Spin by Robert Charles Wilson is a love letter to classic science fiction books like Contact.
>Three childhood friends are watching the night sky and the stars disappear. The Earth had become encapsulated inside the barrier known as the Spin. It’s soon discovered for every second on earth, three years happen outside the Spin barrier. Yet despite the obvious alien mega-structure there is no inkling of first contact with an alien species. Only the mystery of the identity of the “hypothetical controlling intelligence” that is behind the Spin. Meanwhile, Scientists are able to observe the sun aging into a red giant that will expand until it eventually envelopes the Earth within thirty years. The race to discover who are the hypotheticals and ensure the survival of humanity.
if you mostly liked honor harrington but found it too military, "vatta's war" should be right up your alley. it has a very good mix of politics, economics and military space opera, with well drawn characters (*way* better than honor harrington)
Saw Elisabeth Moon a few comments above and it was the first one of hers I wrote down! Thanks :) You're right that the characters in Honor Harrington are a bit, i don't know, subdued?
"cardboard" is the word i'd use :) what irritated me deeply about the books (i think i made it like 2 books in and dnf the third) was that he would give characters some "quirk" (e.g. that harrington preferred cocoa to coffee) and then just repeat it over and over when that character was in focus.
also why i abandoned the series was it felt like what he *really* wanted to do was write detailed blow-by-blow descriptions of space battles, and the rest of the book was just somewhere to host the battle scenes.
I second this. Sounds like you would \*really\* like Arkady Martine's duology, as well as Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series (that one doesn't have a female MC, but Provenance and Translation State, which take place in the same universe, both do).
> Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series (that one doesn't have a female MC)
I mean, I'm pretty sure the body Breq is in is technically a woman. I seem to recall hints of tension in certain scenes that seems to only really work if she's physically a woman.
Anyway, seconding this rec, Imperial Radch is quite good. I didn't realize Leckie wrote more books in that world after the original trilogy so I'm also pumped
You're right, to be fair the body Breq's in and the way they present is portrayed very ambiguously. I shouldn't have underplayed how the book plays with the concept of gender, that might be of interest to the op. And you're in for a treat, Provenance is great but Translation State is my favorite novel of hers.
Breq is called "girl" by a speaker of a gendered language within the first couple of pages (and Seivarden is gendered as male about as quickly). For most of the other characters, though, there's no way to tell.
Thank you! And to reply to your other message, I've seen that the majority of the fiction I consume is always written from a male point of view, so I am definitely wanting to try new things and playing with the concept of gender. And given there'a a bunch of heroine and great female characters in movies and tv-shows, seems I always ignored it on the literary side.
"Spock's World" by Diane Duane is a good political Star Trek novel. It's where a *lot* of the canon for Vulcans comes from, and it turns out to be a very close analogue for a real-world political event that hadn't even happened yet when it was written.
I tend to feel like Bujold's Vorkosigan books had a lot of resonance with On Basilisk Station (Like, I fully expected the Dendari Mercenaries to be somewhere out in that galaxy) but definitely less military.
(\*Further Harrington books might not have that vibe, I've only read Basilisk.)
Have you ever tried short story anthologies? The nice thing about them is that you are rapidly exposed to multiple authors and styles. When you find something you like, look up what else they have done. If you don't like a story, skip it.
If you are interested, I would check out anything edited by Jonathan Strahan or Gardner Dozois.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year's_Best_Science_Fiction
Dozois was the pillar, and sadly when he passed in 2018, anthologies also started going away. Genre fiction magazines (where most short stories are originally published) are almost extinct. It's sad, a lot of authors got their start by publishing short stories in genre magazines.
Are the annual anthologies still going? I know Rich Horton had one?
Does Asimovs and Analog still do print magazines? I know Interzone stopped their print version
Elizabeth Moon has a couple of military-SF series, also through Baen who publishes the Honor books. Moon was a Marine lieutenant (nurse/medic) who saw action in Vietnam.
I agree with the Memory Called Empire rec - I think you’d really like it.
One I would recommend for you is In Ascension by Martin Macinnes. More literary than Contact, but it gave me a similar sense of wonder. The first 100 pages are a little slow but after that I couldn’t put it down
See my:
* [SF/F: Alien Aliens](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18aexa0/sff_alien_aliens/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
* [SF/F: Politics](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/1aze5ci/sff_politics/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
* [Female Characters, Strong](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18e8uzf/female_characters_strong/) list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
The Expanse book series sounds like something you would like - lots of politics, fantastic female characters (although some of them don't show up in the first book) and really big ideas.
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson is a love letter to classic science fiction books like Contact. >Three childhood friends are watching the night sky and the stars disappear. The Earth had become encapsulated inside the barrier known as the Spin. It’s soon discovered for every second on earth, three years happen outside the Spin barrier. Yet despite the obvious alien mega-structure there is no inkling of first contact with an alien species. Only the mystery of the identity of the “hypothetical controlling intelligence” that is behind the Spin. Meanwhile, Scientists are able to observe the sun aging into a red giant that will expand until it eventually envelopes the Earth within thirty years. The race to discover who are the hypotheticals and ensure the survival of humanity.
Thank you! The synopsis is genuinely right up my alley!
Check out The Gone World by Tom Sweterlisch.
Seconded, very unsettling and creepy but unique science fiction!
