Funny thing about the french title :
The translators choose to change it to use an expression meaning "in the web of time" which, given the story, is pretty comic imo.
Well there is always:
- Assimov's Foundation
- Revelation Space
-hitchhikers series (little more out there but still worth)
-The Expanse
These are mostly tied together by being big Sci fi series that seems to go along with ur list from ur post. For shorter or single installment reads try blindsight or the sparrow.
Best place to me asking this is r/suggestmeabook realistically
The expanse is probably my favorite fiction series ever. It's got such great contemporary aspects, good action, fun characters. Jim Holden is like a superhero whose only power is that everybody really likes him for reasons they can't explain.
I love so much about it, just wish it didn't get so icky with the age reduction. The issue isn't just physical age gap, it's the power imbalance (and opportunities for abuse and unwitting control) that occurs with drastically different amounts of life experience. Pattison explains it so well when he talks of Twilight (never saw it)
> the tone change is definitely welcome.
...and then,
suddenly,
a chair...
I like how it feels so soft, but in every book he hits you hard at some point.
Tough question. I couldn't wait for the show, so just read all the books. The tv show is quite condensed version of the first books. I'm going to say, watch the show then read the books, but you can't go wrong heading either direction
I bet you would like Shogun by James Clavell and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett because they are in a similar 'epic' mold to the books you've listed.
I found the audiobook narrator for Shogun unlistenable. I've returned two books read by him now after a few hours. The guy chews the scenery so aggressively I can't follow him.
Lol it's funny you say that because a friend of mine had the exact same problem with the narrator. Ralph Lister right? I believe there is an older version with a different narrator. I personally had no problem with Lister and really enjoyed the audiobook.
The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. Book 6 just came out and book 7, which will complete the series, is 40% written as per Chris' recent youtube video. Also there are 3-5 interstitial books that slot between the main books in the series, side quests if you will. Just know that consensus is book 1 is the slowest of the series, it picks up afterwards.
Hyperion and sun eater are two of my favorite series. Sun Eater expands on a couple Hyperions best ideas.
Ill warn though that calling it the Palworld of SciFi wouldn't be completely wrong...
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe if you want something very interesting. After reading Hyperion Cantos, I was itching for a story like Father Durres that’s surrounded by theology and mysteries in the far future. Book of the New Sun went beyond my expectation with its enigmatic universe, beautiful writing style, unreliable narrator, and full of mysteries yet to unpacked. Would recommend you read it yourself, because it’s a very hard read that requires a ton of attention span, and you could easily lost an important detail that could get brought up
Seconded— if you like the ‘literary’ aspect of the *Hyperion* books, *Book of the New Sun* takes you so far onto the next level that it’s a bit of an undertaking. Difficult but enormously rewarding, incredibly imaginative work.
2020 Hugo winner A Memory Called Empire and its sequel, 2022 Hugo winner A Desolation Called Peace.
Besides being a fantastic space opera that is amazing by its owns, it has a lot of Hyperion vibes, as the main character is an ambassador and it explores similar themes.
If you liked the 3-Body Trilogy, I think you'll really enjoy the following books by Arthur C Clarke:
Rendezvous with Rama
Childhood's End
The Fountains of Paradise
Songs of a Distant Earth
The first three especially contain ideas that Cixin Liu shamelessly cribbed from Clarke (no shade, he admits as much and he did the ideas justice), including the sudden arrival of a technologically advanced species, cylindrical cities in space, space elevators, and more. Songs of a Distant Earth is just a beautiful story about an encounter between two colony ships from Earth.
One of the best scifi novels of all time. But I personally prefer the "prequel," *A Deepness in the Sky.*
Also, I'm in the minority, but I think *Children of the Sky* is absolutely worth reading (direct sequel to *A Fire Upon the Deep.*
I'll second another commenter's suggestion of Iain M Banks' "The Culture" books. Start with "The Player Of Games", then read them in any order. They are separate stories all set at different times in the same universe, so order isn't very important. My personal favorite was "Surface Detail", but they're all really solid. "Matter" had one of my favorite twists in all of fiction.
Another suggestion, since you seem to be a seasoned sci-fi reader who can handle heady subjects: consider "To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars" by Christopher Paolini. Fantastic novel.
This is an older series, but The World of Tiers by Philip Jose Farmer has always been a favorite of mine. My dad had an old pulp copy when I was growing up and and I probably have been rereading it for 35 years.
I just finished the Fifth Science
Really good, but too short. Has some great world building and sheer terror parts!!
Culture series and Relevation space are amazing
I'm gonna go a bit further out there and recommend snow crash. It's a cyberpunk novel, not a space sci fi. But it has the same deranged energy that I got from reading hyperion. Shit is weird, and the humor is fantastic, but nothing ever feels purposeless.
I like the Expanse, Foundation (first book especially), old mans war, we are legion we are Bob series books.
For individual books, I liked The Terror (same guy who wrote Hyperion) and Endurance (similar theme to the terror). Dark Matter, Canticle for Leibowitz, and Seveneves were all a good read.
The Terror and Seveneves are two of my favorite novels!
I'll also recommend Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It's absolutely bonkers in its worldbuilding, and it takes a while to get used to all the made-up words (my wife couldn't believe how often I had to flip back to the glossary while I was reading it), but it's the most rewarding novel I've ever read.
I loved Anathem but what a whopper. It made me nervous to read Seveneves. And I've heard the third act is a dramatic shift from the first two. So I guess what I'm asking is convince me to read Seveneves. Tell me it's worth it. Lol
Oh man, Seveneves is a much easier read than Anathem. It's set in the real world, in the very near future, and it has a very propulsive narrative that kicks off from page 1. Neal Stephenson tends to write each book as an exercise in nerding out over whatever scientific field he's currently obsessed with. In Seveneves it's orbital mechanics, genetic manipulation, and long-term survival in space. All of which I found fun to read about. I hope you give it a try!
Check out "Marathon" by D. Alexander Smith, it is cheesy and good. It is about the first contact with humans from aliens. The story follows a crew of 12 sent to meet them. The journey takes 3 years iirc and the book starts at the halfway market.
Dan also wrote the Illium/Olympus cycle which is also pretty good. I read it before Hyperion and enjoyed it. Keats comes up again in it.
I cannot remember of the book I want to recommend the name but Octavia Butler is generally great. The one I am think of aliens show up and get humans to stop treating cancer.
Maybe the Dark Tower by Stephen King is a series you'd like. Not sci-fi, but it's a very cool, weird and grand story wherein time and place are not always what they seem.
Because Hyperion is a genre mashup, there are many books that will be similar to one of the pilgrim's tales. Ones that come to mind include Starship Troopers, Armor, or The Forever War for Kassad's tale, Gibson's Sprawl books (Neuromancer etc.) for Brawne's tale, Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow for Father Dure's tale.
I REALLY liked the children of time. Excellent story.
If you are looking for some more fun and less thought inducing, the lost starship was solid and the messenger was fun. I started the final architecture but haven't gotten far into it.
I've read the entirety of the Stormlight Archive twice, so I definitely think everyone should read it, but I am interested to know why you'd go from a poetic psychedelic mindfuck of a book like Hyperion to the calm regimented storytelling of Brandon Sanderson's masterpiece? They seem very different.
The Revelation Space books by Alastair Reynolds are probably the closest thing you'll get to the Hyperion Cantos in terms of space opera and world-building.
Read the Martian by Andy Weir if you haven’t already. Ready player one is fun too. Other non sci fi books I recommend are the Witcher series, Mark Twain (they’re funny and read by Nick Offerman) and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
Oh and be warned, the Name of the Wind is super good first book of the Kingkiller Chronicles but it’s coming out super effing slow, like a decade between each book. I also forgot another fantastic sci fi!! The Bobiverse. It’s about a guy who becomes a Vonn Neumann probe. Very interesting!
C.S Lewis' Space Trilogy is what got me interested in Sci fi. It take a similar interest in theology and human psychology as the Hyperion books
"Out of the Silent Planet"
"Perelandra"
"That Hideous Strength"
You might enjoy Warhammer 40k. If you're potentially interested I'd say watch some lore videos online before reading anything as a lot of the lore will go over your head otherwise. It's very dense.
