Hard Science Fiction suggestions

mgrunk · 11-16-2008, 11:35 PM

I looked through and didn't see a topic for this - it's probably buried -but I need some new books - I totally don't like fantasy - I read Lord of the Rings simply because it's a classic and I should, but I don't like the genre at all. I also don't like ... war based? I don't know what you'd call it, but not an emphasis on military expansion - Semper Mars, -

I like more technology based sf and first contact - hate Darrel Bain, Archive was ok, didn't like Snow Crash by Stephenson, Hammerfall was ok, Resnick's Oracle was ok but wouldn't want to reread - I keep thinking I should like Resnick, but just can't find a click w/ him.

So, what I do like -

Asimov - not so much the Foundation series, but many of his others

Gregory Benford - Sunborn is ok, Matter's End - really liked,

Poul Anderson - most everything I've liked - Tau Zero,

Fredrick Pohl - most everything

Silverberg - liked most of them and have read them all

Kim Robinson - all the Mars books, Red, Blue, etc - loved

Hamilton -Night Dawn's Trilogy - would like to reread - but it's such a massive endeavor to get through it all and very bleak through most of it.

Egan - Schild's Ladder - ok

Heinlein - liked most of them - Red Planet but have read all his books

Greg Bear - most all, Blood Music really, really loved - I've read Darwins Radio and Quantico and Moving Mars

Contact - loved - need to find an e-book for it

Neal - Denizen - better than ok, not great

Gunn - The Listeners, really liked

Paula King - A Whisper of Time - really liked

So any suggestions - PS - I have a sony - so I can't get Amazon only books.

I forgot about Ben Bova too - can't find many at sony or fw though

montsnmags · 11-16-2008, 11:48 PM

David Zindell's Neverness, and the trilogy A Requiem for Homo Sapiens (The Broken God, The Wild and War in Heaven, though I confess to not having yet read the last, to my continuing dismay at my own procrastination). I would rate Neverness as one of the best SF books I have read, and it is not necessary to continue with the trilogy (Neverness is self-contained)

Cheers,
Marc

AlexC · 11-17-2008, 01:05 AM

Signal to Noise and A Signal Shattered by Eric S. Nylund might fit the bill.

Sparrow · 11-17-2008, 02:17 AM

Stephen Baxter 'The Time Ships'.
Written as sequel to commemorate the centenary of Wells' 'The Time Machine', it's actually better than the original.

garygibsonsf · 11-17-2008, 02:38 AM

I haven 't read Mike Brotherton - he has a blog at www.mikebrotherton.com - but he writes 'hard as nails' sf. His first novel can be downloaded free at his website as a promo for the new one.

You might want to try Iain Banks' Culture books, particularly 'use of weapons'.

I'm not a huge fan of Bova, but I enjoyed 'Voyagers'.

Robert Forward's Dragon's Egg is another 'hard as nails' novel.

I don't like 'high fantasy' either, but I'd still recommend Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, which is a science-fictional approach to mythology as a construct of the collective conscious of humanity but projected onto the real world.

I don't know, by the way, if all of these are available as ebooks - you'll know once you input them at fictionwise, etc. But I also have a sony, and know for a fact several of Alistair Reynold's books are available there.

If i were you, I'd check out Linda Nagata's 'Vast', which may or may not be an ebook.

mtravellerh · 11-17-2008, 02:51 AM

John Scalzi is the new Heinlein.

Check Ray Gun Revival, too. Some good reads there for fans of hard SF.

moz · 11-17-2008, 03:47 AM

It would be really handy if people could link to the site that sells the books, as it's not always obvious. Fictionwise and Tor both have pages for each book they sell so it's an easy link to see a precis and review (often samples too).

thanks

Dr. Drib · 11-17-2008, 05:28 AM

Hal Clement's novels.

A very popular "hard" science fiction writer from the 1950s, who is very highly regarded.

Don

radius · 11-17-2008, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Hal Clement's novels.

A very popular "hard" science fiction writer from the 1950s, who is very highly regarded.

