Good Modern Science Fiction

gatorman · Post by **gatorman** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 4:43 pm

I'm looking for some recommendations. When I was younger I liked Heinlein and A.E. Van Vogt. I wasn't much of a Bradbury fan and found reading Arthur C. Clarke to be tedious. I liked Asimov ok and liked the first few Dune books. I haven't read a lot of modern science fiction, but my daughter gave me some Orson Scott Card books for my birthday a couple of years ago, and I found them interesting in spots, but by the end I was pushing myself to finish. With that as background, can you suggest some authors and titles? I went by Barnes & Noble today and looked at a few, but everything I picked up seemed formulaic, so I left without making a purchase.
Thanks,
gatorman

wdr1 · Post by **wdr1** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 4:49 pm

Snowcrash
Wool
Ready Player One

Not SF, but you might also really enjoy Name of the Wind and Gates of Fire. Two of the best fiction books I've read in a while.

Svensk Anga · Post by **Svensk Anga** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 4:53 pm

It has been a while since I read much Sci Fi, but I developed a preference for short stories. I particularly liked the anthologies edited by David G. Hartwell, "The Year's Best Science Fiction __". Number 18 in the series is the most recent edition.

Even if you would prefer novel-length works, sampling a number of short stories may turn up authors you like.

Tristrex · Post by **Tristrex** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:05 pm

Anathem, Neal Stephenson (long read)
Zones of Thought series, Vernor Vinge (especially A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky)
Coyote series, Alan Steele
Old Man's War series, John Scalzi (very Heinleinesque; could fall under your definition of formulaic, but they're entertaining)

I second Snow Crash and Ready Player One as well.

SunnySeattle · Post by **SunnySeattle** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:06 pm

Old Man's War (fun read, good modern sci fi)
Ender's Game (not too modern, read it in high school and again recently)

walkabout · Post by **walkabout** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:10 pm

I listened to The Martian audiobook recently and enjoyed it.

mhalley · Post by **mhalley** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:48 pm

I enjoyed donaldson gap series. I like peter hamilton. Dan simmons ileum and olympos were great. I also loved his hyperion cantos.I second scalzi. Not so modern, but have you read larry niven?

http://www.sfreviews.net/ilium.html

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_ ... Caps%2C266

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_ ... ce+fiction

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_ ... iven+books
Mike
One thing you might do is check out the various award winners (hugo,nebula, john w campbell etc)
http://www.sfadb.com/

JamesSFO · Post by **JamesSFO** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:49 pm

Kage Baker's Company Series - start with "In the Garden of Iden" (http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Iden-Compa ... 00FO6QGAI/)

roymeo · Post by **roymeo** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:54 pm

Everything I've read by Octavia Butler has been great. I've also enjoyed the big, epic (and possibly Space Opera, but generally harder sci-fi than Star Wars type space fantasy) stories of Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, and Peter F. Hamilton.

Ged · Post by **Ged** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 5:58 pm

Left Hand of Darkness Ursula LeGuin
Snowcrash Neal Stephenson
Neuromancer William Gibson
Ringworld Larry Niven
The Forever War Joe Haldeman
Startide Rising David Brin

Edit: added authors

chrysogonus · Post by **chrysogonus** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:18 pm

This has been already mentioned, but the Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge are excellent.

targ · Post by **targ** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:37 pm

+1 Wool

galectin · Post by **galectin** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 7:45 pm

by Sarah Hoyt:

Darkship Thieves
Darkship Renegades
A Few Good Men

As suggested by others:

Ready Player One
Wool

shmidds · Post by **shmidds** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:17 pm

+1 The Martian

S&L1940 · Post by **S&L1940** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:21 pm

You might look into some of George R R Martins' other door stop books consisting of short stories along with TV & screen play scripts.
I believe he did some Twilight Zone work and possibly Outer Limits.

