Good hard sci-fi ebooks?

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Just as a side note, if you haven't read "Through Struggle the Stars" yet, it's available here:

http://www.thehumanreach.net/

... and a sequel is on the way for 2013.

Regards,

- Erik

I'm looking forward to that sequel. "Through Struggle the Stars" is the only military sci-fi book that I've read that treats science really seriously. I really liked the space combat scenes.
The writer is both a journalist and have done extensive research for the book.
So he not only generally got science right but also got characters right. It's a rare combination in sci-fi.

And the author is sane enough to notice that paper books are so expensive, mainly because they come with their own reader.
It was the first ebook novel that I bought. I couldn't afford an e-reader back then, so I have simply printed it in a print-shop - IIRC it was because the paper version wasn't available from any European store.

ORIGINAL: martok

Just about anything by Clarke or Asimov would qualify (especially the latter's Robot and Foundation series)

I remember Asimov suddenly being very careful to not mention atomic shields, atomic engines and atomic blasters in his later Foundation novels.


I have found a list of recommended stuff on the Atomic Rocket site:
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/r ... cnovel.php

[Hertston]

My recommendation would be Alistair Reynolds Revelation Space stuff. That is 'hard' sci-fi while, much as I enjoyed some of it, very little listed so far has been. For a single novel, Peter Watts' Blindsight is the best I've read in a while.

[WYBaugh]

This may not fit the bill but The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey have been fantastic reads. They have released 2 or the 3 planned books:

http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-E ... +s+a+corey

[DaBoost]

Haven't yet read the series myself, but I keep hearing only good things about the Ender's game books. Not sure if it's hard sci-fi though.

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: JM230
Haven't yet read the series myself, but I keep hearing only good things about the Ender's game books. Not sure if it's hard sci-fi though.

It isn't, but what it lacks in plausible science is outweighed by some pretty hefty and thought provoking themes. Or at least the first two are; the series got more and more dragged out and, IMHO, boring after that.

I'm fascinated to see what they have done with the movie, as Ender's Game is essentially a story about young kids forced into behaviour, including brutal violence, that real young kids really shouldn't be watching on screen (and I'm usually fairly liberal on such things). I don't really see how they can retain the essential themes while also retaining an audience. It's virtually impossible to publicize a film about children as an older teen/adult flic, yet make a film you could take children to see and you no longer have Ender's Game.

[LoBaron]

Greg Egan by all means. He plays with the physics of the Universe as we know it like a child plays with snowflakes. It is simply
wonderful. I once thought Baxter is the master of grand scale hard SF, but only until I read the first Egan books.

One of the best I have read is "Diaspora".
Was available for €6,49 last time I looked at Amazon Kindle shop...

"Oceanic" is also cool, if you are into short story SF.
You cannot go wrong with him, he is the pope of realistic SF IMHO.


I like Stephen Baxter but he sometmes seems to have difficulties in fluent writing IMHO. He is a great Physician, has a wonderful fantasy,
but is only a mediocre writer. Still read all his books.

Iain Banks for not-so-hard but plausable, intelligent and funny, and extremely well written SF. "Excession" was sensational, but I liked close to all
of the "Culture" series. He is a great non-SF writer as well ("Walking on Glass", "The Wasp Factory",....)

[parusski]

I would recommend,

Richard Morgan

"Altered Carbon" followed by "Broken Angels" and "Woken Furies"

Have to agree. I read Morgan's book several years ago. Recently I bought the audiobook versions of the three books and listened them with great pleasure.

Try "The Lost Fleet" series by Jack Campbell.

Yes, try Jack Campbell.

[BletchleyGeek]

ORIGINAL: Perturabo
So he not only generally got science right but also got characters right. It's a rare combination in sci-fi.

Yes, indeed it is. Some of my favourites having both:

* Kim Stanley Robinson Mars saga. I think the strongest of the three is the first "Red Mars", featuring really memorable characters and plausible technology (which already exists, interestingly enough).
* "The Ender Game" by Orson Scott Card. All very hard, the only "literary license" taken there with physics is the notion of information exchange across vast distances through quantum entanglement. I loved the "Internet" depicted in the book.
* Gregory Benford's "In the Ocean of Night". Characters might not be top-notch, and the socioeconomic predictions there might make you smile (keep in mind that it's a 1970's book, and the future did indeed look very bleak back then). "Great Sky River", by the same author, is maybe better (and much darker). "Timescape" is also quite good.
* "Anathema" by Neal Stephenson. Bar the alternate universe traveling loophole license, the science there is very good. Who wants death rays when you can drop a 1 ton metal rod from orbit?
* "The Forever Peace" by Joe Haldeman. He gets right the basics of tele-operated war waging and the characters are quite remarkable.
* "A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge. Much better - in my opinion - than the better known "A Fire Upon The Deep". Go Qeng Ho!
* David Brin and Gregory Benford's "Heart of the Comet". Great story, the license taken here deals with a 'biological computer' which allows to upload minds into them [:)]

Some where the characters and writing is weak, yet I remember them fondly:

* "Eon" by Greg Bear. A bit of a rip-off of Rendezvous with Rama, though.
* "Dragon's Egg" by Robert L. Forward. 2D characters but you'd learn a lot about stellar physics

Note that the notion of "hard sci-fi" is a moving target. Stuff that seemed plausible in 1983 might not sound as sensible now in 2013 [:)]

PS: Gah, I just noticed that by answering I ruined the best post count ever: '1234' [:(]