The book in question is 200 AMSTERDAM by db. I read it, and I thought the approach was interesting enough to share.

Gotta love the irony: build a toy model that learns to loop off an alarm clock, give it a little API freedom, and suddenly the little 💩 starts cosplaying as a human.

That’s actually one of the things I enjoyed about the book. The machines are interesting, but the real comedy and the warning is watching people confidently misunderstand what they’ve built. If anything, the book is pretty fucking anti AI hype. It magnifies exactly what’s already happening in the real world, especially in the job market. People are handing algorithms more authority than they understand, replacing human judgment because a dashboard told them it was “efficient,” then acting shocked when the consequences show up.

AND the scary part was never that the machine became human. It’s how quickly humans started treating the machine like one.

Used to have it, but not anymore.

I don't have much to offer in terms of hints, but here it goes:

The protagonist pilots a small FTL-capable ship in service of a courier syndicate. There are multiple species across the galaxy. Don't remember if humans were a thing, but Earth definitely wasn't mentioned. No space magic or eldritch space monsters.

At the start of the novel, there was a widespread understanding in the galactic community that the local FTL method had a speed limit.

Early on, the protagonist gets offered a do-or-die job by a mysterious, thought to be non-existent race. He accepts, and his ship is retrofitted with a record-breaking FTL engine among other things.

A galactic hegemony is after him for what he is carrying. I do not remember what it was.

Later on, he dives into a gas giant with a corrosive atmosphere to escape pursuit, and once he did he went to do repairs and subsequently discovered that his ship's hull, which was comprised of multiple layers of high-durability metal and energy weapon resistant crystal, had fused into an alloy that outperformed both.

He then used this knowledge a couple books in the future to outfit his faction's fleet with a simpler version, which then allowed them to fight the hegemony in order to defeat... an evil AI? A council of evil politicians? Unsure.

That's about the extent of what I remember, sorry. There was a sequel series, but it was less memorable.

En serio estoy muy impresionado de la respuesta de todos recomendandome lo que consideran buenas historias y que les hacen eco, eso es algo grandioso , no esperaba este tipo de respuesta en Reddit, lamento no haberlo echo antes

Unpopular opinion: the most terrifying sci-fi scenario isn't alien invasion or AI uprising — it's humanity having to choose who gets saved and who gets left behind. What books explore this 'lifeboat ethics' concept well

i've been curious lately to read more of science fiction/fantasy texts featuring the act of execution and the complementary characters and was not able to find any worth a text. so what better place there could be then reddit to connect to the best of the readers.

i know you definitely would have wonderful recommendations!

can't wait for the enticing reading tread ahead!!!

I just started reading L. M. Sagas's Cascade Failure and I'm loving it. In her introduction post on r/Fantasy, Sagas specifically name dropped Firefly, Becky Chambers, and Murderbot, so there's definitely a nexus. Do we have a name for this? I see quibbles about Cozy SF, since there's a lot of violence, but the Found Family theme runs so hard through all of them I can see why that comes up. I think the gritty, "outer rim" feel and adventure aspects important, too, even though these are all taking place in a universe where there's definitely a much shinier, tech-forward, corporate "center." Vis a vis the adventure part, does the Hero's Quest (insert Firefly quote: "big damn heroes") come into it? Perhaps not so much in Becky Chambers's novels. Some of the recent Star Wars ventures (Andor and Skeleton Crew in particular) might also correlate, though Andor doesn't pull the found family/crew thread in quite the same way. Any other titles you would add to the list?

being a curious reader i was looking for some texts featuring the act of execution and similar themes. i m sure you would have some wonderful suggestions.

I tried the TOMT thread but haven't gotten any hits at all. This is driving me crazy! I found this interesting sci-fi book series (or graphic novels?) for sale on FB Marketplace, saved it in a bookmark, and then literally the next day it disappeared.

The series followed a woman traveling in space and I want to say she was a "xenobiologist" or xenoarchaeologist/zoologist or even doctor. The series was illustrated and looked like a graphic novel but I think also had text like prose? The covers were very colorful and the inside was inked like a comic. The woman had shoulder-length blond hair and wore a somewhat tight exploration suit. She reminded me vaguely of Zero Suit Samus but her design was by no means sexual. None of the art I remember looked "conventional" by modern comic book standards. There was a grungy, amateurish vibe to it. More stylistic than realistic. It also had a humorous vibe I think because she looked scared or unsure or confused by the things she came across. Had some kind of word like "Zeno" or "Xeno" in it. The title was definitely not something that easily came to mind. I remember being confused if the title was the character's name or not. There were at least 5 books for sale from the seller and I swore the series had a wiki page so it's not THAT underground/obscure. But goddangit I can't remember the name now that the listing is gone! I really wanted to buy it but was saving up money for the week.

