What are your favorite sci-fi novels?
Not necessarily the classics you *think* you should say (we'll leave those for Twitter/X), but rather the ones you actually read and loved.
Discussion
Daemon and Freedom by Daniel Suarez
Also
Change Agent
Kill Decision
Influx
I got burnt out and never finished Delta V
Kill Decision was my favorite.
Project Hail Mary, Rendezvous with Rama, The Black Cloud
I enjoyed Ramez Naam's Nexus
Rudy Rucker and Wetware/ Software/Freeware
Jurassic park.
the expanse, I enjoyed the whole series, but book 1 was awesome (also would have said project hail Mary)
love for the expanse š
Short stories by Ted Chiang, Howard Fast
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Love this too šÆ
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
schismatrix, do androids dream of electric sheep
The space trilogy by CS Lewis is fantastic:
1. Out of the Silent Planet
2. Perelandra
3. That Hideous Strength
All three books have very distinct styles and can be read separately but are one narrative. That man could do it all and I believe he is on a short list as the best kind of the 20th century.
Ursula K. LeGuin has a pretty special collection of short stories, "The Wind's Twelve Quarters."
Excession by Banks
The POV of the super-computer/warships is spectacular
Dune series
Ooh, and player of games by banks too
Enders Game
cixin liu - 3 body problem trilogy is by far the best i've read, and i've read quite a bit
neal stephenson - anathem and cryptonomicon (i didn't really think that much of snow crash but others do)
arthur c clarke - rendezvous with rama is fantastic, and short rather than the sprawling epics that some of these others are
adrian tchaikovsky - children of time and dogs
those books are all amazing and special, I hope you try them
(the tchaikovsky book is "dogs of war" i think, not just "dogs" lol!)
started "Nova" by Samuel R Delany. Pretty good so far
Radix. It is far and away my favorite. Hard to find in print though.
Really enjoyed āRed Risingā by Pierce Brown. Future, class struggle, mixed in with Ancient Roman governance in place. A page turning read with is part of a great series.
another vote for Project Hail Mary!
The Bobiverse series by Dennis Taylor
Pandoraās Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F Hamilton
Oh, seconded on the Bobiverse series. That was refreshing and fun.
Only have read a couple so might be a normie take, but Enderās Game
Ready Player One šā”ļø
The Axiom trilogy by Tim Pratt 
welcome to the monkey house
I've Thursday Next in 2024 and loved it
Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Timemaster by Martha Trustee
The characters and dialogue are quite awful but the hard sci fi is just
Southern Reach trilogy
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. I know it's a classic, but it's my favorite.
Asimov's foundation series is my favourite, however I only think that's the case because of the foundation laid by the Robot series.
I feel more nostalgic about the Robot series, closer to how I feel about Harry Potter.
Really enjoyed a series by a friend of mine, Jason Anspach, called Galaxy's Edge.
Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency. A fun read and a giggle marathon. Great I read over and over.
I liked both The Martian and Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Some realistic science in both books.
Starship Troopers
The movie is a good time, but it failed to actually parody the novel, which is brilliant on its own
The Skyward Series by Brandon Sanderson had a really great opening book. Havenāt continued the series yet but plan to come back to it soon.
I read the opener, the sequel, and two of the three novellas, and kind of froze there. I plan to finish it eventually.
Diamond Age ā Stephenson
Old Manās War series ā Scalzi
Schildās Ladder ā Egan (lots of other Egan, too)
Changing Planes ā LeGuin
Vacuum Diagrams ā Baxter
A Fire Upon the Deep ā Vinge
Ma'am, you have excellent taste, especially Vinge
The Martian was great, I haven't read Hail Mary.
The Three-Body Problem is great (I'm in the second book now).
Hail Mary is very very good.
Foundation Trilogy
I, Robot
Dune
1984
Brave New World
2001 A Space Odyssey
Sorry if it's been said already The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey.
Everything Daniel H Wilson wrote
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Earth Abides
Luciferās Hammer
The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card
Last legends of earth by AA Antanassio. Also the Golden Age trilogy by John C Wright.
Dune. I reread tje Frank Herbert novwls every couple pf years. Hate the Brian H bools, though.
Children of Time
Artemis - Andy Weir
The Martian - Andy Weir
many Ben Bova books. Powersat comes to mind first.
Last Legends of Earth by AA Attanasio. Also The Golden Age trilogy by John C Wright.
