
Science Fiction Books I’ve Read (2018) - gauchojs
https://fortelabs.co/blog/science-fiction-books-ive-read/
======
yboris
Personal all-time favorite, read it twice: _Accelerando_ by Charles Stross

Set in three parts, exploring a future where people can upload themselves to
computers, create digital copies, recombine, run minds faster than real-time,
re-enter the non-digital world, travel to alien destinations, etc.

Free from the author: [https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-
static/fiction/acceler...](https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-
static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html)

Goodreads:
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17863.Accelerando](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17863.Accelerando)

~~~
thelazydogsback
It had better be good for the price, lol:

[https://www.amazon.com/Accelerando-Singularity-Stross-
Charle...](https://www.amazon.com/Accelerando-Singularity-Stross-Charles-
Hardcover/dp/B015X4Q7ZE)

~~~
Freak_NL
Amazon has this weird algorithmic automated price setting going on when books
are out of print and only available second-hand or from leftover stock. It
probably makes sense to whoever implemented the algorithm.

Usually the prices stop somewhere around the €75 mark though.

------
djsumdog
I like that Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy (Red, Blue, Green Mars) are in
red. That is my absolutely favourite Sci-Fi series of all time. It has aged
amazingly well. He did an amazing amount of research for that book. It's very
believable and the characters are incredibly complex.

~~~
LargoLasskhyfv
So is "The Years of Rice and Salt" from him, though it's only one book, not a
trilogy.

I feel like I actually learned something while reading it, but that is because
I've read it on screen, while having Wikipedia and Google-maps open in the
background while reading it, pausing to look up things there.

~~~
pradn
Thanks for this! It's right up my alley as a history-lover.

------
WalterBright
I was reading a scifi book the other day, and it just seemed to tickle
something familiar. I eventually realized I must have read it long ago and
totally forgotten it.

I've read thousands of books, but I never kept a log and have no way of
remembering them all.

The standout in my mind, however, is "War of the Worlds" by Wells. It is the
first scifi book I ever read, picking it out at the library because it had a
cool illustration of the tripod on the cover.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and like the purported first hit of heroin, the rest
of my life I've looked for something that good again :-)

------
thelazydogsback
To me it's Alastair Reynolds, and then everybody else. When I read "Revelation
Space" it was, er, a Revelation. In addition to the many books R.S. universe
(spanning across great swaths of time) there is also the fun Revenger series,
and several non-canonical short stores, etc.

Of course, Ian Banks (RIP) is also great fun.

~~~
jccalhoun
I also enjoyed what I read of Revelation Space. I really liked how not having
faster than light travel played a role. I kind of lost interest when so many
of the books revolved around that same planet. There is a whole universe out
there that I want to learn more about. I don't care about the rust belt or
whatever it was called.

~~~
thelazydogsback
FWIR the R.S. universe wasn't planet centric and the books literally span one
side of the universe to another, with timescales from one lifetime to entities
measuring their lives in galactic rotations. Are you talking about Chasm City
maybe? Anyway, it's about time for me to re-read -- I've been holding off as a
treat - it's been 18 years since I read that first book!

------
GordonS
Disappointed this is just a list, with no information, ranking or anything
else. I'm always on the hunt for good sci-fi, but unfortunately this isn't
helpful.

~~~
edge17
There is a link for Part 2 of the article, which has more info -
[https://fortelabs.co/blog/what-i-learned-about-the-future-
by...](https://fortelabs.co/blog/what-i-learned-about-the-future-by-
reading-100-science-fiction-books/)

~~~
GordonS
I missed that, thanks!

------
stanski
It's like reading a list of books considered classics in the genre. I feel
like the author is just checking off boxes. Also, needs some Iain M. Banks.

