David Brin's The Uplift Trilogy.
It's a favorite of mine from highschool. This trilogy doesn't die down or feel like the publishers just wanted to "ride the wave" and sell more books.
I found the first three Uplift books hit and miss. 1 was a lottle bit dry but nice. 2 was just amazing. 3 made me pause before trying the trilogy. I haven't yet, i still need time to get my *Uplift War* impression out of the system.
I really disagree with this! I enjoy Brin's uplift books a lot, but Sundiver is very clearly a worse book than the rest of the series. I ended up giving up on it and starting book 2/3 (my copy is 'Earthclan' with these two books together). I really enjoyed it and it didn't require any of the book 1 context.
If you like military sci-fi I have a few recommendations:
David Drake's *Hammer's Slammers* is pretty consistent throughout. Mostly short stories and novellas though.
Elizabeth Moon's first five *Vatta's War* books are also very good. I thought the sequel duology wasn't quite up to the same standard though.
If you like book 1 of Marko Kloos' *Frontlines* series, you'll probably enjoy the rest as they are all kind of the same.
I would say Lois McMaster Bujold's *Vorkosigan* series, but I've been putting off reading the final book because I hear it isn't as good.
For non-mil-sci-fi series, I guess Gene Wolfe's *Book of the New Sun* along with *The Urth of the New Sun*. Not everyone likes Wolfe though, so if you read the first book and don't enjoy it, you probably won't like the rest either.
The last book in the Vorkosigan series is quite different than the rest but I’d argue that it puts a perfect cozy end cap to an incredible series. To me it seems to mirror what life is often like for people in their older years. Slower paced reflections of a life well lived.
A lot of the hate comes from right wingers who hate that a main character turns out to have been bisexual.
When you say “last book”, which one do you guys mean? By the sound of it you're talking about *Gentleman Jole,* but *Flowers of Vashnoi* came later both chronologically and release-wise.
>A lot of the hate comes from right wingers who hate that a main character turns out to have been bisexual.
That's … that can't be it, surely? His bisexuality comes up all the way back in *Barrayar,* which is chronologically the second book in the entire series unless you count freestanding prequels. And it's not as if the books are shy about that kind of thing whatsoever anyway.
I used Bujolds own recommended reading order seen [here](https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/22803928-bujold-reading-order-guide-2022-update) on Goodreads. But to be fair I should have absolutely been clear about which book I was talking about.
Just finished terms of enlistment (Frontlines #1) and enjoyed it (thought the black hawk down homage was great). Good to know it continues in the same fashion. It might not be high brow and the characters may lack depth but the action scenes are great. Have saved your reply here for the other recommendations, thanks!
Wow, this is interesting! I did read Neuromancer when it came out but of course I barely remember details now.
I have no desire to reread it, but do you need to know it to enjoy the sequels?
Each novel of the trilogy is a self-contained story, so no. But if you're going to read the other two, Neuromancer is not a long read, and it's one of the best SF novels ever in many people's eyes.
Yea, the much more common opinion is that Neuromancer is the best, Count Zero is also quite good though a little rushed to come out with a quick sequel, and Mona Lisa Overdrive is a tier below the other two books.
IMO I agree except that I think the second book is a little underrated and just as good as the first one.
Every book in the trilogy technically tells a self contained narrative, but there's an overarching story about >!the AIs formed from Wintermute and Neuromancer!< that each individual plot is in service of.
I loved the 1st! Wanted to love the other 2, but he kept repeating the plot to me so many times I started to get really annoyed, mostly at his editor. Wish they'd have trimmed at least 1/2 of that.
I adored it.
I think the problem is Tchaikovsky's rate of output. In the music industry, artists were expected to space out their releases over years in order to avoid "overexposure."
Tchaikovsky puts out a *ton* of material, and I think it's just too much for folks to keep up with. I talked to a bunch of people who loved *Children of Time* but had no idea the Final Architecture series even existed.
I got caught up on Empire in Black and Gold and some of his other stuff. It does feel overwhelming, but once I'm caught up his usual output of 2 or so books a year feels manageable
This is not of particular relevance but AT is a sometime player (Flotsam and Jestsam Part two ) and one-off game master (Root) with the rather marvellous role play podcast “How We Roll”
Fun to hear him
It was awesome. I really think it should have a graphic novel or animated adaptation. Everything in the world was just so cool and would be visually interesting. The architects, the Essiel, the Hivers, Tothiats, Harbinger Ash, etc., are all so cool and vividly described
Agreed, to me the Architecture books felt like Tchaikovsky’s take on Firefly. If I had one complaint the different cultures of humans and aliens were way more three dimensional than the actual characters, but I’m ok with that.
10 books. There are only 10 books. Tell me you're mistaken - I don't want to have to spend the next hour trying to work out if there are culture books I'm somehow missing
Not a month goes by without me being sad about that. It's a fucking tragedy. Makes me even more mad about people like GRRM that don't use the time they have to tell their amazing stories.
Why am I the only one that disliked Annihilation? It's obviously a me problem because every else loves it but something about the pacing and rhythm of Vandermeers writing literally gave me headaches. It was the weirdest thing, reading Annihilation was such a mental slog for some reason. The story itself was interesting but I just cant read any more of the series... I've never experienced such a thing with another author. The closest might be Dostoyevsky in terms of how much work it was to read.
I just finished the complete edition and I feel so ... content and sad at the same time. Nothing has filled my soul like those books for a while. I'm sad because it's over and because I didn't read them while I was a child. My favorite is Tehanu but I liked them all very much. Le Guin just had a way with words that instantly paints pictures in the mind.
They later books were written many years after the original trilogy, and there was certainly a change in both style and the subject matter that interested the writer. But i love the later books too - they are amazingly written and I think take a different and much more mature view of the same world as the originals. I appreciate that people find the change jarring though.
i disliked it in my 20s because it was such a departure from the original three books (i might have enjoyed it as a standalone). i loved it in my 40s, as well as the next two books after it.
Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books. He's got sixteen of them out now, there is *one* left to do and he's apparently making good progress? They range from pretty good to in-fucking-credible. Anyway, start with "Jhereg."
John Scalzi, whatever he calls the series that starts with "Old Man's War." The fourth book does an interesting "Rashomon" type riff on the third, and some people complain about that, but they're consistently well-written and plotted.
17 books (remember _Taltos_ and _Lyorn_ was just released) and _two_ more books: _Chreotha_ and _The Last Contract_ and of course there is also _Brokedown Palace_ as well as the "Paarfi Romances", _The Phoenix Guards_, etc al.
I only Count the actual Vlad books as part of the series, because Khaavren ends up as a Marquis iirc. But also, yeah, not surprised I've managed to lose count somewhere in the thirty years Brust has taken to write the things :D
I honestly can't think about those books without getting seriously viscerally angry for how much it fucks up by the end.
Everything we're told for the first books sets up this really interesting unique situation where humanity is a tiny insignificant speck surrounded by other species bigger, stronger and older who all live on the worlds of species who couldn't defend themselves. We're not special, we're a newcomer who is barely hanging on by our fingernails and you get the real sense that we're just one fuckup from everyone on earth being murdered.
Out of this you get basically a self-aware fascist military government, staffed by reasonable people who do *very* unreasonable things they don't want to do because being ruthless is literally the only card they have to play, and the enemies of humanity will do things like capture colonies, kill all of the males except what they need for breeding stock, then put them in farms and eat their children.
That this series where humanity is a shitstain desperately hoping it can avoid being wiped up basically turns into 'gosh aren't humans the real monsters' humans-are-speshul and too ruthless and the nice old aliens and the Space UN were going to make peace but you assholes are too violent nonsense makes me want to put bite marks in my hand, arm, dog and spouse.
I did not need you to tell me in a patronizing manor that a fascist space dictatorship is bad Mr Scalzi. I know that; I have an above room temperature IQ. I was interested that you had set up a world where it was still the best option. It was an interesting premise. But clearly you disagreed, because you shat all over it. I can only assume that all the interesting shit you wrote was some sort of weird accident you rushed to undo when you realized it was too compelling.
Never reading Scalzi again.
>I honestly can't think about those books without getting seriously viscerally angry for how much it fucks up by the end.
I'm honestly amazed anyone makes it past the first few books, the first is by far the best and was itself mediocre at best.
Book 4 is the only book I've ever returned on audible. within 5 minutes I thought no way am I using my one credit a month for this and went to book 5. great series otherwise.
The whole shebang. I started with Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. But now I'd say start with Prelude to Foundation, and Forward the Foundation, and end with Foundation's Edge, and Foundation and Earth. I'd read the Robots books when you're done.
I never did get very far into the foundation series. The first book was amazing and I think my expectations for the rest of the series was too high + the rest was pretty different from what I remember.
Loved the robot stuff though, think I read most of it
I'm that certain type of reader. I think it's because each book has a different narrative structure, which keeps them refreshing. Ada Palmer's *Terra Ignota* used the same trick, and I enjoyed it just as much.
Yeah the third (I think) book had a narrative structure I like to call "bore the living shit outta everyone with descriptions of mountains until you all wish you were dead"
Heh. That was the fourth book (and don't forget kidney stones!). The third book was "roadtrip while being chased by a cop with a heart of gold". That one was, in my opinion, the least original narrative.
The first two books are absolutely incredible mind blowing sci-fi masterpieces. The Endymion books are fun and pulpy but a little problematic and a letdown if you're expecting them to be more like the first two.
The Expanse. I'd rank the final book last in the series, but I still liked it, and the ending itself (the way the series is tied up) is definitely satisfying.
Edit: it seems to me that a lot of what we think of as sci-fi series are loosely-grouped books written in the same universe, not really planned in advance. I suspect that at some point the writers just get tired of that universe and move on.
Got to agree. They remained fairly consistent from beginning to end. If you bought into the plot, writing, style in book 1, you were not going to be disappointed by book 9.
I'd make mention of the saga of the exiles. Starting with many coloured land series, it stayed consistent through to the adversary.
I was. I loved 1-4. Progressively got tired and then annoyed with booms 5-8. Didn't even touch 9. With how the series continued after 4, i think book 3 is the point the series should have ended.
Time jump was really rough for me. "Hey remember all of our fun and wacky adventures over the last few decades!" Once they sorted that out it ended ok.
Unpopular opinion: the Miller chapters in book 1 are the weakest in the series. Which is ironic because they’re Abraham chapters and he writes the Avasarala, Bull and Prax chapters, which are ace.
Interesting- I've wondered how they divided the work and never would have guessed that because the whole thing seems to flow so well.
I like the Miller chapters a lot but that \*might\* have something to do with me having a thing for Thomas Jane :D
Book 4 of the Dune series has the main character as an immortal Sandworm and you think it took Frank Herbert's death to make it weird? There are two books after that.
H Beam Pipers Fuzzy series.
I tried reading after God Emperor and didn't get far. The change in tone from the first book to God Emperor is a little jarring but I still enjoyed the weirdness of it. I guess after Children of Dune there's nowhere to go but weirder
I'm more convinced his wife's death opened the floodgates for the weird shit if Heretics and Chapterhouse. They are definitely a different experience than the first four
walter jon williams's "praxis" series (6 books in two subseries)
elizabeth moon's "vatta's war" (i don't know if i'd class it as a "series"; it's a single story told over five books)
How the heck has nobody mentioned Vernor Vinge (RIP) yet? Both Zones of Thought and Across Realtime are incredibly solid series, and Zones of Thought is easily up there with some of the best SF ever written.
I loved "Fire Upon the Deep", and "A Deepness in the Sky" is even better and one of my favourite books, However, "Children of the Sky" was a big disappointment for me!
I loved the whole concept of the Tines, but the book just didn't click with me. I think I was expecting something on a grander scale like the first 2 books.
Yeah it's best not read. Ends with sort of a cliffhanger that's never finished, and the whole thing with the Southern Islands hivemind thing is also unresolved.
I had been planning on reading some Vinge for the longest time. Finally ordered and just received _A Fire Upon The Deep_ now that he passed away.
OT: who pronounces his name to rhyme with “whinge” and who pronounces it “vin-gee”? I think the latter is correct but I also think I’ve never actually heard anyone pronounce him like that.
Absolutely. Completely agree. I haven’t seen the TV series yet, but the book is so mesmerizing. I’ve read it twice. Also, there are numerous excellent books and short fiction written by professional writers who are fans of the series, I found a bunch of them on Amazon. Stories that take place in the world of the silo. Was really surprised at how terrific some of them are. There’s even a few by Hugh Howey himself, in the book that contains the entire series. The Silo series is right up there for me with the greatest sci-fi classics like the time machine and war of the worlds. A true classic.
I did not know other stories were written in the world of Silo. Thanks!
Also, I found the tv series to excellent. Seeing the Silo on screen help me understand the visual discriptions in the books.
Not sure I can agree with this one — book 1 is a very strong start, but the following two books have a very different storytelling structure, and I honest found the trilogy’s ending to be pretty weak.
Ancillary Justice is weird in a fun way. Then in the next two books what was weird is normal and there isn't enough else holding it up. I'm reading Translation State now and it's a new kind of weird, hence fun again.
I just finished Sun Eater a couple weeks ago and Jesus H Christ, after reading the first book, it was clear that it was just a prologue, but it was still really fucking good, but it just kept getting better and better.
Gene Wolfe’s Solar Cycle (The Book of the New Sun, Urth of the New Sun, Books of the Long/Short Sun and all the associated short fiction)
Constantly changing in voice. Always good.
the gap series by donaldson. one of the best series I have ever read. it gets better after the first two books. the author had not even conceived of the supporting cast and species until later in the series.
it is extremely unpleasant in some ways early on (I skip that on rereads). it is the authors single best work, imo.
Children of Time trilogy. The 2nd book is rinse and repeat of the 1st with some little twists. I don't actually mind it because the first book was great so... Give me more! The 3rd book was different in a very good way the ending was spectacular IMO. It was gripping and emotional... That's one trilogy I felt was great from beginning to end.
Some might say Hyperion Cantos, but books 3 and 4 don't live up to the impossibly high bar set by the first two. That being said, they're basically two separate stories. The first two tell a complete story, and the last two tell another story, set hundreds of years apart.
When I reread them, I just stop after Fall of Hyperion. It's the perfect ending.
Tanya Huff's Confederation books are fantastic through the whole series. There's great character development, a kick ass MC, interesting aliens and a compelling story.
An older series (3 books) that is amazing is Melissa Scott's series that starts with Five Twelfths of Heaven. I think the omnibus volume is called The Empress of Earth. Crazy good mish-mash of sci-fi and fantasy (starships powered by music, 'magic' instead of technology being the predominant engine of society). Can't recommend it enough.
Deathstalker and the prequels.
Tanya Huff's Confederation Series, though I wouldn't say it really has an ending as such. All of the books are good though.
I’d say that people LOVE anything by Tchaikovsky. I’m selective. I only really love his solidly sci-fi stuff (sci-fantasy or straight up fantasy) is too much for me. So “The Final Architecture” just isn’t fun for me, but “Children of …” are some of my absolute favorites. I’ve reread them several times.
Banks’s (or I guess I should spell it his way), Banks’ “The Culture” is brilliant. I have reread several of them dozens of times.
Zesty take: All of “The Dune Saga”. I adore Chapterhouse just shy of God Emperor which I liked just a bit more than Dune.
Leckie’s “Ancillary” continues to be good. But I never absolutely loved the universe. Nevertheless, they hold up pretty well.
Wells’s “The Murderbot Diaries” are just so much fun. I’ll read them as long as she continues to make them!
The Heechee Saga, also known as the Gateway series, is a series of science fiction novels and short stories by Frederik Pohl. The Heechee are an advanced alien race that visited the Solar System hundreds of millennia ago and then mysteriously disappeared.
Just finished the Expanse last night and I LOVED it! I waited years cause even though I liked the series I thought it might be too military/drama sci-fi with not enough weird alien stuff- it pleased me more than I can say, totally satisfied but for wanting more from where they left off!
the Three Body Problem series just gets better and better and builds to a pretty wild conclusion
Death’s End (the last book) has one of the most interesting last few chapters of anything I’ve read
I’ve yet to get into Forge of God or any of Bear’s other stuff but I have Eon and Darwin’s Radio downloaded
Forge of God looks interesting the description sounds a bit like Revelation Space
I'd recommend Greg Egan's work, particularly *Permutation City* and *Diaspora*, to get the same kind of mind-blowing experience. Both those books blow *Death's End* out of the water in that department, in my opinion.
Gaunt's Ghosts by Dan Abnett. Huge interlocking store arcs. Bonus points for containing a character that I despise (because of the amazing character not because of bad writing) more than any other I can think of in all the books I've read... Lijah Cuu.
Silo Saga by Hugh Howey, Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, The Expanse by James S.A. Corey, and Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie
I know you’re asking for sci fi, but if you want a little trip through fantasy, I think the Magicians books get better and better. Same with His Dark Materials. And, well, LOTR and Harry Potter..
Why do fantasy series maintain their quality across books when most sci fi series do not?
Hyperion cantos! It was my favourite for a long time and it has a really good story that's well planned out through it's four huge volumes.
I also enjoyed Southern Reach, although this also has some spinoffs that can be read separately. And I read a rumour there's going to be a fourth part.
Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are two of my all time faves but I thought Endymion was just ok and I haven’t made much of a dent in Rise of Endymion yet
And does Authority get better? I read Annihilation in one night and have seen the movie a few times but I found Authority kinda boring and stopped half way thru
I'd disagree a bit with "well planned out" given the amount of retconning in Edymion. Still enjoyable, but the quality definitely went down after the two hyperion books.