I already ruled out Aldebaran, Wake, Legs Weaver, and Caravan. The art looked waaay different than those.

I saw Daniel Greene's Sci-Fi Reading guide on youtube and I wanted a easier way to navigate the flowchart he made. It starts with Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, and you get recommendations based on the aspects of the book you like! I put all his recommendations into a choose-your-own-adventure style thing and published it on itch io. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Sci-Fi Reading Guide

Hello fellow Sci-Fi Nerds! I am looking for any suggestions for books along the lines of Shaper/Mechanist worlds gone extreme. Cyber-transplantation and creative genetic engineering similar to these videos. Thank you for any assistance!

Hi, can you guys recommend me some books similar to Starfish? I really liked the underwater claustrophobic atmosphere and the weirdo characters, started reading maelstrom - the next book in the series, and it turned out to be nothing like the 1st one. I also loved the Blindsight by the same author, but mostly looking for deep ocean stuff.

Fun Read. Couldn't put it down.

Several years ago I borrowed an audiobook from the public library, enjoyed it, returned it, would like to read/listen again but can't remember the name but pretty sure the phrase is not part of it

.the plot is nothing like the movie Ad Astra, from 2019

.don't know if it's a standalone book or part of a series

.I believe the spaceship was named Ad Astra so the protagonist named the planet they landed on Per Ardua (I might have that backwards)

.I can't remember the specifics, but the spaceship was partly organic? It would shed a little piece as it went along and the pieces would keep in contact. Sort of like a Starlink array but going out into space...

.on the planet were these sticks that looked like just dead sticks but they were alive

.towards the end there's something about a hatch but I don't recall how or where or why it is. It was on a Playaway I think (like an MP3 player) and I would listen to and from work so about 2 hours a day. So I could have skipped a section by accident when I was hooking it up to the audio adapter

Thank you in advance

When I saw the commercial on TV for "The End of Oak Street" my first thought was of a sci-fi book i had read long ago. Don't when it was written, no clue who the author or title was, or if in a series. All I remember was it was sci-fi, I probably borrowed it from the public library, and I read it probably between 1989 and 1993.

What brought it to mind was the part where it was a clean cut and the more primitive part sat down lower. In the book I am thinking of (it could have been a short story or an excerpt in an anthology) the people were dealing with what I think they called elevators or at least that's the way I understood it. There were sections of land and the surrounding sections kept changing- at one point they come across a body of an animal cut in half because it was moving from one section to another as it changed.

Thank you

Hi everybody, I’m hoping to get some other perspectives on my next reads. I’ve decided I wanna jump into Sun Eater and I’m pretty excited for that but realized it’s also fully available on Spotify in the audiobook format which I’ve heard is very well done, but limits the amount of time you can listen per month (so lame). I usually listen to one series on audio while reading something else. I do have Sun Eater on my Kindle so I’m debating doing the immersive read thing or just listening to it over a long period of time thanks to Spotify limits on listening time and reading something else

A couple other series I was thinking of jumping into are the Luna Trilogy and Texicalaan. If anyone has ready either of these, I’d love to hear what you think!

I’m a big fantasy reader and much less experienced in sci-fi but not a total newbie. I plan on rereading Malazan sometime soon throwing some sci-fi in before that feels like a good move.

Thanks y’all!

I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never read Niven’s Ringworld (or any of his books for that matter). In a relatively flooded market with so many good titles, is it worth taking the time to check it out?

EDIT: Thanks for the responses everyone, some great feedback in amongst them. Obviously opinions vary but my take out is it's worth starting with another Niven title first - something like The Mote In God's Eye for example, and taking things from there if I enjoy it. Thanks again.

I just finished all three books of 3 Body Problem, and now I’m craving more.

I absolutely loved the sense of scale, scientific concepts, cosmic mysteries, existential ideas, and I’m looking for books that give me a similar feeling; especially the combination of hard sci-fi + mind-blowing ideas + cosmic mystery + existential dread.

I’m mainly looking for that “I need to sit here and process what I just read” kind of experience.

What books would you recommend?

I just finished the entire Dune series and now I have that horrible “what the fuck am I supposed to read now?” feeling 😭
I’m looking for another sci-fi series/book that I can really sink my teeth into. I loved the world-building, politics, philosophy, religion, huge scope, and the feeling that there was an entire civilisation/history behind the story.
For reference, I read all six Dune books. Children of Dune was probably my favourite, while God Emperor was probably my least favourite. I also thought the ending of the series was a little anticlimactic.
I’ve heard A Canticle for Leibowitz recommended a few times, so I’m considering that, but I’d love to hear what else people would suggest.
I’m open to something completely different too — I just want that feeling of getting genuinely obsessed with a sci-fi world again.
What should I read next, and why?

