Besides Kill Process and Seveneves (mentioned elsewhere on this thread), I'm going through the Hyperion Cantos right now, and I can't recommend it enough. Apparently Bradley Cooper is heading up production of a series as well, so good times ahead for that IP.
Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
31–40 of 45 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#32Three books I enjoyed this year:
this census taker, China Mieville
To Say Nothing Of The Dog, Connie Willis
The Possibility of an Island, Houellebecq
If you enjoy science-fiction, it is quite possible that you wouldn't enjoy any of the books above or even classify them as science-fiction (I would though) -- so definitely look them up or try the kindle sample to see if they appeal to you.
Also, I see Ann Leckie's Ancillary trilogy mentioned elsewhere, I second that recommendation.
[Also, honourable mention to the TV show Westworld -- if it were a book I would have included.]
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#33How Great Science Fiction Works: The Great Courses. I'd say while not quite scifi itself, it's one of best audiobooks/lectures about scifi that teaches the history and techniques of science fiction.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#34An old one, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. It can be fairly slow at times but it's such an inspiring read.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#35If you are into AI, Crystal Society was a great 2016 release. You can read it for free online: http://crystal.raelifin.com/society/Prologue
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#36More than a year ago, I picked up William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition." I wasn't sure what I thought of it, at first, but it became increasingly interesting and I finished it. This year, I picked up the third novel in the series that "Pattern Recognition" started.
It's a different world than that of "Neuromancer" et al., but I've come to find Gibson's portrayal of and thinking about it quite interesting.
This year, I also helped someone out for a while who is considerably into fashions of some sorts (make up, running shoes and attire, other stuff more by just doing it than by talking about it).
I'm finding Gibson's latest trilogy giving me new eyes on all this. And, in today's world of "image", it's not just and interesting but a valuable perspective. Treatise. Extrapolation...
Not the most in your face of sci fi titles, but subtly compelling, for me.
Perhaps partially sub-consciously. Just like the world he's describing.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#37The Wayfarers books The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit were quite good. Fantastic world building and characters, although the plots seem to meander about with not too much purpose.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/170872-wayfarers
Recently ploughed through The Expanse series.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/56399-the-expanse
Dark Matter was a good read if you like parallel universes.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter
The Rho Agenda series was a surprisingly good read.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/61746-the-rho-agenda
Quantum Night was something a bit different from Robert Sawyer.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25734179-quantum-night
And Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard would probably have to be rated my favourite for the year.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#38John C Wright's "eschaton sequence":
Count to a Trillion
The Hermetic Millennia
Judge of Ages
Architect of Aeons
The Vindication of Man
(and one more to come)
It's a combination of hard sci-fi and space opera, based around one essentially immortal character (and his rival, and his girl) carrying out a mission over tens of thousands of years. Mind-blowing scale and yet there's a romance to it.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#39n-thing ancillary mercy (and the whole series) - best sci-fi I've read in a long while. Just finished the fifth season, and liked it enough to get the rest of the trilogy. It straddles the line between sci-fi and fantasy, but does it well and packs an emotional punch at the end as you come to identify with the main characters without even realizing it.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?
#40Connie Willis: The Doomsday Book, a winner of the 1993 Hugo for best novel. It's deep and wide and brilliant and there's a technical excellence to the storytelling that made the book as a whole satisfying. She leaves a few loose ends and they're just the right ones and in just the right quantity.