I've recently picked up reading again and for whatever reason, overlooked or "trashy" sci fi is what's doing it for me these days. I've always been a sci fi fan and have read a lot of the quality classics like Ender's Game, Dune, etc. But right now I'm getting a big kick out of less iconic stuff. I read William Shatner's TekWar and Arkady & Boris Strugatsky's Prisoners of Power this past week and had a blast. I'll definitely be reading more of them, probably some L. Ron Hubbard (recommendations other than Battlefield Earth?) as well.
Looking for some more books in that vein; sci fi you enjoy but doesn't make anyone's top ten list. They don't have to be all that great, just interesting. For example, TekWar had some ideas I really liked and, imo, terrible execution. Prisoners of Power was much better executed, and outstanding vibes (basically taking a character from a Soviet version of Star Trek and dumping them in a nihilistic Fallout setting) but an abrupt, not very satisfying ending. I love all that kind of weirdness and imperfection. Bring it on!
by rognvald1066
6 Comments
John Scalzi has some interesting stuff:
* The Old Man’s War series
* Redshirts – a riff on Star Trek
* The Lock In series
* One-offs like The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain
Project Lyra by Vincent Kane or [The Rehu](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8Z558KY), they’re both Sci-fi with aliens but very unconventional stuff.
Anything Andre Norton ♡ [Crossroads of time](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1788616.The_Crossroads_of_Time_Crosstime) explores parallel universe and has some cool creatures.
[Space viking](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/676237.Space_Viking) by H. Beam Piper has some really fun world building and future feudalism. A lot of these vintage sci fi are pretty misogynistic and In this one the MCs wife is fridged in like the first 10 pages but I enjoyed it nonetheless
Anne McCaffrey’s a pretty guilty pleasure but probably more overrated than underrated.
You might try Bob Shaw: Orbitsville.
HUGELY underrated (imo) is The Membranes by Chi Ta-Wei. I love it so much that this is the 3rd reply I’ve posted about it today 😂
Expeditionary Force by Crieg Alanson. I have rarely laughed so much at a book. Plus the action is fantastic. More of a space opera and not hard sci/fi but I love it.