

Ask HN: Sci-Fi novels? - octopus

Just finished &quot;Ready Player One&quot;.<p>Do you have any other good Sci-Fi books suggestion ?
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dan-g
If you're talking about any sort of science fiction, I (and I'm sure countless
others) would recommend Dune by Frank Herbert -- the best-selling sci-fi novel
of all time, and for good reason. It's not as light-hearted as Ready Player
One, though.

~~~
octopus
I've read the entire Dune series more than 15 years ago, one of the best Sci-
Fi series I've ever read.

~~~
dllthomas
That's no longer the entire Dune series, then.

Unfortunately.

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gamegoblin
I misread your question as sci-fi novellas, but I still think you'll enjoy
these (Three Worlds and Prime Intellect are both quite long, anyway).

Three Worlds Collide

[http://robinhanson.typepad.com/files/three-worlds-
collide.pd...](http://robinhanson.typepad.com/files/three-worlds-collide.pdf)

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

[http://localroger.com/prime-
intellect/mopiall.html](http://localroger.com/prime-intellect/mopiall.html)

The next few are short stories:

The Last Question

[http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-
question/](http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-question/)

The Last Answer

[http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-last-answer/](http://www.thrivenotes.com/the-
last-answer/)

Let's Help Germinate This Seed

[http://www.thrivenotes.com/lets-help-germinate-this-
seed/](http://www.thrivenotes.com/lets-help-germinate-this-seed/)

The Egg

[http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html](http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html)

~~~
brudgers
Just returned the new novella pair _Stepping Stone_ and _Love Machine_ by
Walter F Mosely to the public library. I'm a Mosely fan but his science
fiction is less conventional than Socrates Fortalow and Easy Rawlins and
they're not tight to.the mold of detective fiction. It reminds me of Harlan
Ellison a lot and a little of Lovecraft.

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Jach
My two favorites are _Permutation City_ by Greg Egan and _The Golden Age_ by
John C. Wright (actually that one's a trilogy).

I hear good things about Iain M. Banks' _Culture_ novels. I've only read one (
_The Player of Games_ ) and while it was enjoyable it was still sort of meh,
if that makes sense... (I've got _Excession_ in my queue and I suspect I'll
enjoy it more.)

While it's more in the realm of science-fantasy, you might enjoy this
alternate universe imagining of the Harry Potter story:
[http://hpmor.com/](http://hpmor.com/)

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nayshins
"Old Man's War" by John Scalzi

"Hyperion" by Dan Simmons

~~~
yawz
Those are definitely two of my favorites. Funnily enough, a few days ago there
was a discussion about the most memorable space ships. Mine was "Yggdrasil"
:).

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brudgers
I have found the Hugo Award winners to be a great way to find books and
authors that I didn't know I would like based on what I already knew I liked.

[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel)

------
jlees
What did you like about it? I'd suggest Tad Williams' Otherland, Neal
Stephenson's Diamond Age & Snow Crash, and Gibson's Pattern Recognition purely
based on subject matter (gamey-cyberpunk-ARG-AI), but none is quite as
lighthearted in terms of nodding towards videogame culture.

------
blinkdaddy
I too just finished Ready Player One. Such a great read. I tend to lean on
Good Reads lately for recommendations. But picked up Atopia Chronicles
([http://amzn.com/B00DUK1RKY](http://amzn.com/B00DUK1RKY)) after browsing
popular sci-fi on amazon's best-sellers list. It has great similarities to
Ready Player One - virtual presences, future VR challenges, etc. but a very
different kind of book (split into multiple story lines, not one continuous
story). But that said, if you've not read Snow Crash then drop everything and
read that next!

------
yawz
Are you looking for something similar?

It's not easy to recommend something based on a single book but have a look at
Vicious by V. E. Schwab, This Perfect Day by Ira Levin or Wool by Hugh Howey.

~~~
octopus
Not necessarily similar, just new Sci-Fi novels, I'm familiar with the
classics: Herbert, Asimov, P.K. Dick ...

~~~
yawz
I run a sci-fi/fantasy blog with a few other people where we review books etc.
So are you looking for more action/adventure type sci-fi, hard sci-fi, space
opera, loads of alien life, etc?

~~~
octopus
What is the address of your blog ?

~~~
yawz
[http://speculativebookreview.blogspot.com](http://speculativebookreview.blogspot.com)

~~~
octopus
Thanks.

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dodders
Lexicon - Max Barry. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman. Channel
Skin - Jeff Noon. The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter. The
Difference Engine - William Gibson.

~~~
dllthomas
Oh, never noticed there was new Max Barry since "Jennifer Government"! That
was good times, though - I should pick up some more...

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HackOfAllTrades
These days I seem to prefer extended series of books that develop a detailed
alternate universe. Three truly excellent series (Author-Series-1st Book):

Eric Flint - 1632 - "1632"

David Weber - Honor Harrington - "On Basilisk Station"

Stephen Brust - Vlad Taltos - "Taltos"

------
sophe
Armor by John Steakley

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keithba
Most anything by Charles Stross, especially the Laundry series (Atrocity
Archives, Jennifer Morgue, etc)

~~~
turbojerry
I really enjoyed Halting State, and Accelerando, and also the MaddAddam
Trilogy by Margaret Atwood as well as Philip K. Dicks works, Valis in
particular.

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thatusertwo
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K Dick Neuromancer - William Gibson Expanded
Universe - Robert A. Heinlein

~~~
gautamc
[http://www.lib.ru/GIBSON/neuromancer.txt_with-big-
pictures.h...](http://www.lib.ru/GIBSON/neuromancer.txt_with-big-
pictures.html)

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rainmaking
Of course, "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" if you like it down and dirty, a
tale of a "Computerman" working for the man but secretly using his machine to
subvert the powers that be up until the final showdown.

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toddjefferson
I just finish "The Martian: A Novel" by Andy Weir and I really enjoyed it.

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opionion-matter
Neurovont was a nice surprise: [http://www.amazon.com/NeuroVont-Incorporated-
Gil-A-Waters/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/NeuroVont-Incorporated-Gil-A-
Waters/dp/0982280920)

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Mankhool
I'm ancient and have been reading Sci-Fi my entire life. I just finished "The
Darwin Elevator" (1st of 3 in a trilogy) and it was the most refreshing SF
I've read in a least 10 years.

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maxerickson
Altered Carbon

I liked Peter Watts stuff:
[http://www.rifters.com/real/shorts.htm](http://www.rifters.com/real/shorts.htm)

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rainmaking
Stranger In A Strange Land.

Edgier than Star Trek but has that same feel of charming naivite; think 400
pages of Lt. Commander Data on a love potion.

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mohaps
Personal favorites: "Flowers for Algernon", "Snow Crash" and "Schild's Ladder"
#YMMV

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rainmaking
Friday, if you want a stunning cross of tech Sci-Fi with a Bond Girl in the
lead role.

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bdunbar
Because no one has mentioned it yet: 'Blindsight' by Peter Watts.

~~~
monknomo
Peter Watts is excellent. Blindsight and the Rifters trilogy are both fun hard
sci-fi bent reads

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efutch
"Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson

