(Part 3) Best science fiction books according to redditors
We found 11,564 Reddit comments discussing the best science fiction books. We ranked the 3,361 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 41-60. You can also go back to the previous section.
I read a(n American written) novel where a programmer from our world got summoned into another world with magic. He's trash at the highly formalized magic they're used to, but he figures out how to make daemons (that manifest as actual demons) and other magical programs using a hacked together magical programming language.
[edit] Wizard's Bane is the name of the book.
For the lazy:
Not necessarily my strong suit (my own stuff is roughly the opposite of what you're looking for, so I figure I'm safe to recommend things here) but I definitely have a few to check out
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Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga first and foremost. There is quite a bit of war and conflict, but it's not really the focus of the plot. The focus is the characters and their development, primarily the titular Miles Vorkosigan.
You can start with the first Miles Vorkosigan book ( https://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Apprentice-Lois-McMaster-Bujold/dp/1886778272 ) or with the duology around his mother (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BH9T86/ref=series_dp_rw_ca_2)
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Next up would be Nathan Lowell's Golden Age of The Solar Clipper. No wars at all, these cover the life story of a merchant shipper rising from a generic crewman to captain and owner of his own ship. Fascinating character studies and very well written. Start with Quarter Share ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AMO7VM4/ref=series_dp_rw_ca_1)
Lindsay Buroker's space opera has a bunch of war and conflict, but it's mostly background for a more general adventure SF story. The first three books of her Fallen Empire series are bundled up here: https://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Empire-Omnibus-Books-prequel-ebook/dp/B06XK7HT4T
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I'm now going to lurk on this thread, as I should probably be reading stuff with a tad fewer explosions myself ;)
I read a ton on my iPad. Mostly Sci-Fi stuff.
I just read A Soldiers Duty which was very good.
Wool - Omnibus Edditon was probably one the sickest books I've read in a very long time.
Both are available in the Kindle and iTunes stores
I’ve been listening we are bob in my free time. It a good book just a bit different. Would recommend. https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=we+are+bob&qid=1573307969&sprefix=we+are+bo&sr=8-2
I'd recommend the Miles Vorkosigan Adventures omnibuses by Lois McMaster Bujold, starting with Young Miles (there's an omnibus before it, but with Miles' mother as the protagonist).
Miles is similarily intelligent as Ender, and a very driven person. The first omnibus is a firework of genius. You follow Miles from one impossibility into the next and can enjoy his mad planning that somehow manages to save the day, but rides him and his entourage deeper into various problems.
Especially the first books about Miles have their fair share of action and spacebattles, but later parts go deeper into the psychology of Miles and various other characters.
The series spans over ten years in Miles' adventurous life and the omnibuses are cheap to get.
If you choose to get any, I'd suggest you don't read the descriptions on amazon or on the back of the books. I'd things spoilered for me, which was annoying. Oh, and the order of the omnibuses is kinda screwed up, with the last two swapped for some reason, which was another spoiler for me, since I realized it too late.
Invitation to the Game, maybe?
I feel rather conflicted about Zoltan Istvan. One one hand his book's reviews on amazon make him sound like an awful writer (due to problems and facts which could've been eliminated with the help of an editor) with admiration towards Randian Objectivism.
On the other hand his bio on that website and wikipedia make it seem possible that to some degree he is as unabashedly awesome as his characters. That book, or potential future novels, have the potential to attract a cult following for transhumanism and its ideals. If he ever makes a comment about wishing the future and the events of his story to be similar...he would rightly and deservedly be called a delusional madman.
As much as I support transhumanism and the progression of science, I would not support the political advance of someone that wrote such a hateful work. I want to buy his book to discover if I am actually way off-base with my accusations towards him and his work, but the thought of financially supporting that man... terrifies me.
The Apprentice Adept series is close to your description. The SciFi portion is in the far future.
Wizard's Bane also known as Wiz Biz is about a computer programmer whisked away to a fantasy world where he uses his programming skills to write powerful spells based on simple spells. It's a comedic novel.
If you like REALLY BIG BOOKS with a cast of thousands then I would suggest looking at Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. It's about an alien invasion of Earth and her many colonies in the 25th century.
I'm not kidding about a large cast of characters and the story does take a while to build up pace, but I find that Hamilton's fluid and no-nonsense prose helps to overcome this, as well as his sympathetically drawn characters and intriguing and quite mysterious plot lines.
Give it a go. It might be what you're looking for.
your name isn't Dan Sugralinov is it ;)
I haven't read it, but Re-Start sounds exactly like what you're looking for
For people who really liked this, I recommend The Boat of a Million Years which has a protagonist much like the one in The Man from Earth.
With that said, the movie was interesting but was very poorly acted.
Wool by Hugh Howey
http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-Hugh-Howey/dp/1469984202/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1331548722&sr=8-5
Hugh Howey is very close to his readers. He interacts with them online through facebook and many outlets. Also I understand he does local events. He talks to kids in classrooms remotely. Responds to fan mail online. Does radio shows (internet one I have seen)
It refreshing to have interaction with an author.
Now add that to a impressive lists of books. The wool series is only one of them. I have read the Bern Saga and Wool Series and have enjoyed them all. I think each book shows growth in his writing and I look forward to the next one. The fact that he self publishes gives him much more freedom and a much faster turnover.
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or using the omnibus edition that includes wool 1-5
This blew my mind when I met Mark. I grew up watching Stargate SG-1. Will always have a special place in my heart.
Also, the book Mark was talking about:
Redshirts, by John Scalzi
Lighthearted space opera, like Nathan Lowell, Andrew Moriarty, Jamie McFarlane, Becky Chambers, Peter Grant. The stories often involve a young person getting their first job onboard a commercial spacecraft of some sort.
There are so many more options like this, but I don’t want to overwhelm you! These may not all be your cup of tea. But they are some of my favorites for a somewhat reasonable price.
Ilium by Dan Simmonds is fun.
Almost anything by Peter F Hamilton, but Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained is a good place to start.
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. Long as hell and the first book in The Commonwealth Saga.
Do you mean this book series https://www.amazon.com/Prey-Aliens-Vs-Predator-Book/dp/0553565559? I remember it being pretty awesome.
If anyone wants to read a (really good) SciFi novel with Portias (and their uplifted descendants) as some of the main characters I can recommend "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Sample.
