Looking for recs for science fiction but more realistic feeling even if totally fantastical. If that makes sense. I really like the heavy inclusion of science, even if it's not totally accurate, things that try to explain what's going on, not just magic. (I love magic themes but that's a different genre for another time for me!) I recently read project hall Mary which I loved, so then I read Andy Weirs other books, such as Artemis and The Martian, I just love and am craving so much more of this style at the moment. I did pick up Dark Matter which I didn't enjoy quite as much but it was pretty on point. I've read Dune and such of course, that's a bit more fantasy than I'm trying to find here. Thanks for any suggestions! I don't have any vices and I'm an introvert so delving into books is the thing I crave all day while I'm working, and getting into these specific tangents is a lot of fun until I am suddenly at the end of my list. Finding myself a little anxious without something to look forward to… Lol. I'm so glad I found this sub!
by niv_niv
5 Comments
Dark Matter is a great story (I really like that one and also Recursion) but I’d not put it down as very scientific. the title is completely whack referring to an off hand “might be an explanation” that makes zero sense whatsoever.
Try Expanse and Bobiverse 🙂
If you want science heavy, perhaps check out Greg Egan
*The Mars* trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson.
As already recced in another comment, this might be your best “realistic” SF read.
*Children of Time*, by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
*The Spin* trilogy, by Robert Charles Wilson.
*The Gone World*, by Tom Sweterlitsch.
Might give more a Dark Matter vibe as it doesn’t really dives into the science.
edit : how could I forget about *The Three Body Problem*, by Cixin Liu.
Another science heavy trilogy.
Here are a few:
_The Calculating Stars_ by Mary Robinette Kowal, and the sequels. It’s sort of alternative history about space program in the 50s. Influence of racism and sexism in the culture plays a big role in the books.
Novels by scientists:
_Contact_ by Carl Sagan
_The Black Cloud_ by Frank Hoyle
Here’s some I have liked:
* The Uplift series by David Brin
* Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward
* Any of the books by Peter Watts. He’s most famous for Blindsight but The Freeze Frame Revolution may be more approachable.
* Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
* Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
* Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
* To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers
* We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker
* I second the recommendations of Greg Egan and Contact
* I read Dark Matter but did not personally find it to be realistic. There is a novella called And Then There Were N-1 by Sarah Pinsker available free on the website Escape Pod which covers the exact same concepts, but I can’t link it because external links will cause comments here to be filtered.