If you decide to try Hal Clement, I would start with Mission of Gravity, which is probably the best novel he wrote. It is about a scientific mission to a high gravity planet.

I also second the Robert Forward suggestion. He writes books mainly about scientific expeditions to astronomically "interesting" regions.

You might like Vernor Vinge as well, as long as you stay away from his near future stories. Pick something like A Deepness in the Sky and you should be happy.

I'm suprised that you didn't mention Larry Niven. His Ringworld series should be up your alley, as should The Integral Trees and The Mote in God's Eye with Jerry Pournelle.

Dr. Drib · 11-17-2008, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radius

If you decide to try Hal Clement, I would start with Mission of Gravity, which is probably the best novel he wrote. It is about a scientific mission to a high gravity planet.

I also second the Robert Forward suggestion. He writes books mainly about scientific expeditions to astronomically "interesting" regions.

You might like Vernor Vinge as well, as long as you stay away from his near future stories. Pick something like A Deepness in the Sky and you should be happy.

I'm suprised that you didn't mention Larry Niven. His Ringworld series should be up your alley, as should The Integral Trees and The Mote in God's Eye with Jerry Pournelle.

Actually, if you mean me, I'm also surprised I failed to mention Larry Niven. He was one of my favorite writers about 25 years ago. I devoured everything he wrote, but haven't read much of him lately.

Thank you for reminding me.

Don

mgrunk · 11-17-2008, 04:32 PM

I forgot to mention Larry Niven - but I haven't read the Ringworld series - so now I have a nice list to start on. I've been reading quite a bit of mainstream - I realized last night, I just want to go back to my sf - it's my favorite genre and has been since I was a teenager

I've always felt like I was born about 200 years too early - and - couldn't get it together to get hired at NASA w/ my programming degree and will probably never have the money to actually make it on a space flight :-)

mtravellerh · 11-18-2008, 06:17 AM

Elisabeth Bear (well, only the sf books of course)

BlackVoid · 11-18-2008, 06:28 AM

Alastair Reynolds would fit your needs. Start with Revelation Space.

Linda Nagata also has a series that is (nano-) technology centric. It starts with The Bohr Maker.

mgrunk · 11-18-2008, 11:33 AM

Where might I find Revelation Space - Sony and Fictionwise only have the second book in the series?

slayda · 11-18-2008, 12:42 PM

Spider Robinson is pretty good.

11-16-2008, 11:35 PM	#1
mgrunk Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: metro Atlanta, GA Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	Hard Science Fiction suggestions I looked through and didn't see a topic for this - it's probably buried -but I need some new books - I totally don't like fantasy - I read Lord of the Rings simply because it's a classic and I should, but I don't like the genre at all. I also don't like ... war based? I don't know what you'd call it, but not an emphasis on military expansion - Semper Mars, - I like more technology based sf and first contact - hate Darrel Bain, Archive was ok, didn't like Snow Crash by Stephenson, Hammerfall was ok, Resnick's Oracle was ok but wouldn't want to reread - I keep thinking I should like Resnick, but just can't find a click w/ him. So, what I do like - Asimov - not so much the Foundation series, but many of his others Gregory Benford - Sunborn is ok, Matter's End - really liked, Poul Anderson - most everything I've liked - Tau Zero, Fredrick Pohl - most everything Silverberg - liked most of them and have read them all Kim Robinson - all the Mars books, Red, Blue, etc - loved Hamilton -Night Dawn's Trilogy - would like to reread - but it's such a massive endeavor to get through it all and very bleak through most of it. Egan - Schild's Ladder - ok Heinlein - liked most of them - Red Planet but have read all his books Greg Bear - most all, Blood Music really, really loved - I've read Darwins Radio and Quantico and Moving Mars Contact - loved - need to find an e-book for it Neal - Denizen - better than ok, not great Gunn - The Listeners, really liked Paula King - A Whisper of Time - really liked So any suggestions - PS - I have a sony - so I can't get Amazon only books. I forgot about Ben Bova too - can't find many at sony or fw though Last edited by mgrunk; 11-19-2008 at 12:04 AM.

