

Ask HN: Favourite sci-fi books? - tschellenbach


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everyone
I have _strong_ opinions about this. My criteria for a book being science
fiction and not fantasy is that is must be based on scientific thinking. The
author must have done some work to determine whether whats happening in his
book is at least plausible according to real science, and then work out the
details of how it would actually function. So I regard most "science fiction"
books and almost all "science fiction" films as really being fantasy.
Essentially they are works of fantasy or dramatic fiction re-skinned with
lasers and aliens instead of magic and goblins (to a great or lesser extent).

So dune is a great book but it is 90% fantasy, there is only a little bit of
research done by the author on desert ecosystems.

My favourite _real science fiction_ author is Arthur C clarke. some good books
by him...

earthlight

the fountains of paradise

islands in the sky

the sands of mars

rama

songs of distant earth

Also would recommend accelerando by Charles Stross and the mars series by Kim
Stanley Robinson

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beyondcompute
Incandescence (and Diaspora) by Greg Egan. After you read those all other SF
seems ordinary and conservative in terms of ideas. Just for cultural reference
it's also good to read Vernor Vinge's “A Fire Upon the Deep”. It's more for
adventure than ideas. And then there is the great story about mind
amplification: Ted Chiang's “Understand”.

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DanBC
Anything by Greg Egan.

Salt by Adam Roberts, but also his other books.

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tschellenbach
Dune, 1984 for me, let me know which ones im missing out on

