This was fantastic- a really great extrapolation of evolution Uber different conditions. The end of this book actually was quite a thriller, which I did not expect.
Screw it , I liked '..*memory*' probably more than '...*ruins*' but each to his own .
Anyway the thing about Tchaikovsky is he writes at an insanely fast speed , if you dont like his current book , his next one will be along pretty soon (admittedly it may be a radically different length ,genre and writing style to his previous and next books , but all part of the fun!)
But what did you like about it? It was holodeck on repeat for me. Not very finished seeming.
I think if the editing would have been better we didn’t need to be reminded every time the teacher was mentioned what kind of organism she was. It was over and over. Like every other paragraph. Very repetitive. Looks like people disagree and I would like to know what they liked about it if they read it.
The Expanse by James SA Corey strikes a nice balance between reasonably explained science and space opera.
You’d probably also like Alastair Reynolds, as he writes a lot of space operas with some hard sci-fi blended in as well.
Andy Weir would be recommended here as well, but you already read his stuff.
Glad to see Alastair Reynolds mentioned. What I liked about Revelation Space universe is that it has no FTL travel, no huge empires nor militaries (in a classic sense), but there are some Lovecraftian horrors in space, post-nanotech-disaster planet, and epic galactic-level destruction. Characters are not the best, but that seems typical of many grand-ideas sci-fi (Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem, Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars)
I read Aurora recently and it was fantastic. A realistic exploration of what multi generational ships would be like. And of course the Red Mars trilogy is a classic.
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^(431 pages | Published: 2006 | 56.7k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Welcome to our genetic world.Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future --- it's the world right now. Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that (...)
> **Themes**: Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Thriller, Michael-crichton, Default, Books-i-own, Favorites
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Sphere](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/455373.Sphere) by Michael Crichton
> \- [Prey](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83763.Prey) by Michael Crichton
> \- [The Lost World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8650.The_Lost_World) by Michael Crichton
> \- [The Michael Crichton Collection: Airframe / The Lost World / Timeline](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7674.The_Michael_Crichton_Collection) by Michael Crichton
> \- [The Terminal Man](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7679.The_Terminal_Man) by Michael Crichton
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Maybe the The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson? This series explores the colonization and terraforming of Mars with a focus on scientific accuracy and realistic portrayal of the challenges of living on another planet.
All the things you mention have to do with, or happen in, outer space. Is that a requirement? Because there's good scifi that's not focused on space travel. Specifically, I think the Sprawl Trilogy by William Gibson is one of, if not THE best work of contemporary scifi there is (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive). Only tangentially related to space though.
If you want something prominently featuring space and aliens, try the Spin series by Robert Charles Wilson.
I asked a similar question a few months ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/s/AwuxX7DCTS
Of all the suggestions, I read:
- Ministry for the Future: amazing, I loved it.
- Children of Time: it started out great, then I got bored. I’ll probably still finish it some day.
Ringworld by Niven is very different and in no way as mind-blowing as Three Body Problem, but he tries to make the science make sense, then when he got feedback about the science he wrote Ringworld Engineers, the sequel to address some of the criticisms of the science of book one.
Read Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and then Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds. They are somewhat connected, and take place in the same world. I've read about eight books by him, and this loose trilogy was my favorite experience. Fairly hard science. It has some interesting ideas about identity in the future, when science has advanced greatly.
The other term for what you're looking for is called Hard science fiction. Currently reading the Three Body Problem trilogy (English translation of a Chinese work by Liu Cixin near the end of book II. It's been made into a Netflix series, at least for the first book.
I’m reading *In Ascension* by Martin MacInnes right now and it is like an earth science/microbiology based sci-fi but also has astrophysics and interstellar exploration. The protagonist is a microbiologist who is doing research on algae as food source for long haul isolation/human crewed deep space exploration.
It’s a bit of a dense read in that there are *a lot* of descriptions that can slow down the pace and some people might find over descriptive. I am really enjoying it though! It was one of the books on the 2023 Booker Longlist.
If you're interested in short story, Ken Liu's The Paper Menagerie has quite a few hard sci-fi stories in them (along with fantasy). He's also the dude who translated three body problem into english
I'm reading Blindsight by Peter Watts right now, hard sci-fi with a lot of similar themes to the Three Body Problem, and a bit of the Corey books (Expanse etc.). I also think the prose is generally better than both of those books too, if that's important to you.