Preciso de indicações de livros de ficção científica que são livros que tenham histórias com conclusões boas, plots, ecosistemas e várias sub-historias, nos estilos dos livros publicados pela editora Aleph. Quero livros que não podem faltar para quem quer explorar mais o gênero.

It was after aliens had already invaded and they were wiping out the last of humanity. They only decided to wipe us out because we sent military to meet them and thought we were all warmongering. In the end they stopped because they realized that was not true.

I cannot for the life of me remember the author or the title. I have been looking for it for a while now. Any help would be amazing!

I enjoyed the movie so I can't wait to read the book once a get delivered.Can anyone say similar thank you

Terrifying.

It's crazy how so many of these science fiction books predict the future.

Have any of you had epiphanies similar to this one after reading an older sci-fi book?

I heard that the author focuses on big ideas rather than characters, relations and dialogues. Is it true ? Is it still worth reading or it's written poorly? How would you rate the whole trilogy book by book ?

hi all, i have a patron who couldn’t remember a couple of book titles but gave me their synopses (to the best of his ability). here's what i jotted down during our phone call, please excuse its choppiness:

>King wants to throw a party for an inventor. Inventor has made a computer that is advanced enough to be human-like. Press conference with religious leaders. Asks about ethical concerns and for it to be kept secret. At king’s request, there's a party and inventor is invited. Inventor is murdered; extra person at the party; extra person was let in by a priest/friend of the king. Protestant minister dies, rabbi is killed. King did it? Or priest? Protag tries to figure out who the man is and how he got in. it was the computer!!!!

>The second book is about a man who lives in the middle of a cornfield. he hears a voice coming out from behind his bookshelves, and it sends him on all sorts of wild adventures, possibly for the sake of the human race? at the end of the book, the protagonist finds himself behind the bookshelves and now HE'S the voice speaking to someone else (possibly his daughter).

any help is so appreciated, thank you all so much!

Here cause [r/sci-fi](r/sci-fi) won’t accept me.

If the age demographic is anything above 10 years old I’m going crash out. Truly such an INSUFFERABLE main character, he continues to confirm to me that 1st POV books are commonly not good for me personally with a few exceptions Ofcrs. I can’t wait to finish this stupid book. The ‘jokes’ are placed to get a laugh but there’s no one laughing. The scientific explanations can be nice until he brags about being smart.

The main character speaks like a middle schooler not like a middle school teacher. I gel as if he lacks the professionalism required for such an intense dire situation. I can’t with the humour at all (I need to see if humour works in sci-fi, post your suggestions down below). It feels immature and irrelevant to the story.

Here are some of the quotes I’ve found that have irked the shit out of me. The first on is very much up there.

Time for me to use science. All right, genius brain: come up with something!
…I’m hungry.
You have failed me, brain.

—aaaand they’re dead. - I cannot with the elongated a, I get were reading it as if we’re in his mind but it gets to a point.

And if I was in a coma, why do I even have muscles? I should be a withered, spindly mess right now, not beach-bod buff. - I feel like this could have been described better.

“They’re wrong!” I crossed my arms. “There’s nothing magical about hydrogen and oxygen! They’re required for Earth life, sure. But another planet could have completely different conditions. All life needs is a chemical reaction that results in copies of the original catalyst. And you don’t need water for that!” - like I get it it’s his character but I feel like there’s something…maybe it’s the way I read it with the exclamation marks and everything.

I leaned to Dimitri. “Are all Russians crazy?”
“Yes,” he said with a smile. “It is the only way to be Russian and happy at the same time.” - isn’t this racist?

But I have to save humanity first. Stupid humanity. Getting in the way of my hobbies. - I feel like this was meant to be a joke and it did not land.

I put my hand to my chest in mock surprise. “Goodness me! DuBois appears to be black! I’m surprised you allowed it! Aren’t you afraid he’ll ruin the mission with talk of rap music and basketball?” - I get it but it was unnecessary to go in detail with the racial stereotype you could have stopped at “I’m suprised you allowed it!” And if you wanted to add on it could have been like “what about all the shortcomings because of his race?” Or something idk

“You’ve been a bad alien cylinder,” I say to it. “You need a time-out.” - PLEASE NO I CANNOT WITH THIS ‘JOKE’ IT IS NLT FUNNY