hello everyone! I would like to try to get into some science fiction books. what would you recommend for a first time reader? I like other fiction genres but not big on fantasy or romantasy, I am more of a logical person (not a big romantic or swayed by emotional character building) so I was thinking maybe I would love sci-fi? Not into Star Wars either lol but I’m open minded! TYIA!
by scarecrowhairs
13 Comments
Dune by Frank Herbert
Robert Heinlein- Have Space Suit, Will Travel.
It was my first.
The Martian by Andy Weir.
Take a look at Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
_Hyperion_ by Dan Simmons
John Scalzi, Andy Weir, or Blake Crouch.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons is awesome. Dune would probably be too dense for a first time reader – it’s basically a political philosophy essay told through a story.
Ursula K Le Guin’s stuff (The Dispossessed or Left Hand of Darkness) are a nice mix of being story drive and being thought-provoking.
Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells won me over to Science Fiction.
If you are open to series, I would highly suggest dungeon crawler carl! Very funny it is a lit rpg series so it kinda reads like a video game or dungeons and dragons campaign. I will say, it can get very Gorey and dark, so if you are not up for that i would skip on this series
Ender’s Game
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
I would suggest avoiding books more than 40 years old – writing quality, treatment of women and minorities, goofy technology are much better than it used to be.
Look at the Hugo Award Winners and nominees, but I wouldn’t *start* with Hyperion, Ancillary Justice, Cyteen, The Fifth Season… They’re heavy books, some of them assume familiarity with SF tropes and technobabble.
Scalzi, Weir, Becky Chambers, Walter Jon Williams, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Martha Wells, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Bear area all good places to start.
And if something isn’t to your taste, drop it and try something else. Science fiction covers a lot of ground, and different types of stories are going to appeal to different people.
Something by Kim Stanely Robbinson.
The Mars Trilogy
The Ministry for the Future
Science in the Capital Trilogy