Another Recommendations Request

Michael Colton

Michael Colton

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Hello, folks. I am new here and looking for some new science fiction authors to read. There are just so many out there, I am having a hard time figuring out where to go since not many people I know in life read science fiction and can give me recommendations.

What I am looking for now is primarily: not space opera, not reliant on a 'hero' archetype protagonist. Nothing wrong with those, mind you, they just seem to be something I come across quite frequently when I randomly check out authors. Looking for something different.

I have no preference between 'hard/soft' science fiction and those types of distinctions, I enjoy the spectrum.

Thanks in advance! :)
 
That's kind of wide open. :) My last 10 particularly good, not particularly heroic non-space operas (collections unless otherwise noted) were

Allen Steele - Sex and Violence in Zero-G, Orbital Decay (novel), Lunar Descent (novel)
Brad R. Torgersen - Lights in the Deep
John Shirley - Heatseeker
Karl Schroeder - The Engine of Recall
John Barnes - Apostrophes and Apocalypses
Hal Clement - Space Lash
Jack McDevitt - The Devil's Eye (novel)
Henry Kuttner - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and The Fairy Chessmen (double novella)

A lot of these are set in space but aren't "space operas". The Kuttner and parts of the collections are about the only things that have nothing to do with space at all.

And I recommend Isaac Asimov.

If you want to narrow it down some more, I'll try my best to answer that. ;)
 
J-Sun said:
A lot of these are set in space but aren't "space operas". The Kuttner and parts of the collections are about the only things that have nothing to do with space at all.
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I am not necessarily avoiding space itself, just the grandiose adventure-style of space opera I keep running into. Large-scale intergalactic war that some heroic protagonist has an amazingly impactful role in somehow, etc.

Thanks for the list, I will do some research on them. And I have read a decent amount of Asimov, though I have yet to finish the whole Foundation series. As I mentioned in a different thread (I think), I have also been looking partly for science fiction written sometime in the last twenty-five years. I have spent so much time reading 'classics' by the forerunners/giants of the genre that I feel I have missed out on anything that has happened since the early 90s. Especially with currently active/alive authors.

Edit: After looking up the authors, Schroeder and McDevitt looked especially appealing and I have ordered a couple from each. Thank you much! And for others that read the thread, more recommendations the better. I try to formulate six month tentative reading lists at a time.
 
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A Scanner Darkly - Philip K.Dick [a cop becomes a drug user to infiltrate a dubious group and becomes unable to connect what he observes as a cop, with what he experiences as a member of the group]

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood [the experiences of 'Snowman' before and after an event that wipes out mankind, leaving behind the genetically modified plants and animals of humanity's meddling]

Dark Eden - Chris Beckett [the descendents of a lost space expedition encounter change in the society they have built on a new and alien world]

Stone - Adam Roberts [a criminal is broken from imprisonment in the heart of a star and is charged with committing a heinous crime]

I love all these books, especially Scanner and Stone.
 
VALIS13 said:
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K.Dick [a cop becomes a drug user to infiltrate a dubious group and becomes unable to connect what he observes as a cop, with what he experiences as a member of the group]

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood [the experiences of 'Snowman' before and after an event that wipes out mankind, leaving behind the genetically modified plants and animals of humanity's meddling]

Dark Eden - Chris Beckett [the descendents of a lost space expedition encounter change in the society they have built on a new and alien world]

Stone - Adam Roberts [a criminal is broken from imprisonment in the heart of a star and is charged with committing a heinous crime]

I love all these books, especially Scanner and Stone.
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Thank you much for the suggestions! The Beckett and Roberts novels look especially interesting after reading their initial synopsis. I've put them on my list. :)
 
That is a seriously open question! Here's a few of my favourites:

Neal Asher, Iain Banks, Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton. All of these tend towards space opera but don't generally have an improbable heroic individual who changes galactic history all on his lonesome! ;) The latter two, Hamilton in particular, tend towards doorstop books.

Greg Egan, Tony Ballantine, Greg Bear for hard SF.

William Gibson, John Courtenay Grimwood, Hannu Rajaniemi for Cyberpunk.

For some of the great classics you can do worse than look at the SF Masterworks authors. In particular (for me at least) Philip K Dick and, of course, Isaac Asimov.

If you want a chuckle, our very own Toby Frost's Isambard Smith books are well worth a read. They are very much a hero saving the galaxy but it is also very much a spoof and if you are tired of that sort of thing you may well thoroughly them (especially if you like tea :D).
 
Vertigo said:
That is a seriously open question! Here's a few of my favourites:

Neal Asher, Iain Banks, Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton. All of these tend towards space opera but don't generally have an improbable heroic individual who changes galactic history all on his lonesome! ;) The latter two, Hamilton in particular, tend towards doorstop books.

Greg Egan, Tony Ballantine, Greg Bear for hard SF.

William Gibson, John Courtenay Grimwood, Hannu Rajaniemi for Cyberpunk.

For some of the great classics you can do worse than look at the SF Masterworks authors. In particular (for me at least) Philip K Dick and, of course, Isaac Asimov.

If you want a chuckle, our very own Toby Frost's Isambard Smith books are well worth a read. They are very much a hero saving the galaxy but it is also very much a spoof and if you are tired of that sort of thing you may well thoroughly them (especially if you like tea :D).
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Thanks! Greg Egan sounded particularly interesting after reading up on his themes and style, so I have added him to my list. I was reminded by your post that someone told me a while back that I would probably like Hamilton's style of 'space opera' with the Void Trilogy, so I have added that as well for when I am back in an operatically intergalactic mood. :)
 
Be warned that they are all doorstop sized books. Also the Void trilogy (which I personally think is just brilliant) continues in the same universe about 100 years later and with some of the same characters as the two books Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Whilst I also think these are great I prefer the Void Trilogy.
 
Vertigo said:
Be warned that they are all doorstop sized books. Also the Void trilogy (which I personally think is just brilliant) continues in the same universe about 100 years later and with some of the same characters as the two books Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Whilst I also think these are great I prefer the Void Trilogy.
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Doorstop-ness does not bother me. :p

Is there a significant or vital level of depth with the characters or universe that will be missing if I start with the Void Trilogy?
 
That's a difficult one. It is a completely new story and whilst it does make reference to events in the earlier books I don't remember them as being critical. The backgrounds of some characters will be missing, but again I'm not sure it would be critical. There are a few comments on order and it not being too important in this thread: http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/540898-any-other-peter-f-hamilton-fans-2.html
 
Vertigo said:
That's a difficult one. It is a completely new story and whilst it does make reference to events in the earlier books I don't remember them as being critical. The backgrounds of some characters will be missing, but again I'm not sure it would be critical. There are a few comments on order and it not being too important in this thread: http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/540898-any-other-peter-f-hamilton-fans-2.html
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I think perhaps I will start with the Commonwealth series after reading up on them a bit more.
 
I think they're great books but in general they are rather less well liked than his Void books. However both sets are superior (I think) to his Nights Dawn books.
 
Vertigo said:
I think they're great books but in general they are rather less well liked than his Void books. However both sets are superior (I think) to his Nights Dawn books.
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Thank you for all the info. I will keep my eyes open for other references between the series - it will be a little bit before I get around to them because of the 'space opera' thing, so I will have some time to decide. :)
 
Nerds_feather said:
Yup. Also, if you know his short fiction, then you'll recognize the setting (he developed the novel from several short stories).
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I know his name purely from friends that think of him as some sort of tabletop deity, though I do not know much about it. Just name recognition. :rolleyes:
 
The Lords of Light by Zelazny. Came out at the same time as Dune as has been ignored. But definitely worth a read.
 
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