Quote:
Originally Posted by curtw
I know that "hard" SF isn't everyone's cup of tea, and it's usually not mine either, but I found this e-book to be "un-put-downable." It's a credible story of human endurance and ingenuity in the face of insurmountable odds. The characters were compelling, and I found myself really rooting for the hero.
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I read this a couple months ago and absolutely loved it. I cannot begin to
recommend it enough, but I’m very much a fan of “hard” sci-fi. In fact I’m
the sort that cringes at the phrase “Fantasy/Sci-Fi” because in my mind
these genres are polar opposites. I was amazed to read “The Martian”
because it is the only example of true honest-to-goodness hard science
fiction, unmarred by a single element of nonsense or phlebotinum of any
kind that I can think of. (Excluding a lot of "Golden Age" works which were
pretty good by the science of their eras but have aged rather poorly)
I’d love to find more books like this. As much as I enjoy science fiction
which respectfully alters reality in order to allow a plot to proceed,
finding a story set in a universe functionally indistinguishable from our
own is a *very* welcome change.
I think I recall “The Listeners” by James Gunn being pretty close - but
it’s been a long time since I read it and there may have been some
nonsensical bits in there that I’m forgetting about.