I've been loving my hard scifi recently. But I feel like it's begun to demonstrate how much easier it is to imagine all the ways things could go wrong. If fiction is how we lay an outline for the future, I wonder if anyone can recommend some more uplifting stories to me? Rather than a cautionary tale I would appreciate a story with a setting where the author dares to risk being wrong about what's right for us. Naturally this may simply be the setting for a somewhat unrelated story, but I'm curious what sorts of literature comes to mind that falls into this category.

Thank you for the great work, Vernor. You'll be missed.

I noticed that one of the monitors in the loom control room had "SKIN?" written on it in the dust that covered it. It seemed pretty mysterious and I was sure it was a detail that was going to be important, but it never came up as far as I noticed. Any theories as to what it's about?

I'm always looking for media featuring aliens, especially multiple races. Came across this on TvTropes. Seems to dismiss the first book and say its unneeded. Anyone here enjoy/hate this one? Any starting point you'd recommend? Most importantly how prominent are the aliens?

Just won the Oscar for best visual

I read Kim's Mars trilogy years ago and liked it. I decided to pick up The Ministry of the Future a couple days ago. It's very different, and without any spoilers, I have to say it's made me hate humanity even more than I already did. If you haven't read it, it's a near-future climate disaster book. Well written, interesting structure, and just pissing me off. I'm about halfway through it, so maybe it'll swing the other way in the second half.

Hello everyone,

Basically, title. You can find the thread using !movies@lemm.ee or https://lemm.ee/post/25038001 in the search bar

Have a good one

PS : I checked with the moderation team before posting this

cross-posted from: https://diagonlemmy.social/post/6753

Alternative Harry Potter narrative: since the global wizarding wars, many attempts were made by companies to sell their tech to Muggles. It was tolerated by the institute of Magic as long as it was not advertised as such. Above is an example of a banned, confiscated attempt to show the magic more openly. However, over time it turned out that Muggles weren’t even interested in the magic behind it, they wanted their devices easy to use and understand; and everyone else eventually joined the wizards and witches.

Eventually, all regulations to sell magical devices were erased and since the late 80s with the introduction of the world wide web, the rise of wiz-tech has only increased in pace: next came the introduction of the iPhone by young wizard Steve Jobs, introducing wiz-tech to the broad public and lately, even magic itself can be channelled through so-called AI agents and the Floo-Network begins to open up to Muggles as well with the Fediverse.

However, with the rise of bad effects that came with it, too, some Muggles are becoming more and more weary of the whole situation and in the wizarding community, people are calling for bringing their knowledge to the Muggles, taking some responsibility beyond their own magical realm, while others call for the institute to again take a stronger stance on the devices in the muggle world due to the negative effects they caused.

How can a good future for both the wizarding and the muggle world look like?

Based on this information, I cannot consider myself a Hugo winner and will not be citing the 2023 award result in my biographical details, or on this site.

Currently, I have the following books on my wish list that I am thinking about buying.

Salvation by Peter Hamilton. I have read everything he has published except his short stories and love them so this is next on my to-read list.

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. Seems kinda cool.

Seven Deadly Wonders by Matthew Reilly. It seems like a book in a similar vein as Jurassic Park, Dan Brown, Clive Cussler type stuff.

Pernasi By Susanna Clarke. I read her first book nearly 20 years ago and thought it was good. I really like creative sci-fi stuff. I am re-reading the Ninefox Gambit series again currently so this seems right up my alley.

Brandon Sanderson Way of Kings Book 3. Yeah, I probably need to start with Book 1 again and catch up. Has anyone read his Secret Books yet?

Do any science fiction book subscriptions exist anymore with reasonably good quality books? About 10 years ago I was able to subscribe to a year of Angry Robot books for about $120 or $150. It wasn’t a bad deal as I remember I got about 24 books for the price.

I've been on a cosmic horror kick lately, and what I'd really like to read is stories or novels of the awful and unfathomable on a spaceship. Stories where we go to them, poke what shouldn't be poked, scan what shouldn't be scanned, and things proceed from there.

I have read a TON of contemporary SciFi authors. I really enjoy

Stuff I like

Iain M. Banks

I liked the Martha Wells Murderbot books.

I loved We Are Legion, We Are Bob and have read all the books by him.

I like Alastair Reynolds. I liked the Poseidon's Children trilogy better than Revalation Space Series (but I liked that too).

I really like G. S. Jennsen - even though she's cheesy. I think I like her because of her progressive attitude and powerful female characters.

I like Charles Stross, but I didn't like Accelerando. I like his other books a lot.

I liked A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine.

I like Corey Doctorow, sometimes. Walkaway was good.

I like Daniel Suarez, most of the time for similar reasons.

I REALLY liked the Nexus series by Ramez Naam.

I liked the Red Rising books by Pierce Brown and I've really been enjoying the Sollan Empire books by Christopher Ruocchio, which I think are similar and even better.

I like Adrian Tchaikovsky and really liked The Final Architecture books and Doorways to Eden.(I didn't get that into Children of Time though).

I usually like Neil Stephenson. (The Fall or Dodge In Hell is quite a tedious book).

I've liked everything I've read by Verner Vinge.

I liked Hyperion like everybody else. Unlike everybody else, I think I liked the Endymion books even better.

I read some Ken MacLeod (the first Corporation Wars book) and it was fine... but I haven't felt like going back.

I REALLY enjoy John Scalzi, though I found the Old Man's War books started to get stale after a while. It's high calorie, low nutrition brain candy, but I know that going in and it passes the time.

