Please recommend Meaningful Sci-Fi

[curtw]

I enjoy a good space opera as much as the next human, but I'm getting tired of the same, shallow genre stories. I'm looking for something that will seriously challenge my world view, or give me insight into myself. I'm looking to you all for some good recommendations.

The "classics" certainly don't do that. Dune, Foundation, Rama. Sure, they're complex. But certainly not enlightening.

The most recent example that was held out to me as "groundbreaking" was Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice. What a yawn. Just a gender gimmick, nowhere near as intelligent as Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness.

My favorites, and why?

Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. The narrator's mental instability seems explainable enough, until you realize that

Spoiler:

by abandoning her at the event horizon of a black hole, he didn't just leave his lover to die, he is STILL KILLING HER, every single day

Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban. Aside from the challenge of getting into the language, it truly picks up where books like A Canticle For Leibiwitz leave off--not just supposing that if humanity finds a way to destroy itself once, it will likely do so again, by exposing

Spoiler:

what it is about Man that makes that part of our nature

.

The Fifth Head of Cerberus, by Gene Wolfe. There's a whole other layer to the story, "hidden" in plain sight.

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. Almost 60 years ago, Dick tried to warn us how dangerously close America can be to sliding into fascism. Those who didn't "get it" actually went ahead in 2016 and put a candidate who could demonstrate it into the White House.

(You can safely assume that I've read most of the bibliography of these four authors.)

Some that have touched me because they touch on things that I've daydreamed about myself were Ken Grimwood's Replay and Lewis Shiner's Glimpses.

What have you got?

[RowdyRuff]

A Deepness in the Sky?

[Apache]

Joshua Son of None by Nancy Freedman.

Her book Joshua Son of None (1973) was a political thriller about the clandestine cloning of a young assassinated President (strongly implied to be, although never actually named as, John F. Kennedy).

I remember reading this back in 1973. Not sure if it holds up or is as meaningful now.
I see it is available as an eBook.
Apache

[JSWolf]

I suggest reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/sho..._review_page=1

It follows a small group of characters, and each of their stories is different. What's more, they're all told in a different tone of voice so they're unique.

This is a book I think a lot about even though I read it some time ago. The character that ages backwards, the crazy drugged-up writer with the space-hopping doors, and of course the Shrike. This mysterious creature lurks in the background of the novel, and Simmons does a good job keeping our hair on edge with him.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Apache

Joshua Son of None by Nancy Freedman.

I remember reading this back in 1973. Not sure if it holds up or is as meaningful now.
I see it is available as an eBook.
Apache

I read it in the mid 70s as an admirer of Kennedy and not yet aware of his policy and behavior shortcomings. Even then, I thought it over the top in its idolization.

As to holding up, it was pretty extreme in its assumption that DNA is destiny.

[hildea]

Do you include alternative history in scifi? I just finished Jo Walton's triology starting with "Farthing", in a UK which negotiated a peace with Nazi Germany in 1940, and slides slowly but surely into fascism. Chilling.

Some classics:
Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale"
Karel Čapek's "War With the Newts" (both chilling and hilarious)
and of course George Orwell's "1984"
Octavia Butler's "Kindred" (time travel, so may or may not fit your definition of scifi)
I've also seen a lot of recommendations of Butler's "Parable of the Sower". I started reading it, but I found it too heavy for my mood mid-pandemic.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by hildea

Do you include alternative history in scifi? I just finished Jo Walton's triology starting with "Farthing", in a UK which negotiated a peace with Nazi Germany in 1940, and slides slowly but surely into fascism. Chilling.

Some classics:
Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale"
Octavia Butler's "Kindred" (time travel, so may or may not fit your definition of scifi)

I second these two books. Well worth reading.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I read it in the mid 70s as an admirer of Kennedy and not yet aware of his policy and behavior shortcomings. Even then, I thought it over the top in its idolization.

As to holding up, it was pretty extreme in its assumption that DNA is destiny.

You are correct. I had forgotten about the idolization of Kennedy and at the time did not know about his behavior.
Apache

[curtw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I suggest reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/sho..._review_page=1

I have read that, and it’s sequel. Enjoyed those too. Simmons is very good.

[Pajamaman]

Solaris Stanislas lem
Roadside picnic strugatsky

[svenlind]

I will suggest The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
from Amazon

Highly recommended. The sequals are also good, but not in class with number 1.

The united 'Second Empire of Man' spans vast distances, due to the Alderson Drive which has enabled humans to travel easily between the stars. After an alien probe is discovered, the Navy dispatches two ships to determine whether the aliens pose a threat… Called by Robert A. Heinlein: "Possibly the greatest science fiction novel ever written," this magnificent exploration of first contact and a truly alien society is a "must read" for science fiction fans.

[drofgnal]

I've never thought of the genre, sci fi, to be meaningful. There is certainly very little that I would even put in the category or remotely literary. Maybe 'A Brave New World'. I found this link:
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/31-bes...fiction-books/

A Brave New World is number 2 on that list. Station 11 on the list, which was pretty good. I recently purchased "The Man Who Fell to Earth" on an Amazon Deal of the Day.

Other than a handful, if I want literary quality, I look elsewhere.

[gmw]

When I saw "Meaningful Sci-Fi" in the subject line my first thought was Ted Chiang. Regrettably he has so far only managed two short story collections, but if you want something intellectually intriguing and meaningful these are well worth visiting:

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, 2002
Exhalation by Ted Chiang, 2019


I'm also a big fan the Stephen Donaldson's The Gap series. We're not talking one or two minor character flaws, we're talking a whole cast of characters built out of flaws. And some rather good sci-fi too. The five books (4 ebooks) make up essentially one very big story. The first (short-ish) book can be a struggle, it's really ugly/nasty, integral to the story but difficult to deal with, but get past that and it is truly excellent (all IMHO of course).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

I've never thought of the genre, sci fi, to be meaningful. There is certainly very little that I would even put in the category or remotely literary. Maybe 'A Brave New World'. I found this link:
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/31-bes...fiction-books/

A Brave New World is number 2 on that list. Station 11 on the list, which was pretty good. I recently purchased "The Man Who Fell to Earth" on an Amazon Deal of the Day.

Other than a handful, if I want literary quality, I look elsewhere.

What do you think is of literary quality?

I think science fiction has some very good books that are well written. Have a read of Hyperion for example. Very well written. Here are lots of others that are very well written. Also, another really good book is The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. And not science fiction, but still a literary work The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

So please don't poo-poo other genre's just because you don't like some books.

[Speedy1]

Hi.
Geee, serious Science Fiction? I have been reading it for about 50 years and I only recognized 2 or 3 of the books mentioned.

Among others, I would like to recommend Isaac Asimov, David Weber, Louis McMaster Bujold, David Edding, Sharon Lee, James H. Schmitz and HarryTurtledove.

If you would read some of these authors between the 'serious' reading, you might, all of you, find some relief from all these, oh so serious, books

Regards
Finn