Looking for something new to read after The Expanse

Any fiction suggestions for a somewhat picky reader? The Expanse lasted me a long while but I’m finishing up the novellas now and need to start looking for something new. Not necessarily in the same genre.

I don’t have a lot of books under my belt as an adult, but some of my favorites have been Stoner by John Williams, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, East of Eden, Catch 22, Flowers for Algernon, and Harry Potter. Kind of all over the place I guess. 😅

I’ve also enjoyed John Williams’ other novels, Piranesi, The Things They Carried, House of Leaves, and Ender’s Game and the sequel.

Some books I didn’t really care for include Hitchhiker’s Guide (although I loved the first half), Lolita, Sharp Objects, Turtles All the Way Down, The Stand, The Road, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451.

I’m always overwhelmed trying to find something new, so thanks for any suggestions!

EDIT: Thank you all! It’ll be a bit daunting exploring all these new books but not nearly as daunting as if I had no guidance, so I really appreciate it!

Pounddc1,

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Pounddc1,

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rustydrd, (edited )
@rustydrd@sh.itjust.works avatar

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, if you want another addition to the Sci-Fi theme.

Can also second some books others have mentioned, like Dune (one of my all-time favorites) and Three Body Problem (for a recent one I liked, although it was a bit “rough” in terms of style and storytelling).

calculuschild,

For sci-fi, one I haven’t seen mentioned here yet is Red Rising.

Kind of an Enders Game meets Hunger Games in the first book, but quickly expands into a solar-system wide war with lots of intrigue, star-wars-like tech, and amazing characters.

mayotte2048, (edited )

If you’re looking for something longer, try Brandon Sanderson’s cosmere (start with either Mistborn or Stormlight Archives.)

Or perhaps Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files (hard-boiled detective who also happens to be a wizard.)

Some other ideas:

Murderbot Diaries, The Locked Tomb, Assasin’s Apprentice, Broken Earth, Kings of the Wyld.

Bebo,

I would suggest The Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds. One of my favourite scifi series. Others include the Hyperion series and the Dune series. I would also like to mention a series which is not that well-known but I enjoyed it: the suneater series.

GnomeKat,
@GnomeKat@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

This list is just in the order that I thought of them, not in the order I think is best quality wise.

  • The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
  • The Naked Sun - Isaac Asimov
  • The Robots of Dawn - Isaac Asimov

All pretty great robot detective novels. Lots of pondering on Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics and how they would play out. Pretty good.

  • I, Robot - Isaac Asimov

Also pretty good, anthology of short robot stories. Similar kinda vibe as the above 3.

  • Foundation - Isaac Asimov
  • Foundation and Empire - Isaac Asimov
  • Second Foundation - Isaac Asimov
  • Foundation’s Edge - Isaac Asimov
  • Foundation and Earth - Isaac Asimov

What if math could predict the future of civilization. The first 3 are the best… sorta loses the thread a bit in the last 2. Overall pretty good. Mostly doesn’t have any robots like the other Asimov books I listed.

  • Ringworld - Larry Niven

A giant ring shaped megastructure around a star, lets go explore. Only the first is any good, some low key sexism in it but bearable. Past the first the sexism ramps up. Nivin like a lot of male sci-fi authors doesn’t know how to write women.

  • The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells

A half robot half human security robot hacks its own systems. Very good, my interpretation of the series is its an allegory for the autistic experience. Also Martha Wells can write women so that’s always a big plus.

  • The Three-Body Problem - Liu Cixin
  • The Dark Forest - Liu Cixin
  • Death’s End - Liu Cixin

I see the 3 body problem series recommended a lot in this thread but it has a lot of overt sexism baked into the plot so don’t really recommend. Lots of fun sci-fi concepts tho, gets into some pretty surreal concepts that border on mathematical physics.

  • Ender’s Game - Orson Scott Card

Probably already seen the movie, its pretty much the same. The book is pretty good but the author himself kinda sucks, bigtime homophobe. The follow up books are nowhere near as good as the first.

  • The Found and the Lost - Ursula K. Le Guin

Every novella by Ursula K. Le Guin. Some of them are not scifi but most of them are, and the ones that are not are still great. I am currently working though this one now. She has a big anthropologist/feminist slant to her writing so highly recommend. Feels very modern when compared to the other sci-fi that was coming out around the same time. I plan on reading her other longer novels after this but I have not gotten there yet.

  • Dune - Frank Herbert

Pretty good sci-fi. Has a bit of a “white boy goes and lives with the natives and becomes their savior” vibe that kinda feels a little off to me but I think Herbert had good intentions. It’s an allegory for the middle east and oil extraction. Overall worth a read just to check it off the list.

