Recs for SFF to the max (with very strong SFF elements)

[Eva]

Hi everyone!

{TLDR: Please give me recommendations for well-written, gripping books with very heavy fantasy, magic or future tech elements!}

I've noticed that the trend for quite a lot of modern fantasy and science fiction seems to be to go heavy on the realism and very light on the fantasy or future tech elements. A lot of fantasy reads like historical fiction with just a few elements that are not historical, and a lot of SF has only e.g. time travel, is near-future, or dystopian.

While I love books like that, as well, I must say I also REALLY love it when books are very imaginative in the world-building. E.g. tons of magic being used, lots of magical creatures, set on alien planets, galaxy-spanning adventures, lots of alien species, post-humans, AI, the whole shebang.

But: it also has to have good writing that I can enjoy as an adult (I used to not care at all about prose, style or believable characterization as a teenager, but unfortunately now I do). My personal taste generally goes towards crisp, non-flowery writing that doesn't draw undue attention to itself, and moderate to fast pacing, so if you'd like to recommend something with a very lyrical style or slow pacing, please give me a warning.

But this list isn't just meant for me, but for anyone who'd like a list of recommendations for really good SFF novels or series that take it up a notch and have LOTS of fantastical, magical, or SF elements with very imaginative settings.

I'd be very grateful for your suggestions. :-)

[Gabi]

Pretty much everthing by Adrian Tchaikovsky fits the bill (in SF as well as in Fantasy)

As well as the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson (although he tends to lean towards more social comments towards the later books of the series)

Brandon Sanderson for Fantasy, of course, but I think you've already read lots of his work.

Ah, yes, not to forget: the Raksura series by Martha Wells. Breathtaking worldbuilding and not a single human being within the series.

[Eva]

Thank you, Gabi! 🧡 That was such a fast reply with some wonderful suggestions I haven't read yet! I think I'll tackle Tchaikovsky very soon when I'm done with my OWLs.

By the way, I should supply my "well-written" requirement with the explanation that as long as the person recommending it thought it was great, that's enough - it doesn't have to have won any awards nor critical acclaim. Nor does it necessarily have to be written for an adult audience.

[Gabi]

Eva wrote: "Thank you, Gabi! 🧡 That was such a fast reply with some wonderful suggestions I haven't read yet! ..."

Glad to be of help (I only recommended those series I was very fond of). I'm looking for the same kind of books (the SF part), so I'm looking forward to recommendations that will come up.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

At the risk of being banned for spamming I'll once again recommend The Quantum Magician and The Quantum Garden by Derek Künsken.

What Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon lacks in modern literary comforts it makes up for in grand ideas. There are a few paragraphs in this book that could easily be expanded into a 3+ book series today. Each.

Empire of the Ants by Bernard Werber is exactly what it appears to be. Lovers of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time should like it.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Peter F. Hamilton's Night Dawn trilogy starting with The Reality Dysfunction starts slowly as is to be expected with such a weighty tomb but it ramps up magnificently.

[Eva]

Thank you so much - I've had most of them on my radar already, but Star Maker sounds wonderful and I had never heard of it before!

[DivaDiane]

I have a feeling that anything by CJ Cherryh will fit the bill.

Also Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels are pretty heavy on the SF elements.

I’ll have to think a bit more for others.

[DivaDiane]

Oh! Vernon Vinge! A Fire Upon the Deep was amazeballs with both technology and aliens.

[Dawn F]

@Ryan Thanks for the comment about Empire of the Ants, that one goes right to my tbr list!

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Eva wrote: "Thank you so much - I've had most of them on my radar already, but Star Maker sounds wonderful and I had never heard of it before!"

I think of Star Maker as perfect inspiration for a sci-fi author with writers block or short on ideas. It's not a book I'd recommend to anyone dipping their toe into the genre for the first time, which of course you aren't. It's not his most acclaimed work but it's the only one I've read so far. I hope you enjoy it if/when you finally get around to reading it.

Dawn wrote: "@Ryan Thanks for the comment about Empire of the Ants, that one goes right to my tbr list!"

Everything I loved about Children of Time is present in this book (Or should I say everything I loved about this is present in Children of Time?). Probably worth recommending this to those that didn't read CoT due to a fear of spiders.

[DivaDiane]

I don’t know if you want older recommendations, but here are a few anyway:

He, She and It, by Marge Piercy
Octavia Butler’s Xenogenisis trilogy
The Tripp’s Trilogy, by John Christopher (middle grade to YA)
The Sparrow, by Mary Doris Russell
The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey
Fool’s War, by Sarah Zettel

[Kaa]

You've probably read these already, but the first two series that sprung to mind for me were Ninefox Gambit and Ancillary Justice.