------
ericmcer
I am surprised he likes some of the classics as they hold up really poorly
IMO. The Foundation books especially just... are not good viewed through a
modern lens. I hate to pull the misogyny card, but I think there is only one
woman in Foundation and she has no lines, just models a necklace for some
space trader types. They also suffer from the classic sci-fi conundrum where a
spaceman is flying at light speed while reading a newspaper and listening to a
tape. It's not really excusable for me when people consider this like... the
greatest sci fi book. Other authors were able to confront our social and
technological future in a much more realistic and interesting way, not like,
cowboys in spaceships.

~~~
gambler
Yeah, same here. I tried to read old American science fiction, the so-called
western classics and the so-called eastern classics. All of that stuff is
racist, sexist and bigoted. After many unsuccessful tries I decided that
reading anything from other times and cultures is just too regressive to be
worth it. After all, what can someone as bigoted and outdated as Asimov really
teach us about society and technology in 2020? What can Jane Austen with her
internalized misogyny tell us about human nature? I will stick to modern and
progressive literature, thank-you-very-much.

And so should you. In fact, those old books can be downright dangerous and
normalize regressive behaviors that will cause real harm. I mean, today we are
rightfully worried about individual bigoted tweets and messages, but imagine
someone reading an entire book of that stuff?

~~~
Miraste
>I decided that reading anything from other times and cultures is just too
regressive to be worth it. . . What can [they] tell us about human nature

Are you serious? You don't think there is any insight into human nature in the
works of anyone, ever, except the exact values of the culture you happen to
live in at this particular point in time?

Edit: ugh, I had to go look at your other comments to tell if this was
sarcasm. It seems it was, and satire and reality have converged too much for
me to differentiate.

~~~
gambler
_> Are you serious?_

No.

Are we already at the point where a suggestion to read _nothing_ outside your
own cultural bubble can be interpreted as a serious comment? If we are, this
is seriously disturbing.

~~~
Miraste
Yes, I've just realized that, my apologies. I can't tell any more.

------
Freak_NL
Nice to see a recommendation for one of John Varley's works ( _The Golden
Globe_ ). There is one sci-fi author who is underappreciated. His writing has
touches of Heinlein. His _Gaea Trilogy_ is really creative too.

~~~
monkeypizza
His stories "Equinoctal", "The Phantom of Kansas" [0] are big hits at scifi
reading groups. And "The Persistence of Vision" is a well-known classic.

[0] [https://varley.net/excerpt/the-phantom-of-kansas-full-
text/](https://varley.net/excerpt/the-phantom-of-kansas-full-text/)

------
BatFastard
Two books I would highly recommend for their idea density and enjoyment are
Deamon - Daniel Suarez and follow on book Freedom. Old Mans War - John Scalzi
and really the whole series.

also really enjoy anything by Vernor Vinge

~~~
r00fus
The first chapter of "A Fire Upon The Deep" is one of my favorite openings.

------
LargoLasskhyfv
Lacks
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_on_Zanzibar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_on_Zanzibar)
from John Brunner and following the "see also" there.

Furthermore at least
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chanur_novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chanur_novels)
from C.J.Cherryh.

For me they were a _blast_ to read. I fevered/longed for the next book to be
in print.

Similar thing for the "Company wars" and "Hinder Stars" listed in
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh_bibliography#The...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh_bibliography#The_Alliance%E2%80%93Union_universe)
/
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance%E2%80%93Union_univers...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance%E2%80%93Union_universe)

Go get this!

------
monkeypizza
I have a similar list but with an attempt at writeups of their style and what
is good about each individual author here:
[http://fuseki.net/home/ScienceFictionBookReviews.html](http://fuseki.net/home/ScienceFictionBookReviews.html)

------
drclau
At a glance, I can't spot anything by Ken MacLeod, nor Iain Banks. Both are
masters of hard SF. I read most of Ken MacLeod's work, some several times
(yes, I really enjoyed them that much), and I am reading Iain Bank's Culture
series these days.

~~~
diziet
Well, I wouldn't really say Banks wrote Hard SciFi, but the authors you
mentioned are great.

------
trey-jones
I've read enough of the list that I think I'll hang onto it to check out stuff
that I haven't read.

Obviously it's down to personal preference which of these are the best, but
I'm curious how other readers feel about a couple of these (potentially
contrarian views):

1\. Speaker For the Dead is my favorite of the Ender stuff.

2\. I like Endymion duo better than Hyperion. (maybe my favorite ever,
actually)

3\. The Stand is also an all-time great to me, especially in light of current
events.

4\. I think the author should read more Niven - I guess he didn't really like
Ringworld, which is another of my favorites.

~~~
nyhc99
I personally liked the Hyperion duo better, but found all 4 books to be
incredible.

As for Ringworld, I didn't enjoy it, but would be willing to give Niven
another try if given a strong and specific recommendation. Maybe something
that has more of a plot. Wandering around a big empty construction in space
where nothing happens didn't really do it for me.

