As an example, I love the Martian, and I think a lot of older books from authors like Asimov are heavily into engineering / competence porn. Other favs in this category include the standalone novel Rendezvous with Rama to leave you wishing for more, most of the Culture series for happy utopian vibes, Schlock Mercenary for humor, Dahak series for fun mindless popcorn.
Edit: I’m so happy to have found a replacement for r/books and the rest of them.
I recently found the Bobiverse to be a light-hearted read in this category.
Engineer becomes von Neumann probe and has to solve quite a lot of interesting issues while bootstrapping and dealing with settling in the galactic neighbourhood
Enjoyed project hail mary, but bobiverse didn’t quite do it for me. >!Atheist gets recruited by religious cult. Proceeds to go to planet of the apes to play god. I found it to be mostly ok up to that point though. !<
Religion as portrayed in this book makes the characters very one dimensional. It’s also peppered with references to popular culture, which doesn’t really do that much for me.
I found it to be mostly ok up to that point though.
I’m a bit confused by this statement. The religious cult stuff takes place in like the first 15% of the first book and is then essentially dropped. What part were you ok with then? Just the 10 pages of Bob 1.0 before he got hit by a car?
!Didn’t make it clear, but I was mainly referring to the storyline on the inhabited planet. I got annoyed by the main character essentially slaughtering natives and then at some point admitting to himself that he knew nothing about them as a species. Towards the end of that plot line there was some negotiation with the cult leader back on earth, at which point I was quite fed up.!<
There were a lot of fun aspects too though, like bob discovering stuff and making gadgets.
Wow you read a lot more into the religious theme than I did. I found it an exploration of the engineering behind almost every SciFi trope rather than playing god.
And as an atheist I found the religious characterisation entirely adequate, it is a minor part of the characters personality, and it’s only in the obnoxious ones that it becomes dominating. Which is quite close to how it is in my daily life.
But yes, the whole series is made within and to serve nerd culture, it is a long long stream of references and in-jokes at multiple levels, including the main premise. It just happens to also be intelligently written.
I wouldn’t say that there’s a major religious theme. It’s just that Bob doesn’t interact with that many characters except himself, so those interactions felt more important to the plot. Then again, I wouldn’t say that the Brazilian navy AI was a very multifaceted character either.
I should get back to the Bobiverse. I tried it once and couldn’t get into it for some reason. I don’t recall the exact details now, and maybe I was misunderstanding something, but there was some stuff about his drones destroying entire solar systems for raw minerals, that just seemed plain nonsensical to me? I guess with all the good things people are saying about it I should go back and figure out what rubbed me wrong the first time.
It sounds like you accidentally starter with a later book because what you’ve described is a major plot story being built up for a bit.
From this thread I think you might enjoy it :)
Yeah I’ll give it another look :)
I’m on the third book now. It’s great nerd/competence porn. I set the 10 minute timer and put my ear buds in at night as I go to bed. I’ve usually drifted off by minute 9, but not because it’s boring or anything, it’s just good listening.
The first two thirds of Seveneves is really good at exactly what you describe. Once you get to the third part (you’ll recognize it) just pretend the book ended before that.
Seveneves was a wild ride, and I appreciated the way its scope broadened, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it.
I liked the third half. But it’s quite a shift
I was the opposite. The first 2/3 was a slog to get through to reach the inevitable. If people enjoy doomsday scenarios it’ll work for them, thouugh. The last 1/3 was when everything got really interesting for me and ended way too soon.
Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars is pretty hard-scifi.
Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space not so much but very entertaining.
Edit: for light reading Stross’s Saturns Children is fun.Thanks! I bounced off the Mars trilogy. All the petty human drama and politics just felt way too much like current news (which is probably a compliment to his writing skills, but it just wasn’t what I was looking for at the time). I think I probably need a very relaxed state of mind to be able to dive into it. As for Rev Space, I’ve read about half of it before losing track of the various threads and time jumps.
I agree with that. Red Mars was great but the second one felt like he only expanded on all the least exciting parts of the first book, so I didn’t finish it.
I bulled my way though all three.
There was enough story for one novel, padded out with crap to fill enough books for a “clever” post on the titles.
If someone’s looking for a good Mars read: Moving Mars by Greg Bear.
Recently, I’ve been reading the Interdependency series by John Scalzi. It starts with The Collapsing Empire, featuring an unlikely heir to the throne, a time of trouble and strife, and the likely impending doom of all mankind. A lot of the story focuses on the unlikely heir grappling with how to hold things together against the catastrophe that most people don’t really believe is coming.
Looks cool! I enjoyed Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series, will be nice to visit him again.
I’d reccomend the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor.
First person narrative that fully embraces its main character as an engineering superstar with galactic level influence.
Yeah, I’ve been told to reread it since apparently I missed some critical stuff my first time through.
“Planetfall” by Emma Newman might fit your preferences judging by the things you said about books you’ve read! it’s a 4 book series (i think) and mostly deals with the inner psychology of the main character of each book. also has a bunch of engineering in it, mostly hard sci-fi!
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold is like Horatio Hornblower in space. The main character has dwarfism and accidentally commandeers a mercenary fleet as a teenager.
Freaking Miles antics.
One of my favorites!
Nathan Lowell’s Trader’s Tales From the Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper series is pure competence porn. There’s very little action or intrigue, just some guy working his way up from the bottom in interstellar travel and trade via, well, competence. Haha!
Another vote for Greg Egan. And I too really enjoyed the Children of Time series and anything written by Alastair Reynolds, although I don’t think the genre is exactly what you’re looking for. Finding modern, hard sci-fi really is pretty difficult.
I get where you’re coming from with KSR’s Mars series. I think Ministry for the Future was a better read, personally.
Also, I find that a lot of Crichton scratches similar itch to Andy Weir. Especially things like Andromeda Strain and Airframe.
I might give Ministry a shot, haven’t tried it yet. And Greg Egan is on my list now. Crichton, I did not like Sphere and I guess it turned me away from trying his other books. I guess I should give some of them another shot.
I’m sure you’ve read or heard this before, but project hail mary is great. The whole bobiverse series was incredibly satisfying to read and the 5th book is out recently in the form of an audio book. Low pressure, low commitment series thats just full of engineering porn.
Holy shit, new bobiverse? Thanks for the knowledge.
Yeah, I loved pretty much all of Andy Weir. I should get back to the Bobiverse. I tried it once and couldn’t get into it for some reason. I don’t recall the exact details now, and maybe I was misunderstanding something, but there was some stuff about his drones destroying entire solar systems for raw minerals, that just seemed plain nonsensical to me? I guess with all the good things people are saying about it I should go back and figure out what rubbed me wrong the first time.
I’m stuck on Bobiverse too. This whole section on the Archimedes alien did me in.
there was some stuff about his drones destroying entire solar systems for raw minerals, that just seemed plain nonsensical to me?
Not sure what exactly seems nonsensical to you but it’s a well known concept that is also explained thoroughly in the books. You might want to read up on von Neumann probes.
Like I said, I possibly misunderstood or missed something. I’m familiar with the concept of Von Neumann probes, but an entire solar system to build a small handful of probes seems overkill. How big are these probes? If it turns out to have been a gazillion probes, or they’re jupiter-sized, then I guess that’s where my misunderstanding was.
Yeh, I guess you really did miss something. I’m sure the purpose of mining a solar system was not to make more simple probes.
Good to know. I’ll slot Bobiverse in once I’m done with Greg Bear
I really wanted to love “Project Hail Mary”, but Andy Weir can’t write characters and that killed it for me for some reason
Can you elaborate on what specifically bothered you? I didn’t notice anything when I read it but it was a good while ago
It’s been a while too.
I think I felt that the dialogue was kind of flat and I was upset at how human the alien was.
the mars trilogy (red mars/green mars/blue mars) by kim stanley robinson
Thanks! I bounced off the Mars trilogy. All the petty human drama and politics just felt way too much like current news (which is probably a compliment to his writing skills, but it just wasn’t what I was looking for at the time). I think I probably need a very relaxed state of mind to be able to dive into it.
fair. to be honest, i havent read it since it was released in the 90s. i mostly remember the tech
Kim Stanley-Robinson
His Mars trilogy and Science in the Capital are amazing.
He is my favorite hard science fiction writer for the blend of tech, politics, critiques of capitalism, and drama. His novels after those trilogies are good but some people find them fairly long winded and boring in parts… actually I do too, ah well.Thanks! I bounced off the Mars trilogy. All the petty human drama and politics just felt way too much like current news (which is probably a compliment to his writing skills, but it just wasn’t what I was looking for at the time). I think I probably need a very relaxed state of mind to be able to dive into it.
