I have soon finshed all of The Expanse (which I have enjoyed immensely) and last month I finished Peter F Hilton’s Pandoras Star. While I enjoyed the second half of Pandoras Star, they (it’s a trilogy) are such heavy books with rather slow pace. One of my favorite reads last year was Recursion by Blake Crouch - it’s fast paced and just a plain joy to read. The same goes for The Martian and Project Hail Mary.
Given this, do you have any recommendations for what to read next?
I really enjoyed the novel Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. As someone who also thoroughly enjoyed the Expanse this definitely gave me some similar vibes even though the stories aren’t similar at all.
OP, I came here to recommend this as a quick, stand-alone, amazing book. Read it!
"Red, White & Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston is a romantic novel. Find out how two friends were forced to fake a friendship for political reasons, but their feelings deepened into a secret romance that challenges their lives and the world’s perception. https://bit.ly/445UfVI
The Hyperion saga is very enjoyable. If you didn’t read them already The Martian and Project Hail Mary by andy Weir are outstanding.
Hyperion is definitely on my todo list. I’ve heard so many good things from so many sources!
The Hyperion series is the best scifi I have ever read to be honest… It has the adventure of something like Ringworld or maybe Ender’s Game, politics like Foundation or Dune, philosophy like Childhood’s End or The Left Hand Of Darkness. The first book is structured like The Canterbury Tales too… Like a loosely connected group of short stories instead of the modern style 600 page slog… It makes it really easy to get in and out of.
I honestly can’t imagine anyone not liking that book. There are so many layers it’s super easy to find something to love.
It is amazing. One of the coolest, most ambitious, wackiest series I have read.
"Red, White & Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston is a romantic novel. Find out how two friends were forced to fake a friendship for political reasons, but their feelings deepened into a secret romance that challenges their lives and the world’s perception. https://bit.ly/445UfVI
If you haven’t read the Bobiverse series yet, you’re in for a treat. The first book is called We are Legion (We are Bob). The books are easy to read, and somewhat light-hearted, while tackling serious philosophical questions. The first 3 books are right at the top of my all-time favorite sci-fi.
"Red, White & Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston is a romantic novel. Find out how two friends were forced to fake a friendship for political reasons, but their feelings deepened into a secret romance that challenges their lives and the world’s perception. https://bit.ly/445UfVI
I read Solaris recently and was genuinely blown away. Anything from Ursala le Guin is also an excellent choice although I would suggest “the Dispossessed”.
Really? I read that book because it’s so highly rated and didn’t enjoy it at all. I couldn’t wait for it to end and was glad it was a short book. What did you like about it?
"Red, White & Royal Blue" by Casey McQuiston is a romantic novel. Find out how two friends were forced to fake a friendship for political reasons, but their feelings deepened into a secret romance that challenges their lives and the world’s perception. https://bit.ly/445UfVI
I read Solaris recently and was genuinely blown away.
Stanislaw Lem was a genius. I recommend also ‘Fiasko’. ‘Ichon Tyhchy’ is also great, it’s a collection of humoristic sci-fi short stories. I’ve been contemplating learning polish just to be able to read Lem, it’s been said a lot of his word play gets lost in translation. Although I have to admit the descriptions of the geometrical forms in the ocean in Solaris where just too much and I skipped those pages entirely.
Iain M Banks’s Culture novels. User name is relevant.
Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey while definitely not his best work (see The Book of Koli trilogy which is outstanding but more dystopian), is a fun multiversal sci-fi romp.