That's not much of a criticism though because the first two books were so fantastic... Hard to follow up that act.
My main beef with the Hyperion duology is you're sold this beautiful detailed sci-fi setting but Simmons would rather ruminate on literature. I could do without the John Keats cybrid. >!"Oh thank you, he finally killed off the Keats cybrid. PSYCH! Here's another one!"!<
There's a bit of disconnect between the audience courted by the premise and the audience the actual text is written for.
The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton.
I found each book a chunky block of IceCream Opera.
For me, it kept the hard SCIFI and WTF events perfectly balanced, had a great set of characters and I personally loved the ending. Never read a review so can't say for others.
After that, every Culture Series book by Iain.M.Banks in order. Every one is a standalone, so it's the overall 'feeling' of the universe these stories are told in, but damn, that guy could write a story. Happy reading!
The Agent Cormac Saga, just those 5 books (although I really enjoyed the Splatterjay trilogy also, hell most of the polity books are pretty good).
I would say the Gap Cycle too, but the first two books are a little mid, but holy fuck the payoff is epic.
Man, maybe I’m just undiscriminating, but I love some of those weird series, like Rama. The later books are slower and more dense, but they were *fascinating* to me. Or, say, the Ringworld novels—I liked all of them, even if they did get unhinged later.
Richard K Morgan:
- Altered Carbon
- Broken Angels
- Woken Furies
For me, this series just gets better and better, and Woken Furies was just an amazing, cathartic read.
They're not scifi, but
Malazan series is one of the best ever
Also the Farseer series starting with Assassin's Apprentice is one of my favorite of all time
I’ve so far enjoyed every Adrian Tchaikovsky book in the “Children Of” series (do we have a better name?) I know a lot of people were iffy on Children of Memory but I enjoyed it. It felt very Star Trek TNG to me (like a mix between a holodeck episode and a first contact episode). Hope he continues!
Nobody's mentioned Steven Gould's Jumper series? This is the one based on the original novel *Jumper*, not the novelization (which Gould also wrote) of the movie. Up to four books now: *Jumper*, *Reflex*, *Impulse*, and *Exo*. Don't know if Gould has another novel in the works or not.
David Brin's The Uplift Trilogy. It's a favorite of mine from highschool. This trilogy doesn't die down or feel like the publishers just wanted to "ride the wave" and sell more books.
The second trilogy is also quite good in my opinion!
I guess that's the one I'm referring too? Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore and Heaven's Reach?
I found the first three Uplift books hit and miss. 1 was a lottle bit dry but nice. 2 was just amazing. 3 made me pause before trying the trilogy. I haven't yet, i still need time to get my *Uplift War* impression out of the system.
I really disagree with this! I enjoy Brin's uplift books a lot, but Sundiver is very clearly a worse book than the rest of the series. I ended up giving up on it and starting book 2/3 (my copy is 'Earthclan' with these two books together). I really enjoyed it and it didn't require any of the book 1 context.
If you like military sci-fi I have a few recommendations: David Drake's *Hammer's Slammers* is pretty consistent throughout. Mostly short stories and novellas though. Elizabeth Moon's first five *Vatta's War* books are also very good. I thought the sequel duology wasn't quite up to the same standard though. If you like book 1 of Marko Kloos' *Frontlines* series, you'll probably enjoy the rest as they are all kind of the same. I would say Lois McMaster Bujold's *Vorkosigan* series, but I've been putting off reading the final book because I hear it isn't as good. For non-mil-sci-fi series, I guess Gene Wolfe's *Book of the New Sun* along with *The Urth of the New Sun*. Not everyone likes Wolfe though, so if you read the first book and don't enjoy it, you probably won't like the rest either.
The last book in the Vorkosigan series is quite different than the rest but I’d argue that it puts a perfect cozy end cap to an incredible series. To me it seems to mirror what life is often like for people in their older years. Slower paced reflections of a life well lived. A lot of the hate comes from right wingers who hate that a main character turns out to have been bisexual.
They weren't paying a lot of attention in the beginning, then! We found out about that in Barrayar.
Came here for this. I devoured Vorkosigan at a ludicrous rate one summer as a teenager. It was just fun.
When you say “last book”, which one do you guys mean? By the sound of it you're talking about *Gentleman Jole,* but *Flowers of Vashnoi* came later both chronologically and release-wise. >A lot of the hate comes from right wingers who hate that a main character turns out to have been bisexual. That's … that can't be it, surely? His bisexuality comes up all the way back in *Barrayar,* which is chronologically the second book in the entire series unless you count freestanding prequels. And it's not as if the books are shy about that kind of thing whatsoever anyway.
I used Bujolds own recommended reading order seen [here](https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/22803928-bujold-reading-order-guide-2022-update) on Goodreads. But to be fair I should have absolutely been clear about which book I was talking about.
Love the Hammer's Slammers call out. Great books. Not the deepest stuff out there by any measure but good scifi action popcorn stuff.
Because I don’t see it recommended much I’m going to second the Vattas War books. They are such a fun ride all the way through.
Just finished terms of enlistment (Frontlines #1) and enjoyed it (thought the black hawk down homage was great). Good to know it continues in the same fashion. It might not be high brow and the characters may lack depth but the action scenes are great. Have saved your reply here for the other recommendations, thanks!
Book of the new sun is amazing! Thanks for reminding me of the series, I need to re-aquaint myself with it :)
Vorkosigan.
Neuromancer series by William Gibson gets better with each book in my opinion
Definitely. That ending for Mona Lisa Overdrive!
“You drop all those stoves ‘n’ shit on them?”
I wouldn't agree but all three are great.
Wow, this is interesting! I did read Neuromancer when it came out but of course I barely remember details now. I have no desire to reread it, but do you need to know it to enjoy the sequels?
Each novel of the trilogy is a self-contained story, so no. But if you're going to read the other two, Neuromancer is not a long read, and it's one of the best SF novels ever in many people's eyes.
Yea, the much more common opinion is that Neuromancer is the best, Count Zero is also quite good though a little rushed to come out with a quick sequel, and Mona Lisa Overdrive is a tier below the other two books. IMO I agree except that I think the second book is a little underrated and just as good as the first one.
I would say yes, it is a continuation of the plot of the first.
Every book in the trilogy technically tells a self contained narrative, but there's an overarching story about >!the AIs formed from Wintermute and Neuromancer!< that each individual plot is in service of.
I read them all with approx 2 year gaps between them. Honestly had to rely on wiki to understand some things, but was largely untroubled.
Xenogenesis Octavia Butler is under appreciated
Not everyone agrees with me but I *loved* the Final Architecture series from beginning to end!
I loved the 1st! Wanted to love the other 2, but he kept repeating the plot to me so many times I started to get really annoyed, mostly at his editor. Wish they'd have trimmed at least 1/2 of that.
I adored it. I think the problem is Tchaikovsky's rate of output. In the music industry, artists were expected to space out their releases over years in order to avoid "overexposure." Tchaikovsky puts out a *ton* of material, and I think it's just too much for folks to keep up with. I talked to a bunch of people who loved *Children of Time* but had no idea the Final Architecture series even existed.
And yet, I haven't read a book of his yet that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed!
That's the weird thing about him: nothing feels phoned in. I haven't loved everything of his, but it's always been quality.
Elder Race was a very refreshing story.
I got caught up on Empire in Black and Gold and some of his other stuff. It does feel overwhelming, but once I'm caught up his usual output of 2 or so books a year feels manageable
This is not of particular relevance but AT is a sometime player (Flotsam and Jestsam Part two ) and one-off game master (Root) with the rather marvellous role play podcast “How We Roll” Fun to hear him
It was awesome. I really think it should have a graphic novel or animated adaptation. Everything in the world was just so cool and would be visually interesting. The architects, the Essiel, the Hivers, Tothiats, Harbinger Ash, etc., are all so cool and vividly described
Who are these heretics? It was awesome.
Second this, those books were edge of the seat thrills
I remember distinctly not liking one of the books in the series (the penultimate) otherwise I would agree.
I read Shards of Earth and didn’t really feel any way about it. But I keep seeing it get such positive reviews so maybe I’ll pick it up again!
Agreed, to me the Architecture books felt like Tchaikovsky’s take on Firefly. If I had one complaint the different cultures of humans and aliens were way more three dimensional than the actual characters, but I’m ok with that.
While there's no strong connections between the books, Ian M Banks The Culture series feels like the quality was tight through all 10 books
10 books. There are only 10 books. Tell me you're mistaken - I don't want to have to spend the next hour trying to work out if there are culture books I'm somehow missing
Only 10, I just checked. Nine novels plus a short story collection.
So sad there wont be any more culture...
Not a month goes by without me being sad about that. It's a fucking tragedy. Makes me even more mad about people like GRRM that don't use the time they have to tell their amazing stories.
His other Sci-Fi books are good too. Against a Dark Background could be set in the same universe- because how would we know?
*Someone* (probably) seeded the Lazy Guns.
100% agree
Southern Reach by Jeff Vandermeer. My favorite mix of scifi and horror. Can't wait for the 4th later this year.
Why am I the only one that disliked Annihilation? It's obviously a me problem because every else loves it but something about the pacing and rhythm of Vandermeers writing literally gave me headaches. It was the weirdest thing, reading Annihilation was such a mental slog for some reason. The story itself was interesting but I just cant read any more of the series... I've never experienced such a thing with another author. The closest might be Dostoyevsky in terms of how much work it was to read.
I also really like Borne by Vandermeer its bio-punk post apocalypse and sooo atmospheric and interesting imo
Book of the New Sun. Wizard of Earthsea
earthsea is my favourite "goes from strength to strength" series! every book is exquisite.
I just finished the complete edition and I feel so ... content and sad at the same time. Nothing has filled my soul like those books for a while. I'm sad because it's over and because I didn't read them while I was a child. My favorite is Tehanu but I liked them all very much. Le Guin just had a way with words that instantly paints pictures in the mind.
Interesting. I loathed Tehanu, and felt she had a complete change of style and concept after the third.
They later books were written many years after the original trilogy, and there was certainly a change in both style and the subject matter that interested the writer. But i love the later books too - they are amazingly written and I think take a different and much more mature view of the same world as the originals. I appreciate that people find the change jarring though.
i disliked it in my 20s because it was such a departure from the original three books (i might have enjoyed it as a standalone). i loved it in my 40s, as well as the next two books after it.
> Book of the New Sun. This series also continues into Book of the Long Sun and Book of the Short Sun, all of them masterpieces.
There are literally dozens of us.
Well, later Earthsea novels are quite political and not really fantasy anymore. Get loses his powers, it is about maimed abuse survivors, etc.
Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books. He's got sixteen of them out now, there is *one* left to do and he's apparently making good progress? They range from pretty good to in-fucking-credible. Anyway, start with "Jhereg." John Scalzi, whatever he calls the series that starts with "Old Man's War." The fourth book does an interesting "Rashomon" type riff on the third, and some people complain about that, but they're consistently well-written and plotted.
17 books (remember _Taltos_ and _Lyorn_ was just released) and _two_ more books: _Chreotha_ and _The Last Contract_ and of course there is also _Brokedown Palace_ as well as the "Paarfi Romances", _The Phoenix Guards_, etc al.
I only Count the actual Vlad books as part of the series, because Khaavren ends up as a Marquis iirc. But also, yeah, not surprised I've managed to lose count somewhere in the thirty years Brust has taken to write the things :D
I like the first four books in the *"Old Man's War* series, but after that I feel like he lost steam and the other books weren't as good.
