# Recommend Some Science Fiction Novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 1, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389 "2023-07-01T02:21:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/21 "2023-07-01T17:05:10Z")
omg spoilers. Yeah, sentient spiders. Best kind. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/22 "2023-07-01T18:22:49Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > But there’s Military Scifi Like Michael Z Williamson’s Time Slip books? I’d like to recommend them too. ---
**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 1, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/23 "2023-07-01T18:30:48Z")
Douglas Adams’s _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/24 "2023-07-01T20:02:02Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > **Ringworld** by Larry Niven (the sequels are spotty, up to you) > > **The Mote in God’s Eye** by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven Forget boring old Dune- when are _these_ coming to the big screen? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/25 "2023-07-01T22:10:24Z")
I want to see Poul Anderson’s _Fire Time_ on the big screen. Robert Heinlein: _Space Cadet._ _Red Planet._ _Farmer in the Sky_ _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ If you like those, then try _Stranger in a Strange Land_, _Starship Troopers_, and _Glory Road_. I love Andre Norton, but her best stuff is more fantasy than science fiction. For Ray Bradbury and Larry Niven, skip the novels, and go with a collection of short stories. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/26 "2023-07-01T23:03:13Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Robert Heinlein: > \< snip \> > try _Stranger in a Strange Land_, _Starship Troopers_, I’d recommend _Starship Troopers_, followed by Haldeman’s _The Forever War_, Harrison’s _Bill the Galactic Hero_, and Scalzi’s _Old Man’s War_ for a great **tetralogy**. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/27 "2023-07-02T03:44:50Z")
I’ll always recommend The Night’s Dawn Trilogy by Peter Hamilton. For something a bit lighter, try The Rapture of the Nerds by Cory Doctorow ---
**Author:** ![CRhode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crhode/32/10500_2.png) [@CRhode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRhode)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/28 "2023-07-02T14:41:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The **Moon is a Harsh Mistress.** With developments in AI and the return to lunar exploration, this is a great time to read it. A great time … indeed! I haven’t read all the titles mentioned in this thread, but I have read that. It’s so explicit! Heinlein fans will admit it is largely about sex (plural marriage to be specific), but it is **about** many things. It is about revolution. It is about anarchy. It is about how government (specifically democracy) arises from anarchy. And it is about A-I … a (benevolent?) A-I that “wakes up,” (toys with humankind,) ultimately foments a rebellion of the Lunar Colonies, and (Heinlein is a little vague about this.) either disappears or is destroyed after the shooting war described in the closing chapters. I have the impression that the A-I is just bored with people and, having achieved its objective of irrevocably altering their destiny, has decided to ignore them in the future. Probably that’s the best outcome that could be expected in real life and, as such, is an up-beat ending uncharacteristic of most Sci-Fi of the era. It’s very ontological. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/29 "2023-07-03T13:43:08Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > _Children of Time_, by Adrian Tchaikovsky, is one of the best recent SF novels I’ve read. It has spiders in it. This, the rest of the series is really good too. Tchaikovsky’s Final Architecture series is really, really good too. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/30 "2023-07-04T00:02:15Z")
Well, how about Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/31 "2023-07-04T12:26:57Z")
There are lots of lists online which claim to tell you what are the best science fiction of all time, of which these are three random examples: > **[The 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g39358054/best-sci-fi-books/)** > > Plenty of imitators have tried to match the heights of our No.1, but none have come close. > **[20 of the Best Science Fiction Books of All Time | Book Riot](https://bookriot.com/best-science-fiction-books-of-all-time/)** > > The best science fiction books of all time push the envelope, show what could be, and make you question what's possible. > **[50 essential science fiction books](https://www.abebooks.com/books/features/50-essential-science-fiction-books.shtml)** > > Discover 50 essential science fiction books from Jules Verne to China Miéville and Neal Stephenson. If all you want to do is get lots of recommendations, you can go through many such lists and (in general) start from the highest recommendations on each list. Do you know of any local monthly reading and discussion groups that do mostly science fiction? I’ve belonged to one for over four decades that mostly reads fantasy and science fiction. Each person in the group gets to choose a monthly selection in a way so that everyone regularly gets a pick. Belonging to a reading group gives you more incentive to finish the book each month. Having a reasonable number of people in the group (maybe a dozen) means that the selections will be varied. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/32 "2023-07-04T19:50:48Z")