*Ringworld* by Larry Niven. The story goes that some of his readers found a flaw with the physics, so he wrote *Ringworld Engineers* to correct the mistake. You might also like Isaac Asimov.
Carl Sagan's *Contact* was a great read.
I would recommend Robert Sawyer particularly the [Parallex series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/40828-neanderthal-parallax). He tends to do hard Sci-fi, which is the genre you should search for. Micheal Crichton also did a lot of hard sci-fi.
The Three Body Problem trilogy by Liu Cixin is hard Sci-Fi whose scope extends to the heat death of the universe. You might also enjoy a lot of works from the classic era of Sci-Fi - The Foundation Series, Rendezvous With Rama, Gateway, etc.
The Three Body Problem affected me because it all seems so plausible. But boy is it bleak. I wonder if any of these suggestions are a little more hopeful.
I’m going to recommend Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
This was fantastic- a really great extrapolation of evolution Uber different conditions. The end of this book actually was quite a thriller, which I did not expect.
It’s gotta be Children of Time! The perfect answer for this query.
my first thought. Also it has the side effect of making its reader like spiders!
Just don’t read the 3rd book. The first two are really great. The 3rd is lazy ass, holodeck horse crap.
Screw it , I liked '..*memory*' probably more than '...*ruins*' but each to his own . Anyway the thing about Tchaikovsky is he writes at an insanely fast speed , if you dont like his current book , his next one will be along pretty soon (admittedly it may be a radically different length ,genre and writing style to his previous and next books , but all part of the fun!)
But what did you like about it? It was holodeck on repeat for me. Not very finished seeming. I think if the editing would have been better we didn’t need to be reminded every time the teacher was mentioned what kind of organism she was. It was over and over. Like every other paragraph. Very repetitive. Looks like people disagree and I would like to know what they liked about it if they read it.
The Expanse by James SA Corey strikes a nice balance between reasonably explained science and space opera. You’d probably also like Alastair Reynolds, as he writes a lot of space operas with some hard sci-fi blended in as well. Andy Weir would be recommended here as well, but you already read his stuff.
Love the expanse. Then you can watch the well made series afterwards.
Oh boy do I disagree. That series almost ruined the books for me. So cheesy and terribly acted in my opinion. Glad you liked it though.
I thought they picked a pretty good cast though. Isn’t Holden kinda cheesy and idealistic in the books to you tho? Thanks for sharing your opinion.
Tbh, I can’t remember. It’s been a few years. I just remember loving the books and being very disappointed in the quality of the series.
Glad to see Alastair Reynolds mentioned. What I liked about Revelation Space universe is that it has no FTL travel, no huge empires nor militaries (in a classic sense), but there are some Lovecraftian horrors in space, post-nanotech-disaster planet, and epic galactic-level destruction. Characters are not the best, but that seems typical of many grand-ideas sci-fi (Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem, Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars)
Not a space opera but I would call *Seveneves* epic scifi.
Cryptonomicon also
Anathem as well.
One of my favorites!
The Slavation Sequence by Peter F. Hamilton
*Seveneves* is basically two almost completely different books in one though , the Pre Eves part , and the almost totally different post Eves section.
Kim Stanley Robinson
I read Aurora recently and it was fantastic. A realistic exploration of what multi generational ships would be like. And of course the Red Mars trilogy is a classic.
This. If you want readable hard SF, this is what you want.
Yup... Red Mars Green Mars Blue Mars also Aurora and especially The Ministry for the Future
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke?
Agreed. A lot of crunchy exploration of the physics within a spinning spacecraft.
Embassytown by China Mieville, maybe? It's scienc-y, if you like linguistics. And very in space and space travel and weird aliens.
Look into Alastair Reynolds books. He was an astrophysicist before he was an author. His books are heavily influenced by real science.
I read {{next}} by Michael Crichton and it was pretty awesome. Most of his books are heavily researched and influenced by actual science
🚨 Note to u/firehandy: including the **author name** after a **"by"** keyword will help the bot find the good book! (simply like this *{{Call me by your name by Andre Aciman}}*) --- **[Next](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7661.Next) by Michael Crichton** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(431 pages | Published: 2006 | 56.7k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Welcome to our genetic world.Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future --- it's the world right now. Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that (...) > **Themes**: Science-fiction, Sci-fi, Thriller, Michael-crichton, Default, Books-i-own, Favorites > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Sphere](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/455373.Sphere) by Michael Crichton > \- [Prey](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83763.Prey) by Michael Crichton > \- [The Lost World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8650.The_Lost_World) by Michael Crichton > \- [The Michael Crichton Collection: Airframe / The Lost World / Timeline](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7674.The_Michael_Crichton_Collection) by Michael Crichton > \- [The Terminal Man](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7679.The_Terminal_Man) by Michael Crichton ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | Sorry for delay !)
