Science fiction books that you feel are way above average

[K. A. Pital]

I honestly got so damn short on time that I can't even bring myself to read "New Science Fiction Bestsellers" of the year, because I know 9 out of 10 will be crap - stupid action books or worse yet, stupid action books spoiled by the author's lack of writing skills.

This has forced me to become very fucking selective, and since I rarely enjoy any other genres outside science fiction and fantasy (well, except of course popular science books) - I'm basically forced to scavenge through various awards and the like and watch through lists of books; however, awards often get (in my view) misplaced; a book might get an award for masterful use of language, but be simplistic and even dumb plot-wise; and the reverse is also possible, a wonderful plot that would do wonders in the hands of a master, but fails completely in the hands of a mumbling illiterate moron who only got published thanks to the editor. Others have spared attention to detail, which also is a recipe for crap - even their "universes" get boring.

Props to Death who pointed me to China Mieville, but even such mastery of plotmaking and elaborate use of language cannot last forever. The books are done. Lem, Strugatskies, Clark, Philip Kindred Dick, et cetera are all re-read and read once more and despite me still being at awe with Solaris, I am eager for something new and good. Most of those books are more than science fiction; they talk about real social problems in an uncanny way, and this way get their impact. Many are heavy on politics, which also singles them out from stupid "technotrillers" which flooded the shops.

And by a book being good, I don't mean a book you just found "fine" as a sci-fi novel or good action or adventure story. I mean something that touched you and you thought that book is a real must read.

So here, you can not only name a book you think is above average sci-fi and even rises to the "great" category, but also explain your reasons. Preferrably new books - I think everyone knows that Philip Kindred Dick's books stay out of the line with their elaborate mindfucking plots and emotional impact they make, and same goes for a few other classics.

(Fixed your Typo.. it's SCIENCE, not Sience -- LadyT)

[Bakustra]

Have you read Zelazny's Lord of Light?

I would consider it one of the classics of science fiction, and definitely on par with Solaris. The book is about the downfall of an oppressive social order on a far-future colony world. The rulers of the world have adopted Hinduism as the inspiration for the religion they use to ensure the common people remain technologically backward. One member of their group discovers the full extent of their oppression after a long period out of contact, and resolves to bring them down. Waiting in the shadows, however, is a potentially more repressive and destructive force. You can see the book as a three-way competition between traditional religious strictures, secularism, and missionary faiths. It also serves as a retelling of the rise of Buddhism, and the book's structure itself reflects that. The book's primary focus is on its characters, all of whom are flawed in a variety of ways, leading to a surprising conclusion to the book. However, the book does feature a lot of action, which may put you off somewhat.

[adam_grif]

I don't think I've ever read a book I considered to be a "must read", but I am currently enjoying the Revelation Space series quite a bit. Especially in the first book, there are some problems with pacing (i.e. you have to push yourself to get past the first few chapters), but if you stick with it, it starts getting really good. I don't know what the consensus around these parts is about the series.

The science and consequences of it are explored more than a typical book, but some of the characters are weaker. If you are all about political commentary, you won't really find that here.

[Shroom Man 777]

Honestly the only book that really struck me on a deep, more than simple entertainment level, was probably 1984.

[Companion Cube]

I would recommend River of Gods by Ian McDonald. If you go by wikipedia it's apparently a "postcyberpunk" (e.g. Ghost in the Shell) story. It's set in the near future, in the Indian state of Bharat. This country, which is centred around Varanasi and has an Indira Gandhi-alike Prime Minister, is about to get into a water-war with the neighbouring state of Awadh. The story flicks between nine characters, mostly Indian, as they go about their ordinary lives (which may be more or less unusual) and then get caught up in political turmoil. I don't know if I'd describe the story as character-driven; most of their arcs get wrapped up quite abruptly and there's at least one character revelation involving anime that may have been unintentionally funny. To a large extent it's not the human characters who are really driving the plot, which is sort of the point, so I don't hold it against the book. In fact there's an underlying theme about how many of their lives are like a soap opera and that's related to an important plot point.* I like how the story treats AIs, and how some of the more influential ones effectively incorporate humans and human organisations into themselves.

A possible downside: I've never been to India and so I don't know how authentic the future India in the book is. If his depiction is off, that could be regarded as quite exploitative and annoying.

Finally, let me tick some boxes: Yes it has politics, yes it has interesting use of language (you might occasionally need the glossary at the back), yes there's some action but it's mostly of a pretty detached sort.

*No, they aren't all trapped inside a TV show

[Eviscerator]

Honestly the only book that really struck me on a deep, more than simple entertainment level, was probably 1984.

