The books should be written to make me think and not to be pure entertainment.
I want to be challenged to interpret difficult emotions and situations, and no only watch from the sidelines for the story to progress.
I have finished and enjoyed so far:
* Children of Time Series (Tchaikovsky)
* Solaris (Lem)
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by DonnieSunset
11 Comments
The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K Jemisin
The Machinery of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee
The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
I mean… Dune. One of the major complaints about Dune is how often it takes a detour into the Atreides Philosophy Hour.
I’ve never read it myself, but I’ve heard Asimov’s Foundation series described in similar terms to what you want.
The Culture series is only loosely a series, but often puts moral problems at the core of the stories. Unsurprisingly, given the author also wrote the infamous The Wasp Factory, but the situations are often difficult… And often, morally appalling.
I’m going to recommend this with a massive caveat that it is absolutely off-the-wall in both style and content, and even I gave up on it after book 2: The Terra Ignota series by Palmer. The narrator is a deeply, deeply flawed man (to say more would be spoilers) who is choosing to write in the style of Voltaire (and some other notable Frenchmen…), despite it being the 2400s, because of his sincere sociopolitical beliefs. What follows constantly ramps up the “what the hell?” quotient. You are constantly being invited to doubt the narrator and come to your own conclusions, often explicitly. But hey, it sure is “written to make me think and not to be pure entertainment.”
The Rifters Trilogy (starting with ‘Starfish’), and Blindsight/Echopraxia, by Peter Watts
For those who enjoy science fiction with a heavy dose of quantum physics and existential themes, ‘Eternal Gods Die Too Soon’ is an excellent read. This novel takes you on an enthralling journey through space and time, offering a unique perspective on the universe and our place in it.
The Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers! They’re entertaining for sure, but they definitely make me think as well
Wayfarers by Becky Chambers
Bobiverse by Dennis E Taylor
I forgot the most famous “loosely connected series of sci-fi books that are really about sociology etc.”: Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle. The most famous are The Left Hand of Darkness, in which an (idiot) ambassador slowly realizes his many mistakes about gender and society, and The Dispossessed, set on a planet and its anarchist moon (and with an unusual structure for a novel).
The Ancillary series by Ann Leckie changed the way I think about language, power, and identity. It’s thoughtful, crunchy, and definitely has the complex situations you’re looking for.
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Three Body Problem/Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy all day every day.
The Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor although I read it as a single book instead of a series