Hard sci-fi novels?

Fenster

I'm looking in vain for more hard sci-fi to devour before the next Peter Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds novels come out. I just reread all of the Reynolds Inhibitor novels and novellas, so those are out.

I've also gone through the Mars, Dune and Night's Dawn books recently as well, so I need something new.

Manach

You could try some books by Walter Jon Williams, whose style seems to be cyber-punk, "Hardwired" but his lattest book "The Praxis" is more akin to the Space Operas of David Weber.

Stark

The Hyperion series by Dan Simmons is very good.

superfly

i'll second that, they are very good books

ixoy

I recommend Greg Bear's "asteroid" trilogy - Eon/Eternity/Legacy. Really enjoyed them. Darwin's Radio is also good (haven't got around to Darwin's Children yet).

moridin

The Gap series, Stephen Donaldson. About as Hard as you can get.

Fenster

Hmm. I've read all those. Believe me when I say I've read everything. Still though, its been a while since I've read the Gap series. Time to dust them off.

CathyMoran

How about going back to the classics such as HG Wells? Hadelman's Forever War etc...John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids etc)...have been reading science fiction since I was 7, so I have read extensively...what sub genre are you interested in?

Fenster

Hard sci-fi and believable fantasty (stuff like Robin Hobb's novels).

I've read or re-read all of those in the past year so I'm after the more obscure works.

CathyMoran

This is probably a weak one - the final one of the Dune prequels will be out late August/early September, is called The Battle of Corrin...the other two were OK, so have no reason to doubt this one...my best friend reads really obscure ones, so will try him as this is bugging me.

LoLth

not sci-fi but you say you like believable fantasy...

song of ice and fire series by george rr martin. (sorry if you already read it)
The books are very down to earth (as in very little, if any, magic)

moridin

LoLth wrote:

not sci-fi but you say you like believable fantasy...

song of ice and fire series by george rr martin. (sorry if you already read it)
The books are very down to earth (as in very little, if any, magic)

... and the books in the Malazan book of the Fallen series - Steven Erikson.

ixoy

When you say hard sci-fi whaddya mean? I took it to mean sci-fi that sticks to scientific principles quite rigidly (generally written by someone with a Physics Masters or somewhat) rather than the more space operatic works of Peter F. Hamilton (whom I greatly enjoy)? Anyhow, any point in asking have you checked out Neal Stephenson? Cryptonomicon is great, Snow Crash is good, and I'm enjoying The Diamond Age currently.

Fenster

moridin wrote:

... and the books in the Malazan book of the Fallen series - Steven Erikson.

Gardens of the Moon was great as it was merely a matter of opinion as to who the good or bad guys were. He abandoned that in the rest and made it clear who was good and who was bad, which sorta took away from it.

Oh, and anything by Kevin J. Anderson is good for toilet paper and not much else. To call them "novels" is to sully the word.

Penny Arcande summed it up best.

Fenster

ixoy wrote:

When you say hard sci-fi whaddya mean? I took it to mean sci-fi that sticks to scientific principles quite rigidly (generally written by someone with a Physics Masters or somewhat) rather than the more space operatic works of Peter F. Hamilton (whom I greatly enjoy)? Anyhow, any point in asking have you checked out Neal Stephenson? Cryptonomicon is great, Snow Crash is good, and I'm enjoying The Diamond Age currently.

I ready Cryptonomicon while on holidays. I sorta lost interest in it in the last 50 pages as he spent more time in (admittedly amusing) side-stories than the main plot. The axe-wielding dwarf at the hobbit dinner party was great.

David Stewart

The master of the hard SF novel in my view was the late Robert L. Forward. His first novel, IIRC, was Dragon's Egg about a civilization that springs up on a Neutron Star. The follow up Starquake, was just as good. His other great one was Rocheworld, AKA Flight of the Dragon Fly about a mission by laser propelled light sail to Barnards Star. He also wrote Timemaster which involved negative matter (not anti-matter) and time travel.

