Any fiction suggestions for a somewhat picky reader? The Expanse lasted me a long while but I’m finishing up the novellas now and need to start looking for something new. Not necessarily in the same genre.
I don’t have a lot of books under my belt as an adult, but some of my favorites have been Stoner by John Williams, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, East of Eden, Catch 22, Flowers for Algernon, and Harry Potter. Kind of all over the place I guess. 😅
I’ve also enjoyed John Williams’ other novels, Piranesi, The Things They Carried, House of Leaves, and Ender’s Game and the sequel.
Some books I didn’t really care for include Hitchhiker’s Guide (although I loved the first half), Lolita, Sharp Objects, Turtles All the Way Down, The Stand, The Road, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451.
I’m always overwhelmed trying to find something new, so thanks for any suggestions!
EDIT: Thank you all! It’ll be a bit daunting exploring all these new books but not nearly as daunting as if I had no guidance, so I really appreciate it!
This list is just in the order that I thought of them, not in the order I think is best quality wise.
All pretty great robot detective novels. Lots of pondering on Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics and how they would play out. Pretty good.
Also pretty good, anthology of short robot stories. Similar kinda vibe as the above 3.
What if math could predict the future of civilization. The first 3 are the best… sorta loses the thread a bit in the last 2. Overall pretty good. Mostly doesn’t have any robots like the other Asimov books I listed.
A giant ring shaped megastructure around a star, lets go explore. Only the first is any good, some low key sexism in it but bearable. Past the first the sexism ramps up. Nivin like a lot of male sci-fi authors doesn’t know how to write women.
A half robot half human security robot hacks its own systems. Very good, my interpretation of the series is its an allegory for the autistic experience. Also Martha Wells can write women so that’s always a big plus.
I see the 3 body problem series recommended a lot in this thread but it has a lot of overt sexism baked into the plot so don’t really recommend. Lots of fun sci-fi concepts tho, gets into some pretty surreal concepts that border on mathematical physics.
Probably already seen the movie, its pretty much the same. The book is pretty good but the author himself kinda sucks, bigtime homophobe. The follow up books are nowhere near as good as the first.
Every novella by Ursula K. Le Guin. Some of them are not scifi but most of them are, and the ones that are not are still great. I am currently working though this one now. She has a big anthropologist/feminist slant to her writing so highly recommend. Feels very modern when compared to the other sci-fi that was coming out around the same time. I plan on reading her other longer novels after this but I have not gotten there yet.
Pretty good sci-fi. Has a bit of a “white boy goes and lives with the natives and becomes their savior” vibe that kinda feels a little off to me but I think Herbert had good intentions. It’s an allegory for the middle east and oil extraction. Overall worth a read just to check it off the list.
The Last Horizon Series, wizards in the future in space. Pretty much feels like a dnd campaign where every one is already lv20. Sci-fi+Magic. It’s not really very deep but its a fun nonetheless.
Hard science fiction. If you like competency porn or engineering/science then these are for you. Very nerdy stuff.
The writing itself is kinda meh but the stories are fun. The kinda stuff an engineer daydreams about, like von neumann probes and mind uploading and stuff like that. Over all fun series but not very deep.
Dune is one of my favorite books. Herbert is clear on this, Paul is exploiting the fremen. The Bene Geserat planted the savior myth. Their goals align, mostly, but he can’t really control them, just aim them and pull the trigger.
Also three body problem series is a slog. Character development is not great. He pulls the plug on the main baddie too early and installs a characature of america bad at the end. Second book has one idea.
Nice list, I will add to my bucket the hall Mary and the DND ones
I tried reading hitchhiker after seeing the movie but didn’t get my attention. I’m afraid the Martian may be the same thing.
As for Asimov, I’ve read all his books when young, may be worth re reading.
I’ve tried 3 body problem but I’m avoiding typical hero sci Fi stories as long as I still have star Trek books to read, and there’s hundreds of it.
Then there’s one in in progress that I’d like to suggest, "this is how you lose the time war"by Amal El-Mohtar. Very different from anything else I’ve read, it’s less action and more… poetry? It’s more introspective and less descriptive, and you can get a reasonable first impression from the sample ebook pages.
I’ve been looking for authors that are not rooted in dichotomy such as any English related literature (like everyone is clearly good or bad, instead everyone is fallible and in between), including but not limited to sci Fi.
Lol I like your suggestions and I appreciate all the caveats about authors not knowing how to write women and being low key homophobes or sexist. Too bad there aren’t equally good authors without the BS.