The Course of Empire (Course of Empire Series Book 1) by Eric Flint
1632 (Ring of Fire Series) by Eric Flint
Northworld Trilogy by David Drake
Starliner by David Drake
Star Soldiers by Adre Norton
Oath of Swords (War God Book 1) by David Weber
On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1) by David Weber
The Honor of the Queen (Honor Harrington Book 2) by David Weber
The Star Agency (The Star Agency Chronicles Book 1) by R.E. Weber
The Last Praetorian (The Redemption Trilogy Book 1) by Mike Smith
Hard Duty: Merkiaari Wars Book 1 by Mark E. Cooper
The Synchronicity War Part 1 by Dietmar Wehr
Dark Space by Jasper T. Scott
The Tank Lords by David Drake
Redliners by David Drake
A Desert Called Peace (Carrera Series Book 1) by Tom Kratman
Gunship by John Davis
With the Lightnings (Lt. Leary Book 1) by David Drake
Tales of Honor #1 by Matt Hawkins and Jung-Geun Yoon
The Fringe Worlds: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #1) by T.R. Harris
Freehold (Freehold Series Book 1) by Michael Z. Williamson
The Last Roman (The Praetorian Series Book 1) by Edward Crichton
The Sea Hag by David Drake
Forbidden The Stars (The Interstellar Age Book 1) by Valmore Daniels
FCBD 2015: Tales of Honor by Matt Hawkins and Linda Sejic
The Philosophical Strangler (Joe's World Book 1) by Eric Flint
The Creatures of Man by Howard L. Myers
In the Heart of Darkness (Belisarius Saga Book 2) by Eric Flint
Northworld Trilogy by David Drake
Starliner by David Drake
The Two Year Emperor ($9, but the free version can be found here) also fits. A human is summoned and forced to lead a nation that runs on D&D-ish rules.
Spoiler alert: D&D-ish rulesets are completely, utterly broken when there's no GM to step in.
Oh, and there's Erfworld which also fits if you can stand webcomics - a WH40K(ish) player gets summoned and is forced to act as general for his summoner. This is much closer to "human as familiar", the others in this post are closer to "human summoned by magic is the prophesied hero"
Also the Wizardry series by Rick Cook - a hacker is summoned into a world where magic is deterministic.
Invitation To The Game by Monica Hughes. It's one of my favorite YAs and I reread it every couple years :)
I recommend this book - Children of Time
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1447273303/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_w1vrzbVRMW007
Imagine how far humanity could fuck up...
My friend, if you haven't already read this you're in for a treat. Scifi author John Scalzi has tackled exactly that premise:
https://www.amazon.com/Redshirts-Novel-Three-John-Scalzi/dp/1491514388
>creating a world to critique and poke holes in an existing work,
At this point, my hand shoots up. But it wasn't just one book, it was several, or even a whole genre. Another point I'd like to stress is that for me to put a whole load of mental energy into picking holes in a book, the book has to be worth it. I have to have spent quite a lot of time living in that author's world in order to notice where its metaphorical foundations are shaky.
To pick just one example of a book series that (a) really caught my imagination and (b) spurred me to say, "no, that isn't how it would work, what would really happen is this" - and then put "this" into my own worldbuilding - is the Course of Empire Series. The first two books were by Eric Flint and KD Wentworth, then after Kathy Wentworth's sad death in 2008, David Carrico took over as Flint's co-author.
The books feature a successful invasion of Earth by an alien species called the Jao. Some of them are right evil bastards, but many of them are pretty decent and it turns out that when they said they were protecting us from an infinitely worse evil, a genocidal species called the Ekhat, that was no lie.
Well, I've always liked alien invasion stories, particularly where the invaders weren't pure evil and might even sympathise with the Earthlings. "The Cuckoo's Peace" isn't my first venture into that type of story. So I read the three Jao books avidly, and would heartily recommend them. Lots of space battles, which I haven't tried to imitate, and a sympathetic portrayal of human "collaborators", which I have. But I couldn't help noticing that the strategy followed by the human Resistance in those books is just... pointless. For anyone who's read the books, what on Earth was that business in Salem meant to achieve? What were they saving those tanks for? Likewise the training and strategy followed by the Jao's human janissaries, the old national armies having been absorbed into the Jao forces, didn't look as if it would have much effect against either the Ekhat or the Resistance. From what we saw of the ex-US forces, they seemed to still be training for WWIII out of sheer inertia.
One thing that emerged out of that was that all of the human Resistance groups in my story have almost given up on acting like a guerrilla army traditionally does. (Not that they've given up the fight; one group in particular is willing to kill millions of humans to achieve liberation.) Due to the specific way the "invasion" (not everyone would call it that) in my story works, the counter-insurgency strategy used against the rebels is also quite unusual. But I think it makes more sense than the one in the Jao books.
As I said, the Jao series is just one of several works that have inspired me to "respond" in this way. I'm addicted to nitpicking. The Connected Worlds in my story also owes a lot to the Federation in Star Trek (another series of which I am a huge fan) as seen from the point of view of those on the receiving end of its insufferable smugness. Occasionally the writers of Deep Space Nine did touch on this topic themselves.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Course-Empire-Series-ebook/dp/B00ARPEJC8/ref=zg_bs_6157858011_f_50
Not really litrpg, but i always liked how programming and magic was portrayed in Rick Cook's Wiz Biz series.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BER5FS0/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_b00ber5fs0
Basic premise is a computer programmer from our world is summoned to a fantasy world and proceeds to hack and rewrite the rules of magic as if it was a programming language.
This is an example of LitRPG that might be a bit of what you're looking for:
https://www.amazon.com/Re-Start-Level-Up-Book-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B07CKRMLJB
If you haven't checked out The Dresden files yet you really should. It's not "true progression", but it's about a modern wizard who keeps "skilling up".
I'll got a list I think is reasonably obscure.
Coils by Fred Saberhagen.
Tactics of Mistake by George R Dickson. Interstellar politics and the warrior of the future. A little bit stiff at times.
Wasp by Eric Frank Russel. The original one man against the planet story. This is probably the most well know on the list.
Fires of Paratime by LE Modesitt Jr. Time travel society done well with a bit of Norse mythology thrown in.
All of an Instant by Richard Garfinkle. Time travel done oddly. And well.
Metaplanetary by Tony Daniel. Stross before Stross. Unfortunately the last book of the trilogy was never published.
Wyrm by Mark Fabi. One of the better books on computer virus and early internet shenanigans.
The Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold are a lot of fun. First collection is Young Miles. You can get the whole series off of one of the free Baen cds.
The Mageworlds series is also enjoyable, in a "clearly riffing on Star Wars" way. First book is The Price of the Stars, and is a mere $3 on Kindle nowadays. (Which is nice, since the early books spent a fair while being not-terribly-in-print.)
You can't go wrong with Frederik Pohl's Gateway. It's an older classic that won all the best novel awards.
For more recent SF, Hugh Howey's Wool Omnibus is outstanding.
In fantasy, I've really enjoyed Joe Abercrombie this past year. Good characters, good plots, and good action scenes. The Blade Itself is the first of his series...all his books take place in the same fantasy world.
I don't think fanfic is a problem. Exhibit A: HPMoR. But there's critically-accepted/acclaimed fanfic works in the industry. Watts's "The Things" and Scalzi's "Redshirts" are both fanfic, and they were both nominated for the Hugo Award (Scalzi won his, and Watts should have won, but was robbed). SF fans aren't strangers to fanfic.
And fanfic isn't a requirement by any stretch. Sword of Good, Three Worlds Collide, Study of Anglophysics, and Last Christmas are all good non-fanfic rationalist works.
Publishing is hard, and takes ages. I dread the day I finish a novel, because I know it'll be years before anyone else will see it even though it's done and ready! I've delayed starting one partly for that reason. But it can force us to up our game. And IMHO the benefits are worth it.
There is a Sci-fi series like this, the first book being Quarter Share it follows the main character as he rises through the ranks in the merchant navy, but has no pirates or space battles.
Personally, I found it boring by the 2nd book, but it seems to be what you are looking for.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
Undying Mercenaries series. HFY as all hell. Literally about humans going around kicking alien ass. /plot.
B. V. Larson, starts with Steel World
There's also some political nonsense mixed in.
You should join the Bobiverse. Not really LitRPG, but the main character isn't human. I think anyone in this sub would enjoy it alot.
https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Most of them are pretty drab, but I read them anyway. Almost all of them feel like fan fiction for Aliens 1986.
I'm not a fan of the AVP movie franchise, but the very first AVP book (which was written long before the movies) was pretty excellent. It's called Aliens Vs Predator: Prey
If you like reading graphic novels, check out Aliens: Labyrinth. The novel adaptation wasn't as good.
I won't spoil it for you but you should read the second AvP book Hunter's Planet. The first book Prey is very good and seems to have influenced the grand story arc (not the details) of the Prometheus move. When you get to book 2 shit gets real.
Wyrm by Mark Fabi. Very dated now but still a great comfort-read. Especially if you're into chess, Alice in Wonderland, Monty Python, RPGs, virtual reality, and MUDs (I said it was dated).
First Chapter
Invitation to the Game
It might be Invitation to the Game, by Monica Hughes. (Wikipedia article)
>School Library Journal:
Gr 6-9-- It is the year 2154. Unemployment is rife, many workers having been replaced by robots, and teenagers, as they graduate from school, are either assigned jobs or an unemployed status. Lisse and seven of her classmates are relegated to a DA (Designated Area) for unemployment together. As they begin to explore the area, they hear about something called The Game, and eventually receive an invitation to participate. By computer simulation, they experience life in an unfamiliar, wild setting. After several sessions, the game intensifies. Several days into a particularly difficult situation, they realize it is no longer a game, but reality, and when, gazing at the night sky, they see no familiar constellations, they know they are no longer on Earth. The future Hughes creates is a logical extension of the disasters of the present day. The characters are likable individuals, each with traits or skills that complement the others. As they grow in ability to work cooperatively, readers will easily accept their selection to populate a new planet. Life there is primitive, but they succeed in making not only useful, but also beautiful necessities of daily life; there are many satisfactions for these latter-day Robinson Crusoes. This is both a first-rate adventure/survival story and a cautionary tale. --Li Stark, North Castle Public Library, Armonk, NY
The Vorkosigan Saga - start with Young Miles, which is a collection of the first three books.
I’ve read two books along those lines, and both have stuck with me/haunted me:
Boat of a Million Years
https://www.amazon.com/Boat-Million-Years-Poul-Anderson/dp/0765310244
The Immortal Prince
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005J569JW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Children of time-Adrian Tchaikovsky
A sci-fi book by a fantasy author that is a fantastic blend of both.
Blurb from Amazon
Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel
WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life.
But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.
Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/1447273303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475011069&sr=8-1&keywords=children+of+time
give this a read then
There are two books specifically about the Metro series.
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-English-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/1481845705
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2034-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/1473204305/
Also, try out The Road by Cormac McCarthy http://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895/
I recommend checking out Redshirts: A Novel With Three Codas. It's a published fanfiction (only technically) of Star Trex which tries to rationalize the behaviors of the crew.
Wonderful - this had me thinking about your book, The Transhumanist Wager. I finally started it after talking to you a year or so ago. I'm not that far in yet, but am enjoying it.
Cheers.
Thanks Gustavdman, I hope you enjoy it if you get around to reading it. Cheers, Zoltan Istvan
http://www.amazon.com/The-Transhumanist-Wager-ebook/dp/B00AQQSY60/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1368569674&sr=8-1&keywords=the+transhumanist+wager
That would be cool. I used to frequent r/freeebooks quite a bit but have stopped due to the fact I have everything for the most part already (people post there as frequently as possible based on the subreddit rules). So this will help fuel my ebook addiction. 800 kindle books seems to be in my future....
Edit: Though The Breaker Series (books 1-3) is currently free and posted there, looks pretty good. Edward W. Robertson is the author, who people really seem to like here.
I'd love to have an event chain similar to Expeditionary Force for Atomic or Early Space Age civs, but from the perspective of aliens.
> We were fighting on the wrong side of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news.
>
> The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the Native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon came ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There went the good old days, when humans got killed only by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.
>
> When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn't even be fighting the Ruhar; they aren't our enemy. Our allies are.
>
> I'd better start at the beginning.
Maybe any battle fought in orbit of, or even in the same system as, a primitive planet that has radio tech can trigger some diplomatic message or event that could lead to annexation or a tiny roadblock on your war path, depending on your responses.
Since you like RC Bray, I also strongly recommend "Expeditionary Forces" It's so so so entertaining. And just as fun in my opinion as Ready Player One while also handling space exploration in a really cool way!
We are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor, especially the Audiobook!
The Perry Rhodan series, longest running Sci-Fi series that I know of with basically everything sci-fi related in it at some point.
