Sci-fi book recommendations (preferably audible+)

[Trbo323]

So, I'm a trucker, I listen to a lot of podcasts and books. I'm running out, what should I listen to MCB?

I have an audible + membership so if it's in that catalog it's a huge plus but my local library has a lot of audiobooks as well

I'm pretty much a fan of sci-fi and nothing else, hard sci-fi, space opera, first contact, military sci-fi.

Some stuff I've enjoyed

Orson Scott card, pretty much anything in the ender world
The expanse, all of it
The unincorporated man series
Rookie privateer
The synchronicity war series
Ready player one (NOT two, it was super predictable)


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[Magmoormaster]

Neuromancer is good if you're interested in cyberpunk, just know it's deliberately hard to follow until thw end. Anything from Andy Weir is good for hard sci-fi, he wrote the Martian. I read Project Hail Mary last summer and it was really good. For more space opera sci fi, Brandon Sanderson's stuff is very popular. I haven't read it personally, but my wife loves him. He mostly does fantasy, but he has some sci fi series as well. She also really likes the Red Rising series, which is kind of Hunger Games-ish.

[cellophane]

I've enjoyed Elizabeth Bear's books. Karen Memory is a good one. It is a bit more steampunk than straight sci-fi, but still a good read. Starship Troopers is a fantastic book that the movie completely missed the point of (although I enjoy the movie on its own merits.) Vonnegut & Robert Heinlein both have a ton of great books that border on sci-fi, Heinlein more so. Jennifer Government is a cool dystopia book. Not sci-fi, but the Witcher books are fantastic. I've read all of them and would highly recommend. Stephen King's Gunslinger series is really good and is somewhere in the sci-fi & fantasy realm. He also wrote The Running Man, and Eyes of the Dragon, the latter of which I have read and enjoyed. Not sci-fi at all, but Tom Robbins is also fantastic. Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates is a riot. If you want to nerd out there are about 8 million books set in the Warhammer 40k universe. I haven't read any personally, but what I know of the lore is pretty cool. A quick glance at Audible's site shows quite a few of them. Another I haven't read myself but have heard are good are the John Carter series. Again- the movie totally flubbed, but the books are apparently good.

You might also look at some top 100 type lists: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/...00_Best_Novels

[Grendel]

So I am a huge audio book fan and in particular listen to a lot of Sci Fi (military and Space Opera in particular). Instead of giving you recommended books I am going to just give you a list of some of my favorite authors from my audible library lately and at least a book or series recommendation: (here is a small sample)

• Christopher G. Nuttall (Empire Corps is a good series)
• Richard Fox (Ember War series)
• Jason Anspach (Galaxy Edge series)
• Jack Carr (not Sci Fi but contemporary military fiction)
• John Ringo (Legacy of the Aldenata)
• John Scalzi (Old Man Series)
• William R. Forstchen (Lost Regiment Series a good place to start)
• David Weber (Honor Harrington Series in particular)
• Jay Allan (Crimson Worlds)

I have been an audible member (Audible Premium Plus) from their beginning and have amassed a huge collection of audio books from them and from many other sources.

[JonM]

If you're on the road a lot, which it sounds like you are, then I think it's about time you took a trip through The Cosmere. This series of books is among my all time favorites. All of them are available on Audible too.

There are several ways you could tackle the reading order. Some do it by publication date, others by chronological date according to the story. The author also has his own recommendation for reading order here.

Here's a quote from Diomedes that I also found helpful when discussing the series:

Huzzah! Mistborn is great. After you do Mistborn 1, start Stormlight. But hit Warbreaker between Stormlight 1 and 2, and don't miss the novellas between 2 and 3, and 3 and 4. And do the novella "Sixth of the Dusk" at some point before Stormlight 4. Oh, and the White Sand graphic novels before...Stormlight 2 or 3, one of those. Actually, can't hurt to do Warbreaker, Six of the Dusk, and White Sand before Stormlight. Then after Stormlight, get back to Mistborn era 2. All one universe and it's So. Cool.

