Science Fiction
Discussion
havoc said:
Was given Project Hail Mary for Christmas, finished it yesterday.
If you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
+1If you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
They also learnt to communicate a bit too easily, an irritating but necessary Sci Fi trope.
Zumbruk said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Short Grain said:
Recently bought Julian Mays Many Coloured Land Trilogy I originally read 30 years ago! Just as good as I remembered! 
I hope you read all 4 of them 
DodgyGeezer said:
Zumbruk said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Short Grain said:
Recently bought Julian Mays Many Coloured Land Trilogy I originally read 30 years ago! Just as good as I remembered!
I hope you read all 4 of them Zumbruk said:
DodgyGeezer said:
Zumbruk said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Short Grain said:
Recently bought Julian Mays Many Coloured Land Trilogy I originally read 30 years ago! Just as good as I remembered!
I hope you read all 4 of them 
DodgyGeezer said:
Zumbruk said:
DodgyGeezer said:
Zumbruk said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Short Grain said:
Recently bought Julian Mays Many Coloured Land Trilogy I originally read 30 years ago! Just as good as I remembered!
I hope you read all 4 of them 
havoc said:
Was given Project Hail Mary for Christmas, finished it yesterday.
If you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
I enjoyed it but I have to say that I was slightly nonplussed by the amount of rave reviews it seemed to get. If you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
DibblyDobbler said:
Anyway - banter aside... the Many Coloured Land is fabulous and highly recommended (also the follow up books Intervention and Galactic Milieu Trilogy are fab)
I confess I tried re-reading The Many-Coloured Land a few months ago, having first read it as a teenager (still had the same copies) and just couldn’t get on with it. I think I just found it all a bit too contrived.tertius said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Anyway - banter aside... the Many Coloured Land is fabulous and highly recommended (also the follow up books Intervention and Galactic Milieu Trilogy are fab)
I confess I tried re-reading The Many-Coloured Land a few months ago, having first read it as a teenager (still had the same copies) and just couldn’t get on with it. I think I just found it all a bit too contrived.I'm a bit like that with Children of Time - seems enjoyed by almost everybody but I couldn't get on with it at all. No likeable characters to invest in and didn't care what happened to them
hairykrishna said:
I enjoyed it but I have to say that I was slightly nonplussed by the amount of rave reviews it seemed to get.
It's the sci-fi version of an airport novel (or vice-versa) - it's engaging, easy to read, and has a relatable central character.For most people that's exactly what they want - IMB or PFH would either confuse them or bore them. And for light relief between weightier tomes, it does the job well.
Just finished Line of Polity by Neal Asher.
I'd read the first one years ago, then completely forgot about the series for some reason...
Engaging book, particularly the last half when things get moving. But everything's a bit too caricature - the bad guys are pyschotic, the religious fanatics are truly cliche'd, the peasants are downtrodden, the heroes are almost superhuman, and there's at least one carefully-placed deus-ex-machina to get them out of trouble.
I'd read the first one years ago, then completely forgot about the series for some reason...
Engaging book, particularly the last half when things get moving. But everything's a bit too caricature - the bad guys are pyschotic, the religious fanatics are truly cliche'd, the peasants are downtrodden, the heroes are almost superhuman, and there's at least one carefully-placed deus-ex-machina to get them out of trouble.
havoc said:
Was given Project Hail Mary for Christmas, finished it yesterday.
If you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
I read that a few weeks back and agree, Artemis was ok but not as good as the Martian, but Hail Mary is as good, albeit really a very similar plot (astronaut in a tricky situation, science the sIf you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
t out of it.A mate got me on to the Murderbot diaries and I'm really enjoying them. Mostly relatively short novellas, but decent stories in a pretty well developed universe. Mildly annoying that I only realised on reading book 6 that it's set before book 5, I would have preferred to read them in order not in written order.
RizzoTheRat said:
I read that a few weeks back and agree, Artemis was ok but not as good as the Martian, but Hail Mary is as good, albeit really a very similar plot (astronaut in a tricky situation, science the st out of it.
A mate got me on to the Murderbot diaries and I'm really enjoying them. Mostly relatively short novellas, but decent stories in a pretty well developed universe. Mildly annoying that I only realised on reading book 6 that it's set before book 5, I would have preferred to read them in order not in written order.
