# Recommend a good sci-fi book to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 16, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713 "2025-06-16T18:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/21 "2025-06-17T01:44:21Z")
I just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s new one, “Shroud”. It was quite good, a tale of corporate humanity exploiting the resources of other star systems and encountering unexpected complex life on a very unusual moon. I do enjoy Tchaikovsky’s works. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/22 "2025-06-17T01:58:28Z")
John Scalzi’s Redshirts - starts out kinda humorous but gets a fair bit deeper later on. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/23 "2025-06-17T02:21:05Z")
_A Fire Upon the Deep_ by Vernor Vinge, set in his Zones of Thought setting where intelligence and the transfer of information are limited according to one’s distance from the Galactic Core. Earth is in the Slow Zone, where nothing smarter than humans can exist and FTL is impossible; the novel takes place mostly in the Beyond outside that where FTL is possible. and past that is the Transcend, inhabited by godlike superintelligences. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/24 "2025-06-17T02:41:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > _A Fire Upon the Deep_ by Vernor Vinge This along with the prequel _A Deepness in the Sky_ are some of my favorite epic sci fi books. Those where the characters and the reader are tiny against the vastness of space and unfolding events. I was less thrilled with the third book _The Children of the Sky_, and unfortunately no more will be coming. I can enthusiastically recommend the first two, but there are mysteries left that will never be explained, unless Brandon Sanderson has Vinge’s notes. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/25 "2025-06-17T03:23:09Z")
I found Becky Chambers’ _Wayfarers_ books both a lot of fun and very thoughtful ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/26 "2025-06-17T03:30:05Z")
Becky Chambers’s books are delightful. They’re character studies more than plot-driven. Martha Wells, the Murderbot series. Great fun. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/27 "2025-06-17T12:02:28Z")
Dangit, isn’t that always the way? You’re about to add something to a long thread, and discover that the poster right before you just said it. Well, I’ll second the Murderbot books. The main character is a security unit, who’s hacked its governor module, so it can’t be controlled any more, but who keeps on doing security work because it’s really good at it. Lots of action, but also lots of musing on the nature of personhood. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/28 "2025-06-17T13:55:37Z")
The rest of the _Old Man’s war_ series are great, also. I like Stephenson, but couldn’t stand _Seveneves_. I will recommend _Termination Shock_, just skip over the whole “Line of actual control” bit. Also, _Forever War_ rightfully won its Hugo and Nebula awards. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/29 "2025-06-17T14:55:38Z")
I like to point out _The Carpet Makers_ by Andreas Eschbach. On many planets, the sole economy is making carpets out of human hair. No one is sure why, or why the Galactic Empire buys them, or what eventually happens to them. If the first chapter doesn’t hit you in the gut, nothing will, and the book is filled with gut-wrenching moments to the very end. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/30 "2025-06-17T15:06:15Z")
I really, really enjoyed _[Gun, with Occasional Music.](https://a.co/d/actYXY6)_ It’s “future noir” - a weird, fanciful blend of science fiction, social commentary, and detective work. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/31 "2025-06-17T15:45:47Z")
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. I’m just finishing it, and it’s pushed its way into my top five list. I can’t really sum it up in a way that will do it justice, as it’s the writing that makes the thing, but it’s a story of conflict between magic and technology in a collapsing world. The protagonists (One on each side) are compelling characters with deeply intertwined stories. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/32 "2025-06-17T15:50:04Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I really, really enjoyed _[Gun, with Occasional Music.](https://a.co/d/actYXY6)_ Seconded! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/33 "2025-06-17T15:58:33Z")
Thirded. Also the next Scalzi Old Man’s War book is scheduled for fall. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/34 "2025-06-17T23:53:55Z")
Yeah. It’s a wild ride ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/35 "2025-06-18T00:16:13Z")
