Sci-Fi, but focused on the Science

pathfindersam

Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2021
Messages
14
Hey y’all, so I’m a bit of a science fiction fan and have even dabbled in writing a little of it. However, something I’ve always wondered: how many science fiction stories actually focused on the science part of its genre? I would love to read more books that go into the biology of their fictional aliens and planets and whatnot (sort of like that one documentary on Netflix) does anyone know any good books/series that are like this?
 
Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
The Godwhale by TJ Bass
The Martian by Andy Weir

for starters
 
It's been a while since I read them, but Nancy Kress wrote the Greentrees duology, and the Probability trilogy, both of which go into the biology of the alien planets, and the inhabitants. Kress tends to write harder sf than most, with a side helping of space opera. Her name was my first thought when talking about the biology of planets and aliens.

Becky Chambers goes lightly into the biology, and a little more into the socio-bological aspects, of alien species encountered in the Wayfarers books. However, she doesn't go into much depth, concentrating more on social aspects. On the positive side, her mother's a NASA science educator, so you'd like to think she picked up some ideas.

Nnedi Okorafor also has alien biology in the Binti books, but again it's less looking at the biology, and more at other aspects, such as the results of differing biological sets coming together. And, much as I think they're brilliant, there's a fair bit of handwavium involved, so it might not be what you're looking for.

All three of those, and the works suggested are from the last 21 years, with Chambers and Okorafor writing in the last decade.

Of course, the two classic authors I'd suggest would be Arthur C Clarke, not always a great writer, but good for the flights of fancy, or jumps in intuition, needed to imagine what a different biology would mean in real terms for the aliens themselves; and Ursula K Le Guin, who wrote a lot of sociological sf, but that included examining what a society would be like shaped by X planet's biology, and how their culture would have developed. Both authors wrote quite an array of fiction, some of which might be what you're looking for, whilst other works definitely wouldn't.
 
Peter Watts is a biologist, his books have some good science basis, the Rifters series and Blindsight (also some weird SF stuff in this but some good biology/science). I haven't read the sequel Echopraxia yet.

Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time and Children of Ruin.
 
What about Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear?

The book went into some depth about the human genome and evolution.
 
Julie E Czerneda's Species Imperative trilogy - the main character is an evolutionary biologist studying salmon migration on the western seaboard of the USA until an alien turns up. (It is in a world where aliens are known.)

Janet Kagan - Hellspark - goes into biology a bit and her second book does so a bit more.

James White - Sector General series about a space hospital for multiple species - multi-legged, small, large, furry, aquatic and a few humans, and the staff are the same. A biologist helped him design aliens that were feasible.
 
Last edited:
I would like to say thank you all for the recommendations! You've definitely helped my reading list grow larger (though my bank account may cry for it haha)!
Such is the blessing and the curse of being a Chrons member. There's such a broad range of knowledge, and tastes, here. Rich in culture, poor in bank balance.
 
A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C Clarke

 
Timescape by Gregory Benford.
Inherit the Stars by James Hogan.
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark
I recently reread Inherit the Stars.
Boy does it have a lot of infodumps.
I presume they did not bother me as much in ancient days as they do now. And we know a lot more about Ice Ages than back then. According to Goodreads that seems to have been his most popular book.
 
I recently reread Inherit the Stars.
Boy does it have a lot of infodumps.
I presume they did not bother me as much in ancient days as they do now. And we know a lot more about Ice Ages than back then. According to Goodreads that seems to have been his most popular book.
Very true. There is an air of quaintness to it now, but when I reread it I still enjoyed it for the most part.
 
George O. Smith wrote a two volume paperback set of stories, they were called "Venus Equilateral", about a giant space station in orbit between Venus and Earth that relayed radio signals.
The stories are pretty much centered around the science involved, very much hard S.F.
 

Similar threads


Back
Top