Good hard sci fi

victor

victor

Antediluvian as Feck
Orderite
I'm looking for good hard sci fi novel, that is, more science than fiction, while still maintaining a good plot. Preferably no or very little alien presence. Nothing supernatural or anything, just cold hard science. Something about space exploration maybe. and I'm sick of love stories set in such novels, as they're often superfluous and poorly written. No sexual innuendo please. I looked around on wikipedia, but it was too confusing.
 
Yes. I guess that kind of sums it up. Seriously though, asimov and the like would do fine. There is a novel series about a large war being fought between humans and aliens, and because of time dilation, it takes thousands of years. Can't remember the name though.
 
Asimov comes to mind instantly. Far to near future with a vastly different situation for human living.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
does neuromancer qualify?

thats the book that defined the cyberpunk genre and coined many popular culture internet slangs
 
I'd like to read asimov, but I have no idea what to read. Is "I robot" a worth it? I'd hate to get into long 5-novel series. Most of you are good at sci fi, so I'd like you to recommend his best to worst single novels.
 
No Man Friday
By Rex Gordon

It was published in 1956, so you'll probably only find it in a second hand bookshop.
 
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ender's Game / Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card
Neuromancer (The whole Sprawl Trilogy) - William Gibson
Virtual Light (The whole Bridge Trilogy) - Gibson
In the Ocean of Night (The whole Galactic Center Saga)- Gregory Benford
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Baroque Cycle - Stephenson
Ventus - Carl Schroeder


All of those are stupdendous. A couple of them won either the Hugo or the Nebula: Neuromancer won both as well as the Phillip K. Dick; Ender's Game won both; Fire upon the Deep won the Nebula... those are pretty much my favorite sci-fi novels.
 
You could try the books from david weeber i think his name is. Okay scifi though a bit massproduced.
 
I Robot is a series of short stories. The movie cobbled them all together, including many of the themes and characters. They're excellent, but it sounds more like you want a proper novel.

I'd recommend Ben Bova. His writing is very modern. The older sci-fi - which I love! - is dated, and may distract you from the story. Bova includes things like corporate involvement in space exploration, the internet, etc.. He's also a great writer, his stuff is as easy to read as Heinlein or Asimov, and he includes a bit of adventure (always plausible) in his novels.

As an aside, beware the internet meets religion sci-fi that's out there. I've picked up two novels over the past year where this garbage has been combined. It's not executed in at Philip K. Dick paranoic style, but rather seems to be serious about the internet letting us read auras... or something. Utter tripe, all of it, written by people who have not the bases understanding of how computers work.
 
I'd like a serious novel that makes you think, like the movie 2001: a space odyssey did (I've heard the book isn't as good). Vox' suggestion of "a brave new world" seems good, but a little dated. Maybe I'll give it a try.
 
Orson Scott Card's Ender novels seemed pretty childish when I read them (when I was much younger), but were fun.

Read Brave New World first. It is very short and quite interesting.

I haven't been reading much science fiction recently, but I found Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood interesting with its genetic engineering and dystopian/post-apocalyptic future. There is a small romance element though, which might annoy you.
 
It annoys me because it always feels like the writers included romance for the sake of it. Like "oh shit, this book won't sell unless I throw in a little cuddles 'n hugs". Mostly very poorly and childishly written romance, at that.
 
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