really write), Paolo Bacigalupi (bummer, he's one of my favorites), China Mieville's non-Embassytown stuff, Hannu Rajaniemi (too mathy), Murderbot (too Whedon-y), Becky Chambers (too feelgood)

In summary I think I am looking for contemporary sci-fi that's pretty space-oriented (as opposed to like, Earth-focused climate fiction), some kind of grandeur in scale, good pacing and action with maybe less of a focus on interpersonal issues than some contemporary fiction is leaning but I don't think that's a dealbreaker. Interesting or novel technology is a huge plus. Satisfying ending is almost required.

What do we think?

Going into book 1, I didn't even know it was a series or "worlds". I LOVED book 1, so I immediately jumped on book 2 as it was recommended. I loved it nearly as much. But knowing there isn't a direct book 3 in that series, I've learned there are others (the others, Flux, Tribe, etc.). As I understand, you don't have to read these in order. Is that true? Regardless, what books do you recommend most/next?

I’m trying to find the title for a sci-fi short story where humanity becomes uploaded consciousness, and then they start merging their consciousness together. Eventually, entire societies merge their consciousness to try to survive longer until the heat death of the universe. A part of the story involves how these merged entities struggle to communicate with each other because they become separated by vast distances in space. The entities are trying to stay connected/communicate to stay alive longer, and fight each other to stay alive.

It’s similar to Asimov’s The Last Question and has themes like Greg Egan’s Diaspora, but it’s neither of those. I think it was a short story rather than a novel.

Anyone remember this one?

I know there are a few authors and aspiring authors lurking here so hear my plea. I cannot take it anymore. Maybe it was novel and interesting in the 80s when a lot of scifi depicted religion as a relic of the past (but even then we had Hyperion, Dune and plenty of other stuff from way before), but it's just old hat now. I don't get why every other author needs Space Catholicism? Is it some sort of apologia for the annoying militant atheists who love scifi? Is it an attempt to convince religious people that science and philosophy are important and compatible with their beliefs? If they've already picked up your thick wordy sci-fi novel I assure you you're preaching to the choir. Any novel after Anathem still doing this is just rehashing the most stale of moves in my opinion.

I just opened a fairly recent scifi book just to be greeted with this passage:

We begin on the morning of March the twenty-third in the year twenty-four fifty-four. Carlyle Foster had risen full of strength that day, for March the twenty-third was the Feast of St. Turibius

And I'm already rolling my eyes so hard that an observing space monk might feel compelled to perform a space exorcism on me... The series came heavily recommended so I will power on and probably enjoy it regardless but please, for the love of Space Jesus and the Purple Bible (which is totally not the Bible because it includes Buddhist influences).... find some new material!

/End rant

Idk the name, can’t remember much but this is what I remember

The book was set in England and I read it in 2020/2021

3 siblings 2 brothers 1 sister, 1 mum, the dad left. The sister was the oldest and the main is the middle boy and the other boy is the youngest

The 2 brothers either find or make a robot that replaces their dad and the sister gets involved later on

They have to give the robot materials and the robot can make anything and they make loads of sweets called freshies and get sick

The ending was the dad coming back and something to do with a game that everyone plays and there’s something wrong with the game that does something to the players

I remember one bit where the robot takes the mum to a cabin in wales and tries to kidnap and the dad helps her escape

That’s all I can remember and it’s a good book

The author was a man and does other stories that are famous

Hey guys,

I wonder if there's a short story collection that's is both accesible. But also which acts of a survey of the different science fiction genres: Hard Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, Space Opera...etc.