I second that motion. I came here to recommend the _[Hyperion Cantos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos)_, a tetralogy consisting of: _Hyperion_, _The Fall of Hyperion_, _Endymion_, and _The Rise of Endymion_. No ordinary novels, they take you on quite a journey of the imagination. The first book is patterned after _The Canterbury Tales_, with several individuals on a journey taking turns narrating their backstories. It also originated the name _Siri_, the name of a woman character. I read that shortly before they rolled out “Siri” the machine and immediately caught the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/36 "2025-06-18T00:26:39Z")
If you haven’t read _Ilium_ and _Olympus_ by Simmons, then I highly recommend them. Same type of mind-bending theses with a not so subtle horror subtext. OP–If you have not read _Ender’s Game_ and _Ender’s Shadow_ I cannot recommend them highly enough. They are canon, no matter what you think of Orson Scott Card’s politics. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/37 "2025-06-18T00:47:35Z")
_Murderbot._ What happens when a killer cyborg hacks its governor module? a) Free Will; b) PTSD; c) Wry commentary on Why Humans Act Like They Do. And it has great world-building (planets are colonized by corporations), and action. As author Martha Wells says: “Come for the _pew-pew,_ stay for the soap opera.” **The Murderbot Diaries:** _“All Systems Red”_ _“Artificial Condition”_ [At least read those first two books! They’re short, and the second introduces a really unique character: a sentient spaceship named ART… the A stands for Asshole.] _“Rogue Protocol”_ _“Exit Strategy”_ _“Network Effect”_ _“Fugitive Telemetry”_ _“System Collapse”_ The audiobooks are wonderful, and there’s a full-cast version of each of them as well. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/38 "2025-06-18T00:53:25Z")
> [@Tride](#): > > _Ender’s Game_ and _Ender’s Shadow_ I was so excited when I heard of _Ender’s Shadow._ A … “side-quel”? A series of books set at the same time as the original series, but focusing on a minor-but-favorite character (“Bean!”) and showing things from his perspective. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/39 "2025-06-18T01:10:26Z")
L. Sprague De Camp’s _Rivers Of Time._ Very clever time travel short stories. [https://www.amazon.com/Rivers-Time-L-Sprague-Camp/dp/067172195X/ref=sr\_1\_14?crid=3JF6EGX931H15&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PR2Cz6QY3ONY1ewqBOYXSajySJIGRm6R2SeyBuMZDlq90OnV0bSz2GxzDKi9lqaDbrwL-I6Z0MbsnlFXarB0ilw7ZFNoR6i7ey4hH\_RYae8vC2ZRdzaV26G\_zrZIRWWuMOxwiKjPWLpwFxDhUherzTTAKqEssTrSIf35qqpU9qgv594e\_cx2sZ2Z4hkZHo9sbjfDsBhCl3BXsF5iOd4XASeeh2AqheOnpkGhSiWIx38K1VEfvki2DQZBhrZAdfnNbrz9h-EId08UNenLbtndF-ns4YpwltIWR2HW9qTuhVU.4vJ9xI2lowxRkqIJbQiehkT5dQltCV7rbKY03xjFq-8&dib\_tag=se&keywords=l+sprague+de+camp&qid=1750208777&s=books&sprefix=de+camp%2Cstripbooks%2C140&sr=1-14](https://www.amazon.com/Rivers-Time-L-Sprague-Camp/dp/067172195X/ref=sr_1_14?crid=3JF6EGX931H15&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PR2Cz6QY3ONY1ewqBOYXSajySJIGRm6R2SeyBuMZDlq90OnV0bSz2GxzDKi9lqaDbrwL-I6Z0MbsnlFXarB0ilw7ZFNoR6i7ey4hH_RYae8vC2ZRdzaV26G_zrZIRWWuMOxwiKjPWLpwFxDhUherzTTAKqEssTrSIf35qqpU9qgv594e_cx2sZ2Z4hkZHo9sbjfDsBhCl3BXsF5iOd4XASeeh2AqheOnpkGhSiWIx38K1VEfvki2DQZBhrZAdfnNbrz9h-EId08UNenLbtndF-ns4YpwltIWR2HW9qTuhVU.4vJ9xI2lowxRkqIJbQiehkT5dQltCV7rbKY03xjFq-8&dib_tag=se&keywords=l+sprague+de+camp&qid=1750208777&s=books&sprefix=de+camp%2Cstripbooks%2C140&sr=1-14) His Krishna series is witty & engaging. 1 [The Queen of Zamba](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/l-sprague-de-camp/queen-of-zamba.htm) (1977) 2 [The Hand of Zei](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/l-sprague-de-camp/hand-of-zei.htm) (1963) 3 [The Hostage of Zir](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/l-sprague-de-camp/hostage-of-zir.htm) (1977) 4 [The Tower of Zanid](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/l-sprague-de-camp/tower-of-zanid.htm) (1958) 5 [The Prisoner of Zhamanak](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/l-sprague-de-camp/prisoner-of-zhamanak.htm) (1982) 6 [The Bones of Zora](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/l-sprague-de-camp/bones-of-zora.htm) (1983) (with [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/catherine-crook-de-camp/)) 7 [The Swords of Zinjaban](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/l-sprague-de-camp/swords-of-zinjaban.htm) (1991) (with [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/catherine-crook-de-camp/)) ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-sci-fi-book-to-me/1019713/40 "2025-06-18T21:24:32Z")
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