You can not go wrong with Phillip K Dick or the dozens of anthologies - pick a year, any "World's Best SF of 19??/20??" and "Treasury of SF edited by ???" or Hugo awards. A lot of the foreign - Eastern Europe & Russian - works have nice dense complex alternate themes. Or, find "Off Limits, Tales of Alien Sex"; short stories by many writers, known & unknown that sometimes have nothing to do with aliens or sex...

technovelist · Post by **technovelist** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:27 pm

L. Neil Smith's "Probability Broach" series.
Almost anything by James P. Hogan, especially "Voyage from Yesteryear".
Anything by M. A. Foster.
Diane Duane's "Young Wizards" series. Yes, it's "Young Adult", but the stories are very much like Heinlein juveniles, i.e., adult in every way except that there is no sex.
Anything by David R. Palmer, which unfortunately amounts only to two novels and one serialized novel, as far as I know.

James2 · Post by **James2** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 8:30 pm

I thought the Wool series was pretty good. He just wrote a new one called Sand which wasn't bad either.

The Martian was actually pretty well done.

You could try the short stories in the Analog magazine or grab one of the annual anthologies e.g. tor.com to find an author that you like.

James

cowboyinasia · Post by **cowboyinasia** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 11:04 pm

Alistair Reynolds books are vast in scope and full of ideas.

Ben Bova and Greg Bear have both been around a while but I think both are still writing. Stephen Baxter writes some good stuff.

Cyberpunk is no longer new but I suppose still modern. Neuromancer, Ruddy Rucker, etcetera.

saver65 · Post by **saver65** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 11:10 pm

Player of the Games, and everything in the Culture series by Iain Banks.

BrandonBogle · Post by **BrandonBogle** » Sun Sep 07, 2014 11:56 pm

I very much enjoyed "The Rook" by Dan O'Malley (http://www.rookfiles.com). It's Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Mystery all rolled into one. Couldn't put it down. Full disclosure: I know the author personally, which is how I was introduced to the book.

kramer · Post by **kramer** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:21 am

shmidds wrote:+1 The Martian

Plus, plus. I thought this book was fantastically detailed and I almost couldn't put it down. I downloaded a free PDF version last year (the author's license made it freely distributable) but it is now on Kindle books on Amazon, as well. It is by Andy Weir. You can see lots of reviews on Amazon.

BigJohn · Post by **BigJohn** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:22 am

gatorman, never thought to ask this here but a great question as it appears we read many of the same books in our younger days. I went to Amazon looking through a few of the recommendations and found the first Book in the Wool series is available for free in Kindle version so I'm going to give it a read.

Hypersion · Post by **Hypersion** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:32 am

Good books that are also readable:

hyperion series and the first two Zones of Thought series.

Bad books but that are fun to read.

The Stars at War (start with In Death Ground it's the best) by David Weber

Honorverse by David Weber.

The first book of the gap series was awesome but the rest needed an editor.

Tanelorn · Post by **Tanelorn** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:07 am

Windup Girl and if you like that, Pump 6 (short story collection). The former won both the Hugo and Nebula for '10.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Windup_Girl

TheEternalVortex · Post by **TheEternalVortex** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:35 am

BrandonBogle wrote:I very much enjoyed "The Rook" by Dan O'Malley (http://www.rookfiles.com). It's Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Mystery all rolled into one. Couldn't put it down. Full disclosure: I know the author personally, which is how I was introduced to the book.

This book is pretty cool. The only thing I didn't like is the abundance of infodumps, but the world is cool and the plot compelling.

dolphinsaremammals · Post by **dolphinsaremammals** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:08 am

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy - Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars. I like most of his other books, but they are uneven. The Mars trilogy I've read several times.

Not new, but if you missed them, Keith Laumer's Retief books are hilarious. Also not new, Anne McCaffrey's dragonriders series, which is science fantasy and should be read in order.

gatorman · Post by **gatorman** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:14 am

Thanks for all the good suggestions, there are plenty to keep my leisure hours occupied for awhile. I read Old Man's War last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, very Heinleinesque.
Thanks again,
gatorman

Hexdump · Post by **Hexdump** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:02 am

A series that I just finished, though I don't think it's science fiction, is The Iron Druid by Kevin Hearne
I really enjoyed it, and I had no idea that it took so long to train a druid.

