I’m not sure what exact genre this would fit into. My favorite book is Exhalation by Ted Chiang (a collection of short stories with The Great Silence being my favorite). I’m not a huge fan of hardcore sci-fi, whose focus it is to really delve into the tech of the world, but rather the philosophical/human impacts of a world different from ours. Thanks!
by detoxsprings
9 Comments
I’m the same as you when it comes to speculative fiction. My friend who also enjoys philosophy in his books was recently recommending me Kim Stanley Robinson. Maybe look at The Ministry for the Future or 2312. But warning I’ve not read these so I don’t know how hard SciFi they get. But I don’t think they’re like The Expanse, etc.
Left Hand of Darkness or The Dispossessed by Le Guin
Kurt Vonnegut if you’ve never read him
Philip K Dick (maybe Ubik or Do Androids Dream…)
XX by Rian Hughes perhaps
Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro
Books in this vein are hard to come by for some reason. It’s the most interesting aspect of SciFi imo. Black Mirror style what-ifs and how it impacts the human condition.
I absolutely loved Exhalation. A few more you might like:
Uranians by Theodore McCombs — a collection of a few short stories and a novella
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel — a novel
Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams — a novel
Try Jo Walton’s Thessaly Trilogy. Athena is running an experiment to allow philosophers from a wide range of times to establish Plato’s Republic. There was a lot of interesting ideas and knock on effects played with.,
ella minnow pea by mark dunn!!
JG Ballard — Concrete Island
We are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker
To be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers
A Half Built Garden by Ruthanna Emerys
To Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer
Recommending anything by Octavia Butler, Bodyminds Reimagined by Sami Schalk, and Criptorok by Louise Hickman
What you want is still usually considered sci-fi, but the gadget-centric stuff is usually categorized as “hard” sci-fi.
Others have suggested Ursula LeGuin and Octavia Butler; I would add Julian May, David Brin, and Connie Willis.
Several people have already recommended Ursula K LeGuin, but my personal favorite that I’ve read (and the least “hardcore sci-fi”) is The Lathe of Heaven. Absolutely amazing book.