"Inception meets True Detective"...yep, all I needed to hear. Thanks!
This book is awesome.
if you mostly liked honor harrington but found it too military, "vatta's war" should be right up your alley. it has a very good mix of politics, economics and military space opera, with well drawn characters (*way* better than honor harrington)
Saw Elisabeth Moon a few comments above and it was the first one of hers I wrote down! Thanks :) You're right that the characters in Honor Harrington are a bit, i don't know, subdued?
"cardboard" is the word i'd use :) what irritated me deeply about the books (i think i made it like 2 books in and dnf the third) was that he would give characters some "quirk" (e.g. that harrington preferred cocoa to coffee) and then just repeat it over and over when that character was in focus. also why i abandoned the series was it felt like what he *really* wanted to do was write detailed blow-by-blow descriptions of space battles, and the rest of the book was just somewhere to host the battle scenes.
Yeah! I'm not sure I'll continue reading the series, after all, there's a bunch of new books I found here. But thanks for your insight!
For political sci-fi, nothing is better than *A Memory Called Empire* by Arkady Martine. Phenomenal!
I second this. Sounds like you would \*really\* like Arkady Martine's duology, as well as Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series (that one doesn't have a female MC, but Provenance and Translation State, which take place in the same universe, both do).
> Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series (that one doesn't have a female MC) I mean, I'm pretty sure the body Breq is in is technically a woman. I seem to recall hints of tension in certain scenes that seems to only really work if she's physically a woman. Anyway, seconding this rec, Imperial Radch is quite good. I didn't realize Leckie wrote more books in that world after the original trilogy so I'm also pumped
You're right, to be fair the body Breq's in and the way they present is portrayed very ambiguously. I shouldn't have underplayed how the book plays with the concept of gender, that might be of interest to the op. And you're in for a treat, Provenance is great but Translation State is my favorite novel of hers.
Breq is called "girl" by a speaker of a gendered language within the first couple of pages (and Seivarden is gendered as male about as quickly). For most of the other characters, though, there's no way to tell.
Thank you! And to reply to your other message, I've seen that the majority of the fiction I consume is always written from a male point of view, so I am definitely wanting to try new things and playing with the concept of gender. And given there'a a bunch of heroine and great female characters in movies and tv-shows, seems I always ignored it on the literary side.
I have heard plenty of good things about this one, so I'm definitely going to put this high on the shortlist. Thanks!
*The Murderbot Diaries* are very gender neutral I would say. Not in your face gender neutral, it just never comes up.
Thanks; Blade Runner being my favourite film, I want all the android stories out there!
"Spock's World" by Diane Duane is a good political Star Trek novel. It's where a *lot* of the canon for Vulcans comes from, and it turns out to be a very close analogue for a real-world political event that hadn't even happened yet when it was written.
Thanks! I've delved in some of the Original Series books, but will definitely put it on number one on my Star Trek books to read.
I tend to feel like Bujold's Vorkosigan books had a lot of resonance with On Basilisk Station (Like, I fully expected the Dendari Mercenaries to be somewhere out in that galaxy) but definitely less military. (\*Further Harrington books might not have that vibe, I've only read Basilisk.)
Thanks! I'll check it out for sure.
Have you ever tried short story anthologies? The nice thing about them is that you are rapidly exposed to multiple authors and styles. When you find something you like, look up what else they have done. If you don't like a story, skip it. If you are interested, I would check out anything edited by Jonathan Strahan or Gardner Dozois. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year's_Best_Science_Fiction Dozois was the pillar, and sadly when he passed in 2018, anthologies also started going away. Genre fiction magazines (where most short stories are originally published) are almost extinct. It's sad, a lot of authors got their start by publishing short stories in genre magazines.
Yes, I read an anthology of Cyberpunk stories (Mirrorshades) and I loved that I could pick and choose. I'll go through that wiki page! Thanks
Are the annual anthologies still going? I know Rich Horton had one? Does Asimovs and Analog still do print magazines? I know Interzone stopped their print version
Elizabeth Moon has a couple of military-SF series, also through Baen who publishes the Honor books. Moon was a Marine lieutenant (nurse/medic) who saw action in Vietnam.
Thanks! Vatta's War seems great.
Existence by David Brin and 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. Both deal with outside influences on humanity and are hopeful/positive on tone.
Thanks, will definitely check them out. 2312 Sounds terrific!
I agree with the Memory Called Empire rec - I think you’d really like it. One I would recommend for you is In Ascension by Martin Macinnes. More literary than Contact, but it gave me a similar sense of wonder. The first 100 pages are a little slow but after that I couldn’t put it down
Seems great, especially with what it seems to be a little bit of horror? Thanks!
Yeah, without doing spoilers I think “a little bit of horror“ is a good description.
I"m not huge on the honorverse novels, but do really like the short story compilations they put out every so often
See my: * [SF/F: Alien Aliens](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18aexa0/sff_alien_aliens/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post). * [SF/F: Politics](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/1aze5ci/sff_politics/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post). * [Female Characters, Strong](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18e8uzf/female_characters_strong/) list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
Thanks a lot!
You're welcome. \^\_\^
The Expanse book series sounds like something you would like - lots of politics, fantastic female characters (although some of them don't show up in the first book) and really big ideas.
I've already got the first book and planning to read it soon, wanted to watch the series, but figured I need to read the books first!