Dune is about the extent of my sci fi along with a handful of Samuel Delaney shorts, but my partner loves Dhalgren and Iāve got it on my TBR for the year.
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
I liked many that have already been mentioned. Here a few others Iāve enjoyed that I didnāt see in the replies.
I didnāt see anyone talk about the Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. If you like space operas itās a good one.
Love the daemon books by Daniel Suarez.
Murderbot series by Martha Wells is fun.
If youāre into litRPG at all, I really enjoyed the Cradle series by Will Wight. First book is slow but the series picks up and has good pacing after that.
Firefly is a gem
Ohhh novelsā¦ itās late over here. But still, Firefly is great
The Dosadi Experiment - Frank Herbert
Enders game
Daemon
Animorphs
Ready player one
Harry Potter
the first ones that come to mind:
The Expanse series
the 2001 trilogy
Neuromancer
Agency
Neuromancer movie?
Just the book, I think the closest thing to a movie version is Cyberspace that e8ed3798c6ffebffa08501ac39e271662bfd160f688f94c45d692d8767dd345a is working on, though I donāt know a whole lot about it.
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Fall (or Dodge in Hell) by Neal Stephenson
I enjoyed the Hyperion series- big world building guy, so this and the Dune series get me goin
Sphere by Michael Crichton
Project Hail Mary
Recursion
Red rising
Silo Series
Project Hail Mary was so damn good.
Of all space operas, nobody has mentioned it but I think it is by far the best:
House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
And one person has mentioned Stephenson's Anathem - it is a tough book to recommend, but if you read it slowly and with full focus it pulls off something unbelievable and mind blowing unlike any other book I have ever read.
The Time Quintet, from Madeleine L'Engle.
I know it's for teenagers and I don't care.
Homecoming: Harmony series... Only the first three books:
The memory of earth
The call of earth
The ships of earth
By Orson Scott Card.
I reread them every two years on average. I don't know many people that have read them either but they speak to me on a deep level.
The Tripods trilogy by John Christopher
God Emperor of Dune. Best I read so far in the Dune saga!
Dune
but i'm aware now of how much transhumanist agendar there was going along with most of the ones i read over the years now and even Dune pushes at the direction of manufacturing mythology
Edgar Rice Burroughs āJohn Carter of Marsā series. I lived that fantasy as a school boy followed by Isaac Asimovās āFoundation Trilogyā which affected my view of humanities potential. My last great sci-fi read was Dune series. Dune actually affected how I raised my sons!
sphere by michael crichton
Caves of Steel, or literally anything by Asimov.
The Horus Heresy series from black library
I donāt read books š
Bobiverse was nice and most books by Dennis E Taylor.
House of Suns, but is quite slow.
Dungeon crawler Carl series.
Will need to go back to this thread, soo many good suggestions!
Just finished Use of Weapons by Iain Banks, instant favorite
Final Space forever in my heart
Shoutout to Alastair Reynoldsš
Stanislaw Lem is quite undervalued in the West
He's a mad genius. Hilarious and sharp.
The Forever War by Joe Haldemann
The Red Dwarf novels, written by the creators of the show (Rob Grant and Doug Naylor).
Like with Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, I'm never sure how the very British sense of humour travels though.
Snow crash by Neal Stephenson
If you're into Monty Python, The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy is a good reed
The This by Adam Roberts
Bear Head by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rule 34 by Charlie Stross
Bardo it Not Bardo by Antoine Voladine
The Happier Dead by Ivo Stourton
Foe by Ian Reid (it's like the chiral version of the film, which I also liked)
Under The Skin by Michel Faber (the book is terrifying)
I've kept it short and relatively contemporary because there's likely an overlap with lots of other people and I've usually read lots of that author. So I've avoided obvious or the popular sci-fi classics but have often read or attempted them.
Only Forward, Gone Away World, Hyperion
A Deepness in the Sky. Vernor Vinge.
Enderās Game by Orson Scott Card. Especially the first two books.
Great thread!
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His Master's Voice
The realistic portrayal of a large militarized project, combined with an unsatisfied mystery: it still lives in my head...
Check out the Prometheus award, especially their Hall of Fame list.
Loved the Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers!