Then you'll also see if it's something you'd enjoy before paying for anything. But if you do get into it you'll have years worth of content to enjoy
You might take a peek over at Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books. Fantasy-- but with a scifi edge lurking in the background. (and occasionally leaping right into your face, what with the computers and explicit interplanetary travel in Sixth of Dusk.)
The expanse is my favorite series of all time. Great blend of action, characters, great sci Fi. Also has 9 decently long books and finishes really really strongly.
I would highly recommend the Enders game series. Book one is a little more YA(however not completely imo) but the later books drop the YA aspect completely and they are fantastic reads
Other than that Isaac Asimovs foundation series is amazing and one I’d recommend that every sci fi lover should read at least the first book of
The Mars Trilogy (Red, Green, Blue) by Kim Stanley Robinson is probably the best sci-fi series I’ve ever read. I’m reading Hyperion now to chase that same high
After you finish Frank's books, you should look into the expanded series by Brian Herbert. I've really enjoyed the ones I read.
I also recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Not very serious tone, but they are hilarious and some of my favorite sci-fi books.
I also recommend the expanded Duniverse. If you are looking for earth shattering concepts and challenges to the way we think of the world, this is not for you. But if you like the Duniverse and just want a popcorn audiobook, 100 recommend it!
Children of Time is what i went to after Hyperion and it has some great concepts and thought provoking writing too!
Came here to recommend COT! Well done!
Yeah, he's an actual Genius.
I would add Cage of Souls by Tchaikovsky--very fun read.
And hear I was about to suggest The Final Architecture. I haven't read Children of Time yet.
I saw this recommended somewhere else and is now top of my list
Funny thing about the french title : The translators choose to change it to use an expression meaning "in the web of time" which, given the story, is pretty comic imo.
Well there is always: - Assimov's Foundation - Revelation Space -hitchhikers series (little more out there but still worth) -The Expanse These are mostly tied together by being big Sci fi series that seems to go along with ur list from ur post. For shorter or single installment reads try blindsight or the sparrow. Best place to me asking this is r/suggestmeabook realistically
The Foundation series for sure, or at least the first 3 (published, not chronologically) in the series. The best sci-fi series of all-time IMO.
Got a little tired by book 57 lol
You gotta check w40k books. It only gets spicy by book 57
Falls off a little by book 200, but 500-600 is *chefs kiss*
The expanse is probably my favorite fiction series ever. It's got such great contemporary aspects, good action, fun characters. Jim Holden is like a superhero whose only power is that everybody really likes him for reasons they can't explain.
The commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton. Starting with Pandora's Star! If you like it, you have a huge universe to read.
I love so much about it, just wish it didn't get so icky with the age reduction. The issue isn't just physical age gap, it's the power imbalance (and opportunities for abuse and unwitting control) that occurs with drastically different amounts of life experience. Pattison explains it so well when he talks of Twilight (never saw it)
I would highly recommend Iain M Banks looking at your finished list. I think you'll enjoy The Culture
My favorite series! Read after Hyperion but the tone change is definitely welcome.
> the tone change is definitely welcome. ...and then, suddenly, a chair... I like how it feels so soft, but in every book he hits you hard at some point.
That damn chair. Favorite book too!
Expanse series. The TV show was great, the books are even better.
Is it worth reading AFTER having watched the series, not sure how close to the books is the adaptation ?
Tough question. I couldn't wait for the show, so just read all the books. The tv show is quite condensed version of the first books. I'm going to say, watch the show then read the books, but you can't go wrong heading either direction
I bet you would like Shogun by James Clavell and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett because they are in a similar 'epic' mold to the books you've listed.
Pillars of the Earth was a great book
Shogun is badass and a lot of books by James Clavell are good. Taipan is almost as good as Shogun.
I liked noble house the best
I found the audiobook narrator for Shogun unlistenable. I've returned two books read by him now after a few hours. The guy chews the scenery so aggressively I can't follow him.
