Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?

#161

Post by code_Whisperer » Fri, May 26, 2023, 1:38 PM UTC

Easily these (so far):

This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (actually now one of my all-time favorites, without regard to genre. Just amazing)

Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Book of Strange New Things - Michael Faber

Ted Chiang's short story collections (Exhalations and Stories of your life and others)

Daemon - Daniel Suarez

The City and the City - China Miéville

Roadside Picnic - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (this one still haunts my dreams at times)

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse Book 1) - Dennis Taylor (just finished this series for book club)

Galatea 2.2, The Overstory, Bewilderment, The Gold Bug Variations - 4 different books, all by Richard Powers - what can I say, the man is a genius and a treasure

Eifelheim - Michael Flynn - ok, this book can be a slog at times, but it is very rewarding for those who persevere, and has stuck in my brain for many years

Chocky - John Wyndham - A quiet, delightful surprise

Providence - Max Barry - This book flows like a movie. It will make a great movie. I found myself LITERALLY out of breath a couple of times

Hench: A Novel - Natalie Zina Walschots - Quirky, memorable

The Peacemaker's Code - Deepak Malhotra - Why hasn't this guy written more sci-fi?

Orange World and Other Stories - Karen Russell - OK, maybe not strictly sci-fi, but this book tickles my brain

GUILTY PLEASURE SCI-FI FAVORITE: The Vaz series by Laurence Dahners. I think I've read that series 3 times now.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?

#162

Post by colinta » Fri, May 26, 2023, 9:48 PM UTC

Has anyone mentioned the Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe? If not, I will, and if so, I second it.

Other favorites are Ted Chiang's stories, Children of Time, Dune, and if you want some real escapist but thoroughly fun pulpy hilarity: Dungeon Crawler Carl

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?

#163

Post by hookedonwinter » Sat, May 27, 2023, 1:53 PM UTC

code_Whisperer wrote: post #161

Easily these (so far): This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (actually now one of my all-time favorites, without regard to genre. Just amazing) Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky The Book of Strange New Things - Michael Faber Ted Chiang's short story collections (Exhalations and Stories of your life and others) Daemon - Daniel Suarez The City and the City - China Miéville Roadside Pi…

I recommend Bobiverse all the time as a good sci fi intro or just a solid trilogy to crush in a weekend. And I always recommend reading it on kindle as he drops astrophysics terms with no context or explanation. It’s nice to touch the word and learn along the way. I didn’t know what a Lagrange Point was before, but now I do and it’s so cool!

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?

#164

Post by goddamnyouryan » Mon, May 29, 2023, 1:22 AM UTC

dopidopHN wrote: post #88

I getting thought anything by Kim S. Robinson. I read the Mars trilogy 20 years ago and plan to re-read it once I'm done. Recently went thought "Ministry for the future" from him. Weird mix of factual non fiction and SF. Read like a fan fiction of a iPCC Report. Outside of hard SF, Ursula K Leguin. Great world building.

“The Left Hand of Darkness” besides having one of the coolest titles of all time completely blew me away. Which lead me to reading “the dispossessed” which also blew me away and has maybe further radicalized me.

She has a beautiful way with words and also all of her stories are so recognizably human. Two qualities I find woefully lacking in most sci fi.

Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?

#165

Post by dcminter » Wed, May 31, 2023, 10:31 AM UTC

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #40

dcminter wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read any of the Bobiverse books, but I recall reading a review that stated something like "I realise this isn't going into what's so bad about it, but I honestly don't know where to start. It would be like explaining why murder was bad." :D Annoyingly I can't find the original any more, but I do note that most of the 1 star reviewers are angry about anti-religious tone, so perhaps that was the bee in their…

Roger Ebert always tried to review movies on what they were trying to do and not on an absolutist scale of good/bad. IMO the Bobiverse books are trying to have a fun go at a few different big sci-fi concepts and on that basis I think they're fairly successful.

Well, I duly did get and read the four extant novels. They're not the pinnacle of fine writing, but they're a pleasant time passer.

The first one in particularly did feel a bit too mary-sue ish. That plus the slightly excessive nerd-referencing might put someone off. I wondered several times whether a litigious rightsholder might go to battlestations on some of the use of trademarked franchise names!