His science was always spot on. In fact I remember articles based on the science of his novels appearing in New Scientist but his characterisation left something to be desired.

Another writer you might like is Richard Morgan. Morgan sprang out of nowhere with a fantastic debut novel Altered Carbon which recently won the 2004 Philip K. Dick Award. The follow up is Broken Angels.

And if you like military SF there's always David Weber's Honor Harrington series and Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan novels.

My current reading matter is Singularity Sky by former struggling British writer Charles Stross. I say former because Singularity Sky was nominated for a Hugo this year (as was one of his short stories) making him a 'rising star of British SF'

ixoy

Fenster wrote:

Oh, and anything by Kevin J. Anderson is good for toilet paper and not much else. To call them "novels" is to sully the word.

Penny Arcande summed it up best.

LMAO! Excellent! I despise Kevin J. Anderson. He really does rape franchises, a whoring writer with zero talent. I first encountered him, alas, reading an X-Files novel years ago and wanted to set the man alight. The Dune prequels? Penny Arcade have covered that.
*spit* and *spit* again. As for fantasy - ever read "The Barbed Coil" by J.V. Jones? It's well researched, a one-off novel so you don't need to get involved in a trilogy, and it's a satisfying read.

Fenster

Indeed I've read all of Richard Mogan's novels and they sit proudly on my bookshelves.

Stewart: I flicked through those novels. They plot can be dire and the science cheesy, but I can't for the life of me read a book with 2D characters.

To quote JMS (paraphrased, I forget the exact quote): "You can have all the special effects in the world, the finest script writers and the best production values, but none of it matters a damm if the actors can't convince you its real."

EDIT: For now I've dug up the Gap novels for some heavy slogging.

EDIT #2: Yeah, I've all of J.V. Jones' works. I'm waiting for A Sword of Red Ice, whenever she decides to release it.

ykt0di9url7bc3

ixoy wrote:

I recommend Greg Bear's "asteroid" trilogy - Eon/Eternity/Legacy. Really enjoyed them. Darwin's Radio is also good (haven't got around to Darwin's Children yet).

Greg Bear's stuff is hit or miss... freinds have recoomended, others slated...

personally, parts were good but overall not something I'd recomend...

NeoSlicerZ

Ilium by Simmons is a very very good book imo. Gotta get me his Hyperion series too *looks mournfully at wallet*

Fenster

Illium was fun, but I wouldn't call it "hard" sci-fi..or fantasy, depending on how you look at it.

I mean, its hard to take a novel seriously when it features a time-travelling geek scientist who takes over the body of Paris in order to have a one-night stand with Helen of Troy. That and he mugs Achilles with a cattle prod.

Sooner or Later

As several people have said above I'd recommend Dan Simmons Hyperion series and Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon . Morgan does have two other novels in print Broken Angels and Market Forces but they are not quite up to the same high standard. Iain Banks Culture novels are good, but maybe not "hard" sci-fi. Neal Stephenson is also worth a look, both the sci-fi stuff and the current trilogy of prequels to Cryptonomicon which are more of a historical fiction/fantasy kind of effort.

smartcard

LoLth wrote:

not sci-fi but you say you like believable fantasy...

song of ice and fire series by george rr martin. (sorry if you already read it)
The books are very down to earth (as in very little, if any, magic)

Yeah if you liked JV Jones' books you should like A Song of Ice and Fire.

Fenster

I assumed that George Martin was a given with everyone so I didn't mention him...

Steven999

Fenster wrote:

I assumed that George Martin was a given with everyone so I didn't mention him...

I like the way this guy thinks .

Fenster

Two books I forgot to mention: The Sparrow and Children of God by Mary Doira Russell. They're basically about first contact with aliens. Great novels.

Sooner or Later

I forgot to mention Neal Asher's Polity novels, Skinner , Gridlinked and Line of Polity .

hostyle

Neverness and the following trilogy A Requiem to Homo Sapiens by David Zindell - though I'm not quite sure what "hard" sci-fi is ...