Correct me if im wrong, but i've always thought the song later sung by the prole " it was only an hopeless fancy, it passed like an april day, but a look and a word and the dreams they stirred. They have stolen my heart away!" Is obliquely referring to Winston, as the opening words of 1984 are "It was a bright cold day in April"

When i got older and read it again, i wondered if there isnt some ingredient added to the Victory Gin because Winston is suddenly hungry after drinking it and wondererd also if the pinkish-gray stew with "cubes of spongy pinkish stuff which was probably an preparation of meat" isnt actually in fact human cerebral matter

[Nephtys]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of my favorite examples of what sci-fi is. It's still a story about the human condition, but happens to be a well-told epic about revolution, that could easily have been placed in another time period, but the details and way things unfold are unique to it's setting and personalities. The characters are a slight bit dry, but that's standard for Heinlein. I don't think it detracts much from the fact that it's well told. It questions first what brings people around a cause, how great things in history happen often because of a few random people, as well as questioning what is being alive, with the Mycroft Holmes character. It questions what the value of individual liberty is against the need for government. It then finally questions what is a worthy price for freedom, and how such things can turn in on themselves given only a little time.

It's full of libertarian space fantasy mind you, but it could be viewed as a critique of 'authority' period, instead of specific government authority.

[Hawkwings]

If short stories are your thing, I recently got "The Best of the Best, 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction", which is edited by the same person who does yearly "best sci-fi short stories" collections. I haven't gotten very far into it yet, but it's got an impressive pedigree behind it and what I've read so far has been above average at the very least.

[Starglider]

Schild's Ladder, by Greg Egan. Mind expanding like Permutation City or Diaspora, but a tighter plot and better characterisation than those earlier works. I particularly like it for the way all the transhumanist technology is treated as an unremarkable, everyday experience; there are a handful of neo-luddite characters and they look appropriately pathetic and shortsighted.

[Tasoth]

Stand On Zanzibar. Forgot the author, and I read it because Valdemar posted an excerpt from the book about the use of monowire as a weapon. It's actually light on the fighting but huge on well done political commentary dealing with over crowding and drug use (Whether chemical or digital) to hide from humanity.

[Ford Prefect]

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks is one of the finest novels ever written. It is a novel about one man's personal damage, and I think it's a raw and personal journey through the protagonist's rather checkered life. It's a pretty difficult book with an unusual narrative structure which really builds the character arc to a pretty stunning climax; perhaps a weakness is that the main thrust of the plot is secondary to the main character's progression. Despite this somewhat perfuntory plot I find it hard to think of a book which is better than Use of Weapons. Though admittedly it's not exactly new.

[Kingmaker]

The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson. While I'll admit to being a rabid Stephenson fanboy, I found this by far his most interesting work. While it is not as outright entertaining as Snow Crash, this is more a result of a more serious tone than any failures of writing. The focus is on cultural interactions and how the world's cultures reacted to the technologically-induced collapse of the conventional state.

[Shroom Man 777]

Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It's old, it's pretty devoid of any action at all, and the characters aren't exactly characterful, but I like the nifty way it tells the story of a tiny little world-state that gets isolated when the Galactic Empire collapses, and how they manage to wriggle through amidst the fracturing barbarian nations that start sprouting in their damn fringe worlds at the edge of known space. The plot is fairly simple, yet I found it rather interesting. It wasn't super-duper-holy-shit-woah awesome, but it was very understatedly nifty and made for a good read that made me think (which is a rare and dangerous thing!).

[Gerald Tarrant]

I'd have to recommend either The Mote in God's Eye or Footfall. Both by Niven and Pournelle. The thing that sets them apart for me is that they both have very alien aliens. In footfall, the Fifthp, the species in question has 8 grasping digits, so they use a base 8 counting system. It's a great little touch. They have other instances where their biology impacts their thinking on the whole I'd say it's a well fleshed out alien race. The Moties may be my favorite alien race in fiction, unfortunately any details about them might spoil The Mote in God's Eye for you, but I just think their whole culture and biology is well crafted, and the unveiling of those details is a lot of fun. And for me, it is a "special" science fiction book because of the detail on the biology of the aliens.

[Eleas]

I must second both Lord of Light and Use of Weapons. Aside from Banks, other good recent authors include Greg Egan (or at least the short story collection Luminous, which was great fun). Jack Vance has written a ton of stuff, and while the man was excellent as a writer, a lot of the stuff he more or less phoned in, so to speak. I've never found Asimov or Philip K Dick to be thought-provoking in the least, nor the lion's share of what Gordon R Dickson made. Fred Saberhagen has tried his hand at writing sci-fi as well, and it's filling enough - The Mask of the Sun wasn't bad.

Heinlein can be really good, as long as you shut off your brain and ignore the fact that he loves throwing out "profound" blanket statements on reality unsupported by reality. Otherwise, Poul Anderson is a solid go-to guy. Whatever I've read by Ray Bradbury I can't recall, but I think I liked it.

Sadly, I fear I've forgotten most of the greats. I mostly remember the ones that really aren't worth it, like AE Van Vogt, some of Andre Norton's stinkers. I also recall being unable to finish Gene Wolfe's series of the Urth of the New Sun, despite loving his command of the language, because I felt the plot was threadbare and haphazard.