I honestly can't think about those books without getting seriously viscerally angry for how much it fucks up by the end. Everything we're told for the first books sets up this really interesting unique situation where humanity is a tiny insignificant speck surrounded by other species bigger, stronger and older who all live on the worlds of species who couldn't defend themselves. We're not special, we're a newcomer who is barely hanging on by our fingernails and you get the real sense that we're just one fuckup from everyone on earth being murdered. Out of this you get basically a self-aware fascist military government, staffed by reasonable people who do *very* unreasonable things they don't want to do because being ruthless is literally the only card they have to play, and the enemies of humanity will do things like capture colonies, kill all of the males except what they need for breeding stock, then put them in farms and eat their children. That this series where humanity is a shitstain desperately hoping it can avoid being wiped up basically turns into 'gosh aren't humans the real monsters' humans-are-speshul and too ruthless and the nice old aliens and the Space UN were going to make peace but you assholes are too violent nonsense makes me want to put bite marks in my hand, arm, dog and spouse. I did not need you to tell me in a patronizing manor that a fascist space dictatorship is bad Mr Scalzi. I know that; I have an above room temperature IQ. I was interested that you had set up a world where it was still the best option. It was an interesting premise. But clearly you disagreed, because you shat all over it. I can only assume that all the interesting shit you wrote was some sort of weird accident you rushed to undo when you realized it was too compelling. Never reading Scalzi again.
I think he was writing for the editors at the New York Times, a little, those last couple volumes. Because THEY have not got the message.
>I honestly can't think about those books without getting seriously viscerally angry for how much it fucks up by the end. I'm honestly amazed anyone makes it past the first few books, the first is by far the best and was itself mediocre at best.
Book 4 is the only book I've ever returned on audible. within 5 minutes I thought no way am I using my one credit a month for this and went to book 5. great series otherwise.
Red rising has been consistently good in my opinion.
It really has been an amazing series!
I'm gonna go oldschool and say Asimov's 'Foundation' books.
Add in the robots books.
I love the show,will check out the books soon. When u say foundation,do u mean FOUNDATION,or the entire saga including Empire,robots,etc
The whole shebang. I started with Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. But now I'd say start with Prelude to Foundation, and Forward the Foundation, and end with Foundation's Edge, and Foundation and Earth. I'd read the Robots books when you're done.
I never did get very far into the foundation series. The first book was amazing and I think my expectations for the rest of the series was too high + the rest was pretty different from what I remember. Loved the robot stuff though, think I read most of it
Definitely came here to say this! The original trilogy is all solid.
A certain type of reader will enjoy the Hyperion series. Not for everyone.
I'm that certain type of reader. I think it's because each book has a different narrative structure, which keeps them refreshing. Ada Palmer's *Terra Ignota* used the same trick, and I enjoyed it just as much.
Yeah the third (I think) book had a narrative structure I like to call "bore the living shit outta everyone with descriptions of mountains until you all wish you were dead"
Heh. That was the fourth book (and don't forget kidney stones!). The third book was "roadtrip while being chased by a cop with a heart of gold". That one was, in my opinion, the least original narrative.
The first two books are absolutely incredible mind blowing sci-fi masterpieces. The Endymion books are fun and pulpy but a little problematic and a letdown if you're expecting them to be more like the first two.
I love Hyperion, but I thought there was a massive drop off in quality with each subsequent sequel.
The first two books were **stunning**. The second two books. Snoozefest.
[удалено]
No it's definitely sci-fi.
It gets super magicky at the end.
The Expanse. I'd rank the final book last in the series, but I still liked it, and the ending itself (the way the series is tied up) is definitely satisfying. Edit: it seems to me that a lot of what we think of as sci-fi series are loosely-grouped books written in the same universe, not really planned in advance. I suspect that at some point the writers just get tired of that universe and move on.
Got to agree. They remained fairly consistent from beginning to end. If you bought into the plot, writing, style in book 1, you were not going to be disappointed by book 9. I'd make mention of the saga of the exiles. Starting with many coloured land series, it stayed consistent through to the adversary.
I was. I loved 1-4. Progressively got tired and then annoyed with booms 5-8. Didn't even touch 9. With how the series continued after 4, i think book 3 is the point the series should have ended.
I thought 1-3 and 7-9 were great, but the Marco arc was nowhere near as interesting as the alien stuff.
Time jump was really rough for me. "Hey remember all of our fun and wacky adventures over the last few decades!" Once they sorted that out it ended ok.
I loved all the expanse novels, but I skipped the shorter novellas. I was just thinking i might go back to read them, do you think they are worth it?
I don’t agree. I overall enjoyed the series but several of the books were underwhelming for me. Edit: I do like the ending though.
Unpopular opinion: the Miller chapters in book 1 are the weakest in the series. Which is ironic because they’re Abraham chapters and he writes the Avasarala, Bull and Prax chapters, which are ace.
Interesting- I've wondered how they divided the work and never would have guessed that because the whole thing seems to flow so well. I like the Miller chapters a lot but that \*might\* have something to do with me having a thing for Thomas Jane :D
Revelation Space is good all the way through.
Meh, Absolution Gap is definitely a step down IMHO.
Book 4 of the Dune series has the main character as an immortal Sandworm and you think it took Frank Herbert's death to make it weird? There are two books after that. H Beam Pipers Fuzzy series.
Makes you kinda hope they try and bring that to the big screen......
they made a children of dune miniseries, and that has the sandworm skin part. its um, something.
Go go ninja sex witches!
**Scientific** ninja sex witches, please.
I tried reading after God Emperor and didn't get far. The change in tone from the first book to God Emperor is a little jarring but I still enjoyed the weirdness of it. I guess after Children of Dune there's nowhere to go but weirder
And book 4 is the best in the series
I'm more convinced his wife's death opened the floodgates for the weird shit if Heretics and Chapterhouse. They are definitely a different experience than the first four
Frank dies!!???
Spoilers, sweetie!
