Favorite Sci-fi

[Anonymous No.16074684]

What's your some of the best, most liked science fiction books you've read?

[Anonymous No.16075740]

>>16074684
Gonna be a fucking normie and say a brave new world.
Pic related: me probably

[Anonymous No.16075848]

>>16075740
Normies normally read 1984 but BNW is also fairly common in schools now

[Anonymous No.16076392]

>>16074684
Normiefag reporting in.

[Anonymous No.16076393]

This is the only book that has made me cry.

[Anonymous No.16076403]

>>16076392
Rendezvous with Rama and this desu

[Anonymous No.16076468]

Big swinging dick Chad coming through.

[Anonymous No.16076591]

>>16074684

[Anonymous No.16076694]

Space Odyssey, Solaris, Childhood's End are the first 3 that come to my mind right off the bat. Ender's Game too, that's the only YA book I genuinely like.

>>16075740
BNW is a good book.

[Anonymous No.16077566]

>>16074684

[Anonymous No.16077577]

>>16075740
Being obsessed with BNW is FAR less cringy than being obsessed with 1984

[Anonymous No.16078844]

>>16074684
I would highly recommend this, it's one of my favorite books of any genre not just sci-fi.

[Anonymous No.16078984]

[Anonymous No.16079037]

>>16078984
Massively overrated

[Anonymous No.16079058]

>>16076393
One of his worst. Starts off okay, then turns into vapid coomer wankery.

[Anonymous No.16079157]

>>16079058
fucking hell I thought I was the only one. Started out with promise and then just deteriorated into a piece of shit slog that I could barely finish. What the fuck

[Anonymous No.16079182]

[Anonymous No.16079214]

>>16074684

You already posted the best one, so I'm gonna say either Hyperion or Ender's Game.

[Anonymous No.16079226]

i like it soft and elegiac myself

[Anonymous No.16079626]

The Star Diaries by Stanisław Lem

[Anonymous No.16079988]

>>16076591
This guy gets it.

[Anonymous No.16080329]

>>16074684
Could I enjoy this book even if I dislike the "choosen one" trope and had read few sci-fi?

[Anonymous No.16080582]

>>16076694
>Childhood's End

I read on TVtropes that it falls for the orientalist meme where "Every religion (besides Buddhism) is discredited by the knowledge that the Overlords bring, specifically by their observational records of human history." Is it really as fedora as it sounds? I want to read the book for its influence on Evangelion but I don't know how badly dated it is. Maybe I'll just power through it.

[Anonymous No.16080607]

>>16080582
Clarke is not fedora at all. Some of his books have Herbert levels of background religious syncretism.

[ded No.16080652]

>>16078984
Gold

[Anonymous No.16080676]

Ray Bradbury goat

[Anonymous No.16080726]

>>16074684
>>16076393
Based Heinlein, he was a genius

[Anonymous No.16080765]

>>16074684
Dune
Valis
Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising

[Anonymous No.16080952]

>>16075740
Reading it at the moment.
pic related is you.

[Anonymous No.16081515]

>>16076468
Seconding Neuromancer, it's too legit to quit

[Anonymous No.16081567]

>>16080676
This. Pretty much everything he has ever written is great.

[Anonymous No.16081599]

>>16074684
>>16080765
>>16079214
Read a real book you fucking children, even Harry Potter makes Dune look like Goodnight Moon.

[Anonymous No.16082418]

Can anyone recommend me a sci-fi book with a good romantic subplot? Thanks.

[Anonymous No.16082562]

>>16079182
is it good or a meme?
I've heard about the sexual slave catholic priest

[Anonymous No.16082585]

the Three Body Problem trilogy even with the shitty writing
the sci-fi book the most thinking I've dedicated

[Grand Cairo No.16082694]

Currently my fav sci fi. Read it 5 years ago now, still trying hard to find something better
>don't read the sequels

[Grand Cairo No.16082707]

>>16082694
Another good one here

[Anonymous No.16082730]

>>16074684
Unironically the JAG in space books. The minutia of the day to day feels so real it really draws you in, and add to the fact that the world is never ending and it's just so authentically enjoyable.

