# Recommend Me Some Good New SF&F **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550 "2013-10-29T13:14:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/1 "2013-10-29T13:14:27Z")
Ok, I have to face it. My Big Three fave writers are gone. Zelazny is long dead. Banks just died. Tim Powers is still around but he ain’t writing so good any more. I need fresh blood. I’m also a big fan of Vernor Vinge but he doesn’t write so often. I lurved me some Neal Stephenson but he hasn’t written anything I’ve liked since “The Diamond Age.” I think John Crowley’s “Little, Big” is the best fantasy novel ever written, by a huge margin, but I don’t really like anything ELSE Crowley has written. I’ve tried other writers, with indifferent success. I tried Ken McLeod’s "The Cassini Division. Meh. I tried Jack McDevitt but I got tired of the flamy space thingies raining on everyone’s parade. I tried Greg Bear, Greg Egan, Peter Hamilton and others. Meh, meh, meh. They may be topnotch writers, but I didn’t like their stuff. I guess my SF tastes turn to well-written galactic space operas featuring far-flung interstellar civilizations, lots of alien races, advanced tech, with interesting and well throught out approaches to that tech, with an optimistic viewpoint about the future of the human race, which probably explains why Banks’ Culture novels are at the top of my list. In terms of fantasy, I’ve tried Emma Bull, Robert Holdstock, Charles de Lint, Jim Butcher and others, none of whom were all that appealing to me. I like fantasists who create new takes on traditional mythical themes that are so original that they completely redefine those themes. At least, that’s what I think Zelazny, Tim Powers and John Crowley have in common. So, given my tastes, what do you think I might like? ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/2 "2013-10-29T13:19:54Z")
How 'bout Larry Niven? From the sound of it, you might like _The Mote In God’s Eye_ he wrote with Jerry Pournelle. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/3 "2013-10-29T13:28:06Z")
> [@The Severed Head of Prof. P](#): > > How 'bout Larry Niven? From the sound of it, you might like _The Mote In God’s Eye_ he wrote with Jerry Pournelle. Niven’s not exactly new, I’ve read and enjoyed most of his stuff, so your guess at my taste is sound, and I did like The Mote in Gods Eye. But when I was a teen I got into SF big time and basically read everything, good bad or indifferent, that was SF or fantasy that I could find. You can safely assume I did not miss anything by anybody right through the eighties. In the last twenty years I have gotten lazy and not checked out new writers like I used to. In the last ten years or so, especially, and I’m not patient enough to wade through the crap any more. Which is why I’m asking for some outside opinions. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/4 "2013-10-29T13:32:45Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > …I guess my SF tastes turn to well-written galactic space operas featuring far-flung interstellar civilizations, lots of alien races, advanced tech, with interesting and well throught out approaches to that tech, with an optimistic viewpoint about the future of the human race, which probably explains why Banks’ Culture novels are at the top of my list… Not so much on the optimistic part, but you might like Alastair Reynolds’s [_Revelation Space_](http://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Space-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/0441009425) series. Avoid the last book of the trilogy, but definitely try the short stories and other novels set in that universe. It’s SPACE OPERA, and a little slow, but be patient. For fantasy, Charles Stross’s [Laundry series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stross#The_Laundry_Files) is just plain fun. Sort of Stephenson-like, with a healthy dash of Cthulhu-ness to the narrative. I liked his two Eschaton-series books for SF, even though he won’t be making any more of them. I’ve heard about, but not read yet, good things about Stephen Baxter’s stuff. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/5 "2013-10-29T13:40:23Z")
Gene Wolfe. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/6 "2013-10-29T13:49:38Z")
Not sure how new to you he is—you didn’t mention him in your OP—and I don’t know how revolutionary he is, but for fantasy, there’s this [George R.R. Martin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_R._R._Martin) guy that people are talking about… ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/7 "2013-10-29T13:50:21Z")
Okay, newer stuff: Linda Vagata’s _Vast_ Neal Asher’s _Orbus_ Catherina Asaro’s _The Quantum Rose_ (I’m assuming you know Bujold’s Vorkosigan series.) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/8 "2013-10-29T14:19:15Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Not so much on the optimistic part, but you might like Alastair Reynolds’s [_Revelation Space_](http://www.amazon.com/Revelation-Space-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/0441009425) series. Avoid the last book of the trilogy, but definitely try the short stories and other novels set in that universe. It’s SPACE OPERA, and a little slow, but be patient. > > For fantasy, Charles Stross’s [Laundry series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stross#The_Laundry_Files) is just plain fun. Sort of Stephenson-like, with a healthy dash of Cthulhu-ness to the narrative. I liked his two Eschaton-series books for SF, even though he won’t be making any more of them. > > I’ve heard about, but not read yet, good things about Stephen Baxter’s stuff. Revelation Space does sound good, exactly the sort of thing I’m looking for. I’ll check out the Strosser books too. I’ve read Stephen Baxter, he does the big tech thing well but my feeling is basically “meh.” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/9 "2013-10-29T14:20:21Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Gene Wolfe. I’ve tried his novels, don’t really care for him. His short story “The Fifth Head of Cerberus” was brilliant, however. He’s hardly a new guy. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/10 "2013-10-29T14:35:45Z")
I’ve been going through [John Scalzi](http://www.amazon.com/John-Scalzi/e/B001IGJOCA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1) lately. The “Old Man’s War” series is quite good. And he appears to be writing quickly. The [Silo](http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-Silo-Saga-ebook/dp/B0071XO8RA/ref=pd_sim_kstore_7) series is also good, but it’s not really what you’ve asked for in the OP. It’s more distopian, humans struggling to survive after a cataclysm. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/11 "2013-10-29T14:47:05Z")
If you’re willing to include fantasy, read **Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell**. For humorous fantasy, A. Lee Martinez, Christopher Moore, and Jasper fforde are the best at it right now (Terry Pratchett is still good, but he’s moving away from humor). fforde’s **Shades of Grey** is one of the wildest science fiction novel of the past ten years. It really stretches the imagination; in fact, you don’t realize until halfway through that it _is_ science fiction. (The title is unfortunate, alas, and may be the reason the sequel hasn’t appeared.) Martinez’s is mostly fantasy, though his **The Automatic Detective** is science fiction – a robot as a 40s film noir private eye. **Monster** is amazingly good. As for Moore, he’s always overlooked in science fiction circles, but his **Sacre Bleu** is an excellent mix of SF and art history, with a lot of humor. Whether these fit your tastes now, they will fit your taste when you’ve read them. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/12 "2013-10-29T15:55:27Z")
Probably the best new sf I’ve read this year with spaceships is the 3rd **James S. A. Corey** book, _Abbadon’s Gate_. The first, _Leviathan Wakes_, came out a couple of years ago - very good. The Solar System has been widely colonised by humanity but tensions are rising between various factions, when a minor space freighter finds an abandoned spaceship drifting in the void… It’s a bit light on alien civilisations, though. You might like [Eric Brown](http://ericbrown.co.uk/novels-2/); something like _Helix_ or _Engineman_ maybe. Or _Starship Seasons_. Fantasy? Try **C. Robert Cargill** ’s _Dreams and Shadows_. Struck me as a bit John Crowley-esque at times. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/13 "2013-10-29T16:23:13Z")
If you like Vinge and highly advanced tech, you might enjoy John C. Wright’s Golden Age trilogy. It’s an adventure tale woven around the Icarus myth that explores how human motivations and accomplishments are expressed in a world where we have achieved vast material wealth, AI, and almost complete control over our own mental wiring. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/14 "2013-10-29T16:32:22Z")
Have you read [Spin](http://www.amazon.com/Spin-ebook/dp/B0016IXMWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383064283&sr=8-1&keywords=spin)? That’s what came up for me when I read your tastes. I seem to remember there’s a sequel as well. Hmmm… I must go look for that. ed: Yup, [Axis](http://www.amazon.com/Axis-Spin-ebook/dp/B000UZJR04/ref=la_B000AP9AGU_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383064345&sr=1-3). I know what I’ll be reading next. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/15 "2013-10-29T17:23:12Z")