I just recently finished We Are Legion, (We Are Bob), and it's first squeal. They were both thoroughly enjoyable, and right up the alley of what you are looking for.
Bob is a smart guy who makes millions in Silicon Valley, and subscribes to a service which will freeze him upon death, so that he can be woken up again when technology is able to fix whatever is wrong.
Only, he wakes up some years later to find he hasn't been 'fixed', but rather has been selected as a candidate to be the artificial intelligence for a Von Neumann probe, a probe that is able to fly out to a star system, then find, collect, and process resources to build copies of itself (and/or whatever else it needs), to be sent out for further exploration. Bob's primary mission is to find habitable worlds for Humanity, so they can escape the dying Earth (though Bob does still have free-will, and undertakes many missions of his own choosing). Each new probe includes a new unique copy of Bob, so as time goes on, we end up with many Bob's exploring the Galaxy, each making their own discoveries. Over the course of both books, the Bob's encounter all kinds of stuff, including primitive intelligence, as well as hostiles, both from Earth, and from elsewhere. The Bob's stay in contact with one another, and with Humanity as the colonization of new worlds begins.
In terms of story telling, I found these somewhat similar to The Martian. The entire story is told form the perspective of the Bob's, which should be noted have a pretty good sense of humor. These are pretty light, fun reads, and I highly recommend.
https://www.amazon.com/Restart-Level-Up-Book-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B07CKRMLJB/ kinda sorta?
Check out Pandora's Star.
I just finished reading Pandora's Star, Hamilton. Once they find us, we could be screwed.
Thanks! I'm a huge fan of the subtle sometimes. There is another book that was written by Mark Fabi titled Wyrm.
I highly recommend it, though its older and centers around a MUD.
http://www.amazon.com/Wyrm-Mark-Fabi/dp/0553578081
It's not the straight up cyberpunk style but its a great cyber/hack style that was great back in the late 80's early 90's wand has a lot of fun technical stuff.
Check out Wyrm by Mark Fabi.
Invitation to the Game?
Invitation to the Game: Book (thanks /u/zimtastic, found it doing a search of /r/tipofmytongue for your posts :) )
I coudn't find an audiobook anywhere, sad as I normally only have time to listen to books anymore. Still, there it is.
As for an ebook, doesn't seem to be availiable. The only one I found was a not exactly techy teacher has uploaded the whole book as part of her lesson plan, and it is "public", that shows up as the 5th result when searching for it :(, just using "Invitation to the Game" too.
Unless you want to wait to 12-31-2030 to get it from Booksamillion
Invitation to the Game
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0671866923
A quick, fun read that I found very memorable.
Give the Miles Vorkosigan books a shot. It's by Lois McMaster Bujold. Here is a link to the first omnibus edition, with the first two novels and a short story.
This may be off base, but if you're looking for some character-driven, some action, space opera, with probably my favorite written character ever, try the Vorkosigan Series, which starts with Young Miles. This compilation is two books and a short story, so it's worth the $8 in my opinion.
Young Miles
I love the Vorkosaigan series. Miles is like a whirlwhind of chaos, dragging awesomeness and interesting events wherever he goes behind him.
I also love the Honor Harrington series.
Honor is a bit like a female Miles, but more awesome, because she has a telepathic tree cat, and can singlehandly kick your ass, and the army you brought with you.
The City That Fought.
This one is a bit older, and is harder to find, but worth it. The story revolves around a city run by a person who's basically the ship's computer, and his Brawn. (Girl who does all the manual type things because he's literally stuck in a tube monitoring things). Just about anything by Ann McCaffery is good, though. I was introduced to her via her "Dragonriders of Pern" series, which is the best damn sci fi disguised as Fantasy I've read.
Not that you asked for more book recommendations, but try The Boat of a Million Years, by Poul Anderson. The book explores some of those questions, although it was published in 1989 so The Future starts around 1990.
This is why I really got into the movie The Man From Earth and the book The Boat of A Million Years.
I would like you to gift my daughter this book. It's her 7th birthday in just under two weeks, and she's a huge Doctor Who fan. She's been sick for most of last month, but is finally getting better. She's very excited about her birthday and her party, and I'm so relieved to see her coming good again.
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Happy happy cake day And thank you!
Eu curto sci-fi, especialmente na tematica de primero contato. Recentemente eu li Children of Time. Um livro relativamente longo, umas 600 páginas, e muito legal.
O autor bota os humanos como os aliens ameaçando invadir um outro mundo. Os humanos no futuro são o que restaram de toda a humanidade pós-guerra. Com o planeta terra acabado, eles não tem escolha senão migrar no espaço catando os restos que sobraram da antiga civilização antes da guerra, visitando suas ex-colônias abandonadas, até encontrarem um planeta habitável. Esse planeta é o resultado de um antigo projeto de terraformação, porém ele já está habitado por vidas inteligêntes aracnídeas que evoluiram lá. O livro tem romance, ação, aventura e sci-fi. Ele mostra o drama tanto dos humanos que vivem na nave quanto as aranhas no planeta. O autor faz um bom trabalho construíndo todo o background histórico das aranhas, é muito legal ler a "história da civilização aracnídea", que espelha a história da própria humanidade. Domínio da agricultura, surgimento das cidades, impérios, peste negra, the enlightenment e evolução das ciências.
One of my favorite books like this is children of Time. Here it is
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1447273303/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523244545&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=children+of+time&dpPl=1&dpID=51Cfz36tYJL&ref=plSrch
The 2033 one is a thing, I have it. You can buy it on amazon here.
https://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-English-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/1481845705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487400160&sr=8-1&keywords=metro+2033
https://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-English-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/1481845705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486304363&sr=8-1&keywords=metro+2033
An English version popped up immediately in google for sale on amazon. Here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1481845705
The actual Red Shirt getting fed up sorry is by John Scalzi. I highly recommend the audio book version
I would like to suggest Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell.
Its the first book in series set in the "Golden Age of the Solar Clipper", and is an incredibly relaxing read, but at the same time gripping, and interesting.
All books in the series are also available in audiobook form, i think read by the author and are also very good.
https://www.amazon.com/Quarter-Share-Traders-Golden-Clipper-ebook/dp/B00AMO7VM4?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
Quarter Share and other books in Nathal Lowell's Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series might work. It's about a young man who winds up shipping on an interstellar trader ship. I found it a little tame, but might work for your daughter ... no violence and sex.