[Anonymous No.16082768]

>>16080329
Absolutely not

[Anonymous No.16083241]

>>16082418
I cant decide if romantic subplot in asimov robots is cringe or not because of my nostalgia bias.

[Anonymous No.16083289]

Give this a read if you're Catholic or know a lot about Catholicism. It's one of my favorites.

[Anonymous No.16083292]

I've read very few but they're all bangers so far. Here's my ranking.
1. Book of the New Sun+Urth
2. Dune 1-4
3. Hyperion
4. Roadside Picnic
5. I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream
That's all I've read. I highly recommend all of these. I'm going to finish Dune 5 and 6 then move onto Neuromancer.

[Anonymous No.16083298]

>>16078844
What's it about?

[Anonymous No.16083580]

Voyage to Arcturus.
I got it after helping a hippie grandma move. It's actually a pretty good transcendental fantasy work. Shame it tanked at first.
She also just gave me a box of Rex Stout novels.

[Anonymous No.16083615]

>>16078844
This was great. Both sequels were worth it as well.

[Anonymous No.16083645]

>>16082562
Yeah. One of the only books written by a lady I've read and it was pretty damn good.

[Anonymous No.16083838]

>>16083289
Seconded. A masterpiece.

[Grand Cairo No.16084250]

>>16083292
>I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream
Harlan used to have a sissy fit if someone called his work science fiction

[Anonymous No.16085297]

The Dispossessed

[Anonymous No.16085340]

>>16076468
>>16081515
are the "sequels" any good? so far i have been avoiding them

[Anonymous No.16085498]

>>16080676
Literally the shitiest most over rated pile of hot garbage to disgrace the literary canon

Please exit the gene pool, brainlet

[Anonymous No.16085529]

>>16079037
You could've posted your favorite sci fi but you chose to be a bitch instead, maybe you're scared anons will laugh at your shit taste?

[Anonymous No.16085603]

>>16080582
Late response, sorry: I don't recall it being fedora at all. Don't take what TVT says at face value, and if you like Evangelion (as I do), I think you're gonna, at least, enjoy it.

[Anonymous No.16085617]

>>16080582
It doesn't feel fedora at all. It's far closer to 2001 than Hitchens

[Anonymous No.16085623]

>>16079626
Is this a good place to start with Lem? I've read a book of his nonfiction (which was great) and seen the film adaptation of Solaris but haven't read any of his fiction works.

[Anonymous No.16085625]

>>16074684
Stranger in a Strange Land is probably my all time favorite book.

[Anonymous No.16085820]

>>16079226
Based

[Anonymous No.16085836]

>>16082694
>>don't read the sequels
Good general advice for almost all SF.

Gateway is brilliant.

I’ve always wanted to read Jem. They made a special category in the American Book Award that they used only once— just to give that book an award.

[Anonymous No.16085840]

>>16074684
Seriously. Not a meme. You have to read it to really understand the depths. Very Dune-like in the glossary aspect and world building, but not an interplanetary scifi.

[Anonymous No.16085849]

>>16082707
Yeah. Ever read Golem100? Lots of people hate it because it’s so crazed, clumsily experimental, and violent, but I thought it was awesome. But more cartoony than Stars my Destination.

[Anonymous No.16085978]

>>16074684
Yevgeny Zamyatin - We (1921)
Olaf Stapledon - Star Maker (1937)
George R. Stewart - Earth Abides (1949)
John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (1951)
Theodore Sturgeon - More Than Human (1953)
Frederik Pohl - The Space Merchants (1953)
Edgar Pangborn - A Mirror for Observers (1954)
Hal Clement - Mission of Gravity (1954)
Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination (1957)
Walter M. Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959)
J.G. Ballard - The Drowned World (1962)
Clifford D. Simak - Way Station (1963)
Strugatsky Bros. - Hard to Be a God (1964)
Frank Herbert: "Dune" (1965)
Robert Heinlein - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966)
Roger Zelazny: "Lord of Light" (1967)
John Brunner - Stand on Zanzibar (1968)
Keith Roberts - Pavane (1968)
Stanislaw Lem - His Master's Voice (1968)
Philip K. Dick: "Ubik" (1969)
Stanislaw Lem - The Futurological Congress (1971)
Arkady Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic (1972)
Robert Silverberg - Dying Inside (1972)
Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama (1973)
Ursula K. Le Guin - The Dispossessed (1974)
Christopher Priest - Inverted World (1974)
Samuel R. Delany - Dhalgren (1975)
Cordwainer Smith - Norstrilia (1975)
Octavia Butler - Kindred (1979)
Brian W. Aldiss - Helliconia Trilogy (1982)
Gene Wolfe - The Book of the New Sun (1983)
Dan Simmons: "Hyperion Cantos" (1990)
Vernor Vinge: "A Fire Upon The Deep" (1992)
Greg Egan - Permutation City (1994)
Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space (2000)
M. John Harrison - Light (2002)
Robert Charles Wilson: "Spin" (2005)
Neal Stephenson - Anathem (2008)
China Mieville - Embassytown (2011)

[Anonymous No.16086360]

>>16083289
>>16083838
This is a sci-fi book?!

[Anonymous No.16086820]

[Anonymous No.16086963]

pic related. its neat to read a book where all the characters work together instead of their being drawn into some personal squabble. shame about the sequel.

[Anonymous No.16087085]

I'm looking for good sci-fi for my dad, who's in his 70's. He expressed today that he wishes he could find more. It's quite a task because he's been reading it his whole life. Every book he's recommended to me has been awesome; some of which are:
>"Great Sky River" by Gregory Benford
>"A Matter for Men" by David Gerrold
>"Armor" by John Steakly
>"The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

He also insists I read John Varley's "Gaea" trilogy. What would you recommend my dad?

[Anonymous No.16087269]

Fuck, my reading list surpassed 700.

[Anonymous No.16087427]

>>16074684
Flow my tears is absolutely amazing Dick was incredible at creating the sensation of paranoia

[Anonymous No.16087503]

>>16074684
IDK why but im addicted to Asimov books. I think my favorites are the short storys like the bicentennial man and in a good cause.
>>16077566
this one was fun. I read it in one sitting.
>>16083292
would I like book of the new sun if I liked Hyperion?

[Anonymous No.16087571]

>>16082562
It's really good imho

[Anonymous No.16087661]

Ada Palmer
Terra Ignota series

[Anonymous No.16087685]

It's just incredible

[Anonymous No.16087727]

>>16084250
Harlan Ellison is one of the biggest assholes I've ever read about and he makes me irrationally angry.

[Anonymous No.16087740]

>>16087085
That's very thoughtful of you, Anon. My grandfather's a former rocket engineer in his 80's, and we had a fun time going through the /lit/ science-fiction chart to see which book he's read and what he has to say about them. Maybe your father would like going through it as well?

[Anonymous No.16087758]

What is the /lit/ consensus on Enders game? It's still one of my favs but I might be biased because of the nostalgia.

[Anonymous No.16087884]

>>16074684
thans anon.
couple chapters in and im really enjoying it!

[Anonymous No.16087918]

>>16076694
Solaris is so boring. Cool concept overall but I couldn't even make it more than 2/3 of the way. I don't give a fuck about any of the characters and the arc moves way too slow. Maybe it's the Russian translation idk.

[Anonymous No.16087969]

>>16087758
It's a good book. Great way to introduce kids and teens to sci-fi. Best to get it in early before the ending is spoiled. I enjoyed the rest of the series when I was about 13, as well.

[Anonymous No.16088074]

>>16087503
>would I like book of the new sun if I liked Hyperion?
It is an entirely different experience so I wouldn't know. I would say it's less "fun" but still a great read.
It's got an unreliable narrator so it's full of mysteries the reader must solve. The way it's written is very unique as well. BotNS is a journal from the far future when the sun is dying that got sent to the past and is being translated by Gene Wolfe the best he can, using a dead language when he can't get a word accurate enough to translate certain things.