The synopsis of the 1st in the series "Hounded" is this:

Hounded
Atticus O’Sullivan has been running for two thousand years and he’s a bit tired of it. After he stole a magical sword from the Tuatha Dé Danann (those who became the Sidhe or the Fae) in a first century battle, some of them were furious and gave chase, and some were secretly amused that a Druid had the cheek to defy them. As the centuries passed and Atticus remained an annoyingly long-lived fugitive, those who were furious only grew more so, while others began to aid him in secret.
Now he’s living in Tempe, Arizona, the very last of the Druids, far from where the Fae can easily find him. It’s a place where many paranormals have decided to hide from the troubles of the Old World—from an Icelandic vampire holding a grudge against Thor to a coven of Polish witches who ran from the German Blitzkrieg.
Unfortunately, the very angry Celtic god who wants that sword has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power, plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, a bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish to kick some arse and deliver himself from evil.

LordB · Post by **LordB** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:05 am

I realize you have enough to keep you busy, but figured I would mention this for others.

I like Neil Asher's books. Take a look at Gridlinked as that is the first one of his Ian Cormac series. I should note that Asher later in the series does a fair amount of "that book was wrong" as it is clear he didn't have everything planned out when he wrote Gridlinked, but I honestly much prefer that over authors forcing themselves to take as canon things that just don't make sense once they flesh out the series (think star wars parsecs).

It has a ton of action/violence, but also does have a fair amount of much deeper thought etc. in it and the universe he creates is quite fascinating.

happyisland · Post by **happyisland** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:18 am

Counting Heads by David Marusek
My favorite sci-fi novel ever.

Rusa · Post by **Rusa** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:23 am

Larry Niven (but I like his earlier work better than more recent items), especially his Known Space stories

S.M.Stirling: The Dies the Fire series (but mainly the first three) and Island in the Sea of Time series

Uplift War by David Brin

meaghansketch · Post by **meaghansketch** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 9:13 am

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

Best sci-fi I've read in a very long time.

paulsiu · Post by **paulsiu** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:45 am

I recommend Old Man's war by John Scalzi. The premise is interesting. The idea is that man has venture into the star and found that the universe is actually quite dangerous. As a result, they have to recruit an army to protect the colonies. Instead of recruiting the young, they recruit only senior citizen because they know what it's like to protect people. In exchange, the recruit gets a younger body. The pitch is that you will either died in battle or old age any way, so why not join.

It was one of the most enjoyable book I read in a while. Not only the characters are interesting, the author managed to fill the universe with some interesting groups of aliens.

The following book Ghost Brigade where they use a clone of a traitor to track down the original is also quite good.

Paul

moshe · Post by **moshe** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:02 am

+1 Ged
The Forever Watch - David Ramirez
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

I know you are not a fan of Asimov but the Foundation series is worth a serious look. The series is amazing in terms of the quality of the storytelling and the social commentary; all set is one realistically possible future.

Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - not exactly SF but....worth reading and rereading.

~Moshe

rkhusky · Post by **rkhusky** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:22 am

Harry Harrison's West of Eden trilogy is interesting. For light reading, I like his Stainless Steel Rat series. In the latter vein, I also like Laumer's Retief books and Terry Brooks Landover series. I also liked Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept and Incarnations of Immortality series, although the latter few of the latter series got a little old. Weiss & Hickman's Death Gate Cycle and Rose of the Prophet series were also fun.

bobbun · Post by **bobbun** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:28 am

I'll add my voice to the chorus suggesting Niven. Also... Not mentioned yet, but John Varley. Definitely pick up something by Varley and read it. I suggest something from the Eight Worlds "universe".

Ged · Post by **Ged** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:33 am

moshe wrote:
Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - not exactly SF but....worth reading and rereading.

~Moshe

Tolkien is great. If you want to dabble in that genre of course the Wizard of Earthsea series is notable too.

tadamsmar · Post by **tadamsmar** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:46 am

Here's my favorite science fiction story, "They're Made out of Meat", in its entirety:

http://www.terrybisson.com/page6/page6.html

Terry Bisson is the author, perhaps so of his other stories are good also.

This fine video has a the story (or a version of it) as the script:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tScAyNaRdQ

moshe · Post by **moshe** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:52 am

Ged wrote:
moshe wrote:
Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - not exactly SF but....worth reading and rereading.

~Moshe
Tolkien is great. If you want to dabble in that genre of course the Wizard of Earthsea series is notable too.

+1 Again (is that now 1^2?)

Happy reading!

tadamsmar · Post by **tadamsmar** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:02 pm

I recommend The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

HomerJ · Post by **HomerJ** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:12 pm

Anything by David Brin

He has some VERY creative ideas... He has a series set in his "Uplift Universe".. Start with "Startide Rising" and then "the Uplift War" and see if you like them...

He also wrote Kiln People and Glory Season...

Both deal with societies where cloning is common (although handled completely differently)... Very good books. I couldn't put them down.

HomerJ · Post by **HomerJ** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:15 pm

Bolo books are fun to read too... They are collections of short-stories about Bolos (AI massive tanks) set thousands of years in the future, which I really enjoyed...

My favorite part is whenever we get to read what the Bolos are thinking... (super-computer Artifical Intelligence)..

Bolo Rising is an excellent novel set in that universe.

Post by **Alex Frakt** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:37 pm

Much of the cyberpunk stuff. William Gibson's trilogy of Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive essentially launched the subgenre and have held up amazingly well. Except for the first line

The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is the other bookend to the era and is just as good.

scottyja · Post by **scottyja** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:34 pm

I appreciate this list - I primarily read Science Fiction and there are a few here that I've never heard of - I think I'll hit the library on the way home! Some of my recent favorites are the Ringworld series, Snowcrash and Hyperion. I really, really wanted to enjoy Anathem, but I couldn't get into it.

Most recently a friend talked me into reading Mistborn. It's fantasy and I was reluctant at first to read it (in fact, it sat on my shelf for over a year!), but I ended up really enjoying the series.

mhalley · Post by **mhalley** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:59 pm

I love the Mistborn series and others by Sanderson. I seem to actually be reading more fantasy now than SF, don't get me started on some of the great fantasy that is out there!.
Another thing you might try if you like military SF is Haldeman's Forever War books.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_lbr ... 2272759011
You might consider setting up a Goodreads account, they have some good recommendations there.
Also, if you love to read book series, set up a FictFact account, that way you will always know when your favorite author comes out with a new book in your favorite series.
http://www.fictfact.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/
And if you want to experiment with Cheap E books (you will get a few duds, but what do you want for free?) setup a bookbub account.
https://www.bookbub.com/home/

Mike

jji · Post by **jji** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:13 pm

This is a great thread!

High praise for Wool and Ready Player One. Also, the Rook and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series - great stuff.

sometimesinvestor · Post by **sometimesinvestor** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:25 pm

You might like David Webbers Honor Harrington series "on Basilisk station" is the first and if you don't like it this is probably not the series for you. . I also liked this http://www.amazon.com/First-Channel-Sim ... 1434412261

Valuethinker · Post by **Valuethinker** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:54 pm

gatorman wrote:I'm looking for some recommendations. When I was younger I liked Heinlein and A.E. Van Vogt. I wasn't much of a Bradbury fan and found reading Arthur C. Clarke to be tedious. I liked Asimov ok and liked the first few Dune books. I haven't read a lot of modern science fiction, but my daughter gave me some Orson Scott Card books for my birthday a couple of years ago, and I found them interesting in spots, but by the end I was pushing myself to finish. With that as background, can you suggest some authors and titles. I went by Barnes & Noble today and looked at a few, but everything I picked up seemed formulaic, so I left without making a purchase.
Thanks,
gatorman

If you liked Van Vogt then you should try

William Gibson

Neuromancer
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive

(his first trilogy)

These are the original 'cyberpunk' novels and they have aged well. Gibson's novels are 'near future' rather than mind blowing Galactic SF. But they tend to blow the mind in other ways.

Larry Niven

It is his 'Known Space' series that counts. Ringworld is the final novel (there are 2 sequels but I wouldn't worry about those). It's the short stories that count in the Known Space series, more than the novels.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/larry-niven/

the list here is not quite right. Known Space's novels are World of the Ptaavs (good), Protector (so so), Gift from Earth (very good) and Ringworld (excellent). The collections 'Flatlander' and 'Crashlander' have some of the best stories. In particular stories like 'Neutron Star'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_Spac ... nown_Space

Do not read any other section of the Wiki or you will spoil the fun. The fun of Known Space was reading it over the years, piecing together the history. The pieces were written individually and they stand by themselves.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

The Mote in God's Eye (excellent). Conceptually it is a sequel to Pournelle's Codominium series (John Christian Falkenberg). But you don't need to read that-- it's pretty much straight military SF. The sequel to MIGE was not that great.