[Bakustra]

I would also like to recommend Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. It's a police procedural set in a society where a number of telepaths exist. It revolves around one character's attempt to commit and get away with the first murder in 300 years, and the police's attempt to prove his guilt. It's eerily prophetic in places, psychologically focused throughout, and depends almost totally upon character traits. It is not without its flaws, however; as a mystery it hides the clues to the central revelations from the reader very well, such that they are nigh-impossible to determine before they are revealed. It's also very fifties sci-fi chic, with a magic computer and settlements on Venus, if that annoys you.

[aieeegrunt]

I'll second the nomination for both Footfall and the Mote books, it's nice to see aliens that are actually alien. Footfall is also the only "aliens come to conquor earth, only to be defeated by plucky man" story or book I've encountered that was remotely plausible. No technobabble, no alien chicks falling in love with the rugged leading man and betraying their people, no deux ex machinas etc.

I also liked in Footfall that with the exception of the ramjet the aliens used to get to earth from Alpha Centauri it at least appeared to be pretty well grounded in real world science. No energy shields, FTL drives, teleporters. It also had the occasional cultural shock humour in it; like the aliens discovering and then trying to reason out the purpose behind porn when their own reproduction is largely instinctual.

[Imperial Overlord]

Footfall relies on radically new and totally untested human space weapons working perfectly and kicking the aliens' ass the first time they're used. It was a huge deal breaker for me.

[darth_timon]

They're not exactly new, but the Honor Harrington books by David Weber are newish and contain a good balance of action, intrigue, personal anguish and political turmoil. In particular, the way politics can have a unwelcome effect on the military, even down to the individual level, when all you would rather do is do your duty.

[Axiomatic]

They're not exactly new, but the Honor Harrington books by David Weber are newish and contain a good balance of action, intrigue, personal anguish and political turmoil. In particular, the way politics can have a unwelcome effect on the military, even down to the individual level, when all you would rather do is do your duty.

The books are the most typical, average examples of military science fiction in existence. Soldiers are gods, civilians are cowards, the heroine is perfect at EVERYTHING (except doing hyperspatial math, and even that doesn't matter because she just knows the answer instinctively).

They're okay if you'll just read the first or maybe a few more, but after that, the endless "MY GOD, WE'LL SHOOT A BILLION TORPEDOES! TACTICAL GENIUS!!" gets a bit boring.

[Soontir C'boath]

They're not exactly new, but the Honor Harrington books by David Weber are newish and contain a good balance of action, intrigue, personal anguish and political turmoil. In particular, the way politics can have a unwelcome effect on the military, even down to the individual level, when all you would rather do is do your duty.

The books are the most typical, average examples of military science fiction in existence. Soldiers are gods, civilians are cowards, the heroine is perfect at EVERYTHING (except doing hyperspatial math, and even that doesn't matter because she just knows the answer instinctively).

They're okay if you'll just read the first or maybe a few more, but after that, the endless "MY GOD, WE'LL SHOOT A BILLION TORPEDOES! TACTICAL GENIUS!!" gets a bit boring.

Weber also has a habit of skipping the conclusion of battles and straight to sick bay or where ever he takes it next. The first time it occurred, I didn't mind, but after four books, hell no.

[Eleas]

I've yet to see Baen rise above the production of right-wing by-the-numbers pap. Some of their best authors are able to compensate in various ways to produce tolerable or even entertaining books, which is certainly no mean feat; that does not necessarily mean what they write is revolutionary.

[Batman]

Um-Baen published a good bit of Heinlein. The early NOT creepy Heinlein.

[Bakustra]

Um-Baen published a good bit of Heinlein. The early NOT creepy Heinlein.

Republished, you mean. Baen was founded well after Heinlein entered his "suck" phase, in 1983.

I've yet to see Baen rise above the production of right-wing by-the-numbers pap. Some of their best authors are able to compensate in various ways to produce tolerable or even entertaining books, which is certainly no mean feat; that does not necessarily mean what they write is revolutionary.

I must admit to a certain weakness for David Drake's work, although primarily his earlier sci-fi. His later fantasy just seemed a bit too generic for my tastes. You forgot that they also publish horribly cheesy comedies as well.

[SilverWingedSeraph]

I'm inclined to bring up Lois McMasterson Bujold's Vorkosigan series, but as I don't often read sci-fi very often, I don't know if I could say that it is above average. It's certainly some of the best sci-fi that I've read, and the author appears to have won numerous awards, but I don't really know how much they count for. I know that they're often quite entertaining to me, though. It's fairly soft sci-fi, but without a lot of technical details or the like. Falling Free is one of my favourites in the series, despite not featuring Miles Vorkosigan at all, since it's set some 200 years before his birth.

Either way, I'd recommend the series, but if this isn't what some of you consider above-average for sci-fi, please inform me.