No one has mentioned Isaac Asimov yet, so I’ll do my bit to encourage you to read his work. It’s fairly cerebral stuff, with a lot more dialogue than action, but still fun. The Foundation series is a set of three fairly short novels - Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation - that describe the decline and fall of the Galactic Empire. sort of like the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, but with spaceships. He also later wrote two prequels and two sequels that are good, but not as great as the original trilogy. The original trilogy should be read in order. There are also the robot novels, with the famous three laws of robotics, and a few standalone space operas. I really enjoyed _The Stars Like Dust_ and _The Currents of Space_ ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/33 "2023-07-04T19:54:44Z")
A recent novel that I quite enjoyed was John Scalzi’s _Redshirts_. It starts off very much like Star Trek, but then the characters \*and the reader) realize that things are not as they seem. I don’t what to spoiler it for anyone, so I’ll jst say that there are some clever twists. It won the Hugo Award for best Sci-Fi novel, which is a good place to look for book ideas. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/34 "2023-07-04T20:39:55Z")
I want to add, “Artifact Space” by Miles Cameron. A story of a young midshipper on her first deployment on a deep space merchant/marine type of ship. I am waiting very impatiently for part 2 of 2 to be published. Fun fact, I learned recently that the author was a US Navy F-14 RIO (rear instrument officer) serving from a carrier in his past and that made sense why his flight ops and military life seemed so realistic, for a space opera. ---
**Author:** ![cjackson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a3d4f5/32.png) [@cjackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjackson)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/35 "2023-07-05T19:24:54Z")
To veer off into fantasy a bit, what are some great Star Wars novels? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/36 "2024-08-06T22:57:44Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > I want to add, “Artifact Space” by Miles Cameron. A story of a young midshipper on her first deployment on a deep space merchant/marine type of ship. I am waiting very impatiently for part 2 of 2 to be published. And I enjoyed the first book so much that I’m reading the second one, which is now out! Fun space opera with a decent mix of tactical and science-y stuff. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/37 "2024-08-06T23:19:22Z")
metrophage by Richard Khardey its his first book… i do believe he had a popular series called “sandman slim” But even tho this book was written in the late 80s but its still relevant today ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/38 "2024-08-07T00:10:29Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > And I enjoyed the first book so much that I’m reading the second one, which is now out! Fun space opera with a decent mix of tactical and science-y stuff. I read “Deep Black” this past weekend (loved it!), and followed it up with the collection of novellas called, “Beyond the Fringe” which made the promise of two more Arcana Imperii books to follow Deep Black… Woohoo! ---
**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:** [August 7, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/39 "2024-08-07T16:06:20Z")
Other recent stuff I’ve read and recommend: All of Andy Weir’s works (The Martian, Artemis, and Project Hail Mary). The last of these wasn’t as good as the other two, but still very good. I’ll second Martha Well’s Murderbot books. Mostly novellas, but there have been a couple of full novels now. Klara and the Sun, by Kazuro Ishiguro. Told from the point of view of a robotic “artificial friend”, about the sickly girl she’s bought as a companion for. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389/40 "2024-08-07T17:09:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > All of Andy Weir’s works (The Martian, Artemis, and Project Hail Mary). The last of these wasn’t as good as the other two, but still very good. Huh. I thought most people considered _Artemis_ the weakest of the three. It has by far the lowest rating on Goodreads (3.69, as opposed to 4.42 and 4.51). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-science-fiction-novels/986389.md?page=3)