Does that exist?
Feels like every sci-fi book I read that attempts humor thinks pop culture references are a replacement for comedy. A lot of “Hey fellow nerd, here’s this thing I like that you probably do too. Hahaha.”
Looking for books from the past 20 years because I feel like this wasn’t such an issue with older books (or maybe I just didn’t get the references). But I’ll take some older lesser known picks if you have them.
Bonus if the humor is dark.
Thanks very much.
P.S. Mentioning because I feel like it would be suggested otherwise: It’s been a while but I don’t *think* Murderbot had this problem. I read a few of them but really only liked the first one.
by Drawer_Of_Drawings
4 Comments
Yahtzee Croshaw’s **Will Save The Galaxy For Food** is a satire of space pilot heroes that get put out of work due to technological advances.
John Scalzi’s The Collapsing Empire should fit the bill.
The intergalactic super highway that connects habitable planets is going to collapse…but no one will believe the scientists who have figured it out. It’s a very cool take on climate change deniers but I’m not doing any justice to the characters.
You may like books by [Andy Weir](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6540057.Andy_Weir). I’ve read Artemis and Project Hail Mary by him, and there are no pop culture references that I can recall but there were a couple moments that made me laugh out loud.
You’d love the Murderbot books by Martha Wells.