  • The Captain - Will Wight
  • The Engineer - Will Wight

The Last Horizon Series, wizards in the future in space. Pretty much feels like a dnd campaign where every one is already lv20. Sci-fi+Magic. It’s not really very deep but its a fun nonetheless.

  • The Martian - Andy Weir
  • Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

Hard science fiction. If you like competency porn or engineering/science then these are for you. Very nerdy stuff.

  • We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - Dennis E. Taylor
  • For We Are Many - Dennis E. Taylor
  • All These Worlds - Dennis E. Taylor
  • Heaven’s River - Dennis E. Taylor

The writing itself is kinda meh but the stories are fun. The kinda stuff an engineer daydreams about, like von neumann probes and mind uploading and stuff like that. Over all fun series but not very deep.

Sharpiemarker,

Lol I like your suggestions and I appreciate all the caveats about authors not knowing how to write women and being low key homophobes or sexist. Too bad there aren’t equally good authors without the BS.

GorGor,

Dune is one of my favorite books. Herbert is clear on this, Paul is exploiting the fremen. The Bene Geserat planted the savior myth. Their goals align, mostly, but he can’t really control them, just aim them and pull the trigger.

Also three body problem series is a slog. Character development is not great. He pulls the plug on the main baddie too early and installs a characature of america bad at the end. Second book has one idea.

Nomad,

If you enjoyed the mystery part of the expanse I recommend Beacon 23.

MartinXYZ,

I’ve started reading The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks. It’s space opera on a much larger scale than The Expanse, but I’m thoroughly entertained .

ebc,

Neal Stephenson has a few good SF books (seveneves comes to mind) and some good alt history (cryptonomicon).

I just finished re-reading the three body problem series and it’s still good too.

Vendetta9076,
@Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works avatar

Man I’m almost done book 8 of the expanse and I don’t want it to end! Its so damn good though.

If you didn’t like the road you probably won’t like Blood Meridian but I think its phenomenal. Bloodlines by CZ Dunn is 40k bladerunner and its stellar. Neuromancer is another stellar cyberpunk book. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is actually really good as well, although I’ve only read the first one.

murmelade,

This thread makes me wonder why printSF isn’t more active on Lemmy. One of the few subs I still visit reddit for.

astreus,

I’m on book 6 of the Expanse and love it! My suggestions:

The Culture series - Iain M Banks. Space opera that gave us luxury gay space communism. You can pick up any book as a starting point - they’re set in the same universe spanning millennia and have very little interconnection. Explores themes of humanity in an AI world (choice, war, deceit, love, etc)

Revelation Space series - Alastair Reynolds. Closest in terms of style and sweeping scope to The Expanse. Same dry humour that can get a bit much at times.

Three Body Problem trilogy - Liu Cixin. Leans a lot heavier into the Science of sci-fi and can be very dense, but one of my favourite trilogies. What happens when you finally get a signal back from space?

Monk & Robot series (novellas) - Becky Chambers. Pure hope punk and absolutely delightful (without any of the incredibly distateful and harmful tropes found in Midnight Library). There are only two out so far, and you’ll be able to read them in a day. Of all of the recommendations I’ve listed, I implore you to read this one.

Vaginal_blood_fart,

Id recommend anything by Becky chambers. I just adore her writings.

GayCosmicHorror,

Also recommend Three body problem, the dark forest, and death’s end by Cixin Liu. It’s the only kind of sci fi i want anymore. But the expanse show was interesting so i’ve wanted to read the expanse books as well. Cixin Liu’s trilogy was amazing, it’s the only book i’ve read where science is terrifying and every single theory they bring up makes all of my bodie’s hairs stand on end constantly as i realize terrifying implications of information that previously seemed innocuous. I LOVED the books soo much, and i was very happy to for the first time, read a book that is based in chinese culture, since i had no experience or knowledge really of chinese culture, and i very much enjoy exploring new things, it was one of my favorite parts. Also the other part is i am a huge fan of lovecraftian stories. And this feels like a new, modern take on lovecraft. A take on it that is more realistic to the reality we live in, but at the same time, Cixin Liu seems to not be afraid to delve deep into the fiction aspects of science fiction just to pull out ideas that while not exactly true in real life, work as really good metaphors for similar ideas like our lack of understanding in science, which the new James-webb telescope is already providing many new questions about humanities understandings of the cosmos.

i would give it 3 out of 3 stars if one was not hit by a near light speed object. (if you’ve read the trilogy you’ll probably understand this reference.)

w3dd1e,

You like many of the same books that I like. Try the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. I just read it recently and now it’s one of my favorites.

qualifier982,

I’ll check it out, thanks!

cymor,

Dune hasn’t been mentioned.

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series are fun. Use a guide to find which series sounds interesting.

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