# Looking for some good hard science fiction that's not internet centric **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761 "2013-07-05T23:35:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/1 "2013-07-05T23:35:57Z")
Any good current hard science fiction that’s not focused on hackers and the net etc. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/2 "2013-07-06T00:22:22Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Any good current hard science fiction that’s not focused on hackers and the net etc. Have you read “A Deepness in the Sky” (there is some Internet-equivalent business in the book but not so much), or “Marooned in Real Time” (both by Vernor Vinge)? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/3 "2013-07-06T00:23:31Z")
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/4 "2013-07-06T00:28:51Z")
Peter Hamilton’s Pandora Star/Judas Unchained series may fit the bill for you. I am also a big fan of Alastair Reynolds. I started with his Revelation Space series and then went on to read everything else he ever wrote. Neal Asher would also be someone to check out. All three of the above are currently active and publishing authors. Hamilton and Reynolds write what I would describe as epic future history, focusing heavily on space travel and future human civilizations. Asher is similar but a little more cyberpunky. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/5 "2013-07-06T00:52:05Z")
Jack McDevitt is writing some first-class hard SF novels. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/6 "2013-07-06T03:13:25Z")
James S. A. Corey - _Leviathan Awakes_, _Caliban’s War_ and _Abbadon’s Gate_. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/7 "2013-07-06T06:53:10Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have quite a bit. Agreed +1. Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos Charles Sheffield. Stephen Baxter ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/8 "2013-07-06T15:02:33Z")
The Light of Other Days by Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke is one of my favorites, and has nothing at all to do with the internet that I can recall. Some of its themes are similar, though - it’s all about interconnectedness and lack of privacy and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/9 "2013-07-06T15:57:13Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#): > > James S. A. Corey - _Leviathan Awakes_, _Caliban’s War_ and _Abbadon’s Gate_. You beat me to it. Real fun hard-boiled stuff, with an edge of horror. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/10 "2013-07-06T16:34:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Jack McDevitt is writing some first-class hard SF novels. Damn Straight. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/11 "2013-07-06T21:38:00Z")
Iain Banks wrote some of the hardest science fiction there is. He unfortunately died recently . There is an .SD thread on him. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/12 "2013-07-07T14:10:59Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > You beat me to it. Real fun hard-boiled stuff, with an edge of horror. Thirded. It’s space opera, and it’s done quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-some-good-hard-science-fiction-thats-not-internet-centric/662761/13 "2013-07-07T14:23:02Z")
Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Retrieval Artist series is seldom mentioned but it’s some of the harder science fiction written these days and while there are computers and networks as part of society they’re largely setting, like furniture and transportation vehicles rather than the focus of the story. _The Disappeared_ is the first in the series, followed by _Extremes, Consequences, Buried Deep, Paloma, Recovery Man, Duplicate Effort, Anniversary Day,_ and _Blowback_. Detective/mystery genre SF.