In much the same vein, EM Foner's Union Station books are fun reads ... more interesting and exciting, but maybe not for a very young girl. Might read the first book for yourself and see what you think. It would probably make reading to your daughter a lot more fun for you, however, and there is no sex and violence in them either.
For more info on the book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Transhumanist-Wager-ebook/dp/B00AQQSY60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383259742&sr=8-1&keywords=the+transhumanist+wager
The Transhumanist Wager
I'm almost done with it and I love it. Great novel. Get it now!
From your Amazon link:
> About the Author
> At the age of 21, American-Hungarian Zoltan Istvan began a solo, multi-year sailing journey around the world. His main cargo was 500 handpicked books, mostly classics. He's explored over 100 countries—many as a journalist for the National Geographic Channel—writing, filming, and appearing in dozens of television stories, articles, and webcasts. His work has also been featured by The New York Times Syndicate, Outside, San Francisco Chronicle, BBC Radio, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. In addition to his award-winning coverage of the war in Kashmir, he gained worldwide attention for pioneering and popularizing the extreme sport of volcano boarding. Zoltan later became a director for the international conservation group WildAid, leading armed patrol units to stop the billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. Back in America, he started various successful businesses, from real estate development to filmmaking to viticulture, joining them under ZI Ventures. He is a philosophy and religious studies graduate of Columbia University and resides in San Francisco with his daughter and physician wife. Zoltan recently published The Transhumanist Wager, a visionary novel describing apatheist Jethro Knights and his unwavering quest for immortality via science and technology.
Well. You sound mildly interesting...
I really enjoyed Ready Player one!
Some of my favorite sci-fi:
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein
Course of Empire, by Eric Flint and KD Wentworth
Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy, by Robert J Sawyer (Trilogy starting with Farseer)
Uplift Series, by David Brin, (trilogy, starting with Sundiver)
A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge
Course of Empire - You'll go through the first third of the book thinking that I'm recommending exactly what you are sick of reading. If you can get through that first third of the book you'll be rewarded with a much more complex story.
Quick, spoiler-free synopsis - Big bad brutish aliens invade earth and do all sorts of destructive stuff to prove how big and bad they are (they blow up Mt. Everest just to prove they are badass). 20 years later, the rest of the story takes place. I can't say much else. The Jao are well developed aliens who are not just masked humans.
TL:DR - It's FREE on the kindle right now, so if you don't like it it doesn't cost you anything.
I read something in the late 80's that was very similar in concept:
Rick Cook's Wizard's Bane
A computer nerd gets transported to a realm of magic, but learns to write and combine spells like computer code to win the day
Rick Cook's Wizard's Bane series is about a programmer who gets sent to a magic-filled world. And he then proceeds to learn magic, and build his own magic compiler by using ordered simple spells.
Light On Shattered Water is a book about a hiker who gets transported to a world of cat-people in the middle ages. Notable for not being one of those books where "everything magically works out". He doesn't speak the language. He gets treated as non-sentient a lot. Pretty badly brutalized at points too. Eventually starts a semi-industrial-revolution.
Sorry, had a brain cramp and confused it with Robinson's The Breaker series, of which I'm also waiting for the next volume.
I'm certainly glad I tried his stuff out. His Breakers pack of books 1-3 for free is one of the best deals out there. (Turns out that deal is on Amazon.co.uk, not in the US.
I like to push Ben Aaronovich, and his Rivers of London books. Urban fantasy about a rookie cop and his introduction to newtonian magic, set in London, and excellently narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.
Historical fiction? You could try:
Arthur Conan Doyle and the Collected Works of Sherlock Holmes. 72ish hours of historical mysteries narrated by Stephen Fry.
Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Christo. Both solid stories, but I found The Count of... to be better.
I also realized that Patrick O'Brian might fit, with his 'Master and Commander' books. I tried the first one on a whim, and although it isn't my usual style, I loved the feeling of adventure it depicted. About a captain in the royal navy in the early 19th century. I've listened to the ones narrated by Ric Jerrom.
Honorable mention should go to James Clavell and Shogun, about a british sailor stranded in Japan in the feudal era.
I'm not a SciFi guy, but I've listened to Expeditionary Force, and plan to pick up more books in that series.
I think Peter F Hamiltons books are a bit heavy for an 11 year old, they have sooooo much world building, details about people and sex stuff in them.. I'd start with Expeditionary Force. Not so heavy on the details and funny as all hell. https://www.amazon.com/Columbus-Day-Expeditionary-Force-Book-ebook/dp/B01AIGC31E
Book 1 is also on sale .
The Bobiverse is great, loved that series.
Another one that's right up there with it - wait, when you look at the title and cover, and first start reading it appears to be another stuffy military sci-fi novel - but about halfway through the first book, a character enters that makes the whole series.
It does get a bit formulaic by the 4th book:
Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson.
Seriously, this is a great pickup if you liked Bob, despite its initial appearance.
I recommend We Are Legion (We Are Bob) [Bobiverse Book 1] and its sequels, by Dennis E. Taylor. Narrated by Ray Porter, it was an Audible exclusive. He does a great job of the voice of Bob. :D
Does the Boboverse count? https://smile.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=bobiverse&qid=1570471603&sr=8-2
The Martian
https://www.amazon.com/Unknown-The-Martian/dp/B00B5HO5XA/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
The Bobiverse
https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K2B44GA8IOY0&keywords=i+am+bob+i+am+legion&qid=1556504645&s=gateway&sprefix=I+am+Bob%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1
Closest I can think of are SciFi-ish.
Re-Start Level Up. Guy gets a computer program uploaded into his brain that does some magic-like stuff, but through techie mumbo-jumbo means.
Emerilia's Michael Chatfield does some SciFi litRPG that isn't great, but fits. I'm currently reading book two of the Harmony War series, and no magic just tech.
Reality Benders has magic, but not really in the human faction, and very very minorly in the MC (he gets some psionic stuff with rather limited use).
Limitless Lands in a VR story with magic, but the MC doesn't use any. He's basically playing a strategy game while everyone else is playing an RPG. Works out well, story wise.
Survive Week One is right up your alley, though again, the non-Earth folks seem to have a not-quite-magic, and of course the MC is obviously going to eventually get it. Even then, I think it fits your bill for now.
I'm trying to remember, but I don't think the MC in Feedback Loop uses magic, and some of the VR worlds he travels through don't seem to have magic. Not that absurd things don't still happen, they just generally are because of game-mechanics (like pulling bombs/guns/cars from your inventory).
