# Need recommendation for science fiction books -- Christmas Gift **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 4, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563 "2017-12-04T19:08:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/21 "2017-12-06T18:04:01Z")
> [@slightly\_askew](#): > > Anyone read any Charles Stross? He’s one of the writers listed in the “goodreads” link that **PastTense** linked to as a similar read to Stephenson. Stross sounds like he could be interesting. Hmmm…I’ve only read a couple of his novels, plus a couple of shorts, and he’s not someone I like enough to really go out and seek more, but I’d have to say “yes” for a rec. 'Can be fairly “dense” reading—not that that’s a bad thing, but you have to be in the mood for it. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/22 "2017-12-06T18:34:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Too bad you guys couldn’t get through Quicksilver. I would have recommended that to a couple who is in to sci-fi and non-fiction! TBH I only really read Neal Stephenson sci-fi books, and ones that I picked up as a recommendation for people who like Stephenson so… Don’t get me wrong, we both really liked Quicksilver as far as either of us got. But 300 pages in my two thoughts were, “this man is brilliant” and “have I gotten to the plot yet?” I hope to get back to it, but I need it to be at a time when I can focus on it. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/23 "2017-12-06T19:19:09Z")
I would second the recommendation of _Artemis_, by Andy Weir. If he liked _The Martian_ (book or movie version), he’ll like the new novel. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/24 "2017-12-06T21:58:38Z")
Something hot right now: **The Expanse** series by James S.A. Corey. First book is [**Leviathan Wakes**](http://a.co/9IsN9ue). The seventh book just came out. It’s also a series on Syfy right now, renewed for a third season. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/25 "2017-12-06T23:17:29Z")
The best SF I’ve read for a good long while is _Children of Time_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Without giving too much away it’s about the rise of humanity’s - accidental and somewhat surprising -successor species, and done with a level of thought and world-building that seriously impressed me. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/26 "2017-12-06T23:32:04Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > …[The Quantum Thief](https://smile.amazon.com/Quantum-Thief-Jean-Flambeur/dp/0765367661/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1512576713&sr=8-2) is the first book of three. > > I’m surprised there aren’t already a bunch of recs for The Culture, so I’ll give one. I started with a later book, one that I’m told is just about the worst for a Culture noob to read, but I loved it. Very complex story, excellent narrative structure, fantastic characters… it’s all here. This is another book with very little expository information, tho, and I know many people find that off-putting. What was really great was that I didn’t need to know anything about The Culture for the story to work. The book I’m talking about is [The Hydrogen Sonata](https://smile.amazon.com/Hydrogen-Sonata-Culture-Iain-Banks/dp/0316212369/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512577409&sr=1-1&keywords=the+hydrogen+sonata%5B/url) by Iain M. Banks. I found The Quantum Thief to be really slow going, and ended up not reading it past the first twenty pages or so. Then again, I still can’t remember the exact terms of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, so I think the full impact of the setting is wasted on me. Densely written, and well, though. Start with _The Player of Games_ instead of the Hydrogen Sonata, though the Sonata’s pretty good. Frustrating though, and that’s all I’ll say. If he likes The Player of Games, he’ll eventually get to the Sonata, and like the setting enough to finish the book without getting too bothered. > [@Ranchoth](#): > > Hmmm…I’ve only read a couple of his novels, plus a couple of shorts, and he’s not someone I like enough to really go out and seek more, but I’d have to say “yes” for a rec. 'Can be fairly “dense” reading—not that that’s a bad thing, but you have to be in the mood for it. I love and highly recommend Stross, even the non-Laundry books, but they can be at times difficult to follow. (Can anyone follow the plot of _Palimpsest_ without a white board and a particle physicist to play guide?) In particular, later of his sci-fi stuff really require the reader to be able to fill in the gaps and try to think around unreliable narrators, that sort of thing. Though he isn’t doing any more in that setting, I’d still recommend the Singularity Sky/Iron Sunrise duo. I recommend the Halting State/Rule 34 universe too. Also check out the (Free!) stories: [Missile Gap](https://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/spring_2007/fiction_missile_gap_by_charles_stross), [Lobsters](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando.html#Lobsters), and[Scratch Monkey](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/fiction/monkey/). If you like those, you’ll like the rest of his sci-fi. I find his settings, and the questions they raise, to be better and more thought-provoking than his many of his characters. That’s OK, it’s what I think about Niven too, and I like his stuff very much. Even the modern stuff, though I’m not a fan of his collaborations with Barnes. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/27 "2017-12-07T02:31:28Z")
> [@slightly\_askew](#): > > Hi all! Thanks for all the input. I’ve been reading with great interest. Think I may either save this list for future presents or show him the list and let him explore on his own. > > I should have know that I was opening a Pandora’s Box, but I kind of hoped that there would be consensus or at least some author that lots of folks recommended. Silly me.:smack: The problem IMO is that we’re recommending thirdhand: we know some of what he’s read, but not everything of what he’s read, and we’re trying to recommend something he’s unlikely to have read but that he likes. **The Expanse** series is definitely a great series for someone that likes old-school SF but will put up with a modern sensibility; Scalzi’s the same. My worry with these two is that anyone who’s reading SF written in the past ten years has almost certainly already read them, so buying them as gifts risks giving him a book he’s already read. Something a little more obscure is IMO a better choice–but that’s gonna mean you don’t reach consensus. If you want consensus on what’s some crackerjack SF from the past decade that has an old school feel to it, Corey and Scalzi are gonna be your go-to authors. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/28 "2017-12-07T04:57:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The problem IMO is that we’re recommending thirdhand: we know some of what he’s read, but not everything of what he’s read, and we’re trying to recommend something he’s unlikely to have read but that he likes. That’s part of the reason I recommended _Artemis_. It was just published a few weeks ago so it’s unlikely he’s read it. And Weir is a old-fashioned style SF writer; he keeps his science hard, his plots driven, and his characters two-dimensional. And I don’t mean that in a bad way; you’re going to read an Andy Weir novel for a well-done story not for subtle insights into the human condition. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/29 "2017-12-07T11:37:33Z")