Another vote for project hail mary and silo
everyone always talks about enderās game as iconic YA sci-fi (and it is), but you almost never hear about the rest of the series, which is very underrated imo
enderās game series books 2-4, particularly book 2 āspeaker for the deadā
(agree with tons of other replies too but didnāt see this one)
The Swarm - Frank SchƤtzing
Dune, the 1965 epic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward (hard sci-fi)
The Eden Paradox series by Barry Kirwan (very soft sci-fi)
Nightlords Omnibus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (warning: Warhammer 40k universe which can be very very bad to excellent, I like this one a lot. It's from the "bad guys" perspective)
Ready Player One,
Definitely prefer the book over the movie but both are excellent.
frank herbert: the dosadi experiment
arthur c. clarke: childhood's end
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
The Lost Fleet series - Jack Campbell
Project Hail Mary
I couldnāt stop reading it until it was finished.
True Names
Years ago, someone told me that Bitcoin could not work and suggested I read True Names to understand why. So, I read True Names, and since then, it's been my favorite sci-fi novel ā but I still don't understand why Bitcoin couldn't work! š
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson.
Reamde - Neal Stephenson
The Positronic Man - Issac Asimov
The Honor Harrington series - David Weber
The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis.
Old manās war. Project Hail Mary.
Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future by Olaf Stapledon
Canāt believe I didnāt see anyone mention Ted chiang. Both āExhalationā and āStory of your life and othersā āwhich contains the short story on which the movie Arrival was based.
Lord of Light Roger Zelasny
The 3 body problem
anything by Daniel Suarez, esp Delta-V
"Andymon. A Space Utopia." by Angela and Karlheinz SteinmĆ¼ller. I found it in the youth-Section of my puplic Library and read it at age 13-15 something and it blew me away. It hit me so hard, i couldn't forget it. Everytime a song from a special Tape that i listened to when reading it, got me massive flashbacks. I bougt it between 30-40 and it hit me again. That is my emotional Gem.
Then some classics like Ender's Game from Orson Scott Card and the Foundation Series from Asimov. Not only the Trilogy but the whole Series is a banger.
Thank you for your words. As I loves the Foundation Series I'll give it a shot.
Iād call it semi-sci-fi but I really enjoyed āHouse of The Scorpionā and its follow up āThe Lord of Opiumā by Nancy Farmer. Iāve also heard good things about the āRed Risingā series
L.E. Modesitt Jrā¦.. Timegodsā World and The Forever Hero
The Martian
Anything from Michael Crichton
Three body problem and its sequel
I like the series US Book of Regulations.
More fantasy than scifi though.
Starship troopers
Project Hail Mary.
Also The Martian, but that is an obvious one since the movie.
Flowers for AlgernonĀ byĀ Daniel Keyes
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Snow Crash
Easy. Blakeās Seven! Mainly a British TV series in the 1980s, but there have been a number of novels released since.
isaac asimov: robots, empire and foundation series.
Daemon and its sequel Freedomā¢ (all Bitcoiners should read), Kill Decision, Snow Crash, This Perfect Day
Did you read more by Daniel Suarez? I just finished deltav and the sequel and they are great!
I believe Change Agent was the last I read -- I need to catch up for sure. Change Agent was a little different and while it wasn't done badly it wasn't as much what I was looking for to the extent that his first 3 books were. Seemed like he was just trying something new.