Greg Bear - EON but more maths heavy, and has a bit of politics but a very good read
Larry Niven - Ring world series (maybe not competence focused, but strong science backing)
Yep, added EON to my list based on the numerous recs here. Ringworld I’ve gone through, it’s such a classic!
Protector and sequels, too. I also liked Integral Trees, but maybe a little less so.
Yeah, isn’t protector part of the Ringworld series? A kinda prequel? I did love it, makes me feel better (or worse) about my aching joints. Haven’t read Integral Trees yet.
If you end up searching online for that kind of things, “hard science fiction” is the phrase that’s usually used for it.
A lot of good recommendations here. Some endorsements and other recommendations:
- Project Hail Mary by Weir is a no brainer choice if you liked The Marian. He gets the science right.
- Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky is amazing, and the first of a trilogy, so more to read.
- The whole Expanse series, by James Corey is good and he does a good job with the science, especially the celestial mechanics.
- The Uplift series (starting with Sundiver) by David Brin is great, and Brin is will known for hard SF. It’s from the 80s.
- Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie, is great and the first of a series as well.
- Beggars in Spain, by Nancy Kress, is great, with a good science background, though it’s more genetics than engineering. Really cool story though.
- I also agree with the recommendation on Saturn’s Children, by Charles Stross. Also the first of a loose series.
On the flip side, I really didn’t care for Three Body Problem, and though the Bobiverse books seem fun, I’m not sure I’d call them firmly hard SF.
I haven’t read Beggars in Spain or Saturn’s Children yet, will take a look!
I’d love to hear what you think, I enjoyed both quite a lot.
Thanks! There a few that I hadn’t heard about!
Oh, certainly. In case it’s helpful, here’s a post I made last spring with notes from a year of reading - it’s pretty much all SF and fantasy. Many of the books mentioned in this thread are there. I’ve been reading about the same amount since, and will probably do another post on the anniversary of that one.
The Three Body Problem is bad. The hype for the book is a good example of “The Emporer’s New Clothes”.
I have finished the series and absolutely loved it.
Could you please explain why you consider it bad?
I found the third book very weak, albiet with some interesting ideas.
Also, made it clear that he can’t write women at all.
I found them overall fine to good, except the main character’s chapters in the final 2/3rd of Book 3 which were just kinda bleh by the end.
Book 1 was strong idea explored well.
Book 2 felt good at the time, but I think feels weaker in hindsight but was some more interesting ideas.
Most western sci-fi authors are shit at writing women. So I didn’t hold it against him. But sure, I can see how some people didn’t take to it.
To me, it was a beautiful series with loads of interesting and horrible twists and turns. The ending is sublime, to me.
Most sci-fi authors who can’t write women don’t make them the symbolism laden protagonist of their trilogy’s conclusion.
Not sure if I should give him points for effort there or not.
Despite my complaints, I do think it worth a read.
I loved it for the game theory, ideas, and what-if aspects. The characters however, were flat 2D cutouts. I can’t say how much of that was due to translation issues, if any.
I dunno. Most sci-fi I read from western authors is horrible with their characters. Maybe because I’m mostly reading older sci-fi? Either ways, I didn’t hold that against him or the story.
It’s a little bit of a slog. There are a lot of cultural references, plot devices, characters, and ways of moving through the story that are literally foreign to the western mind. Odd injections of what feels like philosophy. At least the version I read. Once you get used to it it gets better.
I was surprised at how little I liked it given the hype.
I did enjoy the parts about the Cultural Revolution and some of the dialog from Da Shi. That’s about it.
Hard scifi by Greg Egan is a trip and you’ll never be the same afterwards. Permutation City and Diaspora are my favorites.
For more modern take, Children of Time is beautifully narrated and I could listen to it all day for years and never get tired of the narrator.
For a universe that keeps on going with problem solving Vorkosigan Saga is very feel good and I think in line with a book like the Martian albeit a bit less hard though solid on its approach to deduction and wit.
Yep! Everybody here keeps mentioning Greg Egan and I’ll give him a shot. The rest I’ve read and love. Thanks!
