I read the first 3 Dune books after seeing the movie and hearing about the challenges of getting that story on the screen. Love the first 2, the ending of the 3rd was ok.
I’m 3/4ths through the 4th and final Hyperion books. Absolutely incredible, I’m disappointed knowing I’ll be done with it soon. I highly recommend it if you’re at all curious. The author does an excellent job sneaking deep references into the colorful narrative; Keats and Ancient Greek mythology among them. The characters are vivid, varied, and somehow all relatable.
When I was younger I liked Vonnegut, specifically Galapagos, cats cradle, and slaughter house 5. I recently read Philip K Dicks “do androids… electric sheep” and wasn’t a fan. I loved the film blade runner, but the book kind of trudged on for me with, what I felt was, a let down of an ending. Asimov’s foundation was ok, but it lacked action and the characters seemed thin; I do like the concept a lot, it was just missing something for me.
So what’s next? I read a few classics in school and wasn’t terribly moved by most of them. I’ve considered giving Philip K Dick another chance, and possibly exploring the Dune books not authored by Herbert. I’m not a big fan of fantasy- at least in the horse riding, sword wielding, magic and sorcery vein.
Thanks for any suggestions
- Octavia Butler
- Ursula K Le Guin
E: Markdown
I’ve heard of Le Guin, thanks for the recommendations
The Dispossessed is a really interesting look at anarchism in practice
Also may I recommend the Culture series by Iain M Banks.
People, please. Don’t sleep on Butler either. A truly visionary artist. She’s incredible. I hate how late in life I heard of her. Genuinely alien aliens. And she cooked up Make America Great Again for her neofascist fiction party decades before their lizard brains could copy it. It’s literally in the books. She predicted the future with basically 100% accuracy. The series is Earthseed.
Btw this is not a criticism of your UKLG rec, I love her too and have read many of her books. She’s incredible. I wanted to rec some non-male, non-white authors as well as the other good recs in this thread. Both authors are incredible
Edit: Got Le Guin’s initials wrong 😓
I recommend you start with the Hainish series’s trilogy (Rocannon’s world, planet of exile, and city of illusions). The Left Hand of Darkness is better, and it doesn’t require any of them, but those books will do a lot of world building so you can just focus on the story rather than ask what the hell the Ekumen is.
City of illusions is also just hard-core payoff and that made it really interesting
Immediately thought about Le Guin. Probably my all time favourite author. So many great novels and short story collections to choose from. Even her YA novels are thoughtful, wise and the prose is pretty much flawless. OP, let me know what you’re in the mood for and I’ll recommend a few books.
Did you read The Word for World is Forest?
Cuz damn_son.jxl
Edit: I haven’t read all of it (i.e., all of her work), but I think The Left Hand of Darkness is my favorite, if I had to pick
Yes. Both are brilliant and although I’m not sure, I feel like the former had a big influence on Cameron’s Avatar (much more so than Pocahontas tbh). Hard to pick a favourite but I really like the Western shore trilogy.
Maybe Iain M. Banks’ Culture series, if you’re not familiar with his work already. The books are generally standalobe stories, but there are some recurring side characters and references to earlier books. Consider Phlebas is the first one I think.
I’m just starting this series now. Looking forward to it
I suggest the Commonwealth’s saga by Peter F. Hamilton (Pandora’s star, Judas unchained).
Great books, I recently re-read and they don’t stand up as well as I remember, some characters in particular, but still good.
Been on a Peter Hamilton binge since I started Pandora’s Star about 4 months ago, and have since gone through all 7 of the Commonwealth books (Commonwealth duology, Void trilogy, and Chronicles of the Fallers duology) Exodus: Archimedes Engine, and am almost done book 1 of the Salvation trilogy.
So far my favourite is probably the Commonwealth duology, followed by Exodus. All of the books I’ve read have been amazing IMO, this is the first time I’ve read based solely off the author rather than recommendations. He can be pretty horny at times which is the main thing about his books that annoy me, but the world building is top tier IMO and the ideas he presents are fascinating.
Highly recommend giving the Commonwealth duology a try, it’s a bit slow going at first but once it gets going, I found it hard to stop. Amazing books.
The Nights Dawn series is good too. Love his stuff.
Blindsight by Peter watts.
Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune’s orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever’s out there isn’t talking to us. It’s talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route.
So who do you send to force introductions on an intelligence with motives unknown, maybe unknowable? Who do you send to meet the alien when the alien doesn’t want to meet?
You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees X-rays and tastes ultrasound, so compromised by grafts and splices he no longer feels his own flesh. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won’t be needed, and a fainter hope she’ll do any good if she is needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called “vampire,” recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist – an informational topologist with half his mind gone – as an interface between here and there, a conduit through which the Dead Center might hope to understand the Bleeding Edge.
Blindsight is the ability of people who are cortically blind to respond to visual stimuli that they do not consciously see due to lesions in the primary visual cortex, also known as the striate cortex or Brodmann Area 17. --Wikipedia
My all-time favorite book, read it 14 times or so.
It’s been long enough that I can reread it. East of eden is on the list as well
Awesome book. Text rarely gives me such impressions of genius artistry as Blindsight does. It’s clever without being obnoxious.
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. If you like it (and I think you will) there are more in the series.
Really just anything by bruh, tbh
Did you read the short one about the puzzle-tower? Wild.
