Short stories are the best way to go, anything by Ted Chiang for example
this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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December book club canceled. Short stories instead!
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Eon by Greg Bear. It’s a bit dated as it takes place during the cold war, but it’s an excellent read.
Late to this party and I have to agree to Ian M Banks, Ursula K Le Guin, Philip K Dick (very weird, discontinuous, but free-floating and fascinating) and many more. Just to add a couple of things that HAVEN'T been mentioned, that really may get your sci-fi juices flowing: Brian Aldiss's expansive "Helliconia" trilogy is a cracker - and I think you may see echoes of it in the premise of "Game of Thrones". I'd also like to plug John Brunner - his work "The Shockwave Rider" is dated now, but essential reading. It is the first book to ever feature the idea of a computer virus. Also DO follow up on "The Machine Stops" by EM Forster - full text available online for free. If it doesn't BLOW YOUR MIND that it features social media overload, and was written in 1909, well, nothing will.
In new wave sci fi, you might also want to check out J.G. Ballard - too weird and hardcore for many, but the missing link between Moorcock-style sci-fi and mainstream fiction - think 1960s to 1990s Black Mirror. One last recommendation. If you have time and interest, check out the much neglected and ultra-weird work of C.L. Moore. Her "Northwest Smith" character is the prototype for Han Solo for sure, (Space Pirate and smuggler with a concealed heart of gold, flies a deceptively fast ship with just one crewman, who's an alien. Carries a "heat blaster" which is also configurable as a energy sword. Too many coincidences!)
Never too late for good recommendations! I am happy such a good collection of suggestions was made, not just for me but for everyone. Thanks for contributing!
isn't world building the whole point of sci-fi?
I think they are wanting world building on a smaller scale. Although I don't think world building is really about any particular size. If the entire setting took place on Earth or it spanned the entire universe, the amount of world building could be the same.