[Anonymous No.16088098]

>>16074684
DUST by Elizabeth Bear
FOREIGNER by CJ Cherryh
HAMMERED by Elizabeth Bear
NEUROMANCER by William Gibson
ANGEL STATION by Walter Jon Williams

[Anonymous No.16088101]

>>16081515
One of my favorite books of all time!!!

[Anonymous No.16088313]

>>16087758
I’d say it’s brilliant, nostalgia or no. Didn’t read it until I was an adult and really enjoyed it. Heard the sequels weren’t nearly as good so I just stopped there.

[Anonymous No.16088322]

>>16079037
I agree. The games' story is unironically better than the book and the movie.

[Anonymous No.16088328]

>>16083289
Even if you're not religious this is an excellent read.

[Anonymous No.16088352]

>>16088322
The movie seriously broke my heart. When even Harrison Ford is phoning it in, you know something is seriously wrong. Such a botched opportunity.

[Anonymous No.16088476]

>>16087085
>"Armor" by John Steakly
One of my favorites too.
Shame Steakly never finished the sequel
The sample chapters sadly are just jack crowe

[Anonymous No.16088477]

>>16088313
The sequels are every bit as good, they just aren't the tight little standalone stories that Ender's Game is.

>>16088352
They're talking about Stalker, not Ender's Game.

[Anonymous No.16088494]

>>16088477
Well okay! Should I come across them in my travels I’ll give them a chance!

[Anonymous No.16088502]

>>16088477
>They're talking about Stalker, not Ender's Game.

DURP! My bad. (Still a terrible movie, though.)

[Anonymous No.16088514]

>>16088476
Jack Crowe is Steakley's main character for anything he would have written, I think. His Vampire novel also features Jack.

>>16088494
Just don't go in expecting more Ender heroics. The story is much bigger than him.

[Anonymous No.16088517]

>>16087085
Robert L. Forward - Dragon's Egg

[Anonymous No.16088521]

>>16087427
my friends shat on it for some reason, but honestly it's a very good book, it's like the part when Deckard is taken into the fake police station for me

[Anonymous No.16088525]

>>16087918
It's easily his least compelling novel, in my opinion. Try 'His Master's Voice' or 'The Futurological Congress'.

[Anonymous No.16088537]

>>16088517
Thanks, man. I'll check if he's read it.

[Anonymous No.16088552]

>>16088514
>Just don't go in expecting more Ender heroics. The story is much bigger than him.

Can do! And that’s the feeling I got even in ENDER, which I find quite compelling.

[Anonymous No.16088560]

>>16088098
>ANGEL STATION by Walter Jon Williams
my man, loved this book, I feel it's a bit underrated
also wish he would finish the Metropolitan trilogy, but maybe that's more science fantasy

[Anonymous No.16088572]

Dying Earth is GOAT

[Anonymous No.16088577]

>>16088537
I wouldn't be surprised if he has. It's in the same vein as the novels you listed -- classic hard science fiction from the 70s/80s. If he's already read it, try 'The Book of the Ler' by M. A. Foster -- that one is a bit more obscure.

[Anonymous No.16088579]

>>16088560
>also wish he would finish the Metropolitan trilogy, but maybe that's more science fantasy

Would you recommend? ANGEL STATION, which I’d never heard of before it was loaned to me by a friend, was fantastic! And I agree, it’s absolutely underrated!

[Anonymous No.16088590]

>>16088552
The offshoot series about Bean is probably more interesting to people who want more light military sci-fi like EG.

[Anonymous No.16088654]

>>16088579
on one hand I'd like to recommend it because I feel it's also an underappreciated series
on the other, it's missing the third book and I feel it'll never be finished, so if that's a problem for you, don't start

[Anonymous No.16088664]

>>16088590
Good to know! Don’t know if I’d say I want a particular style of storytelling (sci-fi, sci-fantasy, military sci-fi)...I just care about a compelling story!

[Anonymous No.16088682]

>>16088654
HA! Well I’m still patiently waiting for Kingkiller Day 3, so I think I can handle it! I’ll definitely put it on my list! Thanks for the rec (and the warning!).