> [@slightly\_askew](#): > > Anyone read any Charles Stross? He’s one of the writers listed in the “goodreads” link that **PastTense** linked to as a similar read to Stephenson. Stross sounds like he could be interesting. I’ve read almost all of them. If I narrowed it down to two suggestions, I’d go with\* Iron Sunrise\* and _Singularity Sky_. [Here](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/faq.html) are descriptions of the various series straight from the horse’s mouth. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/30 "2017-12-12T18:48:26Z")
So here is what I ended up ordering: The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection Dozois, Gardner [The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files)](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441013651/ref=od_aui_detailpages00) Stross, Charles [The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. 1: 1929-1964](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765305372/ref=od_aui_detailpages00) Silverberg, Robert [Old Man’s War](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765315246/ref=od_aui_detailpages00) Scalzi, John That ought to keep him busy for a little while. Hope he doesn’t find this thread before we exchange gifts. (Actually I will probably hold one or two back for his birthday.) Anyway, THANK YOU for all the suggestions. I will hold on to this thread and refer to it in the future. I am curious to see what he thinks of these titles. Thanks again! Happy holidays! ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/31 "2021-11-09T21:55:24Z")
Hello everyone! I know this is a zombie thread, but I wanted to send a huge thank you to everyone who responded to my original call for suggestions in 2017. I return to this thread every year about this time and find something new for my husband. Since 2017, he’s read almost all the Scalzi and Stross books, Artemis and the Martian by Weir, The Imperial Radch Boxed Trilogy by Leckie, The Gone-Away World by Narkaway, and some other things both on and off this thread. He enjoyed everyone of them! Not a dud in the lot! He did eventually finish the Baroque Cycle by Stephenson. (Can’t say the same for me though.) He’ll probably get the new Stephenson, Termination Shock, for his birthday. So anyone read anything new that they would recommend? Thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/32 "2021-11-09T22:00:48Z")
A new Stross came out in September. > **[Amazon.com: Invisible Sun (Empire Games, 3): 9780765337580: Stross, Charles:...](https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Empire-Games-Charles-Stross/dp/0765337584)** > > Amazon.com: Invisible Sun (Empire Games, 3): 9780765337580: Stross, Charles: Books (Looks like the US edition won’t be until January.) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/33 "2021-11-09T22:04:30Z")
Not new, but _The Forever War_ by Joe Haldeman, is one of my favorite sci-fi books. Also, _Mindbridge_, _Work Done for Hire_, _All My Sins Remembered_, The _Marsbound_ series… oh, heck, just about anything by Joe Haldeman. For new stuff, the new Andy Weir book, _Hail Mary_, is fantastic. If you want something longer (but older), _Cryptonomicon_ by Neal Stephenson is great. What about Kurt Vonnegut? Sort of sci-fi adjacent. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/34 "2021-11-09T22:07:05Z")
Not new, obviously, because the author is dead, but I found Isaac Asimov’s _Nemesis_ to be very good. [Here’s](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/nemesis_isaac-asimov/310724/item/9570793/?gclid=CjwKCAiA1aiMBhAUEiwACw25MQZq7fHGZTTdEpEH8nelD6WbCE3NIvfRvzySv1l4OOpTFsPYQybtyxoC1JAQAvD_BwE#idiq=9570793&edition=2410910) a used copy at Thriftbooks. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/35 "2021-11-10T18:03:00Z")
New Stross book! Hadn’t seen that! Very exciting. Comes out right after his birthday, may have to keep it on my list for next year. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/36 "2021-11-10T18:06:22Z")
I will have to find some Haldeman and the new Weir is on my list. _Cryptonomicon_ is one of his all time faves. I had to buy him a second copy after he lent his first copy out and never got it back. Not sure about Vonnegut – any specific titles come to mind? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/37 "2021-11-10T18:08:32Z")
Sirens of Titan is straight-up sci-fi. Cat’s Cradle is a mix of sci-fi and social commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/38 "2021-11-10T18:59:30Z")
The Hugh Howey _Shift_ trilogy is quite fun, as is his _Sand_ book. And he’s letting other write using the world, which is kinda cool. Some older stuff by Vernor Vinge to think about are _Fire upon the Deep_ and _Deepness in the Sky_. I also liked _Rainbo’s End_. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/39 "2021-11-10T23:48:21Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The best SF I’ve read for a good long while is _Children of Time_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Without giving too much away it’s about the rise of humanity’s - accidental and somewhat surprising -successor species, and done with a level of thought and world-building that seriously impressed me. This is what I came here to recommend as well! The followup novel, Children of Ruin is also really good, but I can’t say more without gushing. And I do gush about these books. ETA: totally missed that this was a zombie ☹ ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563/40 "2021-11-16T16:38:17Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > ETA: totally missed that this was a zombie ☹ Yes and no. I resurrected the old thread because I need new gift ideas for this year. 🙂 And I wanted to provide some context. Maybe I should have started a new thread and linked back to the old thread. Haven’t posted much lately and not as familiar with the new format. Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions! This should keep the significant other in reading material for a while. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-recommendation-for-science-fiction-books-christmas-gift/803563.md?page=3)