Shadows of the Empire
E que o deem na mao dos que tem cargo da obra, e estao encarregados da casa do Senhor; para que o deem aqueles que fazem a obra que ha na casa do Senhor, para repararem as fendas da casa;
#E #que #o #deem #na #mao #dos #que #tem #cargo #da #obra, #e #estao #encarregados #da #casa #do #Senhor; #para #que #o #deem #aqueles #que #fazem #a #obra #que #ha #na #casa #do #Senhor, #para #repararem #as #fendas #da #casa;
Y lo entregarn en manos de los que tienen a su cargo la obra, de los que tienen a su cargo la casa de Jehov; para que lo den a los que hacen la obra de la casa de Jehov, para reparar los portillos de la casa;
#Y #lo #entregarn #en #manos #de #los #que #tienen #a #su #cargo #la #obra, #de #los #que #tienen #a #su #cargo #la #casa #de #Jehov; #para #que #lo #den #a #los #que #hacen #la #obra #de #la #casa #de #Jehov, #para #reparar #los #portillos #de #la #casa;
Et qu'ils le remettent entre les mains de ceux qui sont chargs de l'ouvrage, qui ont la surveillance de la maison de l'ternel; afin qu'ils le donnent ceux qui travaillent la maison de l'ternel, pour rparer les brches de la maison;
#Et #qu'ils #le #remettent #entre #les #mains #de #ceux #qui #sont #chargs #de #l'ouvrage, #qui #ont #la #surveillance #de #la #maison #de #l'ternel; #afin #qu'ils #le #donnent # #ceux #qui #travaillent # #la #maison #de #l'ternel, #pour #rparer #les #brches #de #la #maison;
E lo consegnino nelle mani di coloro che hanno la responsabilit dei lavori, che hanno la sorveglianza della casa del Signore; affinch lo diano a coloro che lavorano nella casa del Signore, per riparare le brecce della casa;
#E #lo #consegnino #nelle #mani #di #coloro #che #hanno #la #responsabilit #dei #lavori, #che #hanno #la #sorveglianza #della #casa #del #Signore; #affinch #lo #diano #a #coloro #che #lavorano #nella #casa #del #Signore, #per #riparare #le #brecce #della #casa;
And let them give it into the hand of those who have the charge of the work, who have the oversight of the house of the Lord; that they may give it to those who do the work on the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house;
#And #let #them #give #it #into #the #hand #of #those #who #have #the #charge #of #the #work, #who #have #the #oversight #of #the #house #of #the #Lord; #that #they #may #give #it #to #those #who #do #the #work #on #the #house #of #the #Lord, #to #repair #the #breaches #of #the #house;
Und sie sollen es in die Hnde derer geben, die fr die Arbeit verantwortlich sind und die Aufsicht ber das Haus des Herrn haben. damit sie es denen geben knnen, die am Haus des Herrn arbeiten, um die Risse am Haus auszubessern.
#Und #sie #sollen #es #in #die #Hnde #derer #geben, #die #fr #die #Arbeit #verantwortlich #sind #und #die #Aufsicht #ber #das #Haus #des #Herrn #haben. #damit #sie #es #denen #geben #knnen, #die #am #Haus #des #Herrn #arbeiten, #um #die #Risse #am #Haus #auszubessern.
na waitie mkononi mwa hao wasimamizi wa kazi, walio wasimamizi wa nyumba ya Bwana; wapate kuwapa wafanyao kazi ya nyumba ya Bwana, ili kutengeneza mahali palipobomoka ndani ya nyumba;
#na #waitie #mkononi #mwa #hao #wasimamizi #wa #kazi, #walio #wasimamizi #wa #nyumba #ya #Bwana; #wapate #kuwapa #wafanyao #kazi #ya #nyumba #ya #Bwana, #ili #kutengeneza #mahali #palipobomoka #ndani #ya #nyumba;
Dan biarlah semuanya itu diserahkan kepada orang-orang yang mengepalai pekerjaan itu, yang mengawasi rumah TUHAN; supaya mereka memberikannya kepada mereka yang melakukan pekerjaan di rumah Tuhan, untuk memperbaiki kerusakan di rumah itu;
#Dan #biarlah #semuanya #itu #diserahkan #kepada #orang-orang #yang #mengepalai #pekerjaan #itu, #yang #mengawasi #rumah #TUHAN; #supaya #mereka #memberikannya #kepada #mereka #yang #melakukan #pekerjaan #di #rumah #Tuhan, #untuk #memperbaiki #kerusakan #di #rumah #itu;
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
Starship Troopers by Heinlein and the Moon is a Harsh Mistress also by Heinlein are my recent favs
"Daemon" & "Freedom" by Daniel Suarez. "Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson
house of the scorpion is a children's book that goes too hard
Pandoraās Star by Peter Hamilton ā one of the few sci-fi novels Iāve read in the past 10 years, and I loved it so o be much
Time out of joint. Philip K Dick.
Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury.
Excession. Ian Banks.
Anthem. Ayn Rand.
Ah, forgot one....
Harrison Bergeron. Kurt Vonnegut
Dark Matter and Recursion by Blake Crouch.
inherit the stars by james hogan.
i love the 70s sci fi novels, theyāre kinda made fun of, but i got a huge stack of them for a dollar each at my thrift bookstore, and they were so fun.
Contact by Carl Sagan. As always, the book is far better than the movie.
