Hard Science Fiction Recommendations

[Fat Abe]

I have never bothered with definitions of hard or soft SF, although these concepts appeal to certain readers. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (ed. by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn) deals with the subject in chapter 3, section 13, of the book. What follows are excerpts from the book:

In 1999, long-time Analog editor Stanley Schmidt, heir to John W. Campbell’s job, remarked:

Lately I’ve been saying I’d like the term ‘Hard SF’ to go away. Too many people use it to mean something much narrower than what I mean by it . . . science fiction is simply fiction in which some element of speculation plays such an essential and integral role that it can’t be removed without making the story collapse, and in which the author has made a reasonable effort to make the speculative element as plausible as possible. Anything that doesn’t meet those requirements is not science fiction at all, as far as I’m concerned, so there’s no need for a separate term like ‘Hard SF’ to distinguish it from ‘other’ kinds of sf.
...

So if the sub-genre is a contentious conversation in constant flux, how do we avoid solipsistic definitions that amount to knowing it when one sees it? We return to a modified conventional wisdom for our definition: a work of sf is hard sf if a relationship to and knowledge of science and technology is central to the work.

... Before science can be incorporated into hard sf, it must be stripped of its mathematical bones, so that – no matter how accurate the text – science is used as a mythology. What science gives to hard sf is a body of metaphor that provides the illusion of both realism and rationalism.

By reputation, hard sf is science fiction that gets its science right and has a certain hard-nosed attitude. Its plots and backgrounds are in the tradition of Hal Clement’s Mission of Gravity (1953), its attitudes in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein.

Kathryn Cramer was the contributor of this section of the book. Bless her for condensing a lot of information into a few pages. She is so right about the writing being "stripped of its mathematical bones." Ronald Reagan was one of the least intelligent presidents in the history of the US. One wonders if he could even derive Pythagoras' theorem. Yet, out of his fascination with science fiction, and the influence of certain SF writers, we spent billions on the Strategic Defense Initiative program.

My recommendation to the OP is to ignore sub-genre classifications. Just read the great classics of SF, such as Theodore Sturgeon's More than Human, or the very advanced thought experiment, Camp Concentration, by Thomas Disch. Any list of the 100 best novels in SF will give the reader a better start in the field than niche examples. The latter is analogous to confining ones exposure to Indian food to just eating lamb dishes.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by crich70

James H. Schmitz had some good stuff written during his lifetime. A good portion of his works are in the Baen free library for download now. Not quite hard SciFi but good all the same. One of his that I've been reading has a mixture of a galactic civilization and telepathy. He didn't produce a lot in his lifetime but it is good reading.

I'm pretty sure almost everything by Schmitz is available through the Free Library.

Schmitz wrote primarily in a setting called "The Federation of the Hub", a far future human interstellar civilization further in toward the galactic center. His main protagonists are Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee.

Telzey is the teenage daughter of a pair of Federation bureaucrats, who is also a powerful xenotelepath, capable of establishing mental communication with aliens as well as other humans. She has a guarded relationship with the Federation's Psychology Service, which keeps an eye in humans with psi powers. Centuries before Schmitz's setting, the first humans in the hub fought each other in wars of unparalleled ferocity, which apparently destroyed Earth. The wars seem to have been caused by the emergence of psi powers among humanity, as powerful psis established dominance over their societies and attempted to expand their dominance to others. The Psychology Service exists in part to guard against a repeat of such conflicts.

Trigger Argee is an older woman who is a high level troubleshooter for the Federation, and winds up teamed with Telzey in one book.

Other Schmitz volumes include _Agent of Vega_, a set of stories not in the Hub universe featuring a high level troubleshooter for a future interstellar polity centered on Vega, and _The Wizard of Karres_, in which Captain Nicholas Pausert of Nikledepain finds himself induced to purchase three young witches who had ben enslaved on the Imperial planet of Porlumma. The witches had been captured by Imperial slavers while on a jaunt. Maleen, Goth, and the Leewit, the witches of the title, prove a handful, and Pausert finds himself pursued by almost everyone for various reasons related to the witches and their abilities.