Boro

Anything by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Classic sci-fi. A Mote in Gods Eye is a great series of books - definitely worth reading. Lucifers Hammer is an excellent dooms day book also.

cerebus

Nobody seems to have mentioned William Gibson yet, so if you haven't checked out Neuromancer and its sequels I would recommend them.

mcgovern

Anything by Verner Vinge (he of the singularity fame) or Alastair Reynolds.
I liked Count Zero by William Gibson, haven't read any of his others.
I also like Greg Bear.
Stephen Baxters "Space" and "Time" were very good, wasnt so impressed with Voyage or Flux though.

giftgrub

check out robert read...hes got a great book called Marrow...its all about a group of immortals living in a spaceship the size of a planet ripping stuff

you could always go back to asimov's foundation series....theyre operatic

greg bear is always good

off subject is china mielvielle...Perdido Street Station, its fanfasy but its one of the most vreative books i've read in years

ian m banks is great as well...check out Use of weapons

alastair reynolds is another guy ive gotten ninto recently...revelation space chasm city...all pretty dark..hes got a real thing for anantech as well which i find fascinating

thats all i can think of at the moment

plastic membrane

David Brin's two Uplift trilogies. Hard sci-Fi, well written.

fenris

There is always the original of the cyberpunk species - William Gibson - Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive.

Or Walther Jon Williams - Voice of the Whirlwind.

For good space, alien artefact exploration, enslave the universe type scifi there is Charles Sheffield - Convergence, Divergence, Transcendence etc.

And for purest cheesey no brain fluff there is Simon R Green's Deathstalker series.

hype_de_hope

hmm - am I the only one that is disappointed in Illium (Simmons) and the new Baroque Series (Stephenson)?

I struggled through Illium - found it a huge yawn, unforgiveable from the author of the Hyperion series (awesome). Really wondering whether to invest the time reading the second one...

In terms of Stephenson - read the first of the new trilogy - again a huge struggle, perhaps I am getting denser in my old age but trying to keep up with all the many many characters and plot lines in this was a nightmare. After reading a great review of the series in Salon got the second one in the series 'Confusion' and have got through the frst 100 pages or so. In short still not too bothered whether to finish it. Anyone finished this? Or even got the third, which I think is out in the US. Is it worth finishing???

Fenster

Illium was loads of fun. Its just not a book that you take seriously though.

anfionn

Ther is always David Brin,or for old school Hard sci fi:Larry Niven

Moocher

There's always the ender series by Orson scott card.
Vernor Vinge has already been mentioned but deserves another mention.
"A deepness in the sky" is just a huge fabulous novel.

LouisWu

Anything by Larry Niven
- Ringworld series
- Tales of known Space
- Protector
- World of Ptavvs
- The long Arm of Gil Hamilton
to name but a few

The Ender series from Orson Scott Card

Stephen Baxters Manifold series
Patrick Tilleys Amtrak Wars series
Anything By Robert Heinlein
Asimov's Foundation series

Two new (to me anyway) Authors are

Kevin Anderson - Hidden Empire - the start of a brilliant series
Ken Macleod - Newtons Wake - just starting this one

LouisWu

Boro

fenris wrote:

And for purest cheesey no brain fluff there is Simon R Green's Deathstalker series.

LOL... that stuff was great.. "Boost!"

LoisWu wrote:

Kevin Anderson - Hidden Empire - the start of a brilliant series

If you look at the previous page, you will see a lot of anti KJA people there. He is not exactly flavour of the month around here

Another good one to read - its been mentioned already but its worth the repeat - "Shards of Honour" by Lois McMaster Bujold. Wild space opera meets
dramatic military and strategy mysteries. Highly recommended stuff.

Fenster

LouisWu wrote:

Kevin Anderson - Hidden Empire - the start of a brilliant series

The words "Kevin J. Anderson" and "brilliant" are usually mutually exclusive

ixoy

Fenster wrote:

The words "Kevin J. Anderson" and "brilliant" are usually mutually exclusive

Hah! You can never have enough Kevin J. Anderson bashing!