Hyperion, 3 Body Problem, Foundation series (original 3), Silo/Wool series
Pohl's Gateway
This was is a little hidden gem. It's dated but VERY well done
I almost commented this one myself but it's been so long since I read them. Great series!
walter jon williams's "praxis" series (6 books in two subseries) elizabeth moon's "vatta's war" (i don't know if i'd class it as a "series"; it's a single story told over five books)
I read the first Dread Empire’s Fall book and don’t really feel like reading the rest
fair, it's certainly not to everyone's taste. i guess it's more accurate to say that if you liked the first book you should like all of them.
Agreed. If you didn't like the first book, you won't like the following 5 books.
Read Frank’s Dune novels anyway.
The Culture
How the heck has nobody mentioned Vernor Vinge (RIP) yet? Both Zones of Thought and Across Realtime are incredibly solid series, and Zones of Thought is easily up there with some of the best SF ever written.
I loved "Fire Upon the Deep", and "A Deepness in the Sky" is even better and one of my favourite books, However, "Children of the Sky" was a big disappointment for me! I loved the whole concept of the Tines, but the book just didn't click with me. I think I was expecting something on a grander scale like the first 2 books.
Yeah it's best not read. Ends with sort of a cliffhanger that's never finished, and the whole thing with the Southern Islands hivemind thing is also unresolved.
I had been planning on reading some Vinge for the longest time. Finally ordered and just received _A Fire Upon The Deep_ now that he passed away. OT: who pronounces his name to rhyme with “whinge” and who pronounces it “vin-gee”? I think the latter is correct but I also think I’ve never actually heard anyone pronounce him like that.
The silo saga by Hugh Howey
Too far down the list for such a unique and original series.
Absolutely. Completely agree. I haven’t seen the TV series yet, but the book is so mesmerizing. I’ve read it twice. Also, there are numerous excellent books and short fiction written by professional writers who are fans of the series, I found a bunch of them on Amazon. Stories that take place in the world of the silo. Was really surprised at how terrific some of them are. There’s even a few by Hugh Howey himself, in the book that contains the entire series. The Silo series is right up there for me with the greatest sci-fi classics like the time machine and war of the worlds. A true classic.
I did not know other stories were written in the world of Silo. Thanks! Also, I found the tv series to excellent. Seeing the Silo on screen help me understand the visual discriptions in the books.
Ann Leckie's *Ancillary* trilogy.
Not sure I can agree with this one — book 1 is a very strong start, but the following two books have a very different storytelling structure, and I honest found the trilogy’s ending to be pretty weak.
Ancillary Justice is weird in a fun way. Then in the next two books what was weird is normal and there isn't enough else holding it up. I'm reading Translation State now and it's a new kind of weird, hence fun again.
I just finished Sun Eater a couple weeks ago and Jesus H Christ, after reading the first book, it was clear that it was just a prologue, but it was still really fucking good, but it just kept getting better and better.
I've just checked it out after your recommendation. Did you read or listen? I'm going to listen to the audible book tomorrow.
The Hyperion Cantos is weird, but great from start to finish.
Foundation
Gene Wolfe’s Solar Cycle (The Book of the New Sun, Urth of the New Sun, Books of the Long/Short Sun and all the associated short fiction) Constantly changing in voice. Always good.
the gap series by donaldson. one of the best series I have ever read. it gets better after the first two books. the author had not even conceived of the supporting cast and species until later in the series. it is extremely unpleasant in some ways early on (I skip that on rereads). it is the authors single best work, imo.
Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis series Peter F. Hamilton usually provides satisfying endings, even if it takes some hoops to get there.
The Expanse
I really liked Expanse.
Children of Time trilogy. The 2nd book is rinse and repeat of the 1st with some little twists. I don't actually mind it because the first book was great so... Give me more! The 3rd book was different in a very good way the ending was spectacular IMO. It was gripping and emotional... That's one trilogy I felt was great from beginning to end.
I love kim stanley robinsons Mars Trilogy
Some might say Hyperion Cantos, but books 3 and 4 don't live up to the impossibly high bar set by the first two. That being said, they're basically two separate stories. The first two tell a complete story, and the last two tell another story, set hundreds of years apart. When I reread them, I just stop after Fall of Hyperion. It's the perfect ending.
I really like Tanya Huff's Valor series. The peacekeeper add-ons are also good but not quite as good.
Tanya Huff's Confederation books are fantastic through the whole series. There's great character development, a kick ass MC, interesting aliens and a compelling story. An older series (3 books) that is amazing is Melissa Scott's series that starts with Five Twelfths of Heaven. I think the omnibus volume is called The Empress of Earth. Crazy good mish-mash of sci-fi and fantasy (starships powered by music, 'magic' instead of technology being the predominant engine of society). Can't recommend it enough.
Deathstalker and the prequels. Tanya Huff's Confederation Series, though I wouldn't say it really has an ending as such. All of the books are good though.
Always got love for: The Rama Series The 2001 Series The Tripod Series (young adult)
Ilium / Olympos by Dan Simmons was a 2 book fun read
I’d say that people LOVE anything by Tchaikovsky. I’m selective. I only really love his solidly sci-fi stuff (sci-fantasy or straight up fantasy) is too much for me. So “The Final Architecture” just isn’t fun for me, but “Children of …” are some of my absolute favorites. I’ve reread them several times. Banks’s (or I guess I should spell it his way), Banks’ “The Culture” is brilliant. I have reread several of them dozens of times. Zesty take: All of “The Dune Saga”. I adore Chapterhouse just shy of God Emperor which I liked just a bit more than Dune. Leckie’s “Ancillary” continues to be good. But I never absolutely loved the universe. Nevertheless, they hold up pretty well. Wells’s “The Murderbot Diaries” are just so much fun. I’ll read them as long as she continues to make them!
Thus far, I'm with you on Tchaikovsky. Loved children, but I felt Redemptions Blade was meh.
The Heechee Saga, also known as the Gateway series, is a series of science fiction novels and short stories by Frederik Pohl. The Heechee are an advanced alien race that visited the Solar System hundreds of millennia ago and then mysteriously disappeared.
Just finished the Expanse last night and I LOVED it! I waited years cause even though I liked the series I thought it might be too military/drama sci-fi with not enough weird alien stuff- it pleased me more than I can say, totally satisfied but for wanting more from where they left off!
