Reccomend me something in the style of Stephen Baxter/coonts, Rama, Hard sci fi?

[stustaff]

I have read a few books of this type and i really enjoy them but i dont know of that many.

Im talking Humans find artifact/alien/scientific breakthrough and then it changes civilization as we know it.

Also read and enjoyed Spin.

any suggestions much appreciated

[Krystian Galaj]

Larry Niven - Known Space series. Notably, Ringworld.

Also his The Magic Goes Away cycle, if you like hard sci-fi approach to mana density on the Earth in the past.

[wayspooled]

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

Brainwave by Poul Anderson

Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh - astrophysics here, but also the sociology of space station life as well as the psychologies of people who have been warped by interstellar warfare their whole lives.

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh - cloning/gene manipulation sci-fi.

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge - computers in the latter half of the twentieth century often focused on A.I.s or, later, cyberspace.

The Nanotech Quartet, by Kathleen Goonan - Nanotech malfunction

Matter by Iain M. Banks - huge, artificial "shellworld" built by mysterious, long-dead aliens, pays homage to/updates Niven.

And I don't know it's really hard sci-fi but it sounds like you'd love it - one of my favoriites - Startide Rising by David Brin.

Why do so many books labeled "hard science fiction" actually contain technology that works pretty much like magic in a fantasy novel? Hard science fiction is supposed to be the branch of SF that's rigorously scientific, and doesn't gloss over difficult problems like faster-than-light travel. Larry Niven's Ringworld series, with its long passages on how you'd engineer a giant space structure, is often held up as a prime example of hard SF that works. And yet most lists of hard SF include authors like Frank Herbert, whose Dune series about giant worms who create a substance that allows people to "fold space" with their minds is many wonderful things - but not so much based in science.

[Sweetpea]

Robert J. Sawyer's the Neanderthal Parallax - scientific breakthrough, but with a twist.. The breakthrough is literally a break through two parallel universes, caused by a quantum computer.

[BlackVoid]

Gateway series by Frederik Pohl (perfectly fits your requirements)
The Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds.
Stardragon by Mike Brotherton
The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata

(Cyteen ???? No aliens, no breakthrough, just boring politics).

[wayspooled]

heh... Lot of politics involved with gene manipulation and cloning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyteen

Me, I'm more of a fan of her more space opera'ish stuff, Chanur, Tripoint, Merchanters Luck, Heavy Time, Rimrunners but those are all in the same universe with Cyteen and all rigorous in their science too.
But I like socialogical implications of science presented as well as just the science. And part of that can be political. And I like my science extended to it's implications. So I like my recommendation.

[BlackVoid]

Originally Posted by wayspooled

heh... Lot of politics involved with gene manipulation and cloning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyteen

This is from the plot summary at the above link.

"Ariane Emory is one of fourteen Specials or Union-certified geniuses. In addition to her research on azi, she runs Reseune (founded by her parents) with the assistance of Giraud and Denys Nye.

Emory is also a member of the Council of Nine, the elected, top-level executive body of Union. Two political factions vie for power in Union: the Centrists and the Expansionists. The latter, led by Emory, seek to enlarge Union through exploration, building new stations and continued cloning. Her political enemies, headed by Mikhail Corain, prefer to focus on the existing stations and planets. The Expansionists have held power since the foundation of Union, a situation fostered by "rejuv", which extends lifespans and staves off the effects of old age. Emory herself is 120 years old at the start of the novel (and only just beginning to show signs of aging) and has been the Councillor for Science for five decades."

ITS ALL POLITICS. NO ARTIFACTS, NO EXPLORATION, NO ALIENS, NO BREAKTHROUGHS. And the pace is a CRAWL.

[DixieGal]

I LOVE hard scifi. This whole series by Peter Watts was in the free downloads section, hopefully it is still there.

Starfish
Maelstrom
Behemuth

And also Blindsight by Watts, but it is not part of the Starfish series.

[ahi]

His Master's Voice by Stanisław Lem (author of Solaris).

- Ahi

[wayspooled]

I LOVE hard scifi. This whole series by Peter Watts was in the free downloads section, hopefully it is still there.

Starfish
Maelstrom
Behemuth

His Master's Voice by Stanisław Lem (author of Solaris).

Good recommendations both. Don't blame Lem for the movie heh..

[ahi]

Originally Posted by wayspooled

Good recommendations both. Don't blame Lem for the movie heh..

Very sage!

I found "His Master's Voice" difficult to get into, as it is written in the form of a fictional personal account by a leading scientist of the work of deciphering an interstellar signal, and it is heavy on ideas but low on action... incredibly rewarding though.

There are some science fiction writers that make you feel like they--in contrast with most other sci-fi writers--have a truly unique and satisfyingly plausible vision... and aren't just writing space-adventures with a science veneer. Well, Lem is a few more levels above those guys even, it seems to me.

It--perhaps necessarily--doesn't mean that his books are more exciting than other popular stuff out there... but it does mean that his books are even more deeply thought-provoking than a lot of other better known great sci-fi (whether hard or soft [i.e.: psychologically focused]).

- Ahi

[jwhayn]

The David Weber Honorverse series from Baen is good.

[rlparker]

I'm reading Manifold: Time now. It started off real slow imo, but it's grown on me. I've enjoyed the complexity and unpredictability.

I wish I knew enough to evaluate how technically plausible some of it really is.

[BlackVoid]

Peter Watts - Blindsight

Free ebook from here:
http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

"Canadian author Watts (Starfish) explores the nature of consciousness in this stimulating hard SF novel, which combines riveting action with a fascinating alien environment. In the late 21st century, when something alien is discovered beyond the edge of the solar system, the spaceship Theseus sets out to make contact. Led by an enigmatic AI and a genetically engineered vampire, the crew includes a biologist who's more machine than human, a linguist with surgically induced multiple personality disorder, a professional soldier who's a pacifist, and Siri Keeton, a man with only half a brain. Keeton is virtually incapable of empathy, but he has a savant's ability to model and predict the actions of others without understanding them. Once the Theseus arrives at the gigantic and hideously dangerous alien artifact"

Caution! Not for the faint at heart....
The blurb is from Amazon and the rest of it contains spoilers so I cut it short.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

Peter Watts - Blindsight

Free ebook from here:
http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

"Canadian author Watts (Starfish) explores the nature of consciousness in this stimulating hard SF novel, which combines riveting action with a fascinating alien environment. In the late 21st century, when something alien is discovered beyond the edge of the solar system, the spaceship Theseus sets out to make contact. Led by an enigmatic AI and a genetically engineered vampire, the crew includes a biologist who's more machine than human, a linguist with surgically induced multiple personality disorder, a professional soldier who's a pacifist, and Siri Keeton, a man with only half a brain. Keeton is virtually incapable of empathy, but he has a savant's ability to model and predict the actions of others without understanding them. Once the Theseus arrives at the gigantic and hideously dangerous alien artifact"

Caution! Not for the faint at heart....
The blurb is from Amazon and the rest of it contains spoilers so I cut it short.

Hoppá!

Is it as good as it sounds?

- Ahi