[Anonymous No.16088717]

>>16088682
hope you enjoy it, also if you didn't read yet, voice of the whirlwind from him has more in common with angel station than hardwired(despite being a 'sequel' to hardwired, but that's probably because of publisher fuckery or something)

[Anonymous No.16088730]

I'm a novice reader so this is probably a plebeian opinion, but: Jurassic Park. I have a scientific background so seeing 'modern' science and graphs in a work of fiction gave me a hard on.

[Anonymous No.16088732]

>>16088730
If you like graphs you should try State of Fear.

[Anonymous No.16088797]

>>16088732
Thanks mate. I'll put it on my reading list.

[Anonymous No.16088881]

I'm thinking of buying this, because I read that it has some original ideas on AI.
Can someone elaborate without spoiling or recommend something better?

[Anonymous No.16088882]

BOOK OF THE NEW SUN

[Anonymous No.16088995]

>>16080726
the movie was superior desu

[Anonymous No.16089461]

>>16085340
yes. Early Gibson in general is good.
Avoid his latest garbage by all costs. One should know when to stop.
>>16076468
>>16081515
Came here to post this

[Anonymous No.16089478]

>>16075740
Brave New World is amazing
1984 gets the Will Wheaton face

[Anonymous No.16089495]

>>16088995
t. stupid fucking liberal

[Anonymous No.16089509]

>>16088881
That's the edition to get. Contains both books.

[Anonymous No.16089687]

>>16089461
hot take - cyberpunk literature started and ended with the sprawl trilogy + burning chrome.

[Anonymous No.16090112]

>>16087085
idk maybe ursula but he probably read it.
king of elfland is good but its fantasy desu

[Anonymous No.16090139]

[Anonymous No.16090203]

>>16074684
Rendezvous with Rama
Neuromancer
Accelerando

[Anonymous No.16090213]

>>16080329
Perhaps it would help to know that the "chosen one" trope wasn't nearly so much of a trope before Dune came along and spawned half a million imitators? (Star Wars and the Wheel of Time are both clear cut examples of this happening.)

[Anonymous No.16090235]

>>16087727
There's something going on with people named Ellison. They're all asshats.

[Anonymous No.16090251]

>>16085978
>Neal Stephenson - Anathem (2008)
This one starts out great then goes batshit stupid in the final 5%. This seems to be a habit of Neal Stephenson.

[Anonymous No.16090330]

>>16090251
Can't say I disagree, but overall it was worth the journey. It's a problem that plagues science fiction in general: the tendency to degenerate into trite action-adventure in the final act.

[Anonymous No.16090341]

>>16090330
Yeah I certainly don't regret reading it. Most of it was great.

[Anonymous No.16090769]

>>16080329
Is it okay if the chosen one trope in Dune is canonicaly artificial and also the chosen one is doomed to suffer? Would that make you feel better about it?

[Anonymous No.16090776]

>>16090769
>and also the chosen one is doomed to suffer?
They usually are tbqh.

[Anonymous No.16091057]

>>16090776
Oh, I was thinking along the lines of "destined to be a hero and get his dick sucked happily ever after" rather than "bred to be unwillingly worshiped, become responsible for billions of lives lost, and potentially live thousands of years until your time comes to have your conscious split into many organisms, existing in all of them but no longer yourself for eternity"

[Anonymous No.16091072]

>>16091057
Well usually it's not so extreme as that, but "chosen one has to die" has been a popular trope for about 2000 years at least...

[Anonymous No.16091073]

>>16083289
It’s a philosophical/theological text as well.
>>16086360
Ya gotta read it to believe it

[Anonymous No.16091101]

>>16090251
The world was so neat that I could forgive the end. The whole caste of IT guys was a fun concept.

[Anonymous No.16091345]

>>16085625
>Stranger in a Strange Land
Which version should I read?

[Anonymous No.16091375]

>>16089687
I dislike that I agree with this. While you could argue for the bridge trilogy to be included, there is something just slightly off with it that I can't quite put a finger on.