Inferno. A modern retelling of Dante's Inferno.

Joe Haldeman

The Forever War. The answer to Heinlein's Starship Troopers, by a Vietnam Vet.

David Brin

Startide Rising
The Uplift War (less confusing than the first, you might try reading it first)

Kim Stanley Robinson wrote 2 trilogies where he takes the same location and writes 3 different future histories:

- California trilogy

- Mars trilogy

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/r/kim ... -robinson/

Lois McMaster Bujold

Bujold writes 'space opera' but with a very human, and dare I say slightly feminine, slant. But she can write a bloody space war with the best of them. She's also quite funny.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/loi ... er-bujold/

Her key SF character is the crippled Miles Naismith Vorkosigan. Despite his dimunitive stature (as a result of a nerve gas attack on his parents, whilst his mother was pregnant) Miles is a military intelligence genius, as well as intensely irritating at times (the exasperation of the other characters with Miles leaps off the page).

The trick is the way Miles' character matures down the novels, and keeps maturing.

I would start with the first Miles novel 'The Warrior's Apprentice'. In other words I would not read them in exact chronological order. There are some mysteries in TWA which are explained by the prequels, and it's better as if you are as mystified as Miles.

Then I would read the 2 prequels which cover how his parents met (on opposite sides of a space war) and the attack that led to his genetic damage. They are Shards of Honor/ Barryar (also marketed as 'Cordelia's Honor).

The thing is you get the full Miles in the first book then you get a more sober-sided world which his mother entered by falling in love with his father, Count Aral Vorkosigan, a military leader and reluctant politician on Barryar, a planet newly reunited with galactic civilization with some quite barbaric customs and lethal politics.

Barryar is really a combination of 19th century Russia and the Roman Empire. Beta (Cordelia Naismith's home world) is a sort of satire on modern California (peace loving, but with the best weapons industry in the galaxy).

Having read the first 3 if you read on, there are another 8 or so, in chronological order. They are all pretty good and vary from the laugh out loud humorous (A Civil Campaign) to the quite dark (Memory).

Paul McAuley

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/paul-j-mcauley/
An intriguing British writer, phd in biology. Real grasp of hard science.

I liked 'Cowboy Angels' very much (I can really only liken it to Keith Laumer's time travel stories at their best). And The Cool War series.

Ian Banks is loved, but I have not managed to crack him.

Charlie Stross

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/charles-stross/

OK Stross is uneven. And I have not read 'The Merchant Princes'.

But 'Saturn's Children' is a very clever homage to Heinlein.

So in another way are Singularity Sky/ Iron Sunrise (you will never meet creepier space Nazis).

I will read ever novel of his 'Laundry' series as it comes out. I can only describe it as 'James Bond fights Cthulu monsters'. The Laundry is a branch of the British Secret Service, created in WW2 to find monsters the Nazis summoned up from the beyond, and still in business. Each novel is based on the style of a different mystery writer: Len Deighton (the first), Ian Fleming (the second), Antony Price, Modesty Blaise etc.

Valuethinker · Post by **Valuethinker** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:06 pm

Alex Frakt wrote:Much of the cyberpunk stuff. William Gibson's trilogy of Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive essentially launched the subgenre and have held up amazingly well. Except for the first line
The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is the other bookend to the era and is just as good.

+1 on Gibson.

Jozxyqk · Post by **Jozxyqk** » Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:30 pm

Jack Vance is not exactly "modern" -- though he was publishing into the 2000s when he was in his 90s. Still, I cannot recommend him highly enough. He's one of that rare cadre of science fiction writers who are remarkable for their writing ability as well as for their ideas. A unique English stylist that takes some getting used to, but a pleasure to read. If you're into more traditional sci-fi stuff (spaceships, etc), his Gaean Reach novels are good. The Tschai series too. Vance--in general--seems less interesting in concocting technological wonders (e.g., yet another explanation for warp speed) than in looking at how societies work and thinking about the diversity that would emerge if humankind were spread across the galaxy.

This is a nice writeup from the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magaz ... d=all&_r=0