Yeah TzunSu is right there is a series out there called the Level Up series. Book one is called Re-Start.
https://www.amazon.com/Re-Start-Level-Up-Book-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B07CKRMLJB
My first translated from Russian - LitRPG and motivational book: Restart (Level Up Book #1) LitRPG Series
https://www.amazon.com/Restart-Level-Up-Book-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B07CKRMLJB/
The idea of augmented reality isn’t new. The Google Glass project is in fact nearing its completion even as we speak. But the idea of digitized real-life stats, that’s a bit different. I had it in summer 2014. At the time, I was working hard trying to lose weight from my original “too-fat-to-tie-laces” 242 lb. to my current 175 lb. These days, I can’t even imagine my life without going to the gym.
It was in the gym that I first realized how effective weight training could be.Today you lift 45 lb, a week later it’s 55 lb, and six months later, it’s already 175! Or, speaking in RPG terms, you level up Strength from 2 to 8.
Then an idea struck me. What if we could see all these status bars, skills and characteristics in real life just as we can in MMORPG? It’s one thing to know you’ve learned something from a book - and it’s something quite different if you can clearly see that it’s added +2% to your Intellect. Or that a visit to a swimming pool gives you +5% to Stamina. Would that motivate you more?
I’m absolutely sure it would. This is exactly why I’ve always loved RPG and LitRPG as well as weight training. Three years ago, I couldn’t do a single pull up. Now I can do fifteen easily. It’s the same in business: whether you work your backside off or just go through the motions, your company’s earnings are the only accurate barometer of your activity.
I spent some time thinking about it until it all fell into a pattern. That’s when I came up with my MC Phil Panfilov and his story. I mapped out his development arc, added some key scenes, came up with support characters and started writing.
That’s how I finished "Level Up. Re-Start", the first book in a series which tells the story of a gamer who’s been a bit too lax with his life. By the time he’s thirty-something, he has a wife, a string of one-off freelance gigs, a powerful computer, a level 110 rogue character in a popular RPG game and a beer gut.
What could happen in the life of an overgrown nerd in order to change his attitude? Could his wife - whom he loves a lot - leave him? Or what if he somehow could see the world through a game interface? Would he be able to face the harsh reality if he could see that his Reputation with his wife is Unfriendly, his Agility is stuck at 4, Strength at 6, Stamina at 3 and that his most advanced skill is WoW playing? Isn’t it time he did something about it?
That’s basically a glimpse into my story which I wanted to share with my English-language readers. The finished book has already hit the bestseller list back in Russia. The English translation of the first book in the series is available in KU.
https://www.amazon.com/Re-Start-Level-Up-Book-LitRPG-ebook/dp/B07CKRMLJB Is finished. Good read to, though i wish there was more!
Have you read The Commonwealth Saga. Pandora's Star is the first in the 2 part series that takes place in the "near" future after a technological revolution. Its a Space Opera in it's own right even the more common means of travel is through wormholes (kind of like Stargate). The first few hundred pages dragged on but after reaching the middle of the book i'm not able to put it down.
http://www.amazon.com/Pandoras-Star-The-Commonwealth-Saga/dp/0345479211
If you want a good Sci-Fi that will last you the entire trip look into Pandora's Star.
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton?
Fitzpatrick's War by Theodore Judson
Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton
The comics were all dark horse. The novels were written by Steve and/or Stephanie Perry. The novels aren't particularly well written, but they are far better than the movie. Here is a link to the first in the series of novels: http://www.amazon.com/Prey-Aliens-Vs-Predator-Book/dp/0553565559
Just going to mention that the Aliens VS Predator novel was amazing, and so were the graphic novel follow ups, pretty cool. Forget that horrible movie you saw. The original was the shit.
http://www.amazon.com/Prey-Aliens-Vs-Predator-Book/dp/0553565559/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373827814&sr=8-3&keywords=predator+vs+alien%3A+prey
this book has a large section told from a predators POV, and sometimes their youngest hunters get too enthusiastic to remember the honor code.
I knew this sounded familiar as I read it -- I think I've still got it on my old bookshelf somewhere...
This is the best movie AvP candidate IMO. AvP: Prey
Sort of sets the stage for the war series
Well something like that was to be expected.
I chose the name because of this, though.
Wyrm by Mark Fabi. It's somewhat dated because it deals with the GASP Y2K bug. Instead of using MMORPGs (Were they even out back then?) it uses MUDs.
From it's Amazon Page
As the new millennium approaches, cults, sects, and crackpot prophets flood the worldwide media. But for Michael Arcangelo none of their catastrophe theories are more frightening than the Goodknight virus. Michael suspects it is the work of a mysterious programming genius, who designed it to create a computer role-playing game so real it can kill. Now Michael and his team of techno-wizards must descend into a harrowing and convoluted world of reality and fantasy. But what they discover is even worse than they could have ever imagined. For the so-called game is already out of hand, the virus has taken over the Internet, harnessing the power of the millennial frenzy already sweeping the world. And if they don't find and defeat the twisted mastermind responsible, humanity will wake from its worst nightmare to find the end of the world is truly here.
While not exactly sysadmin based Wyrm was in the same vein and pretty decent.
Wyrm by Mark Fabi is a really good book. I read it back in high school, and I haven't been able to find it again since, besides on Amazon. Give it a try, I think you'll love it.
Wyrm by Mark Fabi will be much harder to find and is more formulaic, but mirrors the idea of adventuring in the MMORPG to advance real life more than Snow Crash.
Kind of a kids book, but relevant.
If you like to read, consider Young Miles. It's an extremely good sci fi story where the main character has something resembling OI.
+1 for the Vorkosigan saga. I recommend it every chance I get. Start with Young Miles.
A great military/space opera sci-fi series is the Miles Vorkosigan books. They're action-adventure-drama-mystery-comedy. Really excellent. Start with Young Miles, when Miles is 17 and flunks out of military academy.
The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub completely captured me around your age. It's dark fantasy, and ties in with King's The Dark Tower series. Which you also could give a shot.
Sometimes you can get lucky and find an author that writes both in the YA and adult range, like Neil Gaiman.
I'd suggest Neverwhere and American Gods (which is a bit more adult than Neverwhere, but you should be fine to read it).
I heartily second /u/nebulousmenace recommendation. I would recommend starting with The Warrior's Apprentice which can also be found in the omnibus edition Young Miles.
Poul Anderson's The Boat of a Million Years is worth a read.
Came here to say this.
