an SF book recommendation is needed

[naroshka]

Hello,

I came back to re-reading some classical SF (Solaris by Lem, Azimov, brothers Strugatsky). Then I decided to check if there is any modern SF book in line which those masterpieces. The key feature is that the core of the story is not about fictional events of phenomena but rather about human ideas that are valid eternally. The examples are "Solaris", "Hard to be a god", "451 farengheit", "i'm robot", "roadside picnic".
I'll appreciate a reccomendation of a modern SF book of that nature.

 

[Swank]

You may find considerable variation in what is believed to be "human ideas, valid eternally". I don't see much of a connection between I, Robot and Solaris.

Perhaps you could be more specific as to the kinds of story elements you're looking for? I had some suggestions, but they were based on how I would interpret your request, not how you think about it.

 

[Rodders]

Modern masterpieces are very much down to personal taste.

I don’t think you can go too far wrong with Iain M. Banks’s Culture novels. My personal favourite being The Player of Games. Although I expect they’re not really in the realms of modern, really.

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Bear Head was a brilliant novel and I’d recommend that as a future classic.

When The English Fall by David Williams. Who knew that an Amish post apocalyptic story would be so engaging.

 

[BAYLOR]

A Fire Upon the Deep by Verner Vinge
The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook
Past Master by R A Lafferty An older book that you might want check out
Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
Jack Faust by Michal Swaswick
Consider Phlebas by Ian Banks

 

[Parson]

You've left us with a hard task. But three that I can think of that have something very true to say about human nature with a SF setting would be

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

These three are all very well reviewed and written in the last 5? years. In none of these books are humans the main character(s) and so they look at human culture at least mostly from the outside which I find particularly powerful.