Tired of all the killing, lack of science & poor grammar?

[Philby]

I am looking for suggestions for some good sci fi based more on science and relying less on graphic descriptions of killing, gore & exploding bodies.

Ideally I am looking for novels similar to Forbidden Planet, Skylark series, Rama, 2001/10/3001, etc. where explorers find a new planet and as they explore some ruins they stumble on evidence of lost civilisations, secret entrances to underground passages, puzzles, advances science etc. Does anybody remember an early PC game called Planetfall where the spaceship is crashing into the planet, the crew abandon ship and on landing find an entrance to a deserted underground city. The game was like Myst except you caught monorails, fixed robots, started up new machines to solve problems and survive. I am looking for something uplifting as I am sick of the tired old cliches put forward as sci fi where a galactic war is looming, only one person can save us all (& they usually have some stupid name) then we have to wade through page after page of the same old dross describing the fighting & killing whilst completely lacking sci fi and well written grammar. Sad really.

Has anybody got some great books they have read that might fit the bill ?

Cheers

[Trike]

So basically no military sci-fi. Hmm, let's see...

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has some violence but nothing graphic. It's easily the best space exploration book I've read in years.

The Martian comes to mind. Basically Robinson Crusoe on Mars, although not that movie by the same name. He takes liberties with the science, but it's better than most.

Protector has very mild violence. It's more of an adventure than anything else.

The Engines of God is mostly exploration. If there's violence, I don't recall it.

Rendezvous with Rama of course, although it hasn't aged particularly well, especially when it comes to portrayals of women.

The Giants trilogy is likewise more about exploration and solving an ancient mystery. First one is Inherit the Stars.

A book I haven't read but seems like it might fit this bill perfectly is Tau Zero.

Although there is some alien-on-alien violence, I can't recommend Dr. Robert L. Forward's Dragon's Egg enough. This is a truly amazing work of scientific extrapolation.

[V.W.]

Have you read James White's "Sector General" series?

Beginning Operations: A Sector General Omnibus

The books are basically medical mysteries involving treating sick aliens and the problems of running a multi-species hospital.

Or

Alan Dean Foster's Humanx series such as Nor Crystal Tears involving the meeting of two alien species told from a personal level.

[Tobias]

So basically books featuring Big Dumb Objects?

Pushing Ice is a good one, a bit like Rama.

Blindsight probably fits, but it's kinda hard to wrap your head around. Not the most uplifting of books though.

Kim Stanley Robinson sounds like an author you might like, although there aren't a lot of aliens there (exploration though).

[Budd]

Being a known Vernor Vinge bigot I suggest his
Rainbows End, True Names (claimed coiner of "cyberspace"), Across Realtime, & Levels of Thought trilogy

[Jonathan]

Tobias wrote: "So basically books featuring Big Dumb Objects?

Pushing Ice is a good one, a bit like Rama.

Blindsight probably fits, but it's kinda hard to wrap your head around. Not th..."

Blindsight is hands down the very best hard sci-fi novel ever written. I just can't give it enough praise.

[Jonathan]

is a wonderful hard sci-fi novel that seems to fit what you describe.

[Lori S.]

Ringworld series by Larry Niven

The Vorkasigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (more space opera than hard sf though with some romance thrown in for good measure but fun adventure fic) - politics and cultural interaction though shots do get fired.

I second Nor Crystal Tears. It's still one of my favorite first contact books.

Currently, I'm listening to Saturn Run, which has been fairly enjoyable. More a space/technological race with China to get to Saturn than arms to get to an alien probe first.

[Jim]

Jonathan wrote: " is a wonderful hard sci-fi novel that seems to fit what you describe."

Good choice. I would also recommend Reynolds' most recent trilogy, which involves a quest for massive and mysterious evidence of alien intelligence in another star system. Along the way, some basic ideas about the nature of humanity and sentience are explored.