I’ve recommended them before and I’ll recommend them again: Hannu Rajaniemi’s [_The Quantum Thief_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quantum_Thief) & [_The Fractal Prince_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fractal_Prince) are fucking amazing. I hope you like to think while you read; these books require it. The third book, _The Causal Angel_ is due out next year. The books are set in a post-human, post-scarcity time. The tech is so far advanced that it sometimes seems nearly incomprehensible. And Rajaniemi rarely offers any expositional text; it’s up to the reader to catch up to the story. Also, Richard K. Morgan’s excellent [Tokeshi Kovacs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kovacs) novels: _Altered Carbon_, _Broken Angels_ and _Woken Furies_. I think _Altered Carbon_ is easily the weakest of the bunch, but it’s worth reading if only to get to the other two. Very high tech future, mankind on multiple planets in multiple star systems, often encountering the remains of ancient galaxy-spanning civilizations while still dealing with the sordid side of humanity we all know too well. I also loved Morgan’s [_Black Man_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Man) (published as _Thirteen_ in the US). To be honest, so far I really like his fantasy series (_A Land Fit For Heroes_) so far as well. I also highly recommend David Weber’s _Safehold_ series, although there are times when he gets bogged down in what many people call his “gun porn” phase. And the naming convention he uses is stupid, annoying and makes no sense given then context of the world he is writing about. But the story is truly epic and the characters are awesome. And despite myself, I’ve learned more about guns, explosives, artillery and quite a few other things from these books than I ever would have guessed I would know in my lifetime. The first book in the series is _Off Armageddon Reef_. David S. Goyer’s _Heaven_ series is a hoot, as well. I just got the 3rd book, but I have to re-read the first 2 before I can dive in to this one. It’s about a Near Earth Object that turns out not to be an asteroid; it’s a ship. A ship with living creatures on board, but seemingly none of the race that created it. Humans land there and disaster follows. Then miracles happen. Then more disaster. It’s been fun so far. BTW, I’ve been writing down some of the things others have recommended; the winter is shaping up to be excellent for reading! ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/16 "2013-10-29T18:05:40Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > I’ve been going through [John Scalzi](http://www.amazon.com/John-Scalzi/e/B001IGJOCA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1) lately. The “Old Man’s War” series is quite good. And he appears to be writing quickly. > > The [Silo](http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-Silo-Saga-ebook/dp/B0071XO8RA/ref=pd_sim_kstore_7) series is also good, but it’s not really what you’ve asked for in the OP. It’s more distopian, humans struggling to survive after a cataclysm. This, although I’ve only read Old Man’s War so far (note to self: put rest of series on reading list.). I have also only read the first book in the Silo series, but it was AMAZING. Best SF book I’ve read in years. Doesn’t have the galactic space opera component you are looking for, but I recommend it nonetheless because it is such a great novel. _reading through the rest of the thread and adding books to my reading list_ ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/17 "2013-10-29T18:06:25Z")
I second _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_ for fantasy. I also really like the Malazan books. I think both of these works redefine mythic archetypes, or if not that, at least do a great job talking about them in new ways that make you think about them differently. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/18 "2013-10-29T18:49:30Z")
I’d have recommended Peter Hamilton but the OP said he’s already tried his work. So take my recommendations for what they’re worth based on that. If you’re going to try Stross, you might want to check out his space opera books first before his Laundry series. There’s _Singularity Sky_ and _Iron Sunrise_ (which were published in a single edition as _Timelike Diplomacy_). Or _Saturn’s Children_ and _Neptune’s Brood_. Or a couple of his novellas are available online: _[A Colder War](http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm)_ and _[Missile Gap](http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/spring_2007/fiction_missile_gap_by_charles_stross/)_. In fantasy, I’ve been reading Brandon Sanderson lately. I like his work so far so you can put him down as a fantasy writer who appeals to a reader who’s more usually into science fiction. _Elantris_ is a good place to start. It’s his first novel and it’s a stand-alone book rather than part of a series. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/19 "2013-10-29T19:05:21Z")
I will throw in a recommendation for **Walter Jon Williams** , and a tentative recommendation for the \*Dread Empires Fall \*series, starting with _Praxis_. I am tentative on that because the first two books are incredibly awesome and the last is a major anti-climax, but before that you have a fairly plausible space opera. I found his \*Knight Moves \*to be very Zelazny-esque. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550/20 "2013-10-29T19:21:22Z")
I know you said you’d read Niven, but have you seen _Juggler of Worlds_ by Niven and Lerner? from wiki “It is set in the Known Space universe. Most of the book revisits earlier stories (the Beowulf Shaeffer stories in Crashlander from the points of view of Sigmund Ausfaller and several Pierson’s Puppeteers”. It’s part of a series. I’m liking it a lot, so far. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-new-sf-f/672550.md?page=2)