I read all of Foundation and the Robots series a while back. Since then I've been trying and failing to find a space opera book series on that level of quality, with that amount of depth and ideas. /lit/ is useless. Is there anything like Foundation?
Perhaps the Ender series and perhaps Dune.
They both have the galaxy spanning plots, though I admit I've only read about hlafway through each of the three series (Foundation, Ender, and Dune).
Also, of course, those are the easy answers.
Go read Dune.
You won't be disappointed.
>>44921752
You've read Isaac Asimov.
The other greatest SF writers are Arthur C Clarke, Frank Herbert (GO READ DUNE) and Robert Heinlein.
Fuck, Clarke invented the communication satellite!
>>44921752
I, Robot is a great anthology, but I doubt you haven't read it.
The Bolo series is... less good than Asimov, but it explores a lot of the same themes of artificial intelligence through a different lens.
Starship Troopers. Read it.
>>44923077
One important thing when reading Robert Heinlein is to not jump to conclusions too quickly about what his personal politics are. He's a guy who APPEARS to be very open about them, but he's really not, as you will notice when you read more than one of his books.
Sometimes he appears to be a hippy, other times a die-hard libertarian, or maybe he's a fascistic militarist!
What he ACTUALLY is is a guy who is willing to write mental experiments about how different societies could work, and he isn't willing to go "Well, this doesn't fit perfectly with my ideal society, so they're EVIL!"
No. Instead, when he's writing about the idea that the privileges of citizenship should be earned, he puts himself fully in the mindframe of that culture. Then he publishes another book and suddenly he's a 70's counterculture hero. And so on and so forth.
The only consistent string through it all is that he is science fiction's coolest Dirty Old Man.
>>44921752
Hyperion by Dan Simmons is pretty damn good.
>>44921752
Well there's Cordwrainer Smith. People always forget about him even though his writing includes such colourful characters as cat-girl waifus, ancient depressed Nazi killer robots and dudes who rock out by opening portals through which they channel the songs of sentinent solar systems.
>>44923228
Contemporaries mocked him as somebody who aligned his politics along whatever his current GF believed in.
>>44923462
They were clearly just jealous at his number of GFs.
>>44921752
Try the Uplift series by David Brin.
The basic premise is that every single spacefaring race only makes it into space because some other spacefaring race comes along when they are still basically just animals and fucks with their genetics until they become intelligent. Every race begins a slave race to the 'Investor' race that uplifted them into sentience until they eventually earn their freedom under the doctrines of galactic law, and your lineage and holdings (both what systems you control, what races you have uplifted, and what species you currently hold a stake in that have potential for uplift) are your worth in the galactic consortium.
The only race that ever made it into space under their own power is the fabled Progenitors, who invented much of the technology that the galaxy still uses and first started the tradition of uplifting lesser races. No one else has ever matched their achievements.
Until, suddenly and without warning, a really shitty space ship bumps into a cruise ship and makes first contact with a race called humanity, who no one seems to be able to take credit for.
The books all tell wildly different stories spaced out throughout the years about mankind's growth in the galaxy, but with a focus on Uplift based politics and the fact that every other race doesn't really believe that we made it as far as we did entirely without help, going to far as to claim that our religions are proof that we used to get visited by more advanced beings before for some reason they stopped.
Because we have no lineage protecting us, we very nearly end up being "adopted" against our will by our closest neighbors just because we are such an exception to the rules that the normal set of laws don't account for our existence.
>>44921752
I must concur with previous posters - GO READ DUNE
>>44921752
There are many good sci-fi authors out there
the best are:__GO__
__READ__
__DUNE__
>that tfw when didnt read dune or hyperion or foundation
anyone ever did those audiobook things? are those a scam, or is it as good as reading? also how hard are these things to find on the internet?
Risen Empire and Killing of Worlds by Scott Westerfeld
Dune by Frank Herbert
Revelation Space series by Alistair Reynalds.
disregard Herbertfags, Dune is garbage
seek Illuminatus!
>>44925434
Oh shit nignog, you did not just dis the great read that is Dune did you?dis the sequels all you want.
>>44922948
Heinlein suffers massively from Kojima syndrome. That being whatever political topic was on his mind at the time becomes the focus of the book. So if you read his books in chronological order you can actually see his political beliefs changing.
>>44923228
That's not entirely true. He has certain very consistent threads through the mess, and his stuff is very much influenced by the pet peeves of his two main lovers.
