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.

  • AwesomeLowlanderOP
    1•2 days ago

    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.

    • @SzethFriendOfNimi
      2•2 days ago

      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.

      • AwesomeLowlanderOP
        2•2 days ago

        Dogs of War

        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!

        • @SzethFriendOfNimi
          2•2 days ago

          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.

          • AwesomeLowlanderOP
            2•2 days ago

            Well I didn’t miss all of Tchaikovsky. I think I took a break from him after finishing the Shadows of the Apt series and forgot about his other books.

            They don’t always end on a happy note (most are hopeful)

            Storms take it, I’m gonna cry again aren’t I?

            • @SzethFriendOfNimi
              2•2 days ago

              You will. The Great Silence was very poignant. But yeah, there’s a great variety of stories.

              I’m just starting The Apt series (guess I’m doing Tchaikovsky in reverse) end will finally get to the children of time series when I can get it via my library or I might just bite the bullet and buy the audiobook.