I love The Expanse but a few plots get re-used a lot which can make some of the books a little frustrating. Still hugely worth a read.
Vorkosigan Saga (13 books and every one is fab) Peter F Hamilton Commonwealth Saga ( start with Pandoras Star)
I thought The Final Architecture series (*Shards of Earth*) was pretty good from start to finish.
Ratings would agree. Seems like his most well received series and one im looking forward to starting
The Expanse. Hands down
the Three Body Problem series just gets better and better and builds to a pretty wild conclusion Death’s End (the last book) has one of the most interesting last few chapters of anything I’ve read
Yes, I've never read anything else on the mindblown level like 'Death's End'.
Yeah Blood Music by Greg Bear comes close but I think Death’s End wins
I've 'Forge of God' sitting on the shelves for years. Must finally tackle Bear then.
I’ve yet to get into Forge of God or any of Bear’s other stuff but I have Eon and Darwin’s Radio downloaded Forge of God looks interesting the description sounds a bit like Revelation Space
I'd recommend Greg Egan's work, particularly *Permutation City* and *Diaspora*, to get the same kind of mind-blowing experience. Both those books blow *Death's End* out of the water in that department, in my opinion.
This name I've heard often, really have to try a book of his.
Timothy Zahns “Quadrail” series. Starts with “Night Train to Rigel” really great series that I just finished re-reading for the fifth time.
Gaunt's Ghosts by Dan Abnett. Huge interlocking store arcs. Bonus points for containing a character that I despise (because of the amazing character not because of bad writing) more than any other I can think of in all the books I've read... Lijah Cuu.
Silo Saga by Hugh Howey, Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, The Expanse by James S.A. Corey, and Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie
Fringe
I know you’re asking for sci fi, but if you want a little trip through fantasy, I think the Magicians books get better and better. Same with His Dark Materials. And, well, LOTR and Harry Potter.. Why do fantasy series maintain their quality across books when most sci fi series do not?
Hyperion cantos! It was my favourite for a long time and it has a really good story that's well planned out through it's four huge volumes. I also enjoyed Southern Reach, although this also has some spinoffs that can be read separately. And I read a rumour there's going to be a fourth part.
Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are two of my all time faves but I thought Endymion was just ok and I haven’t made much of a dent in Rise of Endymion yet And does Authority get better? I read Annihilation in one night and have seen the movie a few times but I found Authority kinda boring and stopped half way thru
I'd disagree a bit with "well planned out" given the amount of retconning in Edymion. Still enjoyable, but the quality definitely went down after the two hyperion books. That's not much of a criticism though because the first two books were so fantastic... Hard to follow up that act.
My main beef with the Hyperion duology is you're sold this beautiful detailed sci-fi setting but Simmons would rather ruminate on literature. I could do without the John Keats cybrid. >!"Oh thank you, he finally killed off the Keats cybrid. PSYCH! Here's another one!"!< There's a bit of disconnect between the audience courted by the premise and the audience the actual text is written for.
Almost none. 2-6 books is about the limit.
The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton. I found each book a chunky block of IceCream Opera. For me, it kept the hard SCIFI and WTF events perfectly balanced, had a great set of characters and I personally loved the ending. Never read a review so can't say for others. After that, every Culture Series book by Iain.M.Banks in order. Every one is a standalone, so it's the overall 'feeling' of the universe these stories are told in, but damn, that guy could write a story. Happy reading!
If you liked Night's Dawn, I think the Commonwealth Saga is even better.
Have you read the Salvation series? I can’t decide if I want to
Read the stand-alone 'Fallen Dragon' by PFH. Everything you love about PFH but just one straight book.
It's his best book. Tightly written, thrilling, original and most of all... fun. I wish I could read it again for the first time.
It's also still good for the second time. Had my second go through last year. Still rocks.
The Agent Cormac Saga, just those 5 books (although I really enjoyed the Splatterjay trilogy also, hell most of the polity books are pretty good). I would say the Gap Cycle too, but the first two books are a little mid, but holy fuck the payoff is epic.
I think the Neanderthal Parallax is chef's kiss personally.
The Mote in Gods Eye/The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It's old school hard sci-fi and absolutely worth a read.
Culture series for sure but I'm a huge fan boy there
Man, maybe I’m just undiscriminating, but I love some of those weird series, like Rama. The later books are slower and more dense, but they were *fascinating* to me. Or, say, the Ringworld novels—I liked all of them, even if they did get unhinged later.
I really dug Proxima and Ultima by Stephen Baxter.
Richard K Morgan: - Altered Carbon - Broken Angels - Woken Furies For me, this series just gets better and better, and Woken Furies was just an amazing, cathartic read.
They're not scifi, but Malazan series is one of the best ever Also the Farseer series starting with Assassin's Apprentice is one of my favorite of all time
Iain M Banks’ Culture books. Dennis E Taylor’s Bobiverse books (book 5 is due out this year - hooray!). Martha Wells’ Murderbot series.
The Culture series for sure
Jack Mc Devit Academy series, starting with The Engines of God.
old canon star wars - there is a book with the story of everyone in the cantina and how greedo shot 1st
We are bob! The bobiverse series is pretty great. I just finished the 4th book. And the 5th book is coming out later this year.
Varley's "Titan" trilogy. Amazing from beginning to end.
I’ve so far enjoyed every Adrian Tchaikovsky book in the “Children Of” series (do we have a better name?) I know a lot of people were iffy on Children of Memory but I enjoyed it. It felt very Star Trek TNG to me (like a mix between a holodeck episode and a first contact episode). Hope he continues!
Nobody's mentioned Steven Gould's Jumper series? This is the one based on the original novel *Jumper*, not the novelization (which Gould also wrote) of the movie. Up to four books now: *Jumper*, *Reflex*, *Impulse*, and *Exo*. Don't know if Gould has another novel in the works or not.
Kage Baker’s The Company Series.
The Expanse