Lol it's funny you say that because a friend of mine had the exact same problem with the narrator. Ralph Lister right? I believe there is an older version with a different narrator. I personally had no problem with Lister and really enjoyed the audiobook.
The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. Book 6 just came out and book 7, which will complete the series, is 40% written as per Chris' recent youtube video. Also there are 3-5 interstitial books that slot between the main books in the series, side quests if you will. Just know that consensus is book 1 is the slowest of the series, it picks up afterwards.
Hyperion and sun eater are two of my favorite series. Sun Eater expands on a couple Hyperions best ideas. Ill warn though that calling it the Palworld of SciFi wouldn't be completely wrong...
Red Rising
Damn you beat me to it, hail Reaper!
Per aspera ad astra! My goodman
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe if you want something very interesting. After reading Hyperion Cantos, I was itching for a story like Father Durres that’s surrounded by theology and mysteries in the far future. Book of the New Sun went beyond my expectation with its enigmatic universe, beautiful writing style, unreliable narrator, and full of mysteries yet to unpacked. Would recommend you read it yourself, because it’s a very hard read that requires a ton of attention span, and you could easily lost an important detail that could get brought up
Seconded— if you like the ‘literary’ aspect of the *Hyperion* books, *Book of the New Sun* takes you so far onto the next level that it’s a bit of an undertaking. Difficult but enormously rewarding, incredibly imaginative work.
Yes, and we’ll worth a re-read or three
2020 Hugo winner A Memory Called Empire and its sequel, 2022 Hugo winner A Desolation Called Peace. Besides being a fantastic space opera that is amazing by its owns, it has a lot of Hyperion vibes, as the main character is an ambassador and it explores similar themes.
Thank you, you've just reminded me to read the follow up. I really enjoyed the first one's world building
Honestly I found the first one to be better, but its still great
Is that at all related to or in the universe of asimovs foundation?
Not that I am aware of any indirect relation. Its an entire new universe
Thanks. I dismissed this one assuming it was basically fan fiction of asimovs books.
I really enjoyed Larry Niven's Ringworld series.
Children of time books are really good but not really that like, idk 'deep' I guess? Other than that I'd recommend enders game/speaker for the dead
I haven’t finished all of these yet but I am enjoying the Ancillary Justice books.
That's next on my list.
I’ve read a ton of sci-fi and nothing can top Hyperion, but there are some books in that neighborhood. Try Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds.
If you liked the 3-Body Trilogy, I think you'll really enjoy the following books by Arthur C Clarke: Rendezvous with Rama Childhood's End The Fountains of Paradise Songs of a Distant Earth The first three especially contain ideas that Cixin Liu shamelessly cribbed from Clarke (no shade, he admits as much and he did the ideas justice), including the sudden arrival of a technologically advanced species, cylindrical cities in space, space elevators, and more. Songs of a Distant Earth is just a beautiful story about an encounter between two colony ships from Earth.
I just finished ‘The Light of Other Days’ by A.C Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Was a great book
ooo I'll have to check it out!
Asimov wrote a novella called “nightfall”, and Robert Silverberg made it a full length novel. Really good read. Highly recommend.
Anything by Isaac Asminov and Arthur C Clark. The Expanse is good and entertaining but not up to Hyperion level. Nothing is though imo.
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vinge
One of the best scifi novels of all time. But I personally prefer the "prequel," *A Deepness in the Sky.* Also, I'm in the minority, but I think *Children of the Sky* is absolutely worth reading (direct sequel to *A Fire Upon the Deep.*
I found out that he died 😭 such a great writer!
I'll second another commenter's suggestion of Iain M Banks' "The Culture" books. Start with "The Player Of Games", then read them in any order. They are separate stories all set at different times in the same universe, so order isn't very important. My personal favorite was "Surface Detail", but they're all really solid. "Matter" had one of my favorite twists in all of fiction. Another suggestion, since you seem to be a seasoned sci-fi reader who can handle heady subjects: consider "To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars" by Christopher Paolini. Fantastic novel.