A couple others that I would think of as very sci-fi with inventive (almost magical) tech are A Matter of Oaths and Finders, and for creativity Three Parts Dead has lots of magic and weird technology.

The Failure to Communicate series has lots of interesting aliens.

In the Vanishers’ Palace is the most fantastical out of many fantastical stories by Aliette de Bodard, although her writing can be pretty flowery/ornate (this is especially true of the Dominion of the Fallen books, which are about fallen angels and dragons, and probably a little less true of the Xuya stories, which feature some very interesting ship and AI tech).

[Eva]

Thank you so much, everyone! Lots of stuff I didn't know about yet.

Aliette de Bodard's writing style is fine for me! I just don't like prose that's very purple/overwritten/word-smithy/heavy on the similes/or fake ye-olde-biblical style - that keeps breaking my immersion in the story.

I'm really intrigued e.g. by Sarah Zettel, judging by the covers they seem exactly what I had in mind:


A few of the suggestions seem not out there enough for me, though: some take place on Earth (big no-no), have hardly any non-humans, only one species of aliens, only one type of magic, etc. No Earth, please, unless it's completely unrecognizable or there's a completely different, unseen world underneath ours a la Harry Potter. Older books are fine, though!

In terms of fantasy: does anyone know some examples that are like the old D&D/Forgotten Realms books in terms of many non-human races, many different magic systems, lots of magic used, many different magical creatures and monsters, but with pretty good writing?
I tried reading Canticle by R.A. Salvatore yesterday, and read “Well met, Arcite, Newander, and Cleo. I congratulate you, Cleo, on your ascension to the status of initiate!" (this is a teenager greeting other teenagers) and I knew I couldn't continue the book even though it has all the things I wanted to read about, with fireballs, familiars, portals, alchemy, etc. So it would be really wonderful if someone could recommend more books heavy on the magic but without such stilted dialogue.

[Raucous]

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds is very out there in time scale, location, and future technology terms.

[Quantum]

Ryan wrote: "At the risk of being banned for spamming I'll once again recommend The Quantum Magician and The Quantum Garden by Derek Künsken.

What [book:Star Ma..."

Those are kind of in the same vein as Quantum Thief, no?

[MadProfessah]

@Ryan thanks for mentioning Peter Hamilton! I’m a huge fanboy of his and I never lose a chance to recommend his work! I completely agree that The Nights Dawn trilogy is fantastic..

[Jan]

Raucous wrote: "House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds is very out there in time scale, location, and future technology terms."

Also his Revelation Space series, and the standalone Pushing Ice.

[Eva]

You are right, I love Alastair Reynolds (currently reading Revelation Space but had to put it on hold for a readathon)! Looking forward to reading more by him, and the scope of House of Suns is truly vast.

Thank you for recommending Hamilton, Pandora's Star is on my bedside table - it's just really huge.

[Gabi]

@Eva: LOL! "Pandora's Star" is on my bedside table as well - and each time I look at it I have an attack of sweating. XD

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Gabi wrote: "@Eva: LOL! "Pandora's Star" is on my bedside table as well - and each time I look at it I have an attack of sweating. XD"

Eva wrote: "You are right, I love Alastair Reynolds (currently reading Revelation Space but had to put it on hold for a readathon)! Looking forward to reading more by him, and the scope of House of Suns is tru..."

MadProfessah wrote: "@Ryan thanks for mentioning Peter Hamilton! I’m a huge fanboy of his and I never lose a chance to recommend his work! I completely agree that The Nights Dawn trilogy is fantastic.."

Don't you just love a book that could do you actual harm if you fumbled it whilst reading in bed and it hit landed on your head? These modern 350p stories lack that much needed fear factor. At least Hamilton knows how to write a real book! 8D

Alex wrote: "Ryan wrote: "At the risk of being banned for spamming I'll once again recommend The Quantum Magician and The Quantum Garden by Derek Künsken.

What ..."

I've not read the Quantum Thief yet so can't say whether they have much more in common than the word in the title. There aren't any aliens in the Magician, which really is just an excellent sci-fi heist story that can be read as a standalone novel.

[Gabi]

Ryan wrote: "Don't you just love a book that could do you actual harm if you fumbled it whilst reading in bed and it hit landed on your head? These modern 350p stories lack that much needed fear factor. At least Hamilton knows how to write a real book! 8D..."

You will laugh … ^^' But I actually only need an ebook reader to do me harm. I'm wearing braces at the moment and ever so often when my ebook reader falls on my face cause I fell asleep while reading I split my lip … XD

Sorry, BTT - yup, I'm sure Hamilton is right there on SF heavy.

[Kaa]

I know most of us have probably read them already, but I think Terry Pratchett's Discworld series deserves a mention - lots of magic, lots of different non-human people, and definitely not set on Earth.