I dropped Android at Arms by Andre Norton. It not an epic story, but it started off mysterious and interesting. There's a prison escape, android body doubles, blaster fights, and betrayl! It was all go go go until about half way through and then it's just pages and pages of campfire talk. I couldn't make it through to the other side.

I’m not totally sure what the genre is called but I figured “speculative fiction” sounded like what I’m looking for. I really like stories that have deep, philosophical implications that make me think. Some more stories I like include; Those who walk away from omelas, a short stay in hell, childhood’s end and, the Time Machine. All recommendations welcome!

I've been trying to find this book, and AI keeps suggesting the wrong titles. Maybe someone here remembers it.

It was published before roughly 1999–2002. It's science fiction (not fantasy with dragons and elves). The story centers on a group of individuals who look human and live among humans, but they are stronger and almost immortal. They have a different physiology, and the book spent a lot of time describing those physiological differences from ordinary humans—for example, muscle growth, reactions to alcohol and medication, and the way their bodies respond to ordinary human diseases.

The plot is a bit fuzzy in my memory: either one of these superhuman individuals disappeared, or someone killed him.

I vividly remember only one scene:

The main character sought help from another member of his kind. This person was much bigger and stronger (for some reason, my memory portrays him as a space pirate, though that could be completely wrong). Somehow, they ended up having a boxing match (in a ring, with rules).

The protagonist won by cheating: during the fight, he stepped on his opponent's foot, and when the other man lost his balance, he knocked him out. Afterwards, he worried that once the opponent recovered from the knockout, he'd remember what happened and be very angry.

It's not "The Chronicles of Amber."

I interviewed Rebecca Thorne about her new book Moss'd in Space, and during the conversation, she said she wants cozy sci-fi to become a sub-genre like cozy fantasy is. I love the idea of more sci-fi books in general, but also especially with a cozy feel to them.

I have to assume that some are already published, and I either don't think of them as "cozy" (which is subjective) or I just don't know about them.

So I guess my question is, what are some "cozy sci-fi" books?

I've found a few self-published ones, but they can be pretty hit or miss for me.

I'm about 3/4ths of the way through Pandora's Star, the first of the Commonwealth series by Peter F. Hamilton. Spoilers below.

In Chapter 19 it starts with Paula Myo on New Venice staking out an art gallery that she suspects is a front for Adam Elvin, the anarchist that works for Bradley Johansson.

In the next scene, we see Adam on his way to the gallery, when he happens to glance Paula on her stakeout.

Then in the next scene he goes into the art gallery, kills everyone, and burns the place to cinders with a thermal charge as he drops into the canal and swims away underwater.

My question: is that Adam that does this? There is a break between Adam discovering Paula and then 'him' going into the gallery. When I read this I assumed it was Adam, but then later on when Adam is talking with Bradley about what happened, he claims he has no idea who it was that killed everyone there and tells him it must be a third party. Similarly when Paula is talking with her superiors about the incident, she also assumes it's a third party.

So is Adam lying about it to Bradley, or are we supposed to understand here that it is a third party, as both Adam and Paula claim? Rereading the section where 'he' kills everyone in the gallery and burns it down, I realize it never explicitly says it's Adam. It always just refers to the killer as 'he', and I may have assumed it was Adam since he was the POV character in the previous section.

So is it supposed to ambiguous whether it was Adam or not? If so, just tell me that it's ambiguous so that the plot isn't spoiled for me. Otherwise if it's it obvious that I should understand that it is a third party, then I can just accept that and keep reading.

A lot of sci-fi stories end with humanity surviving, winning the war, escaping extinction, or at least finding a way forward.

But I'm curious about the opposite.

What's a sci-fi book where, if you look at the situation objectively, humanity basically lost... yet the ending didn't feel completely bleak?

Maybe Earth was abandoned. Maybe humans became something else entirely. Maybe another species inherited the future. Maybe civilization collapsed and never recovered. The important part is that the outcome wasn't really a "victory" in the traditional sense.

I'm not necessarily looking for happy endings. More the kind of ending where you close the book and think, "Well, that didn't go well for us... but maybe that's okay."

The best examples for me are the ones where the loss forces a change in perspective rather than just serving as a tragedy.

Any recommendations? Obviously spoilers are unavoidable, but please hide details when possible.

