Hey guys! Looking for what to read next. Any and all recs would be great! Ideally looking for sci-fi that isn’t only focused on lasers & action scenes (hence the post title)
I’m a few books past Project Hail Mary by Weir and I still can’t get over it. Jumped up to maybe a top 3 book of all time for me. I just finished reading Red Rising and wasn’t crazy about it.
My favorite book(s) of all time are Ender’s Game & Ender’s Shadow.
I’ve been a huge fan of books like the Scythe series by Shusterman and dystopian YA in general. Other than that – also open to any/all genres! I’ve been hopping around to different genres lately.
Thanks in advance!
by notKR23
10 Comments
*Embassytown* by China Mieville
Contest Matthew Reilly
You have solid taste in sci-fi! If you want more Andy Weir then the Martian is also great. Other than that, for non-action non-laser sci-fi some of my top recommendations are Flowers for Algernon, Jurassic Park or A Choice of Gods. If you want dystopian, my favorites are 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and Oryx and Crake
I wonder if you might like Michael Crichton’s work. The Andromeda Strain, particularly. It features really smart people working against the clock to find a solution to a problem that will end humanity otherwise—which is the same premise as Project Hail Mary.
Andy Weir’s first book, The Martian, is also this type of story. Smart guy, impossible problem, utter ruin if he doesn’t find a solution.
If you like that type of story, then you can explore thrillers. They show up in lots of genres—spy, mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, etc.
Something like Enders Game might be Old Man’s War by John Scalzi.
Remnant Population, by Elizabeth Moon
The Doomsday Book, and To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis
You might try some well written non-fiction. Endurance by Alfred Lansing (incredible polar exploration story), or Higginbotham’s Challenger (US manned space leading up to the Challenger Disaster) or Midnight at Chernobyl (history of nuclear engineering, leading up to Chernobyl).
Anathem, by Neal Stephenson. At first it seems like historical fiction, then alternate historical fiction, then your brain explodes.
The Andromeda Strain
I’ve often said that my favorite genre is “literary science fiction.” I wouldn’t put Andy Weir in that category as I conceive of it, but Speaker for the Dead definitely is. If that’s what you’re looking for, some of my favorites are:
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin (or really any of the Hanish cycle books)
Embassytown, by China Mieville
The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler
Plus a couple of other things I’d consider to be very well written science fiction:
Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson
The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz
And one “popcorn” book just for fun:
Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
Seveneves – Neal Stephenson. It starts with the moon exploding. It then becomes a mission to save humanity. If you liked Hail Mary this might scratch the same itch.