Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations

Re:Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations by geoah on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @06:42AM (#18501928)

Recently is a very relevant term, and honestly I'm not sure it matters much as.

I'll answer mostly to the "thought provoking part" of your question.

* Egan, Greg - Permutation City, Diaspora, and basically everything

* Liu, Cixin - The Three Body Problem (trilogy)

* Rajaniemi, Hannu - Jean le Flambeur (trilogy)

* Watts, Peter - Firefall (series)

* Chiang, Ted - The Lifecycle of Software Objects

* Liu, Cixin - The Wandering Earth (short stories)

I know quite a few people in love with Neal Stephenson, but I can't really muster his style. Check out Cryptonomicon and The Diamond Age.

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Re:Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations by awild on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @10:22AM (#18503306)

Thanks for those recommendations, I am just coming off of a Egan, then Cixin Liu binge, have been reading a lot of German literature instead, but I've not read Permutation City yet and I've not heard of the other authors before.

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Re:Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations by grafoo on Thursday November 22, 2018 @03:28PM (#18512325)

i'm really interested what german sci-fi you came across.

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Re:Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations by patricklouys on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @07:47AM (#18502245)

I liked the beginning of the Three Body Problem, but it got really weird towards the end of the first book. I had already ordered the next 2 books but couldn't motivate myself to keep going. Does it get better?

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Re:Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations by awild on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @10:18AM (#18503279)

I read all three and found the first one to be the best. Thinking about it now I think I had the same feeling going into the second half of the first book, it changes tone and setting completely. I initially thought it was doing something like magic realism but explaining it by being a game. The second and third book are much more sociological explorations of humans facing a literal cosmic perspective. I found them alright but I wouldn't recommend it. His short stories are much better.

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Re:Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations by swanson on Wednesday November 21, 2018 @09:46PM (#18507586)

I liked Book 2 the most, less flashbacks to the past and less emphasis on the Chinese culture/themes. I'd give Book 2 a shot and see if that rekindles the motivation.

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