Welcome to /c/ScienceFiction
December book club canceled. Short stories instead!
We are a community for discussing all things Science Fiction. We want this to be a place for members to discuss and share everything they love about Science Fiction, whether that be books, movies, TV shows and more. Please feel free to take part and help our community grow.
Tom Clancy SSN.
Good light reading (historical fiction) for before bed or when you wake up at 3am due to the sound of the Herscithem outside.
Hers what?
Herscithem
From Google, 1st link: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/35465607
Do you like protagonists that use their wits to beat a scenario or the hard science more?
For example a fun read that’s, in my opinion, best experienced as an audiobook is the dungeon crawler carl. It’s definitely a good example of the first type. It’s not realistic. It’s literally real life made into a D&D game (LitRPG) it is just one scenario after another of Carl just finding ways to manipulate and play with the “rules” of the messed up game.
If you’re more into the hard science than The Expanse as others have said. Or maybe even the Revelation Space series where it is future tech but relativistic time plays a part. Less of the “one person/group against all odds” but a good read nonetheless.
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds fits pretty well. I like the progression of figuring out how to survive and thrive as their situation changes. I also quite like how the book deals with questions like how sentient species might interact despite the vast gulf of distance and time that exist between their civilizations.
Nathan Lowell's Trader's Tales From the Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper series is pure competence porn. There's very little action or intrigue, just some guy working his way up from the bottom in interstellar travel and trade via, well, competence. Haha!
the mars trilogy (red mars/green mars/blue mars) by kim stanley robinson
Greg Bear - EON but more maths heavy, and has a bit of politics but a very good read
Larry Niven - Ring world series (maybe not competence focused, but strong science backing)
Just finished Exodus: The Archimedes Engine on audible. Space opera with a lot of world building. A bit slow to get started, but I really enjoyed it.
Edit: not sure if I would classify it as engineering porn though, although there is an emphasis on use of technology
Several books in the League of Peoples series (start with Expendable) have this. Festina Ramos is competent AF without going into Mary Sue territory.
The Sten series (Allan Cole & Chris Bunch, military-ish sci-fi) has a fantastically competent lead.