I was mostly reading non-fiction in the past but recently got into sci-fi after reading Seveneves, so I'm looking for more recommendations :)
Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
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Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#2Foundation series (Asimov)
Stainless Steel Rat series (Harrison - a bit juvenile, but fun)
Dune (Herbert)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Heinlein)
Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein)
Starship Troopers (Heinlein)
A Scanner Darkly (Dick)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Dick)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Adams)
Childhood's End (Clarke)
Robot series (Asimov)
Bicentennial Man (Asimov)
Brave New World (Huxley)
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#3Foundation series (Asimov) Stainless Steel Rat series (Harrison - a bit juvenile, but fun) Dune (Herbert) The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Heinlein) Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein) Starship Troopers (Heinlein) A Scanner Darkly (Dick) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Dick) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Adams) Childhood's End (Clarke) Robot series (Asimov) Bicentennial Man (Asimov) Brave New World (Huxl…
Voyage of the Space Beagle (A. E. van Vogt)
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#4Fair 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 how you lose the time war - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Feersum Endjinn - Iain Banks
The Dark Side of the Sun - Terry Pratchett (yes, that one)
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Bloom - Wil McCarthy
Good luck!
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#5Bobiverse series (Dennis E. Taylor)
Old Man's War series (John Scalzi)
The Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells)
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#6Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
Wireless - Charles Stross
Stories of your life and others - Ted Chiang
Moonrise - Ben Bova
Last Plane to Heaven - Jay Lake
Best of Greg Egan - Greg Egan
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#7Fair 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…
Feersum Endjinn is great, but would recommend starting with other culture novels first.
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#8The Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge, and A Deepness in the Sky in particular.
If you check the series out, and I highly recommend you do, read it in order. Which would mean starting with A Fire Upon the Deep, which is excellent.
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#9Bobiverse series (Dennis E. Taylor) Old Man's War series (John Scalzi) The Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells)
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 bonnet?
I've read and enjoyed the other two as amusing romps (albeit of otherwise quite different tone). So you might possibly enjoy the Lady Astronaut Universe Series by Mary Robinette Kowal. Just a thought.
Re: Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?
#10I read Snow Crash growing up. It is a wonderful weird cyberpunk novel that (metaverse aside, unfortunately) turned out to be kind of Nostradamusly. Easy read. Higly recommended!