_The Wizard of Karres_ may be Schmitz's best known book, and is considered a classic. It's a delightful romp, and spawned a Baen Books sequel called _The Wizard of Karres_, by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. (Schmitz had written a sequel, but the manuscript disappeared in a move.)

Schmitz's work is not normally though of as "hard" SF, but is strongly recommended.
______
Dennis

[PhilK]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yep. I love the early Niven - Known World stuff, but feel he really went downhill later and began writing just to make money instead of for the interesting stories/ideas.

Absolutely. later Niven was poor, not unreadbly bad, but far worse than previous.
However.
The Fleet of/Juggler of/Destroyer of of Worlds with Ed Lerner recently is almost there (not as good as early stuff but good reading)
Some of the Man-Kzin Wars short stories by other authors in the series of books numbering Man Kzin Wars 1 to XI WERE as good. Only some of them, Nivens own were among them, admittedly - but "A Darker Geometry" was rivetting (A short appearence by a warrior Puppeteer unknown to other races)

[Cyclops]

Re Hard v soft SF. Hard SF tends to be written by scientists and the science tends to take on the role one of the characters. Prime example is Anderson's Tau Zero where a complex formula involving velocity over speed of light which creates a situation that drives the plot of the novel. Sounds a lot heavier than it is! Soft SF tends to be written by non-scientists, the likes of Philip K Dick, Brian Aldiss, J. G. Ballard etc and is more concerned with the social aspects of the situation and less driven by scientific plausibility- I call such Social Fiction and to me is less appealing in general (but not always) than the hard stuff.

[nyrath]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Re Hard v soft SF. Hard SF tends to be written by scientists and the science tends to take on the role one of the characters. Prime example is Anderson's Tau Zero where a complex formula involving velocity over speed of light which creates a situation that drives the plot of the novel. Sounds a lot heavier than it is!

Well, personally I would not consider 1 / Sqrt[ 1 - (v^2 / c^2) ] to be a complex formula, the hard part is the implications. It is basic garden-variety Relativity theory.

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by nyrath

Well, personally I would not consider 1 / Sqrt[ 1 - (v^2 / c^2) ] to be a complex formula, .

Oh I would....but would it would be a trifle to HAL

[nyrath]

1 / Sqrt[ 1 - (v^2 / c^2) ] is not a complex formula.

This is a complex formula.

[PhilK]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Soft SF tends to be written by non-scientists, the likes of Philip K Dick, Brian Aldiss, J. G. Ballard etc and is more concerned with the social aspects of the situation and less driven by scientific plausibility- I call such Social Fiction and to me is less appealing in general (but not always) than the hard stuff.

Have never been able to get away with those 3.
Tried reading them and threw the books down in disgust and never picked them up again. Reading some Philip K Dick and Aldiss was an ordeal, and tedious. I did finish the books and never picked another Aldiss, and read only a couple of P.K.D
Give me the so-called "Hard SF" every time.

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by PhilK

Have never been able to get away with those 3.
Tried reading them and threw the books down in disgust and never picked them up again. Reading some Philip K Dick and Aldiss was an ordeal, and tedious. I did finish the books and never picked another Aldiss, and read only a couple of P.K.D
Give me the so-called "Hard SF" every time.

I'd tend to agree, with 2 exceptions! Dicks 'Flow My Tears the Policeman Said' is brilliant, one of the best reads of 2009 for me! Also Aldiss's Hothouse-very good far future science fantasy!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by PhilK

Have never been able to get away with those 3.
Tried reading them and threw the books down in disgust and never picked them up again. Reading some Philip K Dick and Aldiss was an ordeal, and tedious. I did finish the books and never picked another Aldiss, and read only a couple of P.K.D
Give me the so-called "Hard SF" every time.