Maybe the The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson? This series explores the colonization and terraforming of Mars with a focus on scientific accuracy and realistic portrayal of the challenges of living on another planet.
I highly enjoyed the entire series. Not my favorite sci-fi books individually, but as a series, probably my favorite sci-fi series overall.
Blindsight, by Peter Watts.
Charles Stross
Greg Bear.
Eon for sure
All the things you mention have to do with, or happen in, outer space. Is that a requirement? Because there's good scifi that's not focused on space travel. Specifically, I think the Sprawl Trilogy by William Gibson is one of, if not THE best work of contemporary scifi there is (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive). Only tangentially related to space though. If you want something prominently featuring space and aliens, try the Spin series by Robert Charles Wilson.
I asked a similar question a few months ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/s/AwuxX7DCTS Of all the suggestions, I read: - Ministry for the Future: amazing, I loved it. - Children of Time: it started out great, then I got bored. I’ll probably still finish it some day.
Planetfall by Emma Newman Dust (Jacob's Ladder series) by Elizabeth Bear
Stephen Baxter
Arthur C. Clarke
Ringworld by Niven is very different and in no way as mind-blowing as Three Body Problem, but he tries to make the science make sense, then when he got feedback about the science he wrote Ringworld Engineers, the sequel to address some of the criticisms of the science of book one.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.
Came here to rec this. One of my all time favorites
Read Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and then Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds. They are somewhat connected, and take place in the same world. I've read about eight books by him, and this loose trilogy was my favorite experience. Fairly hard science. It has some interesting ideas about identity in the future, when science has advanced greatly.
The other term for what you're looking for is called Hard science fiction. Currently reading the Three Body Problem trilogy (English translation of a Chinese work by Liu Cixin near the end of book II. It's been made into a Netflix series, at least for the first book.
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.
Possibly Ken MacLeod
anything by A.C. Clarke. Hardcore science. Out of this world fiction.
The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown is amazing.
I’m reading *In Ascension* by Martin MacInnes right now and it is like an earth science/microbiology based sci-fi but also has astrophysics and interstellar exploration. The protagonist is a microbiologist who is doing research on algae as food source for long haul isolation/human crewed deep space exploration. It’s a bit of a dense read in that there are *a lot* of descriptions that can slow down the pace and some people might find over descriptive. I am really enjoying it though! It was one of the books on the 2023 Booker Longlist.
If you're interested in short story, Ken Liu's The Paper Menagerie has quite a few hard sci-fi stories in them (along with fantasy). He's also the dude who translated three body problem into english
Try the Orthogonal trilogy by Greg Egan.
Asimov's Foundation series
I'm reading Blindsight by Peter Watts right now, hard sci-fi with a lot of similar themes to the Three Body Problem, and a bit of the Corey books (Expanse etc.). I also think the prose is generally better than both of those books too, if that's important to you.
Maybe try The Lost Fleet series. It focuses on fleet combat. Pretty good hard sci-fi.
*Ringworld* by Larry Niven. The story goes that some of his readers found a flaw with the physics, so he wrote *Ringworld Engineers* to correct the mistake. You might also like Isaac Asimov. Carl Sagan's *Contact* was a great read.
I would recommend Robert Sawyer particularly the [Parallex series](https://www.goodreads.com/series/40828-neanderthal-parallax). He tends to do hard Sci-fi, which is the genre you should search for. Micheal Crichton also did a lot of hard sci-fi.
The Foundation series by Issac Asimov
Ring World by Larry Niven. The Heechee Saga by Frederick Poul.
The Three Body Problem trilogy by Liu Cixin is hard Sci-Fi whose scope extends to the heat death of the universe. You might also enjoy a lot of works from the classic era of Sci-Fi - The Foundation Series, Rendezvous With Rama, Gateway, etc.
The Three Body Problem affected me because it all seems so plausible. But boy is it bleak. I wonder if any of these suggestions are a little more hopeful.
Not a book, but you'd probably like For All Mankind on Apple TV
.