The author of this list and I seem to have very similar tastes. Most of his
favorites are mine as well. The only favorite of mine that comes to mind as
being left off this list is Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It's also
striking that he hasn't listed any of the Culture series by Iain Banks.

~~~
Freak_NL
People seem really divided on the Hyperion Cantos in terms of which books or
book pair stands out for them. I am thoroughly in the 'all four of them
combine to form an impressive epic'-camp. I found it pleasing how _Rise of
Endymion_ closes the last strands of the story begun in _Hyperion_.

Good call on Heinlein's _Moon is a Harsh Mistress_.

 _Ringworld_ didn't do much for me either, but I do indulge in the Man-Kzin
Wars spin-offs as a sort of guilty pleasure.

------
malloreon
I put off reading The Three Body Problem because I wanted to make sure I was
good and ready to be amazed.

I've read Cixin Liu's short stories and thoroughly enjoyed them. He comes up
with some amazing ideas. I even really liked the movie based on Wandering
Earth, despite how it converted the story to more action.

I barely made it through 3BP and I don't have much excitement for the sequels.
The story just did not grip me at all.

~~~
nyhc99
The sequels have some big and original ideas that I don't regret being exposed
to, but they were painful to get through. Especially the 2nd book. It took me
months to finish because I just couldn't stay interested.

------
edge17
If you read 100 books in 2 years, is it a goal or are you still reading for
the enjoyment of it?

Also a side question, I love reading but I'm very slow. I don't want to learn
a lot of the 'fast' reading techniques because I have tried them and don't
really retain much. Is there some low hanging fruit to reading just a little
faster? (like, read in a good chair or use a kindle or something)

~~~
Matticus_Rex
I set a goal of 50 books in 2018 and once I got into the habit it was purely
for enjoyment. I ended up doing 86 in 2018, and upped my goal to 75 for
2019... then ended up doing 122 books that year. I'm somewhere in the 50s or
60s for 2020 right now.

I retain audio much better for most things (unless it's data-heavy), so
getting into habits of keeping my headphones on me and actually starting a
book when I had the brain-space to listen helped increase the quantity. No
idea on tips for physical reading (though getting the room lighting right and
using one of the paperwhite-or-better Kindle screens makes a big difference
for me, anecdotally).

~~~
edge17
Good point on the room lighting.

Also, is that sort of what people do nowadays for reading? Meaning, when
people say they read 100 books, they are also referring to have listened to
audiobooks? Not judging, just curious if I'm not understanding the meaning of
'read'

~~~
Matticus_Rex
Most people include that now, yeah. I think it makes sense, even if it's an
evolution from the strict sense of the word. I certainly retain as much as
those who read physical books, and if someone asks me if I've read a book, it
seems needlessly pedantic to say "no, I listened to it."

------
nowandlater
My favorite from this summer so far, and one I don't see mentioned much is
"The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August" by Claire North (Catherine Webb).
[https://www.amazon.com/First-Fifteen-Lives-Harry-
August/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/First-Fifteen-Lives-Harry-
August/dp/0316399620)

------
vnxli
>The best books are bolded, the great ones are underlined, and my absolute
favorites are in red.

What does that even mean? What's the cutoff for best and great and favorite?

Does anyone else find the language over the top? Like we've watered down our
superlatives.

Maybe I'm being super picky, but why make a numbered list of the best things
across a spectrum of their greatness and not use the numbers?

~~~
ycombinete
I understand what he means. He’s sorted alphabetically by author. Then has two
categories. He probably doesn’t want to compare books beyond that. Their
either okay, great, or his absolute favourite.

------
r00fus
I reread (Audiobook version) the Hyperion Cantos a year ago and I was floored
at how well it aged in the past 20+ years.

as a sidenote, I picked up on stuff on the rereading and am wondering how much
of that is due to my increased maturity and how much is due to the format
(paperback vs. audiobook).

As a result I'm rereading a lot of my favorites from the past . Not all have
aged as well.

------
hirundo
I'd shelve The Stand in horror, not scifi. It uses post apocalyptic scifi
tropes, but ultimately the driver of the story is occult, not technological.
There may not be a fundamental difference between a rogue AI and a demon as an
antagonist ... other than where the book gets filed.