Fenster I've used your threads to compile a list of books to buy for myself. I hope the recommendations are good because I've picked about ten novels from it and placed them on my Amazon wishlist. 'Hyperion's blend of sci-fi and legend sounds particularly interesting - does it have the same level of research as a Neal Stephenson work?

I'm mainly a fantasy reader but when it comes to sci-fi, I've gone for Bear, Hamilton, Stephenson, and Zindell mostly. Currently, I'm on Stephen Baxter's Manifold II: Space. Some really neat ideas there although I don't think characterisation is his strongest asset.

Now to quit my job to find time to read...

Woden

Moocher wrote:

There's always the ender series by Orson scott card.

aye the further books in the series are a bit more hardcore.

i'd second, third or fourth the hyperion cantos by simmions, not sure about the earlier books in the series but the fourth one is out of print and i had to get it shipped in from amazon marketplace (and it was the american version ) so if you see em knocking around pick em up

LouisWu

Woah...

On Anderson - I've only read hidden empire and liked it. I have not seen any of his other stuff...

I would echo what others have said about the Hyperion series

I can across a compilation in a second hand book shop last summer called Far Horizons Its a series of short stories by 11 authors but gives a great flavour of their work. It includes Ursla K, Le Guin, Orson Scott Card, David Brin, Joe Haldeman

Has anyone mentioned Peter Hamilton yet or Jerry Pournelle or Robert Silverberg

LouisWu

Fenster

Dataisgod wrote:

aye the further books in the series are a bit more hardcore.

i'd second, third or fourth the hyperion cantos by simmions, not sure about the earlier books in the series but the fourth one is out of print and i had to get it shipped in from amazon marketplace (and it was the american version ) so if you see em knocking around pick em up

Lets hope they don't dissapoint.

Undergod

moridin wrote:

... and the books in the Malazan book of the Fallen series - Steven Erikson.

Steven Erikson is excellent. I don't get your point about making it clear who the bad guys are, even the most evil character isn't really evil, just... vengeful...

For believable fantasy, read KJ Parkers "The Fencer Trilogy". Good, but not brilliant novels, but I liked them because he writes at length about various skills. Book I - blacksmithing, siege engines, Book II - bowyery, and I haven't finished Book III but it more or less says armour-craft is going to be a big theme.

Again, I like the usual. Banks Use of Weapons is one of my favourite novels, I've read most of Stephenson's work (his more obscure stuff is more "Scientific Fiction" than SF, Zodiac is all based in real chemistry as far as I can tell) and most of Gibson's (anyone else read his semi-cyberpunk books "Virtual Light" and "All Tomorrow's Parties"?)

Undergod

giftgrub wrote:

off subject is china mielvielle...Perdido Street Station, its fanfasy but its one of the most vreative books i've read in years

Yes, Perdido Street Station was excellent, as was the scar. Haven't read Iron Council, nor any of his modern fantasy (king rat and one other book, I think).

Has anyone read any James White? I've been told a lot about his Sector General books, but I can't find any

ixoy

Undergod wrote:

Yes, Perdido Street Station was excellent, as was the scar. Haven't read Iron Council, nor any of his modern fantasy (king rat and one other book, I think).

Excellent. Just picked up 'Perdido Street Station' from my house last night, ordered off of play.com. Hopefully I'll enjoy it.

David Stewart

Sadly, James White's books have been out of print in Europe for many years now. the good news is that Tor Books in the US is reprinting them in Omnibus format. You might find them if you look on Amazon.com Or better still, check out www.sectorgeneral.com which is the official James White Website

Fenster

I didn't like Pedidro Street Station. Having read the cover, I was expecting some sort of pseudo-fantasy political backstabber novel (ala George Martin's works), especially consdiering its thickness, but I was left sorely dissapointed.

Undergod

Really? I guess it's really the kind of thing I'm into, I love steampunk of all sizes. Throw a couple of George Martin's names my way, I don't think I've heard of him.

That's a pity about James White. I know where to get a loan of the Sector General Omnibus, but whether I'll be able to wangle it is a different kettle of salmon.