You may need to define your requests a little more, but…
The Last Legionary Quintet by Douglas Hill is entertaining, action-filled and pretty straight in its plot, being a classic “Someone killed my planet, Imma gonna kick their asses to orbit and back!” kind of thing.
*Young Legionary, Galactic Warlord, Deathwing Over Venyaa, Day Of the Starwind, Planet Of The Warlord.*
Paramedic229635 on
The Jacques McKeown series by Yahtzee Croshaw – An unemployed star pilot tries to get by in a universe where transporters are a thing. The first book in the series is Will save the galaxy for food.
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Caleb_Trask19 on
Membranes by Ta-wei Chi
Caleb_Trask19 on
Membranes by Ta-wei Chi
Caleb_Trask19 on
Membranes by Ta-wei Chi
Hatherence on
Here’s some I have liked.
* We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker. Sci fi set in the near future so it is in a fully realistic setting except for the science fictional technology the book is about.
* Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. A lot of people who aren’t avid readers really like this book.
* There And Back Again by Pat Murphy. This is a young adult/middle grade book which is The Hobbit, but in space. It introduces a lot of concepts commonly used in the sci fi genre which books aimed at adults will often assume you already know and not explain.
* The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. An older classic. It’s fairly short.
* Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse. This book, as well as some other things the author wrote, is in the public domain so you can [find it online free](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25579).
* Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Sci fi fantasy that a lot of people who don’t read much, or don’t read sci fi much, tend to like. First in a series.
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi and A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
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KingBretwald on
*Catfishing on Catnet* by Naomi Kritzer basically takes place in our modern world. The SF element is a sentient computer programme. So in that way it’s easy to follow because you only have one SFnal aspect to assimilate. Is that what you’re looking for?
mikdaviswr07 on
Stanislaw Lem – The Star Diaries
Larry Niven – Ringworld
Robert A. Heinlein – Stranger In A Strange Land
Philip K. Dick – UBIK
J.G.Ballard – High Rise
Thank you.
floorplanner2 on
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
When I’m introducing someone to sci fi I often suggest The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It’s a wonderful use of time travel and has a very easily followed plot and characters
jayhawk8 on
It’s not really thought of as sci-fi but Jurassic Park is sci fi, is easily understandable, and absolutely rips along.
Available_Standard55 on
Does The Martian count? I’m not into the genre, but really enjoyed this one.
kiwisnyds on
The Murderbot Diariea by Martha Wells. First book is called All Systems Red. Short, fast paced, easy to ready.
brusselsproutsfiend on
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
darth-skeletor on
Expanse
Ringworld
BenPsittacorum85 on
I rather liked some of the robot & foundation books by Asimov, the Clone Republic series by Steven Kent, and the Vatta’s War series by Elizabeth Moon.
24 Comments
You may need to define your requests a little more, but…
The Last Legionary Quintet by Douglas Hill is entertaining, action-filled and pretty straight in its plot, being a classic “Someone killed my planet, Imma gonna kick their asses to orbit and back!” kind of thing.
*Young Legionary, Galactic Warlord, Deathwing Over Venyaa, Day Of the Starwind, Planet Of The Warlord.*
The Jacques McKeown series by Yahtzee Croshaw – An unemployed star pilot tries to get by in a universe where transporters are a thing. The first book in the series is Will save the galaxy for food.
[deleted]
Membranes by Ta-wei Chi
Membranes by Ta-wei Chi
Membranes by Ta-wei Chi
Here’s some I have liked.
* We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker. Sci fi set in the near future so it is in a fully realistic setting except for the science fictional technology the book is about.
* Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. A lot of people who aren’t avid readers really like this book.
* There And Back Again by Pat Murphy. This is a young adult/middle grade book which is The Hobbit, but in space. It introduces a lot of concepts commonly used in the sci fi genre which books aimed at adults will often assume you already know and not explain.
* The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. An older classic. It’s fairly short.
* Star Surgeon by Alan E. Nourse. This book, as well as some other things the author wrote, is in the public domain so you can [find it online free](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25579).
* Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Sci fi fantasy that a lot of people who don’t read much, or don’t read sci fi much, tend to like. First in a series.
* [There’s a previous post](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/1e22s63/covert_sci_fi/) where someone asks for sci fi which doesn’t have overwhelmingly present sci fi elements. This isn’t exactly the same as what you are asking, but you might like it.
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi and A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
[deleted]
*Catfishing on Catnet* by Naomi Kritzer basically takes place in our modern world. The SF element is a sentient computer programme. So in that way it’s easy to follow because you only have one SFnal aspect to assimilate. Is that what you’re looking for?
Stanislaw Lem – The Star Diaries
Larry Niven – Ringworld
Robert A. Heinlein – Stranger In A Strange Land
Philip K. Dick – UBIK
J.G.Ballard – High Rise
Thank you.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
A bit old-fashioned, but still very readable: [The Space Trilogy](https://www.cslewis.com/uk/books/hardcover/the-space-trilogy-out-of-the-silent-planet-perelandra-and-that-hideous-strength/9780007528417/) by C.S. Lewis
The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula Le Guin
On Basilisk Station by David Weber
Check out the author Blake Crouch
When I’m introducing someone to sci fi I often suggest The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It’s a wonderful use of time travel and has a very easily followed plot and characters
It’s not really thought of as sci-fi but Jurassic Park is sci fi, is easily understandable, and absolutely rips along.
Does The Martian count? I’m not into the genre, but really enjoyed this one.
The Murderbot Diariea by Martha Wells. First book is called All Systems Red. Short, fast paced, easy to ready.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
Expanse
Ringworld
I rather liked some of the robot & foundation books by Asimov, the Clone Republic series by Steven Kent, and the Vatta’s War series by Elizabeth Moon.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov