Feather
05.08.26 | Open to thoughts/recs. Pretty new to the overall space |
artiswar
05.08.26 | Tuf Voyaging |
artificialbox
05.08.26 | fuck yeah dude I love reading sci-fi. check out Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe if you want to know what Sun Eater was inspired by |
Hyperion1001
05.08.26 | i just finished the hyperion cantos and it was quite good. a sprawling scifi canterbury tales. def check it out. |
Feather
05.08.26 | @art George RR Martin does sci-fi???
@artificial may have to check out post Sun Eater, have you read both series?
@Hyperion SHOCKING suggestion from you lol. I actually own the first one, I will give it a try at some point.
Also in before it is brought up: I have attempted Dune twice and its just never grabbed me at all. I will admit I never got too far though. |
Christbait
05.08.26 | I'll always promote the Southern Reach trilogy whenever I get the chance. Best way I can describe it is hallucinogenic sci-fi. The film Annihilation is a very loose adaptation of the first novel, but I would really encourage you to give the books a shot. They are also relatively short and paced incredibly well.
I should also clarify: there is a 4th novel in the series but it only recently released in 2024. I have no idea what it is about, but the first three novels are still a fairly self-contained trilogy in their own right. |
artificialbox
05.08.26 | I haven’t read Sun Eater yet but I hope to try it one day, I’m trying to avoid getting invested in series right now cause I have a million standalone novels I want to get to |
Feather
05.08.26 | @artificialbox A friend of mine rec'd me the first sun eater book not informing me it was such a massive sprawling series and now I am stuck. He has a habit of just listening to the first book of a series and never going further. Then I am left having to listen to them all since I for whatever am just built that way.
@Christbait I am intrigued and will put it on the radar |
Hyperion1001
05.08.26 | "SHOCKING suggestion from you lol."
since ive had this screen name (literally like almost 20 years) people have been recommending i read those books and i finally got around to it lmao |
Deathconscious
05.08.26 | Remembrance of Earth's Past deserves to be a classic.
Check Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard and the sequel, Moons of Barsk. These books are hidden gems that deserve way more recognition.
Also, if we're including TV: Dark. It's on Netflix. I think it's best to go in blind. |
artificialbox
05.08.26 | @Feather same dude that’s why I haven’t read it yet haha, cause I know once I start I’ll have to push aside all my other priorities for like a year 😂 |
artificialbox
05.08.26 | btw I recommend looking up Bookpilled on youtube. His channel is fantastic and he has put me onto so many underrated and vintage sci fi books |
arthropod
05.08.26 | Ohh brother, you might want to check out Stanisław Lem. He was a master at penning out philosofically underpinned sci-fi stories and produced some more humorous content too.
also fun fact, from what I read Philip K. Dick messaged FBI about Lem being a communist ruse
starting to read into his works with that in mind is pretty fun |
Deathconscious
05.08.26 | I'm reading A Scanner Darkly, interesting you say that considering what Barris does later on in the story. |
artificialbox
05.08.26 | can confirm Solaris is incredible and The Futurological Congress was great too. Need to read more from him. |
renegadestrings
05.08.26 | I need to go back to the Remembrance series. Stopped halfway through The Dark Forest to read…
The Expanse series. Which is my recommendation. Starting with Leviathan Wakes. |
arthropod
05.08.26 | @artificial The Invincible, Fiasco and Eden are also great and intensely dark on top of that. I need to read Tales of Pirx the Pilot because Fiasco is the finale of that continuity. I'm actually behind on Congress too, gotta catch up ASAP.
Also A Chain of Chance for a change of pace. It has sci-fi elements but primarily a crime novel built upon chaos theory. One of his lesser-known works but definitely gripping. |
Pooter9000
05.08.26 | The Expanse. Both the books and the show. |
el_newg
05.10.26 | I read 3 body problem and thought it was really boring and dry and that is coming from someone who is generally into sci fi lol
then i read the author used to be an engineer and i was like right that makes sense
havent seen the show
Dark Matter ok concept but i really hated the main character he is such a fuckin dumb idiot for someone who is at worst an academic and physics professor. i did like how silly it got, like when he first logs in to the chatroom lmao.
when I watched the series I thought it actually fixed some issues i had with the book and of course it has the added benefit of casting Jennifer Connelly wow 😍 |
Feather
05.11.26 | @Death Glad someone else agrees 3-body is a classic. I will look into Barsk once I get through suneater. And Dark... I loved that show, but never finished it and really want to just rewatch from the start. I just watched a move the other day called 'Coherence' that took (too much) inspiration from Dark. It was enjoyable though. |
Feather
05.11.26 | @Renegade imo you stopped just as the series is really heating up. I found the whole series captivating.
@el_newg Part of what I loved so much about three body was that certain parts read like a physics textbook.. but I am an engineer so learning that the author was one make sense. Dark Matters character was pretty tough, the chatroom part was definitely funny. Loved that it was shot in Chicago, they did a good job pulling in different parts of the city.
Sounds like from several accounts I should consider the expanse. |
Ectier
05.11.26 | Im reading Neuromancer atm |
Meborphus
05.11.26 | Came to immediately recommend Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series but see it was also already rec'd lol. Wolfe is probably my favorite sci-fi author - anything by him would be top tier (The Wizard Knight two-part series is my #1).
Currently on book four of VanderMeer's Southern Reach series. I'm not the biggest fan of the way he writes, and it feels like "psychedelic surrealism" for people that have never read anything like it before, but it's a fun read.
I'd also highly recommend the overmentioned Dune series. As great as the first book is, the money is in the sequels. Puts existence into perspective in a "pale blue dot" kind of way. |
Deathconscious
05.11.26 | "I read 3 body problem and thought it was really boring and dry and that is coming from someone who is generally into sci fi lol"
I like 3 Body Problem, but it was my least favorite of the three. I think each book is better than the last. You may want to keep going even if you didn't really like the first one. |
Feather
05.11.26 | They only get better [2] |
trilo
05.11.26 | glad you're enjoying sun eater it's a great series. books 4 and 6 were incredible |
Deathconscious
05.11.26 | Coherence looks interesting, I'll check if it's on any of the streaming platforms I have. |
Brabiz
05.11.26 | Book of The New Sun is the GOAT |
dbizzles
05.11.26 | I hate-read Dark Matter, not a fan at all. I did like The Three Body series, though. Try out Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion |
dbizzles
05.11.26 | 'I think each book is better than the last. You may want to keep going even if you didn't really like the first one.'
Interesting. I didn't like the third book much, I think the second was my favorite. |
ScuroFantasma
05.12.26 | My favorite sci-fi novel is called Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny and I would highly highly highly recommend it. It’s split into about 8 chapters, they’re told non-linearly in a way that really helps build the lore. The basic premise is that this small group of humans with advanced technology colonise an alien planet and set themselves up as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Their technologies are basically indistinguishable from divine power. Some of them defect, led by someone modeling himself after the Buddha. It’s a really cool concept. |
Deathconscious
05.12.26 | Lord of Light has been on my book shelf for a few years now, just haven't gotten to it. |
dbizzles
05.12.26 | I have only read Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, but it ruled. |
mindleviticus
05.12.26 | You'd probably like snow crash by neal stephenson if you've never read it, a bit more on the technology side but it's extremely good |