I love the Murderbot diaries. Murderbot itself is endearingly furious and confused.t out of it.A mate got me on to the Murderbot diaries and I'm really enjoying them. Mostly relatively short novellas, but decent stories in a pretty well developed universe. Mildly annoying that I only realised on reading book 6 that it's set before book 5, I would have preferred to read them in order not in written order.
I thought at the time that it reminded me a bit of the Ancillary Justice series, in that part of it is about a non human trying to finds its place, but then I realised I'd hadn't read the third Ancillary book so started that the other night and it's nowhere near as good as Murderbot. I think they'd do better with a different name though, Murderbot makes you assume a very different book than it turns out to be.
hairykrishna said:
havoc said:
Was given Project Hail Mary for Christmas, finished it yesterday.
If you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
I enjoyed it but I have to say that I was slightly nonplussed by the amount of rave reviews it seemed to get. If you want to be picky there are minor technical / plot holes in a number of places (and one deus-ex-machina at the end), but it's sufficiently well thought-through for anyone not being a pedant to enjoy it, and for me it's easily as good as The Martian.
Does rely a little on the classic sci-fi trope of 'new tech' to solve otherwise insurmountable problems, but still very readable.
Does anyone have any recommendations on similar books in the vein of "believable sci-fi"?
I loved The Martin, Project HM, Artemis, Terms of Enlistment etc as they're set only a slight amount into the future so I can somewhat take the storylines as being believable.
"Captain Snagarian activated his Werofluren Drive to create a woopydoopy portal to teleport the Onomoato to the planet of Omicron Persei 8" I find difficult to follow and get into
I loved The Martin, Project HM, Artemis, Terms of Enlistment etc as they're set only a slight amount into the future so I can somewhat take the storylines as being believable.
"Captain Snagarian activated his Werofluren Drive to create a woopydoopy portal to teleport the Onomoato to the planet of Omicron Persei 8" I find difficult to follow and get into
Sycamore said:
Does anyone have any recommendations on similar books in the vein of "believable sci-fi"?
I loved The Martin, Project HM, Artemis, Terms of Enlistment etc as they're set only a slight amount into the future so I can somewhat take the storylines as being believable.
"Captain Snagarian activated his Werofluren Drive to create a woopydoopy portal to teleport the Onomoato to the planet of Omicron Persei 8" I find difficult to follow and get into
I'd say that Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Dogs of War" (and its sequel) are just about within this remit, given they are about bioengineered uplifted animals, and the sociopolitical ramifications of this. I loved The Martin, Project HM, Artemis, Terms of Enlistment etc as they're set only a slight amount into the future so I can somewhat take the storylines as being believable.
"Captain Snagarian activated his Werofluren Drive to create a woopydoopy portal to teleport the Onomoato to the planet of Omicron Persei 8" I find difficult to follow and get into
(Plus Rex is a very good boy)
The Lost Fleet series may work for you. It is still accessible scifi but it does make mention of the problems of trying to fire at targets at relativistic speeds, which may or may not make things interesting. This does, from memory, fall under the Mil-fi sub-genre (if that's your bag then maybe Orphanage by Robert Buettner or Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos may also work)
Sea of Rust is well worth a read, and other than lots of robots doesn't really have any far out science fictiony stuff
The Expanse (also a TV series) has an unrealistically efficient space ship drive but other than that the technology is pretty much now
Murderbot diaries are a bit more spacey future but are about the lead character rather than unbelievable technology
And as CC says, Rex is a good boy!
ETA: if you liked Terms of Enlistment you might like of M.R.Forbes forgotten Earth/Colony series, initially about a sheriff on a colony ship
The Expanse (also a TV series) has an unrealistically efficient space ship drive but other than that the technology is pretty much now
Murderbot diaries are a bit more spacey future but are about the lead character rather than unbelievable technology
And as CC says, Rex is a good boy!
ETA: if you liked Terms of Enlistment you might like of M.R.Forbes forgotten Earth/Colony series, initially about a sheriff on a colony ship
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Wednesday 28th June 17:12
Gassing Station | Books and Literature | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff