As an example, I love the Martian, and I think a lot of older books from authors like Asimov are heavily into engineering / competence porn. Other favs in this category include the standalone novel Rendezvous with Rama to leave you wishing for more, most of the Culture series for happy utopian vibes, Schlock Mercenary for humor, Dahak series for fun mindless popcorn.
Edit: I’m so happy to have found a replacement for r/books and the rest of them.
Do you like protagonists that use their wits to beat a scenario or the hard science more?
For example a fun read that’s, in my opinion, best experienced as an audiobook is the dungeon crawler carl. It’s definitely a good example of the first type. It’s not realistic. It’s literally real life made into a D&D game (LitRPG) it is just one scenario after another of Carl just finding ways to manipulate and play with the “rules” of the messed up game.
If you’re more into the hard science than The Expanse as others have said. Or maybe even the Revelation Space series where it is future tech but relativistic time plays a part. Less of the “one person/group against all odds” but a good read nonetheless.
More looking for the 2nd at the moment. Though yes I did enjoy DCC and all the other series you mention, I’ve read them all (well maybe not all of Rev Space, at some point I lost track of the timeline and gave up).
I checked the good reads list of top rated hard science and saw a few items I can recommend.
Altered Carbon. A fun and intense read. Future hard science. If people’s consciousness could be transmitted/used for interstellar travel kind of thing then the scenarios listed here adhere to their own crazy rules.
Three Body Problem. First book is amazing. The sequels are good enough but the translations are a little rougher but the story carries through.
Enders Game. Tactical and hard science aspects to it. Gets more metaphysical later in the series.
Contact. Absolute gem that I re-read a few years back.
Ancillary Justice. More future/hard science but worth mentioning in any list I’m willing to put Altered Carbon in. It has a viewpoint and it’s use of alternate societal perspectives (from a society that is uniform in so many ways to organic “ship” drones to questions about what is a person/identity) all wrapped in a great sci-fi story
The moon is a harsh mistress. A little dated and the way women/people are referenced shows it (much like foundation) but a solid one that is a little more hard science and may be more in line with what you’re thinking of.
Going over this list I realize how hard it is to find true hard science (Martian) that doesn’t lean into the more future tech but consistent physical laws (Expanse) to way future nano tech or consciousness transfer (Altered Carbon, etc)
+1 for Contact and A moon is a harsh mistress.
Thank you Szeth-nimi! I did enjoy Season 1 of Altered Carbon Netflix, so the books should be worth a look. I fully agree with all your other recs (though I have issues with the character writing in Three Body Problem), unfortunately I’ve read all of them :D
And now that you mention it, you’re right about how tough it is finding modern-day hard science fiction. I think you managed to put your finger on one of the things I wanted but couldn’t verbalise.
Yeah. Three body problem is a well done translation of a Chinese authors work and so I suspect there’s some things that just culturally come across easily. Nothing makes that more obvious than the sequels where it feels like it wasn’t as painstakingly done to try to convey such things like the first.
I will say I really enjoyed the paper ménagerie by Ken Liu (the aforementioned translator) and it was a unique look from a different cultural perspective.
Back on topic to sci-fi. Do you prefer singular protagonist in a limited scale of time (person/crew) fighting against some local challenge (Martian/Expanse) or larger sweeping epics spanning centuries and a lot of perspectives (Dune, Foundation)?
More human/realistic perspectives (Martian) or are you open to Alien/Non-human perspectives (ex. protomolecule perception about the gates reopening)
Eh. I loved all your examples? Lol. Especially alien perspectives if done right are always interesting. Like Blindsight, Mote in Gods Eye, and Children of Time. I love great worldbuilding and internally-consistent plots, and I usually find petty drama and politics cringey.
Different perspectives from not alien but not human (unless otherwise specified not hard sci-fi)
Klara and the Sun (story of an android coming to awareness of themselves, to their purpose as a friend for a child, to attachment and love as well as dealing with the inevitable changes and loss as the child grows up)
Several short stories by Ted Chiang
Exhalation, The Lifecycle of Software Objects (technically hard sci-fi), The Great Silence
Kind of human
Murderbot Diaries (Autonomous killing machine/human cyborg going rogue that is learning what it is to be human, and just wants to watch serials and be left alone)
Ancillary Justice (Ships with remote/linked instances in control of human bodies and what happens when one of those “remotes” is all that’s left of that consciousness. Navigating the line of human/machine/etc.). Not political per-se but resonates with various political perspectives on autonomy/society vs individualism/ etc.
Dogs of War. Bio weapons part animal human hybrids and wars, morality, doing what your meant to do and made to do vs becoming aware of your actions and what is right/wrong.
Ooh, more Tchaikovsky. How did I miss that one? I’ve been meaning to check out Ted Chiang, this is probably as good a time as any. I’ve enjoyed every one of the recs you’ve made so far that I’ve read, I’ll definitely check out the rest!
Air sick low lander. How could you miss Tchaikovsky…
But seriously, he’s a great author. And Chiang is great too. I don’t think I’ve read any of his short stories and come away disappointed. I mean one of them became the basis for the movie Arrival.
They don’t always end on a happy note (most are hopeful) but they’re true to the story they tell.
I had to check i wasn’t in a brandosando instance with this blatant fan interplay
What starvin’ interplay, you storming voidbringer?
The term “air sickness” comes to mind
Just hit me. More modern time… historical fiction at the start and blends into more sci-fi as the series goes on.
Neil Stephenson: Crypto series
Cryptonomicon Reamde Fall: or dodge in hell
Oof, Stephenson is heavy! Anathem took me a fortnight to get through. I’ve read a few of his works and they’re good, but man they take a lot of mental effort (maybe it’s just me?)
They can be. Anathem was a bit more of a slog that sped up.
I found cryptonomicon to be slow at first (but not like Anathem) but it sped up quickly.
It goes back and forth between “modern” early 00’s? And WW2.
Stephenson is the kind of author you start a book and after a bit you’re like… ok… I don’t think this is for me… wait… what? And then you’re hooked.
Anathem is one of the worst that was like that. Snow Crash would be the polar opposite and one of the rare ones that just jumps straight into the world building.
Unrelated: I just finished Wind and Truth. So weird to think somebody got me hooked on Sanderson about 2 years ago and I’ve burned through all his books (except for Reckoners and the Alcatraz books). The first because I haven’t tried one but seems a bit more youth oriented and the latter because it is more youth oriented than my usual tastes.
Yeah, I liked the books but they really do need a bit of determination to get started.
Alcatraz is definitely for a much younger crowd, but Reckoners might be worth a shot. The worldbuilding is great, classic Sanderson. The YA part comes through as a teenage MC and easier language, but it’s still plenty interesting. A lot of parallels to Mistborn.