Incidentally, it's available for 1 cent at Amazon,
The Boat of a Million Years - Goodreads Amazon
this is not war...this is pest control!
I love the pattern that shows 10, Rose, Martha, Donna and Jack though they're all adorable!
If I win, this would be great! It's not prime, but free shipping :)
Thanks for the contest!
There is also When's the Doctor.
Perhaps "Where's the Doctor?"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1405908173/
There's also a "When's the Doctor?"
http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Whens-Jorge-Santillan/dp/1405908491/
There are several lines of Doctor Who books written for children. For example, Amazon classifies Monsters Inside as for teens and young adults. But there's no description to indicate it's written for teens. How many teen DW books are there? Is there a list somewhere?
Or how about Young Reader Adventures Book 2 - System Wipe / The Good, the Bad and the Alien? Is a "young reader" book for a teen, a 10-year-old, a 5-year-old or what?
Amazon also classifies the Where's Waldo-like book When's the Doctor as a teen/young adult book even though it's clearly intended for very young children.
Hi, Ricki! My name is Crystal.
I'm so much a fan of Game of Thrones and me and Doctor Who go way back. I'm getting 2nd generation love by reading Harry Potter to my kids.
Ukulele- did you love the "Somewhere over the rainbow" with that amazing hawaiian dude?
http://amzn.com/1405908491
Someone already recommended the Three Body Problem, so I'll go ahead and throw in Children of Time. Half of it takes place in space and the other half takes place on a terraformed planet. The space chapters are weaker than the planet chapters (especially at the beginning, it does get off to kind of a rocky start writing-wise), but over the course of the book it just gets better and better. I don't want to spoil it by explaining what makes it so good, other than it's the only book that has ever made me cry over a dead spider.
Do Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/1447273303
Children of Time
Read Wool by Hugh Howey.
From the description:
>This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.
Then come visit us at /r/Wool!
My favorite book or series of books at the moment is Wool by Hugh Howey. It has incredible reviews. It's about a society that lives in a silo underground in a post-apocalyptic world. The "omnibus" edition is books 1-5. All together they're about the length of a normal novel. The 6th one is around a couple hundred pages. They're all deliciously disturbing.
I just finished the Wool omnibus by Hugh Howey..It's not fantasy but a great book..
http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Hugh-Howey/dp/1469984202/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341887709&sr=1-1&keywords=wool+omnibus
Metro 2033 English: Here
Metro 2034 English: Here
I need 2034 in this cover in English. All the ones I can find are non-English. Kinda bothersome having 2/3 of them with the mask. Not to mention my 2034 one is smaller than the other two.
Here is an Amazon listing for the 2033 with gas mask - Metro 2033: First U.S. English edition (METRO by Dmitry Glukhovsky)
There's lot's in there and I found it pretty interesting, but it's definitely an FPS.
That being said, it's based on a book series, so there is a bunch of lore to look into.
Sort of off topic, but if you're interested in a game that's not so much about lore, but instead accuracy, check out This War of Mine.
The books I'm currently reading, I'm totally in love with "the old breed" right now, can't put it down!
A helmet for my pillow
With the old Breed
For whom the bell tolls
The Gay Science
Metro 2033
A game of thrones
Don't get caught in the narrative!
Read [Redshirts by John Scalzi](http://www.Redshirts.com/ A Novel with Three Codas https://www.amazon.com/dp/1491514388/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_5mNQAb49XA6D6), and this will give you a perspective of how new ensigns fight to survive the high mortality rate on away missions, and why you should look busy when the captain is coming by.
Redshirts?
Redshirts by John Scalzi. You won't be dissapointed.
There is a series of books where the main character and supporting characters are all basically just cogs in the machine aboard a Starship. It's been awhile but I remember liking them quite a bit and think they'd make a good show. The first was call Quarter Share and each one after goes up from there like Half Share, Full Share, Double Share, etc. Obviously the main character eventually works his way up to being an officer on the ship but in the first two books he was just a worker. I think I only read the first 2 but I've talked myself into reading through all of them now.
If you like Becky Chambers you'll enjoy Nathan Lowell's "Share" series (https://www.amazon.com/Quarter-Share-Traders-Golden-Clipper-ebook/dp/B00AMO7VM4/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1525890657&sr=8-8&keywords=nathan+lowell+solar+clipper). This is the first one of the series. They are exceptional for what they don't have - nobody has to save the Universe.
I would say I am a hard sci-fi lover. Especially those that can paint a picture for an entire universe, not just a story. Take The Golden Age of The Solar Clipper series by Nathan Lowell, I would say it is far from a hard sci-fi as it does not go into much science, and it is far from action packed, but boy does it paint an entire universe you could easily see yourself in!
I haven't delved into many other genres, mainly because I dont know were to start, and I easily get bored and drop a book if it doesn't hook me within the sample download :/
As for beverage it would be water, if anything. I so often get dragged into a story though that sometimes I wont even eat, lol. My wife doesn't see how I can do it, just sit there and read on my phone, unblinking for hours on end. She said she timed me once and got bored at 25min of me not blinking, LOL.
The Transhumanist Wager is what OP wants to read;
https://www.amazon.com/Transhumanist-Wager-Zoltan-Istvan-ebook/dp/B00AQQSY60#nav-subnav
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Transhumanist_Wager
I feel like The Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan qualifies. It starts out as "one man against the world" and builds to a "colony fighting for their right to survive".
It's not 100% what you want but I'm reading a book at the moment called the transhumanist wager. It deals with the philosophy and ethics of mind/consciousness upload and combining humans with machines.
Just a warning - I found the first 2-3 pages very poorly written and I almost stopped reading but bizarrely after that the writing improved dramatically and it's actually very well written after that point and gets very interesting. Heavily focussed on the philosophy but also has great action scenes scattered throughout.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00AQQSY60
The Jao Empire series (Course of Empire, Crucible of Empire, Span of Empire)
A not-very-well-known but amazing scifi book that I think you might like is The Course Of Empire.
I've read Leviathan Wakes and (imho) Course Of Empire is every bit as good!
In "The Course of Empire" https://www.amazon.com/Course-Empire-Book-ebook/dp/B00ARPEJC8 the human resistance used improvised chaff and steam devices to block the lasers of the invading aliens. The resistance lost (not a spoiler) but they tried to convince their new alien masters not to strip captured tanks of their superior human-built kinetic weapons and replace them with inferior lasers.
Not litRPG but Wizard's Bane by Rick Cook.
