Book recommendation
January 16, 2023 7:48 AM Subscribe
I enjoyed the Expanse series (the books) and Haruki Murakami (pretty much all of them) - what should I read next? I liked the hard-science fiction parts/length of the Expanse and the wonderful every-day randomness and the lovely descriptions in the Murakami novels.
My thoughts went to William Gibson's Blue Ant trilogy but then also to Clifford Simak's Way Station among others. Both have more contemporary settings than the Expanse, but they do have clear thoughtful prose occasionally lingering on odd everyday randomness, aiming at some bliss in it like Murakami.
posted by Wobbuffet at 8:14 AM on January 16, 2023
posted by Wobbuffet at 8:14 AM on January 16, 2023
A Memory Called Empire - neat science fiction and really nice prose.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:19 AM on January 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 8:19 AM on January 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
R.A. Lafferty and Cordwainer Smith spring to mind as quirky, well-written off-beat science fiction. "Past Master" by R.A. Lafferty is his first novel and springs to mind. Cordwainer Smith: read any of his short story collections.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:47 AM on January 16, 2023
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:47 AM on January 16, 2023
I, too, enjoy The Expanse and Haruki Murakami. You should take a look at the Commonwealth Saga: Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. I think you'll like them. They're long, sci-fi, and they're packed with enjoyable descriptions that help build the world they're set in.
posted by cleverevans at 9:07 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by cleverevans at 9:07 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes A Memory Called Empire. Also Ancillary Justice trilogy, and possibly The Fifth Season. Oh and The Three-Body Problem and The Quantum Thief.
(Yes, this is just my list of recent sci-fi I liked as a fellow Murakami fan. Three-Body Problem is closest to his eeriness and magic realism probably.)
posted by supercres at 10:12 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
(Yes, this is just my list of recent sci-fi I liked as a fellow Murakami fan. Three-Body Problem is closest to his eeriness and magic realism probably.)
posted by supercres at 10:12 AM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also Exhalation by Ted Chiang is close too, for slightly eerie sci-fi short stories.
For non-sci-fi, maybe some earlier magic realists? Borges, Garcia Marquez, Saramago, Rushdie.
posted by supercres at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2023
For non-sci-fi, maybe some earlier magic realists? Borges, Garcia Marquez, Saramago, Rushdie.
posted by supercres at 10:20 AM on January 16, 2023
I am also an enjoyer of both and want to throw in a recommendation for Kim Stanley Robinson's books. I think the Mars trilogy has a similar feeling of hard sci fi. You may also enjoy Plum Rains by Andromeda Romano-Lax. If you want something more psychedelic horror flavored, then Annihilation by Jeff VanDerMeer is also very good.
I'd like to second A Memory Called Empire as well. That book does everything excellently. Ancillary Justice and the Fifth Season are also both truly stellar. Ted Chiang's stories are designed like little clockwork mechanisms, they are not very long but they have a lot of detail.
posted by crossswords at 10:24 AM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'd like to second A Memory Called Empire as well. That book does everything excellently. Ancillary Justice and the Fifth Season are also both truly stellar. Ted Chiang's stories are designed like little clockwork mechanisms, they are not very long but they have a lot of detail.
posted by crossswords at 10:24 AM on January 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
It’s gonna sound weird given what you’ve posted, but Beck Chambers series starting with “Long way to a small and angry planet” may be for you. Despite its almost entire lack of conflict the books it reminded me most of was The Expanse, the detailed universe, the “hardness” of the science despite it being very cozy core, yeah try it you might like it.
posted by Iteki at 12:09 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Iteki at 12:09 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Nthing A Memory Called Empire and Ancillary Justice.
Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and its sequel, A Deepness in the Sky, also.
And yes to David Mitchell but I'd hit The Bone Clocks first and then The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.
posted by minsies at 12:27 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and its sequel, A Deepness in the Sky, also.
And yes to David Mitchell but I'd hit The Bone Clocks first and then The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.
posted by minsies at 12:27 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
If you enjoyed The Expanse, especially the combination of hard sci-fi and politics, then I highly recommend you check out CJ Cherryh's Merchanter books and the others also in her Alliance-Union setting. Jo Walton over on Tor suggests starting with the Merchanter books and I think that's a good recommendation. Then you can jump to the (flawed but still worthwhile) Downbelow Station. The Merchanter books center working folks in space and smaller human scale stories with gut wrenching tragedies and dramas that are connected to the wider politics of the setting. It's been a while since I read it but Downbelow Station is a bit more focused on the politics of colonialism and empire (with an unfortunate dash of noble savage non-human characters). The Expanse was pretty clearly influenced by Cherryh, IMHO
posted by okonomichiyaki at 1:03 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by okonomichiyaki at 1:03 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'll recommend a couple of books by Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children and Quichotte. Rushdie's a literary writer like Murakami but at the same time he was hugely into science fiction when he was a kid and will incorporate fantastical elements into his stories so his works largely get captured under the magical realism umbrella.
And if you're interested in reading David Mitchell I'd say do it in order and start with Ghostwritten. He puts connections between all his books but the first couple you can just enjoy by themselves and it isn't really until The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet that it becomes a major part of the books.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:15 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
And if you're interested in reading David Mitchell I'd say do it in order and start with Ghostwritten. He puts connections between all his books but the first couple you can just enjoy by themselves and it isn't really until The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet that it becomes a major part of the books.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:15 PM on January 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Peter F Hamilton's Void Trilogy and the Night's Dawn Trilogy are both fantastic epic space operas.
posted by schyler523 at 5:53 AM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by schyler523 at 5:53 AM on January 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you so much for your recommendations - I’ll start right away!
posted by mathiu at 1:34 PM on January 17, 2023
posted by mathiu at 1:34 PM on January 17, 2023
Response by poster: Started A Memory Called Empire and it's really living up to the expectations after 4 recommendations here, Blue Ant, the three body problem and the commonwealth saga are in the queue.
posted by mathiu at 2:50 AM on January 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mathiu at 2:50 AM on January 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
I enjoyed both The Expanse and Murukami, and my first thought on both SciFi and the imaginative/descriptive is William Gibson. Pretty much any of them, but I think The Peripheral may be up your alley.
I also think Leckie's Inheritance Trilogy may also fit.
posted by sauril at 11:46 AM on January 20, 2023
I also think Leckie's Inheritance Trilogy may also fit.
posted by sauril at 11:46 AM on January 20, 2023
Whoops too late for edit. I meant Leckie's Ancillary Justice. Inheritance Trilogy (Jemisin) is also great but something completely different.
posted by sauril at 12:04 PM on January 20, 2023
posted by sauril at 12:04 PM on January 20, 2023
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posted by terridrawsstuff at 7:58 AM on January 16, 2023 [5 favorites]