If you’re into a rich narrative and deep references, don’t miss Cryptononicon and the whole Baroque cycle by Neal Stephenson.
I fucking did not like that book. I did not like any of the characters. Grrrr to that book. That is all. I guess in saying I wouldn’t go more Hyperion. Do Revelation Space Series. Much better.
I gave Hyperion about 200 pages and they were STILL world building and offering leading secrets the author didn’t think the reader needed to know. So I just gave up.
Couldn’t agree more. I guess what baffled me was all the years it was pushed on me. Canterbury Tales in space. Got it. Didn’t much care for the thing when Mrs. Baker was pushing allegorical shit and what not and I’m not digging it now that everyone is nothing I’m interested in rooting for. Harumph!
Yeah, if there’s not a character I can relate to, sympathize with, or cheer for within 200 pages, I’m not going to keep reading.
It really comes together at the end in an amazing way. However it’s such a chore to get there. Simmons doesn’t ever write characters I care about.
I loved the first two books, it felt like an adventure and a puzzle piece. Then the last 2 are 😬
I also didn’t like Hyperion. Just couldn’t get into it for whatever reason and I gave it a fair whack. Thank you for the recommendation. I’ll check it out.
Simmons’ books “Illum” and “Odessey” are pretty great and feel like the same universe
I second these if you want more Simmons.
They’re on the list thanks!
Some of my suggestions:
- Forever War - due to time dilation this story follows combatants that spend decades at war while on earth hundreds of years pass (inspired by the Vietnam War).
- Stanger in a Strange Land - Story of a human raised by Martians coming to earth. Has similar religious notes as dune and hyperion, but also has a weird Ayn Rand vibe (in my opinion, also not necessarily in a bad way).
The Forever War is such an important and great read. I’d put it alongside Catch-22 and Johnny Got His Gun for an anti-war novel.
I’m surprised I don’t hear about it more. I only stumbled upon it somewhat recently and am amazed it doesnt get brought up more. While you can feel the Vietnam War influences, it transcends that war and give a compelling story about the costs of war writ large.
If you’re going with Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was awesome too. One of the only Heinlein ones that didn’t make me feel weird after I learned more about him.
I haven’t read that, but adding it to my list.
Both of these are excellent but very different thematically. Forever War is much more “space” and “time” where Stranger in a Strange Land is a mostly an Earth story with a critical eye on the being/psychology of humanity (albeit from an “alien” perspective).
Yeah, that’s why I added the descriptions. Given Dune and Hyperion, I think OP could enjoy both of those, but they are different (from each other and Dune/Hyperion).
I wouldn’t recommend Anderson Dune books.
Pohl has some classics Heechee Saga Space Merchants Man Plus
Ringworld
Vernor Vinge: Fire Upon the Deep
John Scalzi: Old Mans War Series
Very surprised I haven’t seen Red Rising mentioned.
Haven’t seen these mentioned here, but the “Old Man’s War” series by John Scalzi is great as are “The Expanse” books by James SA Corey. I’d highly recommend those to anyone, but especially those looking for grounded and hard-ish sci-fi that doesn’t lose the reader or become overly technical.
I highly highly recommend Old Man’s War to anyone looking to get into sci-fi novels for the first time, Scalzi really takes care of his reader and his writing is a delight. The Expanse books are awesome whether or not you’ve seen the TV series… the show runners really took care with the source material and, ask any fan of the books, it is a great adaptation. The show hits the same plot points of the books while getting there in new and interesting ways. Further, the show created a new character in Kamina Drummer who immediately became a fan favorite of both show and book lovers (she’s an amalgamation of a couple of book characters and becomes her own thing that really adds SO much to the story and world building).
Thanks, I never considered myself a sci-fi fan so what you mentioned about old man’s war is appealing. That’s interesting the Expanse show added a character and still gets love from the book fans, speaks volumes to their adaptation
I don’t want to hype it up too much, but the Expanse show is really great… IMHO some of the best sci-fi television in decades. I’d say it’s easily up there with “Battlestar Galactica” (the RDM or “re-imagined” series) and “Farscape” as a triumph of what I’d guess you would call “post-9/11” science fiction story telling. Most fans of the books would tell you to read them first, but I think either is fine because both are great (I read them as the show was airing and it was awesome all the same). My favorite character in both the books and TV series is hands down Amos Burton… Wes Chatham is the actor that plays him; he has said in interviews that he read the books before filming season 1, fell in love with the character, and it really effing shows. From the writers and show runners to the actors, costuming, and set design… they took great care to be loyal to the books while creating something new at the same time.
I think the original idea by Joe Haldeman is superior. I definitely like both though.
If you’re looking for something epic but self-contained I really liked “Seveneves” by Neal Stephenson. If you want something that’s got a similar level of art to Hyperion I’d suggest “This is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This is how you lose a time war is fantastic I haven’t read Hyperion yet but that’s definitely another vote for Time War.
I’m currently three books into the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. The first book is a Dune rip off until about the halfway point when it gets really good. The second book is awesome. I’m about 100 pages into the 3rd book. Most reviews I’ve read mention the 3rd book as the best in the series. There’s still four more books after though. The latest one is set to release this year IIRC. The best I’ve heard the plot be described is imagine Anakin was justified about turning to the dark side.
Against The Day
Inherent Vice
When Women Were Dragons
Circe
Annihilation