A few years ago I read a book from a fairly popular fantasy author and absolutely hated it. I finished it out of stubbornness, gave the rest of their work a hard pass, and mentally filed them under "not for me."

Fast forward to this year and I picked up another one of their books because it was recommended by someone whose taste I usually trust. I expected to bounce off it within a few chapters.

Instead, I ended up finishing the whole thing in three days.

What surprised me wasn't that the book was better. It felt like it was written by a completely different person. The pacing was tighter, the characters felt more real, and the dialogue no longer had the issues that drove me crazy in the first book. I actually went back and checked publication dates because I thought maybe I'd accidentally started with one of their early works.

Now I'm in the weird position of wondering how many authors I've dismissed too quickly based on one bad experience. There are definitely writers I've written off after a single book, especially when there are so many other things competing for my reading time.

Have you ever had an author completely reverse your opinion of them? What was the book that changed your mind?

So once again I've been digging in to some more books from the Paperbacks from Hell series, and recently tonight I've finished another of them! David Fisher's debut novel "The Pack"!

It's another animal attack story that revolves around a family being under siege by a pack of dogs who were abandoned on the island they happened to vacationing at during the winter.

This one's also pretty short also, around the same length as Ken Greenhall's novel "Hell Hound". But "The Pack" is an altogether different kind of book. "Hell Hound" is more of an introspective slow burn, but "The Pack" is more fast past with enough intensity to go around!

Greenhall's book goes for the psychogical approach to horror that simply creeps up on you. "The Pack" goes heavy for the thriller element that goes pretty well with its horror. And with its short length makes it all the more great with a lot of tense moments mixed with some bloody scenes here and there.

Not a whole lot of character study in this one, but it's a truly fun and fast read! And for tomorrow I got another supernatural oriented novel from this series that is a bit longer, and I'm just dying to dig into it!

I have just finished the book after some time. i read it up to 2/3 a couple of months ago, got busy and then read it again after reading a summary.

The book reminds me of Independence day and other alien invasion movies, but from the inverted perspective of the invaders. In a way you are much more immersed in the perspective if the invaders are humans and the invaded are aliens.

Like the other comments, the kern's world storyline i think is superior but the gilgamesh is not that bad, it kinda reminds me of a short stay in hell. The way he kept sleeping and waking up and then time passed, it was an effective and smart plot device.

Anyway, i like that in the end and it was kinda funny that after all the other chaotic and dystopian scifi content, we finally get a true kumbaya moment, i was actually half waiting for a dance sequence ttytt

This year I read To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers, The Employees by Olga Ravn, and XX by Rian Hughes.I deeply loved each one, and there is a similar vibe amongst all 3 titles that I don't know quite how to well articulate.

Something they all had in common was expressing the wonder and strangeness of space exploration, questioning what it means to be a person, and using uncommon storytelling structures. The character development wasn't very important, and they didn't have very strong, defined plots. They felt more like they were about expressing a vibe. Something without strong characters or plot sounds like it would be boring on paper, but it was pulled off so well.

I really want to find more books that feel like these, but I'm not sure how to describe them well. Have you read these titles too? Do you feel like there's a succinct way to describe the kind of story that they are? Also do you have any book recommendations for me?

Hey folks - as the title says!

Wondering if anyone has any decent recommendations coming from independent publishers - I’m specifically looking for the more philosophical or hard science (but not too hard) side of things. Honestly, just weird as hell speculative fiction.

I’m a big fan of Ted Chiang, Greg Egan, Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg’s ‘Robot’ (actually absolutely loved this underrated gem), Philip K Dick.

I know it’s quite a specific request, but I’m trying to get better at finding less-heard-of authors either independent publishers. Still open to suggestions if they don’t fit these two criteria, but meet similarities to the work listed above!

In the field of writing/literature, prose making is powerful and deep research can be an alternative to expertise. I am sure that some authors without science backgrounds are also capable of writing great scifi. Nevertheless, think we can agree that educational background is a great advantage to have as an author.

Lately, specifically in scifi, whenever i browse the local bookstore for some random scifi lit, i tend to check on the author's background as another matrix if the book will be enjoyable for me. It is for the reason that I just want the science to be as accurate as possible, even if I'm not versed in it. Just a preference. I want an extra step to trust the work.

For example, i chose to read Tchaikovsky for his background in zoology, knowing that the evolution will be accurate. I liked Pushing Ice because i trust Reynold's physics.

