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Hard sci-fi, to me anyway, means the author has tried to keep the science in the story fairly accurate. There may be aliens, faster than light ships, etc. in the story, but the rest of it is kept to scientific accuracies.
One of the big things that bothers me about certains types of science fiction, like the move 'Alien', is that it is more of a monster, or horror, movie placed in a science fiction setting. And it could be placed on Earth, without the sapceships, and it still works. 'The Thing' being one such story. Hard sci-fi, with several fictional things added in.
As for books, most I want are out of print. Some the author has died. Its almost impossible to find, other than as used, sf books written in the 1950s and 1960s.
Some used book sellers that go to sf conventions charge more than book cover price for them.
Of course, many of the 1950s sf paperbacks sold for under one dollar. So me having to pay $2-4 to get it into my collection so I can read it, isn't too bad a price.
I have seen some used book sellers over the years charge $10 or more for a book I want that cost under $1 new. I rarely pay that much. I'll not buy it, if the markup is too much.
Most used book sellers, weather at a convention or in their store, I have encountered are usually willing to trade books. Typically 1 of theirs for 2-3 of mine.
I do have a number of books by authors who have died, and their books are out of print. Those I wont trade. While I have tried to get complete 'sets' for such authors, I doubt I'll find everything they wrote.
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