I’m new to scifi books, and books in general. (only got into reading 3 years ago) I’ve read dune, the dispossessed , a fire upon the deep and the stars my destination. I’m currently reading the left hand of darkness . What should i read next? Suggest me some of your must-reads.
10 is hard to go off the top of my head, but, in semi-random
The expanse: loved it so much we have our son the middle name Holden
Dune: always a classic for a reason
Children of Time: find myself dwelling on this
Honor Harrington: the best military sci-fi
Forever War: made me think
Hitchhiker’s Guide: always makes me laugh (also like Darkside of the sun, but not listing both)
Hyperion: definitive space opera
The matian: definitive hard scifi
The culture: like the federation in star trek, but better.
In no particular order:
Forever War. This is a good companion piece and counterpoint to Starship Troopers. As a book I find it more engaging and easy to get through than Starship Troopers. There is a lot of interesting contemplation about society and government structures in the book.
Foundation. A classic novel that tackles the idea of the “great man” theory of history. The next two follow-up books round out a great trilogy. There are more books after that, but those belated sequels don’t have the same spark.
Dune. It’s Dune.
Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. This book and the sequels are the funniest scifi out there.
Ender’s Game. A great book about a child prodigy in military strategy, and the consequences of a government which uses him.
At The Mountains Of Madness. Humanity is either a joke or a mistake.
Tactics Of Mistake. Decently breezy military scifi. It takes The Art Of War and turns many of its principles into a scifi plot.
Hyperion. Strange, scary, weird.
Old Man’s War. Another military scifi that is accessible and easy to get through. Great central concept.
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. Robert Heinlein’s best book. An uprising, but on the moon.
Andy Weir‘s Books (The Martian and Project Hail Mary) are very good entries and fairly easy to read and brilliant.
Then you can look into Corey’s The Expanse for more „realistic” sci-fi in around earth and/or look into Banks’ The Culture of you want to stretch your imagination.
Further mentions: Hugh Howley (Wool/Silo), Neal Stephenson (Anathem, Seveneves, Snow Crash …)
The Expanse Series Enders Game We are Legion (We are Bob) Murderbot Chronicles
Just in time I downloaded some new sanctuary moon media!
Anyone who likes Iain Banks, should give Anne Leckie a try. I’ve never had that special kind of “Iain Banks feeling” again until I read her books. But Banks is still the GOAT, of course.
The Three Body Problem trilogy, in particular the second book. It’s hard to talk about it without giving away the mystery of the first book, but it’s a book series that reshaped my perception of the universe.
Otherwise, there’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for some good old British comedy.
The first one was so bad though. The characters had ZERO depth, and the “game” was obviously created by someone who has never played a game before…ever. The dialogue was so cringey at spots.
Like…I can’t bring myself to read the second book.
I hated it. Other than the folding think I didn’t find anything worthwhile in it, and I’ve read other books with the same gimmick, if at a smaller scale.
I agree with your points, but I liked the first book despite its flaws. The second book actually has an interesting protagonist that’s not solely a vessel for the story, which is why I particularly like that book. And there’s no weird VR game involved (apart from one very short section).
I absolutely hated the first one. I read that the second one introduces interesting concepts, but I can’t convince myself to go through this again.
Blindsight by Peter Watts
The Bobiverse series by Dennis Taylor
Anything by Blake Crouch
William Gibson isn’t for everyone but I love him.
Not exactly sci-fi more like litrpg but my favorite series currently is Dungeon Crawler Carl. Audio books are the way to go here, Jeff Hayes is fucking incredible.
I might get shit for this but Project Hail Mary
Godddammmnn it donut!
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Both by Heinlein
Did you just read the first Dune book? If so, I highly suggest getting through God Emperor of Dune. Messiah wraps up (mostly) Paul’s story, then Children and GEoD resolve a lot of the themes.
I’ve been getting into the Culture series by Iain M Banks, which is frequently recommended for good reason.
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a classic of hard military sci-fi
Ringworld by Larry Niven is likewise a classic, though I never finished it
Philip K Dick’s stories are also a must
Asimov’s Foundation series is basically sci-fi’s LotR, deeply fundamental to the genre
I know I’m forgetting one or two, I’ll add if I remember
There are quite a few books and novellas in the Ringworld universe, properly called “Known Space”. One of my favorite bits is the different human planets and their people.
+1 for the Culture series, personally my favorite sci-fi books
Yes, i read Dune. But unfortunately it wasn’t for me . I had a hard time understanding the prose as I’m a new reader.
Yeah Frank’s writing is good but can be difficult I’m sure. The audiobooks are really good if you like those, they’re fully-produced dramas with actors and effects and all that jazz.
I really enjoy Kim Stanley Robinsons books, the Mars trilogy especially. However a couple of his standalone books are also great (Aurora and 2312).
Also, I love peter f Hamiltons world building. Pandoras Star kicks off a huge story spanning 7 odd books.
And finally, James sa Corey and the expanse series are phenomenal.
Everone always praises Asimov’s Foundation, but I found his robot stories (collected both in “I, Robot” and “The Complete Robot”) more entertaining. While Foundation is more of an adventure story, the robots pose interesting philosophical questions are are always good for a last-minute reveal. They’re also usually quite short, so they’re a good read when your time is on a budget or you’re not an avid reader in general.
I wish I had learned earlier that short stories can also be entertaining and not just the artsy bullshit you’re forced to read in school.
Anything by Stanislaw Lem. Very philosophical at times, but easy enough to read, and with a lot of jokes and thrills… I’d start with some short storys.
A few off the top of my head:
- Old Man’s War
- Ender’s Game
- Hyperion
- Too Like the Lightning
Haven’t read 10. I like “a canticle for leibowitz”.