[Anonymous No.16091418]

>>16091375
I've never seen a genre turn into self-parody and meta-circlejerking as quickly as cyberpunk did. I suppose that's because it was very much a time and place sort of thing - the Sprawl trilogy was born in that extremely specific period where computers were widely known of as a thing that exists but they were still very much far from ubiquitous, and therefore mysterious.

[Anonymous No.16091432]

>>16091418
*and were therefore mysterious.

[Anonymous No.16091484]

>>16091418
Yes. I think the computing era of that time plays a big part in the quality of the Sprawl trilogy.
However, it was Gibson himself and his exposure to the scene of the time that made them excellent works. I think his later works become more self conscious and were somewhat removed. I think the downfall of any good work is a state of self consciousness.
The presence of quality in his earlier works is the result of his immersion in the scene at the time. In his later works, he is older, an observer of the scene.

There was an interesting video interview with Gibson called No Maps for These Territories. He reflects on some of this himself

[Anonymous No.16091707]

>>16074684
i dont know about most liked but recently i read the hammer of god by arthur c clarke
pretty gud desu

[Anonymous No.16091881]

Hyperion

[Anonymous No.16091953]

>>16091418
The mysteriousness of computers was never really central to "getting" Neuromancer though.

Actually, I think there's plenty in Neuromancer that makes more sense today than it ever did before. Take Dixie Flatline for example. When Neuromancer was first published, the premise of Dixie Flatline seemed pretty absurd, but now in the era of GPT-3 and similar systems, it seems borderline plausible that somebody could create a digital simulation of your personality if they had enough data about you.

[Anonymous No.16093520]

>>16086360
Yeah! It's a fun read.

[Anonymous No.16093592]

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin

[Anonymous No.16093623]

>>16087727
I'm so glad he's dead.

[Anonymous No.16093632]

>>16075740
Liking Brave New World isn't onions. Brave New World was a future in which those shallow, conformist, consumerist idiots took over the world.

[Anonymous No.16093649]

>>16088525
The Futurological Congress is utter shite

[Anonymous No.16093654]

>>16087918
I understand, but I must disagree, for personally I loved it, though true that its strongest point it's its concept. For that alone I can forgive the rest.

[Anonymous No.16093662]

>>16082418
End of Eternity is the best i can give you at the moment, but the romantic subplot is....................................................... well, very of its era.

[Anonymous No.16093679]

>>16083289
I looked it up, it sounds very much like my type of shit right now, it even reminds me of the novel i'm currently writting in some form. Thanks for the rec, anon!

[Anonymous No.16093738]

>>16074684

[Anonymous No.16093872]

>>16074684
Greg Egan's complete stories. Frederic Brown's. Canticle for Leibowitz

[Anonymous No.16093948]

>>16085340
If you are into the story for the worldbuilding, no.

If you want more action cyberpunk stuff with different characters, yes.

[Anonymous No.16094641]

Can’t wait

[Anonymous No.16094673]

>>16091073
>Ya gotta read it to believe it
So a christian is saying I gotta see something to believe it

[Anonymous No.16094696]

>>16093738
This. Echopraxia was meh though.

[Anonymous No.16094811]

>>16074684
A Fire Upon the Deep.

[Anonymous No.16094872]

>>16074684
Dune was so fucking bad, stop shilling this shit.
Also, blindsight and permutation city.

[Anonymous No.16094887]

>>16076393
Have you read his other works?
I very much prefer The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers to that book.

[Anonymous No.16095278]

>>16094641
That comparison is being made because both are alien freaks fucked up by autism, r-right?

[Anonymous No.16095290]

>>16094641
>>16095278
Oh wait they're comparing Paul to greta, not Alia. Literally wtf lmao!

[Anonymous No.16095346]

>>16095278
Greta is a leader of her generation.

[Anonymous No.16095382]

>>16095346
What a joke of a generation

[Anonymous No.16095413]

The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard

[Anonymous No.16096727]

>>16083292
Book of the New Sun shit on everything else sci-fi.