It depends upon what you're reading for.

Dick's underlying theme was "How do you know what's real? Where is the dividing line between reality and fantasy?" Dick had bouts of mental illness, and wasn't always sure himself. The most approachable introduction to Dick is probably _The Man In the High Castle_, an alternate history novel set in a future where the Allies had lost WWII. The United States is partitioned between NAzi Germany and Imperial Japan, and the protagonist lives in a thin unoccupied zone in the Rocky Mountains. It won the Hugo Award in 1963.

Aldiss has been writing SF for many years. He became associated with the New Wave movement, centered around New Worlds magazine edited by Michael Moorcock in the 60's, and served as the experienced older writer helping to raise the standards for the group. One of his you might try is _The Long Afternoon of Earth_ (published in the UK as _Hothouse_.) It's a very far future novel, reminiscent of Vance's _The Dying Earth_, in a time when the moon has come closer to Earth and slowed in it's path, hanging in a fixed spot over the Earth, and giant spiders have built webs connecting the Earth and the Moon. Another that tickled me was _Barefoot In the Head_, a product of his New Worlds days, set in a Europe recovering from a war. Psychedelic agents were used as weapons, and everyone including UN operatives trying to help rebuild is stoned out of their minds. Aldiss had a best selling UK autobiography called _The Hand Raised Boy_. He also wrote a history of SF called _The Billion Year Spree_.

Ballard is another who has been around a long time. He did a spate of early novels in the "End of the world as we know it" line, such as _The Drowned World_ and _The Wind from Nowhere_, exploring disasters that ended civilization. He was also affiliated with the New Wave, and produced experimental fiction such as the "condensed novel" _You, Coma, Marilyn Monroe_ exploring Western archetypes, and _Crash_ (which became a film by David Cronenburg, and which prompted one SF reviewer to refuse to read anything else Ballard wrote. He was offended by the mature subject matter... ). Ballard also had a best selling autobiography called _The Empire of the Sun_, based in part on his experiences as a boy in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. (His family lived in the Far East, and were interned during the hostilities.)

Aldiss and Ballard are both very much literary writers, who established reputations beyond SF. While they wrote science fiction, you don't read their work for the science. Dick is sui generis, and doesn't fall neatly into any category. He wrote SF, I think, because it provided a vehicle where he could explore the questions that troubled him, there there were a assortment of unsuccessful attempts at mainstream work, like _Confessions of a Crap Artist_.

You can't read just one of any of their works and expect any sort of realistic appreciation of their merits.
______
Dennis

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Another that tickled me was _Barefoot In the Head_, a product of his New Worlds days, set in a Europe recovering from a war. Psychedelic agents were used as weapons, and everyone including UN operatives trying to help rebuild is stoned out of their minds.

Oh man if someome is new to to Aldiss and they try that book then they would be put off for life! Seriously messed up writing!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Cyclops

Oh man if someome is new to Aldiss and they try that book then they would be put off for life! Seriously messed up writing!

Well, the characters are seriously messed up, for good reason. The writing is just lovely.

But agreed, it's not where you start on Aldiss. I might suggest _Starship_, _Hothouse_, or _Galaxies Like Grains of Sand_ for that.
______
Dennis

[Cyclops]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Well, the characters are seriously messed up, for good reason. The writing is just lovely.

But agreed, it's not where you start on Aldiss. I might suggest _Starship_, _Hothouse_, or _Galaxies Like Grains of Sand_ for that.
______
Dennis

Lovely aint what I'd call it!
I'd also recommend the wonderful Saliva Tree, which is a H.G.Wells pastiche (Aldiss is chairman of the H.G.Wells society)

[HarryT]

If we're going for the "writer of the most beautiful prose" award, my money would be on Ray Bradbury.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If we're going for the "writer of the most beautiful prose" award, my money would be on Ray Bradbury.

Agreed. But also not what I'd call hard science fiction.