I really liked Derek Kunsken's Quantum Magician books. And started reading his prequel series, set on Venus, and I couldn't really get into it.

I enjoy Space Race books like Erik Flint / Ryk Spoor's Boundary series, Saturn Run by John Sanford and Delta V by Daniel Suarez.

I love the Expanse.

I find Kim Stanley Robinson hit or miss. I really enjoyed the Mars books and The Years of Rice and Salt was fun (though a little tedious). 2312 drags and drags and nothing happens and Aurora is the same AND also sad.

I liked Permanence by Karl Schroeder. It could have used a little more... conflict? I had this same problem with Becky Chambers. The characters are all too well intentioned and the dramatic tension suffered a little.

I read all the Star Kingdom books by Lindsay Buroker. I thought they were a super fun adventure that just kept delivering from the beginning of the series to the end, even if it was clearly aimed at a more YA demographic.

I REALLY liked Velocity Weapon and the sequels by Megan O'Keefe. I found her Steam Punk series much less impressive. I've been meaning to try her galactic empire series, but I haven't quite been in the mood to start it.

I read Sue Burke's Semiosis Duology. I wasn't expecting to like it but I really did! The physical science aspects were a little softer than I would have liked, but the biological science was really cool, as was the anarcho-pacifist political philosophy.

I read Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit and the sequels. I thought they were really fun, I wish they'd explored Calendrical technology more.

I thought the Neo G books by KB Wagers (A Pale Light in the Black and sequels) were good. Her characters are great. But again, very light on the sciences and technology. I'm in the mood for something harder. Also, not realistic that the champion hand to hand fighter in the entire Earth space military is a 110 pound woman, but I just pretended she's cyber enhanced.

I just finished the Wormwood trilogy (Rosewater and sequels) by Tade Thomson. They were great.

Stuff I Don't Like

Orson Scott Card did not age well, unlike Timothy Zahn, who's gotten a lot more progressive in his story telling in the last two decades.

I don't like Niel Asher. His in your face Libertarianism and conservative ideology annoys me, which is too bad because other than that he's a good story teller.

I find Peter F. Hamilton hit or miss for the same reason. But I really liked Pandora's Star.

I find AG Riddle hit or miss. I like his thought experiments, but he doesn't really care if his stories / characters are logically consistent. Ramez Naam and Daniel Suarez do what Riddle does but WAAAY better.

I didn't like Blindsight. I know, this makes me some kind of heretic. I just didn't find the idea of such a dysfunctional crew being entrusted with such an important mission believable.

I couldn't get into Ann Leckie. I WANTED to like it, but I just didn't find her writing very engaging. I've put the physical book down once AND turned the audio book off on a road trip.

I did not like Tamsyn Muir.

I did not like the Three Body Problem, although I see the appeal and it's nice to read something by a non western author. I found the pro Chinese politics a little too heavy handed.

I cannot get into Greg Egan. I find his writing style way too obtuse. Reading is Egan is like having a PHD in mathematics and a PHD in quantum physics, then going to Burning Man and doing 16 hits of acid.

I finally got around to trying The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet and I could NOT get into it. I agree with reviewers who complain nothing interesting ever happens.

People keep recommending Mary Robinette Kowal, but something about the alternate history just doesn't grab me.

People keep recommending Ted Chiang. But I don't want short stories (Murderbot somehow managed to be an exception). The longer the better.

People have recommended the Last Watch by J. S. Dewes, but others have told me things about the book that makes me think I won't like it. Standing guard at the edge of the universe makes zero sense, I think by proposing it's possible you lost me. Edge of the galaxy... Maybe, with 10 septillion robotic war ships. But edge of the universe? I think I'm out. If you know something I don't about this book, feel free to say so.

Production finished in 2023, expected release 2024. Starring Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel and Forest Whitaker.

I've had both, the Hyperion series, and The Expanse series sitting on my shelf for years now, and only ever read a little bit of the first books of both series.

I'm currently re-reading the Lord of The Rings trilogy, but after, I'm planning on reading The Expanse or Hyperion series.

Which should I read first?

Edit: Thank you all so much for your feedback!! The general consensus seems to lean towards reading The Expanse first, so I think I'll read through Leviathan Wakes and then read Hyperion unless Leviathan Wakes provokes me to directly continue into the second book.

Spoilers warning

Picked it up from the Goodreads science fiction top list. The description did not make much sense to me but I decided to give it a try based on the popularity.

It was a bit hard for me to get into but after a while the narrative made sense. It felt cosy to imagine all these travelers gather around and tell stories to each other. I liked the variety of styles and themes that each character contributes. But I still felt it was not fully stitched together. Yes, there is this shared universe but the transition from one tale to another still was jarring. And the ending was underwhelming. I was hoping for some closure, and the last tale kind of provided it, but then there was a heap of unanswered questions.

What were your thoughts? If you read the sequels, were they worth it?

I just finished watching the depressing ending of Risen 2021 and the instant the end credits started I was hit with a realization - wasn't this what happened during the Great Oxygen Catastrophe? Anaerobic life existed on this planet for ~1.5 billion years before cyanobacteria came along. It wasn't alien life that did it but doesn't make much difference to me. I mean I appreciate (most of) my fellow humans but we're here because some microbes decided to terraform the planet, heedless of the planet-wide ecosystem they were destroying or the life that depended on it.

Anaerobic bacteria aren't humans and I'm sure they didn't have armies or scientists to realize they were doomed but at the bottom of it, life is life and extinction is extinction.

That crappy movie sure got me to thinking. To borrow a concept from Mark Twain, our actual history rhymes with this movie. Anyone else notice the parallels?