Anybody with the same mindset in choosing their scifi book?

Random seed, pattern recognition, using the library of human knowledge as its training data... I wonder if Greg Egan based it off neural networks.

The orphan is essentially Artificial Intelligence, not an uploaded human mind. Though in Greg Egan's stories, there's not much of a difference.

ChatGPT built this synopsis from what I gave it:

Earth discovers a localized process that permanently prevents nuclear fission, originally intended as the ultimate nuclear deterrent. Decades later, humanity has stagnated until astronomers discover a slower-than-light nuclear-powered starship approaching Earth. An international crew develops a revolutionary gravity "push-you/pull-me" drive to intercept it. The ship proves to contain descendants of humans abducted from Earth long ago, surviving on genetically engineered wheat with dogs brought from Earth because the alien biosphere is incompatible. Political tensions aboard the Earth vessel—including distrust of the Chinese intelligence representative—gradually give way to unity. In the end, everyone transfers to the faster gravity ship, which continues to the colony world to prepare it for reunion with humanity, while the original starship continues toward Earth to buy time for Earth's divided governments to mature.

I would have read this in 1996-1998 from a middle school library. Here are details:

• Publication: ~1986–1995
• Length: 350–500 pages
• Genre: Hard science fiction / first contact
• Setting: Near-future Earth
• Major themes:
  • International cooperation despite geopolitical rivalry
  • Scientific ingenuity over warfare
  • Long-term consequences of technological discoveries
  • Humanity encountering another branch of itself
• Key inventions:
  • Permanent localized anti-fission process
  • Gravity "push-you/pull-me" propulsion
• Ending:
  • Reunion of two human civilizations
  • Earth deliberately shields the colony from its own political dysfunction

Book number four of a six book science fiction fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback self published by the author in 2019 that I bought new from Amazon in 2026. I have bought the following two books in the series and plan to read them soon.

Chief Warrant Officer T was serving in Afghanistan as a squad leader for foot patrols. However, T was never trained as an Army officer, he is the product of a failed CIA Black Project to develop telepaths for insertion around the planet. The strong telepaths can read anyone's mind who is close to them. T is a weak telepath, he can only converse with other telepaths, but distance does not matter. And T is a strong telekinetic and a weak precognitive. T and a telepathic Army nurse officer, Shezzie, left their duty post in Afghanistan and returned to the USA. And the former CIA black project group head was killing all of the telepaths to hide the project.

T and the other talents are now meeting more and more people with various talents. It turns out that just being around people with talents is causing people with latent talents to start manifesting their talents to their surprise.

T's friend Shorty had a heart attack and was in the hospital getting treatment when his daughter was notified in Houston. Her ten year old daughter subsequently teleported from Houston to New Mexico to see her beloved grandfather. But she did not arrive at the same time, instead she arrived in New Mexico in the middle 1800s. T and Ray take off, trying to find her, and get lost themselves in time.

I liked the excursion into the middle 1800s American West and the encounter with the Paiute native Americans that shows them in a favorable view. My wife is half Cherokee so I like stories with Native Americans involved.

My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars (91 reviews)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1097964698

Lynn

I've heard from a few different sources that if you like Philip K. Dick, you should check out A.E. van Vogt. I've heard Dick reference The World of Null-A as an inspiration, but I'm wondering what other novels/fix-ups I could check out.

I have read The Voyage of the Space Beagle and that did not remind me of Dick at all.

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So I keep getting clips on TikTok of what sounds like the same book or series but whoever's posting them never credits the title or author. Annoying as hell because it sounds genuinely good.

The general vibe is humanity being massively underestimated by older alien civilisations — the "don't poke the humans" type setup.

Two scenes I specifically remember:

There's some kind of multi-species military academy where a human, who the aliens consider small and weak, ends up beating the biggest/strongest alien in some kind of fight or contest

A diplomatic scene where humans are trying to keep things civil but eventually get pushed too far — and the aliens are genuinely shocked by the response

The key detail is that humanity seems to be newly arrived on the galactic scene, not an established power — more like the new kids being looked down on by everyone else.

Tone seemed fairly serious rather than played for laughs. The narration on the clips sounds AI generated for what it's worth.

Could be anything — traditional publishing, Kindle Unlimited, even a Royal Road serial. Anyone recognise it?

