I love the Vorkosigan saga and I'm amazed it hasn't been turned into a show. It could surpass Game of Thrones but unlike GoT it's a positive uplifting story.
I also wanted to say that I like your recommendations but I also recommend British sci-fi writers. Arthur C Clarke, Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Ian Banks, Peter Hamilton ... excellent writers.
I've been reading SF for 60 years now, and haven't been exploring as much as I should for the past generation. Thanks for pushing me from my rut! Isolating here in a cow pasture in a high interAndean valley (yet with internet), I can see that I have a lot to download from Z-library. This helps me a lot: there is such as flood of bad SF out there that it's hard to find what's really good.
Of the 7 you listed that I've read, I agree with all of them. That gives me hope for the others. But I will probably pass on the dystopian SF.
My tastes have changed over time. I can no longer read most of the pre-70's SF books: the writing and characterization was too horrible and likewise the racist, misogynist, authoritarian culture I grew up in that so many stories assumed to be human nature.
The two oldies I would have included are Last And First Men (already mentioned) and "The Cyberiad".
I anxiously await your list of recommended Fantasy readings!
I haven’t seen anyone plugging First and Last Men, but that’s a fun read. A view of the next 20000 years of human evolution from a perspective of about 1930. By Olaf Stapledon.
Lots of great choices, most of which I haven't yet read. I'm dating myself by saying I'm still a huge of fan of the big three of Asimov, Heinlein & Clarke. In fact, I'm working on a podcast retelling of the classic Foundation Trilogy but will include both sequels and prequels, then likely go on to do the Robot novels as well. I feel that Asimov is timeless and may surge in popularity with the Apple TV series coming up.
Your pick of Lucifer's Hammer reminds me of one by the same pair I liked even more called The Mote in God's Eye. Totally gripping.
Biggest contemporary snub for me is Kim Stanley Robinson. To me, he's the modern master.
I love Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. The stories reach many different levels and tones. Why no Catherine Asaro? Her characters are very human, despite their psychic abilities. As a sixty something White male, I'm finding myself drawn to female artists of all sorts.
I love so many of the books on this list, but my favorite is Pattern Recognition! Gibson really nailed it with this one, creating a SF novel/travelog that sent me Googling references as often as reading! Weirdly fun and interactive; more novels need to be like this....
I heartily endorse the recommendations of Hyperion (one of the best novels ever written, absolutely heart-rending, beautifully written) and Oryx and Crake (modified my view of morality).
If you like Yoon Ha Lee, you'll also like Ancillary Justice! Also military sci-fi, set in a world where a) consciousness can be distributed across several bodies including those of starships and b) the protagonist's polity doesn't see gender and everyone uses 'she' pronouns.
I would also recommend Vagabonds, by Hao Jingfang, which I'm currently reading. Caveat that I haven't finished it yet, but: it's a lot like The Dispossessed in that it contrasts a materialistic society with one (on Mars) that is deliberately non-materialistic. So far it's looking like a cri de coeur for individual self-determination and cross-cultural exchange, which makes it a useful corrective for Westerners [*looks pointedly at the American pundit class writ large*] who subscribe to cheap stereotypes about how Chinese people see the world.
Thanks Noah, my Goodreads list is going to get a lot bigger!
Some recommendations (or curious to get your thoughts if you’ve read): Blake Crouch (Dark Matter, Recursion), the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer, Embassytown by China Miéville, the Foundation Trilogy by Asimov, To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer, The Just City by Jo Walton, the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn, and finally seconding another commenter on Christopher Priest, specifically The Inverted World.
Have you tried Ada Palmer's _Too Like the Lightning_ and sequels? It’s one of the few that I've seen that imagines changing the fundamentals of society. Malka Older's _Infomocracy_ and sequels are also interesting in having a world where they have a wildly different government.
I love the Vorkosigan saga and I'm amazed it hasn't been turned into a show. It could surpass Game of Thrones but unlike GoT it's a positive uplifting story.
I also wanted to say that I like your recommendations but I also recommend British sci-fi writers. Arthur C Clarke, Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Ian Banks, Peter Hamilton ... excellent writers.