>>44921752
>/lit/ is useless
I have never read anything more true in my life.
so guys, about audiobooks, are they as understandable and enjoyable as reading? I mean will I be able to listen to an audiobook and have the same experience as reading? and what if english isnt my first language?
never did audiobooks, wondering if its as legit as reading
>>44921752
Dune
Hyperion
>>44923228
Yeah, that's one thing that most people don't get. All they know is Starship Troopers.
bump for interest
>>44925894
It depends entirely on the quality of the narrator. Some are great, and can improve the experience by adding to it. Others are shit pushed out as fast as possible.
So check reviews to get a sense.
Miles Vorkosigan books, by Lois McMaster Bujold. Start with Young Miles.
She has won as many Hugos as Heinlein, if you discount the retro-Hugos.
Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns is pretty fucking legit, and it has a follow-up series that's been pretty good so far.
The forever war is a pretty good book
>>44923767
seconding the Uplift books
If you're really impatient you can start with the second book (Startide Rising). Sundiver is good but not quite as good, and the plots aren't dependent on one another.
>>44929408
Seconding the Vorkosigan series, still read them occasionally.
>>44925894
I am a die-hard fan of audiobooks, but as others have said it's largely dependent on the narrator, and only books that have a significant following get an audio-version.
If you want some really good examples of well done audiobooks, I'd recommend the Dresden Files, Discworld, Hitchhikers Guide, and Harry Potter.If you want some bad examples, check out the early Vorksoigan audiobooks, and cringe as an eighty year old man and wife with no vocal range try to do dialogue for teens.
Everyone should read Dune (especially if you're posting on /w40k/ the board) and alsoThe Culture Series by Iain M Banks.
>>44921752
Glenn Cook has some great sci-fi, but he seems to get tired of writing it quickly. Notably, The Dragon Never Sleeps is a great book that I wish had more. Starfishers is pretty good, too.
The Bolo stories have a good universe but it's done by dozens of authors so the quality is...diverse.
I'm going through my second lap around the Culture books now and they're very hit-or-miss, each for very different reasons.
Dune has a couple really, really good books in it and the rest is an insufferable slog.
>>44923420
Plus he was a real life super spy
>>44921752
No. There is not.
Read Hyperion.
I mean after the obvious Dune, which you can quit after God Emperor.
I am partial to M. Banks, but it isn't one unfolding story, more of a universe illuminated from many angles (all at the fringes of The Culture).
I got halfway through the first Foundation book and stopped. I couldn't stand the super cheesy futurey space names that every character had. Should I just suck it up and try again? Is it really that good?
>>44925909
What's funny is that if you stripped his name off of Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land, nobody would be able to tell they were written by the same person.
My favorite recurring theme from Heinlein books is the main character fucking as many people as possible
>>44921752
The spice must flow young Atreides
Read some Ian M Banks.
>>44923420
He doesn't get near as much love and respect as he deserves.
>>44925894
It depends, largely, upon the quality of the narrator. Personally speaking, I prefer them especially for Star Wars books, as the audio can really enhance the feel you get.
The problem is, if you have a really shit novel like Aftermath, the only thing it does is improve the listenability of the piece -- the novel is still trash, but hey, it's got cool effects...
Dune is a great example of an excellent audiobook with a well-done narrator. Tim Curry also does excellent with the Sabriel series, Dracula, and The Christmas Carol. You won't always get good quality stuff, though, so just be wary.
>>44936034
Audiobooks are often heavily edited for brevity.
If the narrator annoys you there's just no way.
Other than that, awesome!
>>44936050
There's also plenty of unabridged versions available. I can't speak for whether they're edited or not,, but considering many of them run into 23 hours or more, I tend to believe the editing is not something i'll miss terribly or is integral to the story as a whole.
I'd avoid all of John Scalzi's books, though, and everything narrated by Wil Wheaton. They're shit.
>>44925021
The Dune audiobook is decent.
>>44921752
Read the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is about the terraforming of Mars, and takes place over generations. Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars.
>>44923767
Second trilogy isn't really as good in my opinion though.
I'm gonna suggest Revelation Space. It scratches that space opera itch for me.
Watching The Expanse with great interest.
But I hear the novels aren't that great?
confirm/deny
If you like your psychic übermensch produced through illicit sex, you should prolly check out the Darkover series
Dune is shit
Going to jump on the wagon and mention Dune again.
Also, for more recent stuff, just finished reading A Fire Upon the Deep. Now THAT's a space opera. Great sci-fi concepts too in the "Zones of Thought" and man-made gods. Fascinating stuff
>>44936270
You heard wrong.
Some people don't like Abbadon's Gate, though.
>>44921752
>/lit/ is useless
Agreed. What the fuck is up with that board?
>>44936341
Oddly enough the only time I've ever heard this said seriously is from a massive 40k fan.
Asimov, Clark, Heinlein...
Science-fiction is fading but I am glad that there is people who still reading the classics and to see fa/tg/uys have such good taste.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GriOugyGHd8
Foundation has GOAT cover art. You can see Trantor change from cover to cover.
>>44938335
If people are only reading the classics and the mainstream of course it will fade.
>>44938354
>>44938387
>>44938459
Shame books don't get covers like these anymore, they have charm
>>44921752
Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained (and then the void trilogy if you're feeling it).
Wouldn't put it on the same level as Foundation, but it's still a riot.
>>44925607
>suffers massively from Kojima syndrome.
Is he also a massive westaboo and needs to shove references to 80's post-punk and pop into everything?
>>44938482
Makes you want to put Carmen Miranda's Ghost in the 8-track and drive your Buick into the desert for a night under the Milky Way.
>>44938150
/lit/ hates reading and people who like to read for fun. To them, reading for fun is completely missing the point, which is to be known as Someone Who Reads, and living the literary lifestyle.
>>44938542
It's like a weird cargo cult based on the outward behaviours of what they perceive as clever people.
>>44938542
No, /lit/ is just about Literature. It's in the name. Very little sci-fi can be classed as literature, it's mostly about big explosions and cool space ships.
>>44921752
The Culture series by Iain M Banks is good, although it's positively upbeat and optimistic in places, and that doesn't appeal to everyone.
>>44938637
>>>/lit/
Literature
1
noun
1.
writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.
2.
the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc.:
the literature of England.
3.
the writings dealing with a particular subject:
the literature of ornithology.
4.
the profession of a writer or author.
5.
literary work or production.
6.
any kind of printed material, as circulars, leaflets, or handbills:
literature describing company products.
7.
Archaic. polite learning; literary culture; appreciation of letters and books.
>>44938542
kek
I am at a physics university, and most people in my class have some sort of awards and prizes won and so on, definitely clever people. And most of their hobbies are.. ping pong, riding bicycles, football (the one with a foot and a ball, not hand egg) and so on, things generally considered dumb.
>>44938694
There's a clear gap between what /lit/ thinks literature is, and what people actually read.
Sci-Fi and Fantasy authors like Asimov and George Martin are the flicks to Nabokov's Films.
>>44935264
It's really good, but the cheesy future names never stop.
>>44939303
>Sci-Fi and Fantasy authors like Asimov and George Martin are the flicks to Nabokov's Films.
Please don't spread /tv/ memes. The last one that spread was baneposting, and everyone saw how that worked out.
>>44925434
Dude, the illuminatus trilogy is brilliant but he asked for Well-Written. Illuminatus has so many plotlines going on it's very hard to follow and impossible to put down for more than a few days lest you lose your line on the plot forever.
>>44938542
>/lit/ hates reading and people who like to read for fun. To them, reading for fun is completely missing the point, which is to be known as Someone Who Reads, and living the literary lifestyle.
This elitist bullshit sounds exactly like I would expect from a 4chan board. All boards are a bit like that.
>>44939536
Honestly, in dark parts of my heart, i want a board for the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Ghetto part of the bookstore, where we can argue about the merits of Martin while they're wanking to the latest piece by Murakami.
>>44939586
>Murakami
SUCH LIGHT READING
>>44939586
The thing is, when I first read Murakami I classed him as a soft sci-fi/ modern fantasy author. All of his novels I've read have strong fantastic elements and honestly I'd recommend Murakami to anyone who likes Dune or any of the Container Smith stories.
More or less back on topic: none of these are Space Opera, but if you're looking for authors who have some depth to them they're probably worth checking out. These writers are idea heavy and based around the psychological and social end of things:
Samuel Delany. Pretty much anything, but Dhalgren may be offputting if it's the first thing of his you read.
Ursula K. Leguin- The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed in particular.
Theodore Sturgeon - "To Marry Medusa" and "More Than Human" are great.
Alfred Bester - "The Stars My Destination" and "The Demolished Man"
Philip K Dick - Again, pretty much anything, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said and A Scanner Darkly are probably good books to start off with.
Flipping to the other side of the idea heavy sci-fi coin, if you like your sci-fi to basically be thought experiments about the nature of reality and the nature of consciousness, that happen to have plots:
Greg Egan, anything.
Stanislaw Lem, anything.
I've also heard good things about Ted Chiang but haven't read enough to judge.
>>44939536
I dont think that's the case with this board tho. Instead of elitists who dont even play games, we got people who spam anime and dont even play games..