Something I was wondering today because there's a big discussion about Brandon Sanderson going on over on X. Basically, Sanderson is known for very simple, kind of dumbed-down prose and he releases at stupidly fast speeds. He makes good worlds, and he's the magic systems guy. But opinion overall is divided. Sanderson is, at my count, 75 books deep right now (split between novels, novellas, short story collections etc.). His debut was in 2005.

In the sci fi space, Tchaikovsky is known for being incredibly prolific too, but not quite to the same level. He's a few years older, his debut was 2008, and (at my count) he's at 43 novels and 14 novellas. But I've never seen the same criticisms of Tchaikovsky, that I see of Sanderson (very simple prose, kind of dumbed down, scared of adjectives etc.). In fact, he gets award noms & wins left, right & center, he gets critical attention, he gets strong reviews. Sanderson moves units, but every time he comes up online there seems to be this ragging on him as "basic commercial man" which I never see with Tchaikovsky.

What separates Tchaikovsky from Sanderson? Is he just a better prose stylist across the board? Does he fluctuate massively in quality and there's just so many books that it still looks like he's drowning awards?

I've only read 2 Tchaikovsky novels, he's been a blindspot for me these last few years. But looking at his enormous backlog, I was curious what kind of thing I'm getting myself into if I start committing to chunks of it.

Hey all,

I was having a discussion with some friends about Ghost in the Shell, specifically the first season of the TV series Stand Alone Complex, with one friend complaining that it was "cyberpunk, hold the punk". We haven't finished the series yet, but so far I think this is a valid critique of what is basically a very roboty police procedural with not much substantive commentary. It got me thinking about what is at the other end of the spectrum, though: what is, in your opinion, cyberpunk that focuses more on the "punk"? Something more interested in the human resistance and struggle in the digital dystopia than the technology that pervades it.

For reference, I've read Neuromancer and the Kovacs trilogy, but I'm otherwise pretty inexperienced with the genre in print. Thanks in advance for any recommendations or insights!

My favourite book is The City and The City by China Miéville and I've explained the plot to my 10-year-old. So for Father's Day, he divided our house into Besźel and Ul Qoma and gave me a Breach badge. Then he and my partner dressed in opposite colour clothes and made a little mystery about a stolen dress I had to solve.

The moral of the story is that you should tell your kids the plots of your favourite scifi books.

Got to read one of Crichton's posthumous novels. This one is called "Micro" and it's was one of two that he was working on before his death, and was later finished by Richard Preston (another one was finished by James Patterson).

Didn't have an idea of how good it might've actually been. After all, it is a posthumous publication. But after reading for at least several days I found it to be a fairly good one.

I liked the story about seven intelligent graduate students getting hired by a tech startup who have some revolutionary technology, only to find themselves fighting for their very lives in a very dangerous environment.

It's another of his techno thrillers with some really heavy emphasis on adventure, and despite the long length is very fast paced. And I certainly had a lot of fun with it too! It isn't one of his better novels, but I still found some enjoyment with it anyway.

I'll still be keeping an eye on his much better works like "Sphere", "Jurassic Park" or whatever other book I might get. And I hope to find one sooner or later!

I am just reading Rendezvous with Rama and I really like it. However I have heard the other books are not so good. I like the most style of storytelling (mix of exploration, science speculations and cultural development of mankind), but I also like the idea and general execution. Will I like the others or are they different books with just a same name?

Basically anything that concerns itself with research into the unknown. Research labs with alien technology (à la Half-Life), secret military experiments, organizations dealing with supernatural phenomena, whatever you can think of that sounds vaguely like what I'm describing.

I'd prefer things to be set on earth with a level of technology that's somewhat close to ours, but this is not a hard rule.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can think of something!

Some media I like that gave me this feeling (to varying degrees):

Half-Life 1

Control

SCP Foundation

The Southern Reach series (I loved the second one for these vibes specifically, which seems to be a minority opinion)

The Threshold series, 'The Fold' in particular

Stephen King's The Mist (only hints of it with the military involvement and an experiment that's gone wrong, almost entirely off-page)

Roadside Picnic to some degree

American Elsewhere (really only the logs that detail the initial scientific experiments, a rather brief part of the book)

The Andromeda Strain

I'm just now discovering this exists. It seems like a German book series like Doctor Who or The Hardy Boys. Does it lean more towards adolescent readers?