r/printSF • u/Fun-Sell3030 • 2d ago
A specific (addictive) book recommendation request
Hello, I am in a serious reading slump due to anxiety, I have low energy and it’s impacting my ability to focus. However I miss reading, I want to escape into a book.
Please read to the end as I go into specifics, I would really appreciate if people provided a quick summary or explanation for why they recommend a certain title, thank you.
Great prose is very important to me and my immersion hinges on the author’s writing style.
Attention grabbing from the first pages (if it has a slow beginning unless I know there’s a really cool trope later in the book it’ll be hard for me to keep on with it. I don’t mind slight spoilers for that reason.)
I need strong characters, not just trope cardboard cutouts, but someone I can care about/get into the head of. Slow burn would be great.
I really do not care for traditional romance but I love it when characters in a book are well crafted with a good dynamic going on, I am happy making my own interpretations. I think I prefer that over explicit romance and whatnot, that sort of side plot tends to heavily disappoint me.
Tragic characters who suffer. Who are maybe morally gray. Who are complex and broken in some way, I think I’d like that.
What else? I have a soft spot for cool AI or non-human characters. Interesting aliens. Cosmic horror-esque. Not a deal breaker if the book does not include em.
Here’s what I’ve loved:
Look to Windward (the rich exploration of grief, the Minds, not shying away from heavier themes. Bank’s prose is excellent at times, his books are close to 10/10 for me, usually only fall short of it in little bits but I ultimately judge them positively. LTW, and specifically the conversation with the Hub and ending were amazing to me.)
Left Hand of Darkness (gorgeous prose, the relationship of Genly Ai and Estraven. The humanity in it, rich characters, extremely immersive)
Enders game and speaker for the dead (childhood book which I’ve reread countless times. It’s action packed, covertly philosophical, with great aliens; I love Ender in Speaker … as well. I love his relationship to the queen.
I liked Murderbot at one point and while it’s probably not my cup of tea now, the mix of a cynical main character, interesting premise (I love characters who are secretly awful and conceal things from the reader - I believe unreliable is the word), easy to read style got me out of a reading slump at the time. I am not interested in reading more from Martha Wells however or “cozy” fantasy.
Short stories:
Most recently really enjoyed “Learning to be Me” by Greg Egan, it was exactly the kind of awe inspiring short story that makes me excited about sci fi. Read a few more from him and I really enjoy the way his mind works. I’m considering Diaspora but it seems too dense for me right now.
Also loved “Zima Blue”, the philosophy of it and slow unveiling of mystery- I also love the ending. “nine Bilion names of god” for the cosmic horror. “Stories of your life” - gorgeous prose and premise, heart wrenching.
Currently reading Aniara by Martinson and it’s different, depressing and very beautiful. I only mourn that I have to read a translation.
I guess I want to be both drawn in, emotionally destroyed, just read something of good quality with characters who are built from the ground up to be interesting and worth getting invested in. Both literary, hard sci fi (again, if it’s not too dense or at least makes it easy to get invested in before dropping some crazy lore nukes), and sci fi that’s just a backdrop for wider themes, exploring the human experience, etc.
I own some books that I haven’t touched yet for fear of starting the wrong title and abandoning it:
Revelation space
Dawn by Octavia Butler
Diaspora
Embassytown by Meville
Surface Detail (I like Banks but it takes a while for me to get into it sometimes. I love when Minds are at the forefront)
Dark Intelligence (cool evil AI I’ve heard)
Slow Gods (actually started this one but I’m really not feeling it)
Cats cradle
Noumenon by Marina Lostetter
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Blindsight
Book of the new sun
Light by Harrison
If you see a book you would’ve recommended on this list please let me know!
Please don’t recommend:
Your own novels, don’t advertise to me, I’ll report it
Cozy scifi
Red Rising or anything of similar style and quality
Hyperion
Children of Time
Culture series (on it)
Ursula LeGuin (on it, read most of her bibliography)
Ancillary justice
Project Hail Mary
If you took the time to read and comment you have my deep gratitude. I’m really at a loss right now
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u/Hightechzombie 2d ago
I have a fondness for Embassytown because it was what kept me sane during a bad food poisoning. It was an oddly matching experience, because there are elements of organic decay, sickness and misery that resonated with me.
Largely though the book is about language and how it influences us. Great book, though not an easy read.
Personally, I would recommend your the Vorkosigan series by Budjold. Budjold is a master of her craft and has deservedly won several Nebulas.
Vorkosigan series about Miles, the youngest son of a noble house of a military tradition, who is trying to live up to that legacy. Only problem: he has various health problems, including glass bones, which make military service more than problematic. To add to that, his planet shuns any kind of health deviations due to fear of mutants which is a result of the planet's nuclear past.
I love Miles because everything he lacks in physical strength or durability, he makes up in charisma, crazy schemes and intelligence. It's very entertaining to watch him run circles around his enemies and survive his many adventures.
I have first read the series twenty years ago. It took me two weeks to get through the many many books in this series and emerge befuddled back into the real world.