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11-16-2008, 11:48 PM	#2
montsnmags Grand Sorcerer Posts: 10,155 Karma: 4632658 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: none	David Zindell's Neverness, and the trilogy A Requiem for Homo Sapiens (The Broken God, The Wild and War in Heaven, though I confess to not having yet read the last, to my continuing dismay at my own procrastination). I would rate Neverness as one of the best SF books I have read, and it is not necessary to continue with the trilogy (Neverness is self-contained) Cheers, Marc

11-17-2008, 01:05 AM	#3
AlexC Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 737 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver Device: Apple iPad; iRex iLiad	Signal to Noise and A Signal Shattered by Eric S. Nylund might fit the bill.

11-17-2008, 02:17 AM	#4
Sparrow Wizard Posts: 4,395 Karma: 1358132 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3	Stephen Baxter 'The Time Ships'. Written as sequel to commemorate the centenary of Wells' 'The Time Machine', it's actually better than the original.

11-17-2008, 02:38 AM	#5
garygibsonsf Addict Posts: 321 Karma: 432192 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite	I haven 't read Mike Brotherton - he has a blog at www.mikebrotherton.com - but he writes 'hard as nails' sf. His first novel can be downloaded free at his website as a promo for the new one. You might want to try Iain Banks' Culture books, particularly 'use of weapons'. I'm not a huge fan of Bova, but I enjoyed 'Voyagers'. Robert Forward's Dragon's Egg is another 'hard as nails' novel. I don't like 'high fantasy' either, but I'd still recommend Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, which is a science-fictional approach to mythology as a construct of the collective conscious of humanity but projected onto the real world. I don't know, by the way, if all of these are available as ebooks - you'll know once you input them at fictionwise, etc. But I also have a sony, and know for a fact several of Alistair Reynold's books are available there. If i were you, I'd check out Linda Nagata's 'Vast', which may or may not be an ebook.

11-17-2008, 02:51 AM	#6
mtravellerh book creator Posts: 9,657 Karma: 3856660 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Luxembourg Device: Kindle Scribe	John Scalzi is the new Heinlein. Check Ray Gun Revival, too. Some good reads there for fans of hard SF.

11-17-2008, 03:47 AM	#7
moz Addict Posts: 370 Karma: 1553 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Melbun Device: Kobo H2O	It would be really handy if people could link to the site that sells the books, as it's not always obvious. Fictionwise and Tor both have pages for each book they sell so it's an easy link to see a precis and review (often samples too). thanks

11-17-2008, 05:28 AM	#8
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,611 Karma: 60184181 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	Hal Clement's novels. A very popular "hard" science fiction writer from the 1950s, who is very highly regarded. Don

11-17-2008, 04:32 PM	#11
mgrunk Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: metro Atlanta, GA Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	I forgot to mention Larry Niven - but I haven't read the Ringworld series - so now I have a nice list to start on. I've been reading quite a bit of mainstream - I realized last night, I just want to go back to my sf - it's my favorite genre and has been since I was a teenager I've always felt like I was born about 200 years too early - and - couldn't get it together to get hired at NASA w/ my programming degree and will probably never have the money to actually make it on a space flight :-)

11-18-2008, 06:17 AM	#12
mtravellerh book creator Posts: 9,657 Karma: 3856660 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Luxembourg Device: Kindle Scribe	Elisabeth Bear (well, only the sf books of course)

11-18-2008, 06:28 AM	#13
BlackVoid Evangelist Posts: 415 Karma: 510423 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony PRS-505	Alastair Reynolds would fit your needs. Start with Revelation Space. Linda Nagata also has a series that is (nano-) technology centric. It starts with The Bohr Maker.

11-18-2008, 11:33 AM	#14
mgrunk Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: metro Atlanta, GA Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	Where might I find Revelation Space - Sony and Fictionwise only have the second book in the series?

11-18-2008, 12:42 PM	#15
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	Spider Robinson is pretty good.