"Worth the Candle" has many different magic systems but one involves accessing the world's source code.
Relevant book recommendation: Wizard's Bane and following series, by Rick Cook.
Synopsis: basically like the programmer's physics in Friendship is Optimal, but a little bit more fleshed-out and with some neat ideas. For example, in order to prevent undefined behavior, the magic-programmer builds and formally verifies magical "assembly" instructions, and then builds several no-common-ground compilers and only allows a build to go forward if the compilers produce identical assembly.
I will always show up for post-apocalyptic suggestions.
Station Eleven is incredibly well written (award winning) though may be less of a "thriller" than you're looking for.
The Breakers series is technically YA but it's so well done it doesn't feel like it, plus there's a ton of action. There are NINE books in this series AND a series that continues this series.
You might also look at Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam series if you haven't already, it's brilliant and probably a cornerstone of post-postmodern apocalypse fiction.
Hugh Howey's Wool trilogy is also worth checking out.
Book
Thanks!
Edit: My goal is to volunteer and to read more than I did in 2014.
Maybe the Breaker series. The 7th book just came out but you can get the first 3 for 0.99. http://www.amazon.com/Breakers-Books-Edward-W-Robertson-ebook/dp/B00E9YL3HM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420069031&sr=8-2&keywords=breakers
The Breaker series, best self published thing I've ever read. Huge number of positive reviews, this is no hobbyist, this guy has chops.
I picked up The Breakers 1-3 for $0.99 just for the hell of it. It's pretty good for a buck.
http://www.amazon.com/Steel-World-Undying-Mercenaries-Series-ebook/dp/B00FCXPC94
Ala this series I am assuming
For the Sci-Fi version - Steel World (Undying Mercenaries Series Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FCXPC94
Aside from the Niven, Asimov, and other well known authors you'll get in this thread, you should try some books by BV Larson. His books have that Pulp Sci-Fi feel that has been missing from the genre lately.
BV Larson:
Star Force series (10 books: Series 1 is book 1-9, Series 2 starts at 10)
Undying Mercenaries (3 books: Still in its first series, currently no end in sight)
Best part is that he publishes through Amazon, so the books come out fairly quickly one after the other. I've also had a good time listening to the audiobooks -- pretty good production.
Somebody already mentioned battlefield earth, I highly recommend that.
I just read a new book about this, its not what one would typically think could happen but it turned out to be a great read.
BV Larson - Steel World
This isn't a referral link or anything, just a direct to the book.
http://www.amazon.com/Steel-World-B-V-Larson-ebook/dp/B00FCXPC94
I recommend 2 series by BV Larson:
First Swarm Book 1 of "Star Force"
Second Steel World Book 1 of the "Undying Mercenaries"
Also The Synchronicity War by Dietmar Wehr
Now for a shameless plug for my favorite Sci-fi book: We Are Legion book 1 of "Bobiverse" There is some ship to ship fighting. But its more Sci-fi comedy.
> "The Algebraist"
"Steel World" is similar and not half bad, for a self-published book
I just finished Columbus Day and as far as cheap sci-fi goes it's pretty damn good. Much more grounded that most sci-fi I've read recently. And I just started the sequel today.
Craig Alanson
Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force Book 1)
This is a must it now spans 8 books including a couple of novellas as side stories but still important to the over all arc, the audible series breastfed by RC Bray is amazing I have listeners to them all over the last couple of years can’t recommend highly enough.
Amazon kindle link
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Columbus-Day-Expeditionary-Force-Book-ebook/dp/B01AIGC31E/ref=nodl_
Audible link
https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Columbus-Day-Audiobook/B01NAE4H74
Alright let’s get the Bob’s involved. Bobiverse Series
Great story. I would love to see a sequel series for the Terrans. (gotta go back through and make sure all chapters have an upvote)
Also, this series reminds me of a book series I started reading midway through your first chapter and the last one. If you are interested in reading about what you wrote about.
The series is called "We are Legion; We are Bob" it also involves a human becoming a von Neumann spaceship. No alie...no spacefaring aliens in that series yet, though.
I will recommend you probably one of the greatest and most realistic LITRPG book I've listened to recently. It's on my top 5 favorites right now
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Re-Start Level Up Book 1
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKRMLJB
So addictive, very refreshing with a solid narration. You just can't wait just how the mc develops and improves himself.
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It will probably even inspire and motivate you on how to be a better person in real life.
I can even say that many will probably relate to the scenario if this ever happened to you.
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It's that good
Hugh Howey's Molly Fyde books are pretty entertaining. I read them after finding the Wool series. A book I would recommend is the Commonwealth Saga books by Peter Hamilton. The first one is Pandoras Star http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0345479211/ref=mp_s_a_7?pi=SL75&qid=1348879643&sr=1-7
Already been mentioned but:
Neuromancer - genre defining, gritty, required reading. ;)
Snow Crash - Excellent, hugely enjoyable characters, good sci fi
Also good and haven't been mentioned:
Headcrash by Bruce Bethke - bizarre, silly, fun cyberpunk (for instance, full sensoral cyberspace connection is done through a rectally inserted probe..)
The Mind's I by Douglas Hofstadter - Excellent collection of short stories about cognitive machines
Wyrm by Mark Fabi - "Interweaving mythology, virtual reality, role-playing games, chess strategy, and artificial intelligence with a theory of a Group Overmind Daemon susceptible to religious symbolism, first-timer Fabi pits a group of computer programmers and hackers against a formidable opponent who may fulfill end-of-the-world prophesies as the millennium approaches."
Young Miles - Lois McMaster Bujold
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
On Basilisk Station - David Weber
> Wool - Omnibus Edition was probably one the sickest books I've read in a very long time.
I hope this AskReddit question gets on the front page just so more people find out about this book.
Read book first. It's much better than the game.
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-English-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/1481845705
What do you mean? I found one on amazon and i have a English pdf/audio book on my computer?
Some possibilities?
https://www.amazon.com/Inception-Augmented-Human-Rebellion-Book-ebook/dp/B00IU11ZHS
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FCXPC94
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072FCXNZH
It's not game lit, but if you want something similar and REALLY good, read "We Are Legion (We Are Bob)." It's great.
https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=sr\_1\_1?keywords=we+are+bob&qid=1574690939&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
HEY! No posting jailbait photos, you've been repor...
Wait, wut? :o I use this reference sparingly in this sub, but I'll use it with her: Time for her to fake her death and start over, possibly not for the first time...