Ask HN: Do you know any amazing space epics?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1806985

by rblion • 16 years ago

9 24 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am looking for a great series of space age fiction to read in my spare time and expand my imagination. I was thinking Lord of the Rings but set in interstellar space. I prefer books with thoughtful characters, accurate science, and spiritual themes.

Please and thanks.

davidw• 16 years ago

Neil Stephenson's Anathem. Maybe not tons of actual space bits, but most of the rest of it matches what you want.

rblion3• 16 years ago

this is exactly what I want. thanks

bgrins• 16 years ago

"A Fire Upon The Deep" by Vernor Vinge.

SupremumLimit• 16 years ago

A Deepness in the Sky, which is loosely related to A Fire Upon the Deep, is also great and also won a Hugo award.

dstein• 16 years ago

The Foundation series.

deskamess• 16 years ago

Seconded.

Great story, characters, and writing.

decadentcactus• 16 years ago

Just got "Foundation" from the library today (because someone stole my Red Mars book :( )

Kliment• 16 years ago

I'd recommend the Great Three : Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein

duke_sam• 16 years ago

Alastair Reynolds "Revelation Space" series is fantastic. He also writes some great stand alone pieces (House of Suns for example). He is also quite strict about being hard sci-fi (no faster than light travel for example).

Also The Culture series by Iain M. Banks is pretty amazing but tends to be multiple independent stories within the same universe. He is also much softer on the science (quite a lot How does it work? Quite well thank you descriptions).

EliRivers• 16 years ago

"He is also quite strict about being hard sci-fi (no faster than light travel for example)."

Or rather, it was tried (in the Revelation Space series) but did not work out well...

demallien2• 16 years ago

Ahhh, I've only ever read one SF series that left me with the same sense of wonder as the Lord of the Rings. You just have to try Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. At first I thought it was ridiculous space opera, with loads of jargon and technical impossibilities that just made it read like 3rd-rate SF. That is right up until the point where Simmons blindsighted me by making all of that stuff an absolutely necessary part of the story. I can be more explicit without giving out a few spoilers, but I've read a lot of SF, and this is really a cut above the rest.

Dornkirk• 16 years ago

I've read the first two (I thought the 1st book was better actually) - however I've heard the rest of the series is not so good.

demallien2• 16 years ago

Yeah, I wasn't as big a fan of Endymion - it was much more touchy-feely in its justifications than was the first series. Still enjoyable, but not in the same league as Hyperion.

meatsock• 16 years ago

thoughtful, accurate and spiritual? Sounds like battlefield earth to me.

drallison• 16 years ago

William Gibson: Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive Orson Scott Card: Enders Game Neil Stephenson: Snowcrash Isaac Asimov: The Foundation (series)

I am not sure these qualify as space epics, but they are all good reads.

joeld42• 16 years ago

Ian M. Banks "Culture" series.

"Matter" might be a good one to start with if you're looking for something similar to LotR.

rblion3• 16 years ago

Thanks. This is the series I have been looking for. I almost feel bad for not knowing this book existed.

zck• 16 years ago

Read Emphyrio by Jack Vance. It's just one book, but it's a fantasy book set in space. The main character is a woodcarver, but there are spaceships that travel to many inhabited worlds. Vance is one of the best authors I know to make a world feel worn, unlike the sci-fi of many other authors.

jokermatt999• 16 years ago

I'm a fan of Charles Stross's Accelerando. It's epic to the point where it takes place across generations. It also has the nice benefits of being free online, and you'll occasionally see cstross post here.

jobeyonekenobi• 16 years ago

The Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F Hamilton will absolutely rock your world, going by what you are asking for. After this, go for The Commonwealth Saga by the same author. You really, really are missing out on a treat, but the best thing is that you have around 6,000 pages worth of epic space opera waiting for you in those books, and I envy the fact that you have all of them still to read - as quickly as you want!

rmprescott• 16 years ago

Future History series - Heinlein

Known Space series - Niven

Uplift series - Brin

Dune series - Herbert

Mars trilogy - Robinson

benji-york• 16 years ago

This isn't a series, but a set of fiction that I think fits the bill. Conveniently all of these works are available free online:

After Life: http://sifter.org/~simon/AfterLife Blindsight: http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm Passages in the Void: http://localroger.com/

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect (from localroger.com) is also pretty good in the imagination expanding department but be forewarned: parts of it are very hard to read (quite gruesome).

rblion3• 16 years ago

thanks everyone. I have a few year's worth of great books to read. Thank God for HN.

SeanDav• 16 years ago

For epic science fiction with huge space battles, depth of story and interesting characters you cannot miss books by David Weber, especially the Honor Harrington series

Ask HN: Do you know any amazing space epics?

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