Blue Remembered Earth (Poseidon's Children #1)
On the Steel Breeze (Poseidon's Children #2)
Poseidon's Wake (Poseidon's Children #3)

[Bhaswar]

You can try my novel The Cycle The Cycle
https://www.amazon.com/Cycle-Bhaswar-...
Its not at all violent, no alien invasion. One review depicts it:
Format: Kindle Edition
A good mixture of imagination and real phenomenons. Starts with fast pace beginning from 1979 connecting to 3 Miles island incident and further complicated events and ultimately graduates to 2082 giving a beautiful glimpse of future, where the main plot stays.
One thing I particularly liked, is no many times repeated boring invasions of aliens to destroy the world.
An intelligent society connects to the Earth, but in a gentle way, which I wish to be a truth!
Some places it reminds me Carl Sagan's The Contact.
An enjoyable read,especially space sci-fi lovers would fall into love of it!!
Writers should improve the synopsis of book given in front. It does not do justice or represent the story as it should do.

[C.W.]

If you want something really, really different, you can read my book, The Alien Revelation Saga. There are no invasions, no killing (until the end of book five in the series!), and no wars. There is lots of science, especially at the beginning where the alien makes fun of our scientists and their quaint beliefs. The story happens almost totally on planet Earth in the present time, with portions set in two universes.

It's also a true space opera even though little of it is in space.

Book one is free on Amazon. If you like it, PLEASE leave a review. https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Revelati...

[Joan]

V.W. wrote: "Have you read James White's "Sector General" series?

Beginning Operations: A Sector General Omnibus

The books are basically medical mysteries involving treating sick aliens and the ..."

Oh I love James Whites books. A wonderful series. Some of the psychological aspects had me thinking that James White was a trained psychologist and I was astounded to learn he worked in a tailoring department.

[Philby]

Hi Jonathan

Thanks for the suggestion - I have read a few of Allister Reynolds books including your recommendation and they are very good - lots of SciFi.

I am quite overwhelmed by the responses from everybody - it has been great to see such help & enthusiasm.

Cheers

[Philby]

Hi Trike,

Inherit the Stars look pretty good so will try to track a copy down - whilst looking around for it I found On the steel breeze by Allister Reynolds which seems a good read so at least I am on my way with something lined up to read next.

Thanks for the suggestions they have been very helpful

Cheers

[Philby]

Hi Tobias,

Thanks for the recommendations, I have found both Blidsight & Pushing Ice at our local library so I have ordered them for my next read.

Thanks for the help

Cheers

[R.]

Joan wrote: "V.W. wrote: "Have you read James White's "Sector General" series?

Beginning Operations: A Sector General Omnibus

The books are basically medical mysteries involving treating sick al..."

If you like Jim White you may also like Sheila Viehl's "Stardoc" series.

"Hippocrates never got smacked in the head by a patient." That's the opening line of the second book and it gets better still...

[Lori S.]

R. wrote: " "Hippocrates never got smacked in the head by a patient." "

That's a great opening line!

[R.]

You might like my series.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

There are a few fight scenes, but most of the action is a battle of minds between Jane and Arthur.

The plot turns on the science behind faster than light travel, the effect it has on ordinary people, and the struggle for control of interstellar relations.

There are still some review copies available if you are interested.

[Conal]

I can recommend by Allen Steele if you want to read a near future uplifting space exploration story.

[Jemima]

Trike's already done all my recommendations!

[Philby]

Hi Tobias,

I looked up your recommendation of Blindsight by Peter Watts & it says it is the third book in a trilogy but I cannot work out what the first two are from the jacket sleeve - do you know the order the blindside books should be read ?

Cheer

[Nefeli]

Proxima by Stephen Baxter. Violence is limited to minimum and the plot is about humans settling in an exoplanet in the Proxima Centauri system and discovering its secrets.

[Tobias]

Philby wrote: "Hi Tobias,

I looked up your recommendation of Blindsight by Peter Watts & it says it is the third book in a trilogy but I cannot work out what the first two are from the jacket sleeve - do you know the order the blindside books should be read ?"

That's weird, Blindsight is the first book.

There is a sequel called Echopraxia, but it's really more of a sidequel, taking place at the same time as parts of Blindsight, in a way. Hard to explain, but I would read it after Blindsight at least.

Then there's a short story called The Colonel which is kind of an interquel between the two books, setting up Echopraxia (but, IMO, not required reading at all, and not as good as the two novels by far).

So just read Blindsight first.

[Mary]

You might like some of Andre Norton's work. She was big on the "Forerunners." Ice Crown, or Catseye or Forerunner for instance.