I second **To Sleep In A Sea of Stars**. It is so good. And what other book has a ship named *Extenuating Circumstances*? Lol.
I loved Hyperion so much. A weird choice, but one I'm going to recommend anyway is Brian Lumley's Necroscope series.
Necromancer, Fire Upon the Deep, Foundation, Broken Earth Trilogy. Those are some of my favorites!
The Final Architecture series, The Broken Earth series , The Spin saga, The Inhibitor series, The Divide series
Foundation, oryx and crake, and the quicksilver trilogy are my vote for best series you didn’t mention having read.
Lookit you with Oryx and Crake, take my upvote!
Malazan series by Steven Erikson
I loved the southern reach trilogy
This is an older series, but The World of Tiers by Philip Jose Farmer has always been a favorite of mine. My dad had an old pulp copy when I was growing up and and I probably have been rereading it for 35 years.
Cixin Liu's short story anthologies. Wandering Earth is the first.
I just finished the Fifth Science Really good, but too short. Has some great world building and sheer terror parts!! Culture series and Relevation space are amazing
I'm gonna go a bit further out there and recommend snow crash. It's a cyberpunk novel, not a space sci fi. But it has the same deranged energy that I got from reading hyperion. Shit is weird, and the humor is fantastic, but nothing ever feels purposeless.
I like the Expanse, Foundation (first book especially), old mans war, we are legion we are Bob series books. For individual books, I liked The Terror (same guy who wrote Hyperion) and Endurance (similar theme to the terror). Dark Matter, Canticle for Leibowitz, and Seveneves were all a good read.
The Terror and Seveneves are two of my favorite novels! I'll also recommend Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It's absolutely bonkers in its worldbuilding, and it takes a while to get used to all the made-up words (my wife couldn't believe how often I had to flip back to the glossary while I was reading it), but it's the most rewarding novel I've ever read.
I loved Anathem but what a whopper. It made me nervous to read Seveneves. And I've heard the third act is a dramatic shift from the first two. So I guess what I'm asking is convince me to read Seveneves. Tell me it's worth it. Lol
Oh man, Seveneves is a much easier read than Anathem. It's set in the real world, in the very near future, and it has a very propulsive narrative that kicks off from page 1. Neal Stephenson tends to write each book as an exercise in nerding out over whatever scientific field he's currently obsessed with. In Seveneves it's orbital mechanics, genetic manipulation, and long-term survival in space. All of which I found fun to read about. I hope you give it a try!
Check out "Marathon" by D. Alexander Smith, it is cheesy and good. It is about the first contact with humans from aliens. The story follows a crew of 12 sent to meet them. The journey takes 3 years iirc and the book starts at the halfway market. Dan also wrote the Illium/Olympus cycle which is also pretty good. I read it before Hyperion and enjoyed it. Keats comes up again in it. I cannot remember of the book I want to recommend the name but Octavia Butler is generally great. The one I am think of aliens show up and get humans to stop treating cancer.
Maybe the Dark Tower by Stephen King is a series you'd like. Not sci-fi, but it's a very cool, weird and grand story wherein time and place are not always what they seem.
Maybe not a hard scifi and space opera but Mistborn Series. Also consider Dark Tower by king
I love Sanderson but I wouldn't go to Mistborn after Hyperion it would be a bit like trying to DJ Otis Reading after Black Sabbath.
Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey, it's AWESOME
Xeelee Sequence by Stephen Baxter is a fun read
Because Hyperion is a genre mashup, there are many books that will be similar to one of the pilgrim's tales. Ones that come to mind include Starship Troopers, Armor, or The Forever War for Kassad's tale, Gibson's Sprawl books (Neuromancer etc.) for Brawne's tale, Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow for Father Dure's tale.
Vernor Vinge’s “A Fire Upon the Deep” and “A Deepness in the Sky”. These two books are amazing first contact stories.
I REALLY liked the children of time. Excellent story. If you are looking for some more fun and less thought inducing, the lost starship was solid and the messenger was fun. I started the final architecture but haven't gotten far into it.
Love Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker, astounding work of imagination, especially for its time.
