# Good new/recent sci fi (not fantasy) book recommendations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681 "2017-01-31T18:50:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/1 "2017-01-31T18:50:34Z")
A friend of mine asked for recommendations for Sci Fi to read, and I’ve mainly been reading fantasy and alternate history recently, so I figured I’d forward this on to the dope for suggestions. So… what recent Science Fiction books are worth a read? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Percolator\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/0ea827/32.png) [@Percolator\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Percolator_Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/2 "2017-01-31T19:16:48Z")
[Infomocracy by Malka Older](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/08/480477941/infomocracy-is-a-sci-fi-thriller-with-election-year-chills) is quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/3 "2017-01-31T19:29:23Z")
A YA novel by Sophia McDougall called Mars Evacuees. It’s a lot of fun, and came out last year. [https://www.amazon.com/Mars-Evacuees-Sophia-McDougall/dp/0062294008](https://www.amazon.com/Mars-Evacuees-Sophia-McDougall/dp/0062294008) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/4 "2017-01-31T19:36:30Z")
_The Three-Body Problem_ by Cixin Liu is quite good, especially seeing SF from a Chinese perspective. It’s a novella, but _Binti_ by Nnedi Okorafor is very good. If you haven’t read any Jack McDevitt, check him out – first-class hard SF. Connie Willis is always worth checking out, and her two-volume novel _Blackout/All Clear_ is excellent. It’s her usual time travel in the London Blitz theme, but done very well (even the annoying characters turn out to be justified). Charles E. Gannon write some excellent military SF. (If you’d like to meet him, he’ll be at Albacon this April 1 weekend). ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/5 "2017-01-31T19:43:56Z")
_The Expanse_ series by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). The first novel is _[Leviathan Wakes](https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/)_, and the sixth was just published last month. Realistic sci fi that is (mostly) accurate with its science. _[Ancillary Justice](https://www.amazon.com/Ancillary-Justice-Imperial-Radch-Leckie/dp/031624662X)_ is fun to read and gets a lot of love around here. It got a lot of hate from the [Sad Puppies/Rabid Puppies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_Puppies) crowd for its nontraditional view of gender, among other things. It’s the first of a trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/6 "2017-01-31T21:47:51Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > _The Expanse_ series by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). The first novel is _[Leviathan Wakes](https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/)_, and the sixth was just published last month. Realistic sci fi that is (mostly) accurate with its science. Just a word of warning: body horror ahoy. If you don’t mind… that sort thing, go ahead and read it. (Me, my reaction after reading _Leviathan Wakes_ was, “Welp, there’s my nightmare quotient filled for the week.”) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/7 "2017-01-31T21:48:19Z")
I cannot recommend [_The Fractal Prince_](https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Prince-Jean-Flambeur/dp/0765336790) highly enough. The whole series is great (3 books) but that first one really got into my head. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/8 "2017-01-31T21:51:35Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I cannot recommend [_The Fractal Prince_](https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Prince-Jean-Flambeur/dp/0765336790) highly enough. The whole series is great (3 books) but that first one really got into my head. Isn’t that the second one? _The Quantum Thief_ is book one, according to Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/9 "2017-01-31T21:56:10Z")
:smack: Yes; _The Quantum Thief_ is the book I meant. Sorry. I’m at work and in the middle of a show, so I’m trying to do like 4 things at once. Mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/10 "2017-02-01T00:37:01Z")
Alan Steele and Robert J. Sawyer both have new books out. “Arkwright” and “Quantum Nights”, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/11 "2017-02-01T02:42:11Z")
I’d recommend mine, but only 10 of the planned 17 chapters are complete. (Here, if you’re curious: [The Pentagon War, chapter 1](http://www.rogermwilcox.com/Pentagon/Pentagon1.html) ) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/12 "2017-02-01T18:02:03Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > _[Ancillary Justice](https://www.amazon.com/Ancillary-Justice-Imperial-Radch-Leckie/dp/031624662X)_ is fun to read and gets a lot of love around here. It got a lot of hate from the [Sad Puppies/Rabid Puppies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_Puppies) crowd for its nontraditional view of gender, among other things. It’s the first of a trilogy. The first in the trilogy was OK, although I had to roll my eyes because after years of chasing the Macguffin weapon at great cost and risk, the protagonist’s whole plan amounted to not much more than “shoot somebody as a futile gesture to let them know I’m pissed”. (The person being shot has thousands of bodies, so it’s not going to be a big deal for them.) Also, I too found the gender gimmick to be annoying and pointless. Even if the actual plumbing varies, contextual clues about who wants to or might want to sleep with who are fairly important in any work concerning human interactions. ---
**Author:** ![Clare\_de\_Loone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/clare_de_loone/32/3407_2.png) [@Clare\_de\_Loone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clare_de_Loone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-new-recent-sci-fi-not-fantasy-book-recommendations/778681/13 "2017-02-01T18:10:28Z")
One of the best books, period, that I read last year was _The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet_, by Becky Chambers. Extremely intelligent writing yet fun–it reminded me of Firefly at times.