# So what's good in hard sci fi these days?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 7, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751 "2015-12-07T23:32:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/1 "2015-12-07T23:32:30Z")
Looking for hard sci fi works released over the past few years. Preferably works of substantial length, although an excellent read is an excellent read, regardless of length. Heck, feel free to make suggestions even if he book wasn’t released recently but it is still in print or easily obtainable used.
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### Author:  [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/2 "2015-12-07T23:36:32Z")
Peter F Hamilton you might already know. His imagination is incredible. Start with Pandora’s Star. His trilogy’s and sagas are very engrossing and a little bit weird at times.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/3 "2015-12-08T00:34:18Z")
I’ve been reading David Brin’s Uplift series lately. Some parts are a bit iffy, but he does a good job overall, especially in making all of the aliens weird, yet make sense.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/4 "2015-12-08T00:38:34Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> Looking for hard sci fi works released over the past few years. Preferably works of substantial length, although an excellent read is an excellent read, regardless of length. Heck, feel free to make suggestions even if he book wasn’t released recently but it is still in print or easily obtainable used.
Greg Egan’s work is pretty darn hard, and he’s still writing: “Clockwork Rocket” is fairly recent (and there are two sequels).
David Brin’s material is often pretty hard - a recent work by him is “Existence.”
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### Author:  [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/5 "2015-12-08T00:47:15Z")
Alastair Reynolds’ recent Poseidon’s Children trilogy is a remarkable look into the colonisation of the Solar System and the nearest stars. There are numerous intriguing ideas on every page, not least the emphasis on African and Asian spacefarers.
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### Author:  [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/6 "2015-12-08T00:50:29Z")
Stephen Baxter’s work is really good, too; here’s his bibliography
> **[Stephen Baxter bibliography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Baxter_bibliography)**
>
> This is the complete bibliography of British science fiction author Stephen Baxter.
> Short story collection.
> ISBN 1-902880-11-0
> ISBN 1-902880-59-5
the Xeelee sequence is particularly recommended.
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### Author:  [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/7 "2015-12-08T00:50:54Z")
After seeing good reviews, I’ve started reading [Leviathan Wakes](http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449535747&sr=8-1&keywords=expanse+series) by James S. A. Corey. It’s the first book in a space opera called _The Expanse_, and so far, I’m really enjoying it.
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### Author:  [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/8 "2015-12-08T01:11:17Z")
I recently finished and thoroughly enjoyed two different series by John C. Wright - The Golden Oecumene and Chronicles Of Chaos. The latter is more Fantasy than Sci-Fi, but as someone with more of a Sci-Fi bent I enjoyed them anyway.
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### Author:  [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/9 "2015-12-08T01:26:49Z")
> [@Sefton](#):
>
> After seeing good reviews, I’ve started reading [Leviathan Wakes](http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449535747&sr=8-1&keywords=expanse+series) by James S. A. Corey. It’s the first book in a space opera called _The Expanse_, and so far, I’m really enjoying it.
I believe there is a SyFy series based on these novels, I think maybe it starts soon?
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/10 "2015-12-08T01:32:04Z")
> [@Sefton](#):
>
> After seeing good reviews, I’ve started reading [Leviathan Wakes](http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449535747&sr=8-1&keywords=expanse+series) by James S. A. Corey. It’s the first book in a space opera called _The Expanse_, and so far, I’m really enjoying it.
I flippin loved the first three books in this series. The next couple aren’t quite as good, IMO, but the first three? Some of the best space opera I’ve ever read.
Charles Wilson’s **Spin** is really excellent hard SF, although I think it’s about a decade old.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/11 "2015-12-08T14:49:52Z")
[_Blindsight_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel))by Peter Watts
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/12 "2015-12-08T16:06:38Z")
> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> [_Blindsight_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel))by Peter Watts
Very good, and among the bleakest SF novels I’ve ever read, possibly up there with **The Road** (although much harder SF than The Road is). I could only make it about 100 pages into its sequel before I gave up.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/13 "2015-12-08T17:31:46Z")
I assume you’re aware of _The Martian_?
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/14 "2015-12-08T17:40:07Z")
> [@Frylock](#):
>
> I believe there is a SyFy series based on these novels, I think maybe it starts soon?
_The Expanse_ premieres on Syfy on December 14. You can watch the first episode online at the Syfy website. (I haven’t watched yet, but I’m looking forward to it.)
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/15 "2015-12-08T17:43:58Z")
I’ve been enjoying [Ancillary Justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancillary_Justice) and the other books of the Radch Trilogy. Classic space opera told from the point of view of an AI which used to have thousands of bodies/eyes/remotes/systems/weapons under its control when it was a battleship but is then confined to an existence in one single human body.
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/16 "2015-12-08T18:13:35Z")
Ian Douglas writes lots of hard sci-fi. Recently I’ve been reading his _Star Carrier_ series.
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### Author:  [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/17 "2015-12-08T18:29:00Z")
Still hanging in there after over 20 years is David Weber’s space opera series on Honor Harrington, now up to 14 ‘mainline’ books and six ‘side-story’ novels along with story collections. weber can be an acquired taste (the man can go on and on some topics at times), but he does respect the laws of physics (mostly) and has perhaps the best-defined and most diverse human-only galactic culture I’ve seen. He’s supposed to finish the ‘arc’ by 2017, the 25th anniversary of the first book, but we’ll see…
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### Author:  [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/18 "2015-12-08T20:58:15Z")
Iain M Banks . He died recently ,but his space opera novels featuring the Culture were hard sf. The last two I read , \* Surface Detail \* and \*The Algebraist \* really blew my mind . All of his sf novels
are worth reading
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/19 "2015-12-09T10:20:30Z")
> [@Damfino](#):
>
> Iain M Banks . He died recently ,but his space opera novels featuring the Culture were hard sf.
I would _not_ class the Culture books as hard.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-good-in-hard-sci-fi-these-days/739751/20 "2015-12-09T13:51:28Z")
I’ve been enjoying Sevenevens by Neal Stephenson. This system they have now where if you buy the Kindle book you can pay an upcharge for an audiobook that syncs with it has been working great for me, but it means I’ve been following the story piecemeal when I’m out on a walk or cleaning the kitchen. So far, I do think he’s chosen not to really deal with how apeshit people would really go if there were only two years left of life on earth and only a relative handful of people are being lifted up into the arc in the sky. But a likely telling of that aspect would story about what kind of scientific and technological possibilities could be brought to bear helping the species survive the disaster.
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