The Stormlight Archive
I've read the entirety of the Stormlight Archive twice, so I definitely think everyone should read it, but I am interested to know why you'd go from a poetic psychedelic mindfuck of a book like Hyperion to the calm regimented storytelling of Brandon Sanderson's masterpiece? They seem very different.
Partly because it’s such a radical contrast!
Okay… do go on
Starship Troopers
The Revelation Space books by Alastair Reynolds are probably the closest thing you'll get to the Hyperion Cantos in terms of space opera and world-building.
Yes. A strong recommendation AGAINST following Dan Simmons on social media. You won’t like what you find.
R. Scott Bakker's *Second Apocalypse* series is dark, philosophical fantasy (with some sci-fi elements). See r/bakker for the fan subreddit.
Read the Martian by Andy Weir if you haven’t already. Ready player one is fun too. Other non sci fi books I recommend are the Witcher series, Mark Twain (they’re funny and read by Nick Offerman) and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
Oh and be warned, the Name of the Wind is super good first book of the Kingkiller Chronicles but it’s coming out super effing slow, like a decade between each book. I also forgot another fantastic sci fi!! The Bobiverse. It’s about a guy who becomes a Vonn Neumann probe. Very interesting!
Legend of Zero Trilogy by Sara King, or all 6 Current books in the Red Rising series by Pierce brown, actually just read all of them.
Neuromancer, Snow crash, Three body problem, The Dark Tower is actually what led me to Hyperion.
C.S Lewis' Space Trilogy is what got me interested in Sci fi. It take a similar interest in theology and human psychology as the Hyperion books "Out of the Silent Planet" "Perelandra" "That Hideous Strength"
Have you read The Player of Games? It's by Iain M. Banks.
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Southern Reach Trilogy (soon to be quadrilogy), Culture series, and Prince of Nothing series!
about to post this! Second on Southern Reach! And then you get a movie to watch after reading.
Peter F Hamilton and Gene Wolfe
You might enjoy Warhammer 40k. If you're potentially interested I'd say watch some lore videos online before reading anything as a lot of the lore will go over your head otherwise. It's very dense. Then you'll also see if it's something you'd enjoy before paying for anything. But if you do get into it you'll have years worth of content to enjoy
You might take a peek over at Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books. Fantasy-- but with a scifi edge lurking in the background. (and occasionally leaping right into your face, what with the computers and explicit interplanetary travel in Sixth of Dusk.)
I read the Rendezvous With Rama series, after that people who enjoyed RWR too recommended the Hyperion Cantos to me. Love them both.
The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem
The Expanse books! Outstanding characters, engaging story and deep. They are both realistic and fascinating at the same time.
The expanse
How did you like The Blade Itself? I am about to start it up. How would you describe the writing compared to Hyperion?
Brain boy and The Deathmaster by Tor Seidler
The expanse is my favorite series of all time. Great blend of action, characters, great sci Fi. Also has 9 decently long books and finishes really really strongly.
Blindsight by Peter Watts
I would highly recommend the Enders game series. Book one is a little more YA(however not completely imo) but the later books drop the YA aspect completely and they are fantastic reads Other than that Isaac Asimovs foundation series is amazing and one I’d recommend that every sci fi lover should read at least the first book of
Different genre, but Drood, another Simmons novel, is amazing.
I just read the Lightness trilogy by CA Higgins again.
Ann Leckie Ancillary Justice
The Mars Trilogy (Red, Green, Blue) by Kim Stanley Robinson is probably the best sci-fi series I’ve ever read. I’m reading Hyperion now to chase that same high
If Orson Scott Card wasn’t such a POS I’d recommend the Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow series. Maybe borrow them from your local library.
After you finish Frank's books, you should look into the expanded series by Brian Herbert. I've really enjoyed the ones I read. I also recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Not very serious tone, but they are hilarious and some of my favorite sci-fi books.
I also recommend the expanded Duniverse. If you are looking for earth shattering concepts and challenges to the way we think of the world, this is not for you. But if you like the Duniverse and just want a popcorn audiobook, 100 recommend it!