The Frontiers Saga by Ryk Brown. This story is just amazing. Every book you think that the story possibly cannot grow any more and still every few books the universe have grown by order of magnitude. And itās 39 books down, all self published.
Theft of Fire
Here is the list of mentioned books (likely incomplete):
1. A Canticle for Leibowitz
2. A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
3. Agency
4. All Jules Vern
5. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
6. Andymon. A Space Utopia by Angela and Karlheinz SteinmĆ¼ller
7. Anthem by Ayn Rand
8. Animorphs
9. Artemis by Andy Weir
10. Blindsight by Peter Watts
11. Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor
12. Brave New World
13. Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
14. Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
15. Changing Planes by Ursula K. LeGuin
16. Children of Time
17. Contact by Carl Sagan
18. Daemon by Daniel Suarez
19. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
20. Delta-V by Daniel Suarez
21. Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
22. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
23. Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
24. Dune series by Frank Herbert
25. Earth Abides
26. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
27. Excession by Iain Banks
28. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
29. Fall (or Dodge in Hell) by Neal Stephenson
30. Finder
31. Firefly
32. Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
33. Freedom by Daniel Suarez
34. Galaxy's Edge by Jason Anspach
35. God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert
36. Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut
37. His Master's Voice
38. House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
39. Hyperion series by Dan Simmons
40. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
41. Inherit the Stars by James Hogan
42. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
43. Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez
44. Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future by Olaf Stapledon
45. Last Legends of Earth by AA Antanassio
46. Luciferās Hammer
47. Moving Mars by Greg Bear
48. Murderbot series by Martha Wells
49. Nexus by Ramez Naam
50. Nightlords Omnibus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
51. Old Man's War series by John Scalzi
52. Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
53. Operation Trojan Horse by J.J. Benitez
54. Pandoraās Star by Peter Hamilton
55. Player of Games by Iain Banks
56. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
57. Radix by A.A. Attanasio
58. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
59. Recursion by Blake Crouch
60. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
61. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
62. Riverworld by Philip JosƩ Farmer
63. Rule 34 by Charles Stross
64. Schildās Ladder by Greg Egan
65. Shadows of the Empire
66. Short stories by Ted Chiang
67. Silo Series by Hugh Howey
68. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
69. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
70. Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer
71. Sphere by Michael Crichton
72. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
73. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
74. The 3 Body Problem by Liu Cixin
75. The Axiom trilogy by Tim Pratt
76. The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle
77. The Call of Earth by Orson Scott Card
78. The Cradle series by Will Wight
79. The Dark Tower by Stephen King
80. The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert
81. The Eden Paradox series by Barry Kirwan
82. The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey
83. The Forever Hero by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
84. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
85. The Frontiers Saga by Ryk Brown
86. The Grand Tour series by Ben Bova
87. The Happier Dead by Ivo Stourton
88. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
89. The Honor Harrington series by David Weber
90. The Horus Heresy series from Black Library
91. The Lensmen series
92. The Long, Dark Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
93. The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer
94. The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell
95. The Martian by Andy Weir
96. The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card
97. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
98. The Nuclear Bombshell series
99. The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov
100. The Ships of Earth by Orson Scott Card
101. The Skyward Series by Brandon Sanderson
102. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
103. The This by Adam Roberts
104. The Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle
105. The Tripods trilogy by John Christopher
106. The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. LeGuin
107. This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
108. Time out of Joint by Philip K. Dick
109. Timemaster by Martha Trustee
110. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip JosƩ Farmer
111. True Names by Vernor Vinge
112. Ubik by Philip K. Dick
113. Under the Skin by Michel Faber
114. Use of Weapons by Iain Banks
115. Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter
116. Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut
The ancillary trilogy was pretty amazing. Imagines what it's like to live as multiple selves distributed.
ancillary justice
ancillary sword
ancillary mercy.
I have a soft spot for some of Greg Eganās work like Permutation City, Diaspora, and short story collections like Axiomatic and Luminous.
Highly recommended for sci-fi that really makes you think and sticks with you.
I donāt read sci-fi
Novels , I like to watch sci-fi movies instead .
Also Animorphs. Crazy sci-fi kids series š¤£
Midwich Cuckoos
This is not a novel but thought some of the ideas in Mass Effect were interesting. The ideas sort of landed somewhere between The Expanse and Star Trek. Some of the actual storytelling was a bit shallow in a few places but similar ideas, if further developed, might be interesting.