I've been reading SF for 60 years now, and haven't been exploring as much as I should for the past generation. Thanks for pushing me from my rut! Isolating here in a cow pasture in a high interAndean valley (yet with internet), I can see that I have a lot to download from Z-library. This helps me a lot: there is such as flood of bad SF out there that it's hard to find what's really good.
Of the 7 you listed that I've read, I agree with all of them. That gives me hope for the others. But I will probably pass on the dystopian SF.
My tastes have changed over time. I can no longer read most of the pre-70's SF books: the writing and characterization was too horrible and likewise the racist, misogynist, authoritarian culture I grew up in that so many stories assumed to be human nature.
The two oldies I would have included are Last And First Men (already mentioned) and "The Cyberiad".
I anxiously await your list of recommended Fantasy readings!
I'm certainly enjoying Noah the pop culture writer more than Noah the econ blogger :D. Waiting for the upcoming blogposts on fantasy & FLCL
I haven’t seen anyone plugging First and Last Men, but that’s a fun read. A view of the next 20000 years of human evolution from a perspective of about 1930. By Olaf Stapledon.
Lots of stuff for me to check out, thank you. In return - have you read the Murderbot novellas?
Lots of great choices, most of which I haven't yet read. I'm dating myself by saying I'm still a huge of fan of the big three of Asimov, Heinlein & Clarke. In fact, I'm working on a podcast retelling of the classic Foundation Trilogy but will include both sequels and prequels, then likely go on to do the Robot novels as well. I feel that Asimov is timeless and may surge in popularity with the Apple TV series coming up.
Your pick of Lucifer's Hammer reminds me of one by the same pair I liked even more called The Mote in God's Eye. Totally gripping.
Biggest contemporary snub for me is Kim Stanley Robinson. To me, he's the modern master.
Ted Chiang is fabulous. Reading him right now.
"If you want to have your brain blown right out the back of your skull, read this book!"
Sounds like it will break up the monotony of winter pandemic life a bit. My brain is far too comfortable with its usual position in my skull.
I love Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. The stories reach many different levels and tones. Why no Catherine Asaro? Her characters are very human, despite their psychic abilities. As a sixty something White male, I'm finding myself drawn to female artists of all sorts.
I've read about half of these and they were all great, so guess I'll just have to read the rest now.
I love so many of the books on this list, but my favorite is Pattern Recognition! Gibson really nailed it with this one, creating a SF novel/travelog that sent me Googling references as often as reading! Weirdly fun and interactive; more novels need to be like this....
Snowcrash should make the cut, but maybe you were already Neal S. heavy.
Shout out to David Brin for his accurate and excellent explanations of science.
I heartily endorse the recommendations of Hyperion (one of the best novels ever written, absolutely heart-rending, beautifully written) and Oryx and Crake (modified my view of morality).
If you like Yoon Ha Lee, you'll also like Ancillary Justice! Also military sci-fi, set in a world where a) consciousness can be distributed across several bodies including those of starships and b) the protagonist's polity doesn't see gender and everyone uses 'she' pronouns.
I would also recommend Vagabonds, by Hao Jingfang, which I'm currently reading. Caveat that I haven't finished it yet, but: it's a lot like The Dispossessed in that it contrasts a materialistic society with one (on Mars) that is deliberately non-materialistic. So far it's looking like a cri de coeur for individual self-determination and cross-cultural exchange, which makes it a useful corrective for Westerners [*looks pointedly at the American pundit class writ large*] who subscribe to cheap stereotypes about how Chinese people see the world.
What, no Peter F Hamilton? The 10,000 years span of his newest saga Salvation is impressive, and also human-optimist.
Thanks Noah, my Goodreads list is going to get a lot bigger!
Some recommendations (or curious to get your thoughts if you’ve read): Blake Crouch (Dark Matter, Recursion), the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer, Embassytown by China Miéville, the Foundation Trilogy by Asimov, To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer, The Just City by Jo Walton, the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn, and finally seconding another commenter on Christopher Priest, specifically The Inverted World.
Great list. I’ll try the ones I don’t know - and I might re-read Anathem. I wondered if you’d run across John Varley’s Steel Beach.
Have you tried Ada Palmer's _Too Like the Lightning_ and sequels? It’s one of the few that I've seen that imagines changing the fundamentals of society. Malka Older's _Infomocracy_ and sequels are also interesting in having a world where they have a wildly different government.