[k_obeastly]

starship troopers
the twilight zone radio drama series
a scanner darkly
stranger in a strange land (drags on a bit but many memorable quotes)

[Chuck E Ducky]

Do you like Zombie genre? (I’m a zombie nerd)

Feed Series by Mira Grant are awesome!

I just finished the first two Mountain Man ordered 3 and 4 I liked them so much.

The Walking Dead ones are good but pricey.

non zombie I liked that you might.

cloud cuckoo land

remarkably bright creatures

[Trbo323]

[*]Richard Fox (Ember War series)
.

I actually started the embers of war today

Not impressed.

I'm 40 chapters in and I feel like everything that has happened should have been like 5 chapters. It feels like a highschool student's essay, just packed full of bs that's not needed just to make it longer. Almost every character seems incompetent and every character is just bitching about a situation they are in

I'll pick something else for tomorrow

However, if you liked embers of war, and specifically the AIs involved, I highly recommend trying the synchronicity war. I think the first book was free on Kindle and the rest are only a few bucks each if you end up liking it. The first 3 or so books are really good, after that the next few are not bad, just not as strong as the first ones.

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[Trbo323]

Do you like Zombie genre? (I’m a zombie nerd)

Typically no, I find they are more "post apocalypse" than science

The Darwin elevator is about the only one I have enjoyed but it mixes elements of a space elevator (placed by aliens) and a mysterious alien ship in orbit into the story so I think that's why

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[Trbo323]

I'm sure there's lots of good recommendations here, so far everything I've tried to look for is not free and the series would cost me a small fortune.

Was browsing my libraries selection and came across "the stars now unclaimed" synopsis sounded decent so that's what I'm trying today

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[Brokeass_baller]

Dude, I'm with ya. Ready Player One is one of my all-time favorites. But Player Two was just so bad.

One book that I really enjoyed recently and had a hard time putting down is Free Radical by Shamus Young. It wasn't ever officially published; only to his website and Smash words. So it definitely isn't available on Audible, but it's such a fantastic book. It's essentially an elaborate fan fiction of the old PC game System Shock, and it's unbelievably well done. I mean UNBELIEVABLY well done. You'd never guess that this was an amateur author. The adventure and action is fantastic. The stealth scenes are gripping. And there are more than a few twists that keep you on your feet. I really cannot recommend it enough. There are only a few subtle hints that the original story line was based on a video game. And the ending is unreal. Never saw it coming. Very clever.

It's free to download. I recommend it to everybody.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/124443

[Greentorpeedo]

Three body problem series.
Dune series

[Trbo323]

Three body problem series.
Dune series

I've been meaning to try three body problem

Tried dune, it's just way too slow for me, I couldn't do it

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[TarntKarntington]

If you liked The Expanse you might like The Culture series.

Most people dislike the first book (personally thought it was great) but 2 and 3 are much better received. The books are essentially self-contained so you can get creative with the reading order.

[Trbo323]

If you liked The Expanse you might like The Culture series.

Most people dislike the first book (personally thought it was great) but 2 and 3 are much better received. The books are essentially self-contained so you can get creative with the reading order.

I might give that one a shot at some point thanks. Just looked up the synopsis, looks interesting.

I am finding that I, more recently, seem to enjoy books with AI involved. I find it interesting how each author decides to craft the AI.

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[Grendel]

Not exactly AI but in the same vane is Legion of the Damned series by William Dietz. I have read and enjoyed the first 4 books but sadly do not have the audio books. I do see Audible has them all for <$13 for each book.

"The Ship Who Sang" Series (also called "Brain &Brawn") is another series of books that are good and tangentially related to AI based story lines. Multiple authors worked in this universe but the main one is Anne McCaffery. They are not available in Audible that I can see but might exist somewhere else, I guess I need to look I have reread these books several times.