# I need some more Sci-fi reading! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596 "2006-02-15T04:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/1 "2006-02-15T04:29:11Z")
Please suggest some more sci-fi books for me to read. In general, I like “hard” sci-fi and I also like works of substantial length. Here are some of my favorite authors: Kim Stanley Robinson Greg Bear Gregory Benford David Brin Ben Bova I’d like suggestions of books that are easily available in the United States. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/2 "2006-02-15T04:38:42Z")
I quite enjoyed Robert J. Sawyer’s _Neanderthal Parallax_, an anthropological SF trilogy about contact between our world and a parallel Earth wherein _Homo sapiens neanderthalensis_ were the sole sentient species. ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/3 "2006-02-15T04:47:38Z")
Susan R. Matthews. Give her Jurisdiction Universe a try starting with ‘An Exchange of Hostages’ if you can get a copy. Should be able to get it from [amazon.com](http://amazon.com). Also possibly E.E. Knight’s Vampire Earth series. Start with ‘Way of the Wolf’ or jump in with the latest ‘Valentine’s Rising’. You don’t have to read them in order for them to make sense. And how about Philip K. Dick for something a little different? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/4 "2006-02-15T05:12:12Z")
Can’t got wrong with some Heinlein - “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” would be a good start. You’d also like Vernor Vinge’s “A Fire Upon the Deep” ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/5 "2006-02-15T14:50:07Z")
The **Hyperion Cantos** series, by Dan Simmons. Starts with **Hyperion**. The **Night’s Dawn** series, by Peter F. Hamilton. Starts with **The Reality Dysfunction, Part 1: Emergence**. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/6 "2006-02-15T15:00:13Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > You’d also like Vernor Vinge’s “A Fire Upon the Deep” Also, Vinge’s “A Deepness in the Sky”, and “The Peace War” and “Marooned in Realtime”. Joe Haldeman’s “Forever War” and “Forever Peace” were pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/7 "2006-02-15T15:09:34Z")
I have always enjoyed the Retief series of books by Keith Laumer. Those are played up for humor, of course. Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison is kind of a sendup of Starship Troopers. At the recommendation of some of the locals, I have started reading the Honor Harrington series by David Weber, and they’ve been fun reads. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/8 "2006-02-15T15:19:39Z")
If you like “hard” science fiction, try the aforementioned Heinlein. You can’t go wrong with the classics, and Heinlein is probably the most easily available of those. Also go for the other two of the big three, asimov and Clarke. Larry Niven’s books are easily available, and the series started by him, “The Man Kzin-Wars” has good hard SF by a variety of writers. Hal Clement and Robert Forward are great hard SF writers, too, but their works are getting harder to find with each year. This was true even when they were alive, but their deaths (very recently) just makes it worse. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/9 "2006-02-15T18:39:09Z")
Based on your favorites, I’d also recommend Vernor Vinge. And Robert Charles Wilson - an underappreciated author who has a gift for setting realistic characters in extraordinary circumstances. His most recent novel, _Spin_, is a good introduction to his work. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/10 "2006-02-15T19:16:35Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > I quite enjoyed Robert J. Sawyer’s _Neanderthal Parallax_, an anthropological SF trilogy about contact between our world and a parallel Earth wherein _Homo sapiens neanderthalensis_ were the sole sentient species. You know, I enjoyed the first book greatly, but the second was a step down and the third made me embarassed to be alive. Check out China Mieville: Perdido Street Station, The Scar & Iron Council – they are set in the same world but not sequels. They are kind of gritty urban fantasy with steampunk elements. You might also like some other British SF writers like Ken MacLeod & Iain M. Banks (all the Culture novels, but most especially IMHO, Player of Games.) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/11 "2006-02-15T19:21:58Z")
Jack McDevitt and John Varley are both great at the hard SF thing. Varley’s most recent ‘Mammoth’ hit me where I lived. And McDevitt’s ‘Priscilla Hutchins’ books make for really good multi-book character development. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/12 "2006-02-15T19:24:57Z")
_Forests Of The Night_ by S. Andrew Swann. Good social science fiction. _The Island of Dr. Moreau_ didn’t go far enough. It’s also a decent _noir_ mystery. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/13 "2006-02-15T20:15:06Z")
I’ll recommend Tad Williams’ Otherland Series, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series and any series by Stephen R. Donaldson. I second the Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Series. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/14 "2006-02-15T20:19:39Z")
I’ll recommend: Tad Williams’ Otherland Series Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series The Gap series by Stephen R. Donaldson. (I love the Chronicles of Thomas covenent too more fantasy than sci-fi)) I second the Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Series recommendation. Joan Vinge - The Snow Queen - The Summer Queen Jack Vance - Araminta Station ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/15 "2006-02-15T20:43:42Z")
Have you tried [Steven Baxter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Baxter)’s Xeelee Sequence novels? Very hard (if highly speculative) science fiction with an emphasis on quantum mechanics and cosmology. Like many science ficiton authors, his ability to flesh out characters is somewhat limited, but he manages to apply hard physics principles to an engaging storyline and in service of the plot rather than the other way around. [Vacuum Diagrams](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061059048/) is a collection of short stories set in that universe and is a good introduction to both the concepts and major players (who are alluded to in his novels) and a good taste of the different styles in which he writes. He’s also written a couple of alt-histories (one, [Voyage](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061057088/), explores a what-if Apollo Plus-type program), and an authorized sequel to Wells’ _The Time Machine_ entitled [The Time Ships](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061056480/), as well as a number of other novels. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/16 "2006-02-16T01:31:58Z")
Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow is an excellent science fiction novel and incrediblhy moving. The sequel, Children of God, is worth reading as well. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/17 "2006-02-16T03:00:38Z")
I’m a huge fan of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan books. StG ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/18 "2006-02-16T06:20:49Z")
I just started reading Greg Egan and wow! Just amazing ideas, and really intelligently written. I started with Diaspora and can’t wait to read his other stuff. I think a lot of his books are out of print, so you can get them cheap on amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/19 "2006-02-17T19:45:12Z")
I’d second Heinlein’s _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_. Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_ is simply a masterpiece. You should also read his _Tool of the Trade_, an outstanding Cold War what-if story. My all-time favorite SF book, though, is George R.R. Martin’s _Tuf Voyaging_, a collection of interrelated short stories about a failed space trader who, through the greed and cutthroat mentality of others, ends up in sole possession of a ancient, massive and powerful starship. He sets out to earn a living with it, and has adventures ranging from the hilarious to the chilling. The book’s about absolute power, ecology, overpopulation, and the folly of war. I read it again every few years and find something new in it every time. _Highly_ recommended. Can you tell that I really like it…? ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596/20 "2006-02-17T20:29:06Z")
I haven’t yet found anything that I’ve disliked by David Weber. His Honor Harrington series are great hard SF with character development spanning a whole lifetime. I also very much enjoy the Empire books; start with _Mutineer’s Moon_. S.M. Stirling is also one of my current must-reads, but he tends more to the alternate history side than the hard space fiction. I can’t explain my love for him compared to my mild dislike of Harry Turtledove. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-more-sci-fi-reading/344596.md?page=2)