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Non-US sci-fi recommendations? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi all! I just finished "The Three Body Problem" by Liu Cixin and enjoyed it a lot. It's got me curious about sci-fi written elsewhere in the world and what cultural differences may appear in sci-fi written from a non-US perspective.

Does anyone have recommendations for what I should check out next? I only speak English and (sort of) French so I'm reliant on translations to one of those languages. Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Not Before Sundown by Johanna Sinisalo.

Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky.

Like others, I'm hyping the Strugatsky brothers' Roadside Picnic, and Stanislaw Lem's Solaris.

With the caveat that I don't really like his books, The Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomäki.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne is absolutely worth the read. Just bear through the long lists of fish.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks! What don't you like about Risto Isomäki? This is the first I've heard of them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Oh, well, it's been a while, but... While Risto's ideas tend to be interesting enough, as a writer and a storyteller I think he lacks finesse. Especially his characters and their interactions come off as flat and formulaic. Romance feels tacked on and clumsy and he'd be better off focusing on other areas. Still, I can't say it's all bad. I don't want to drive anyone away from giving his work a chance.