Looking for (hard?) science fiction centered around a ship

[Shadowplay]

Wow more great recommendations - thanks everyone. I haven't had a chance to start anything new yet, but my list-to-read has clearly grown There are several books mentioned here that sound very interesting.

[BenG]

And don't forget the "generational starship" books where the trip to the next star lasts for generations.
These include:
Captive Universe by Harry Harrison
The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson
Seed of Light by Edmund Cooper
and Gene Wolfe's tetralogy The Book of the Long Sun

Often the passengers forget they are on a ship and belive the ship is the Universe as in Starship (aka Non Stop) by Brian Aldiss and Orphans of the Sky by Robert Heinlein.

The Star Trek episode For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky has this theme also.

[Sneddles]

Elizabeth Bear - Jacob's Ladder Trilogy
Dust
Chill
Grail

[WillAdams]

Ben Bova's Exiles Trilogy is an interesting example for generational starships. There's also the short story ``Long Shot'' in the collection _True Names and Other Dangers_.

William

[cearbhallain]

Originally Posted by BenG

And don't forget the "generational starship" books where the trip to the next star lasts for generations.
These include:
Captive Universe by Harry Harrison
The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson
Seed of Light by Edmund Cooper
and Gene Wolfe's tetralogy The Book of the Long Sun

Often the passengers forget they are on a ship and belive the ship is the Universe as in Starship (aka Non Stop) by Brian Aldiss and Orphans of the Sky by Robert Heinlein.

The Star Trek episode For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky has this theme also.

I really loved the Aldis you mention, though my husband read it and rolled his eyes. Another more modern book in the same tradition is Greg Bear's _Hull Zero Three_. I would count it among the best three I read last year.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

Faith by John Love is an excellent book, wherein the best character in the book is the enigmatic ship that the main characters must destroy. There's a lengthy initial section that drags with one of the main characters is on a planet, but it's excellent past that point. The book has a decidedly literary bend, so keep that in mind if you're considering picking up.

Like the Culture books, Neil Asher's polity books (starting with Gridlinked I think) feature sentient starships as major characters. These are much more action focused.

This is one of the best new SF novels I've read in years.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BenG

....

The Star Trek episode For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky has this theme also.

Love that title!

Perhaps not so 'hard' but what about "The Ship Who Sang" by Anne McCaffrey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ship_Who_Sang

[stonetools]

Here's an oldie-

Orphans of the Sky, Robert Heinlien, which poineered the multigenerational "slowboat" idea. THe ship's name is Vanguard.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by BenG

The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson

This one is a favorite of mine. Kind of about what happens when a generational ship goes on way longer than was intended.

For some reason Arthur C. Clarke's "Songs of Distant Earth" comes to mind. Even though it doesn't take place on a spaceship per se. It's about the conflict between a generational starship and a colony created by seedships (automated ships that started the colony from scratch with robots, umpteen generations ago).

[stonetools]

Something that's a bit tangential to the ship idea but is sort of in the ballpark is


Cities in Flight by James Blish in which Earth's cities go flying off to the stars.

[BreezyDay]

How about the short story "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin. In the story, the pilot aboard an emergency dispatch ship is faced with a difficult moral dilemma.