Screenplay for "A Topiary"
Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
51–60 of 165 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#52* Greg Egan’s short story collections, Diaspora, and Permutation City. Fair warning, Egan puts the “hard” in “hard sci-fi”.
* Haven’t finished the Expanse final trilogy, but I really enjoyed the first two.
* The Wool series
* Project Hail Mary, for story reasons I’d recommend the audio book.
* We Are Bob trilogy, fourth book is garbage.
* Old Man’s War
* The Culture Series by Ian Banks
* If you enjoyed Seveneves, and thus can tolerate Stephenson’s consistent habit to drop the ball in the last 20% of his books, Diamond Age is enjoyable.
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#53So many listed here are already in my top list, what I haven’t seen is the Luna Trilogy by Ian McDonald. Neat ideas from corporate run future moon colony.
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#54It's not exactly sci-fi but there are sci-fi elements and it's one of my favorite books so I'll just mention it anyway: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#55Some recent favorites:
- Children of Time (Tchaikovsky)
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Chambers)
- Project Hail Mary (Weir)
- The Culture Series (Banks)
- The Expanse Series (Corey)
- The Red Rising Series (Brown)
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#56Bobiverse series (Dennis E. Taylor) Old Man's War series (John Scalzi) The Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells)
Just finished part 4 of the Bobiverse. It's a nice read. And it seems to be getting better as the series progresses.
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#57Any short story by J.G. Ballard.
His work is sci-fiction in the sense it explores inner-space and not outer-space, and was prophetic in many ways of current technology [1].
One story I frequently reflect on with the rise of LLMs is "Studio 5, The Stars" [2] from the Vermilion Sands collection [3]. Where automated poetry machines are used and people no longer have skill to write poetry, and trying to do so it met with skepticism and disgust.
1. "Why we are living in JG Ballard’s world" https://archive.is/pksxh
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#58Fair warning, I only liked the first part of Seveneves; I thought the second part was stupid. You'll get a lot of recommendations for Liu Cixin's "Three Body Problem" which I personally hate (though the first part of the first book is very well written), but if you like all of Seveneves then it might suit you. My personal favourites that might not already be on everyone else's lists: Fiasco - Stanisław Lem This is ho…
I loved all of Seveneves, and hate Three Body Problem.
The biggest difference in theme being, optimism that humanity can overcome any obstacle and flourish.
If you want more in that vein, see:
Aurora - Kim Stanley Robinson
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
Delta-V - Daniel Suarez
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#59City - Clifford D Simack
All of Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois Bujold
Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh
Stand in Zanzibar John Bruner
Adiamante - LE Modesitt Jr
Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen
Known Space series by Larry Niven and ALL of his collaborations with Jerry Pournelle
Midshipman’s Hope by David Feintuch
Gateway - Fredrick Pohl
Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#60Rendezvous with Rama. Arthur C Clarke
Consider Phlebas. Iain M Banks
Dune. Frank Herbert
Kiteworld. Keith Roberts
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams