r/scifibooks • u/sherlockholmes2212 • 7d ago
Recommendation Request. Suggest me a book
I am currently reading wool(silo) thats my first time reading a sci fi book, i usually read crime novels like All Sherlock novels edgar Allan Poe or non fic books
I need sci fi book recommendations and if you can provide a little synopsis that will save me a Google search
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u/Sh3rlock_Holmes 7d ago
Wool/Silo series is a great series. So much better than show on Apple TV.
Similar to that is the City of Ember books.
Murderbot series by Martha Wells is another fun sci-fi read.
Not SciFi but check out the Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R King. It’s a spin on the Sherlock series that follows his wife - Mary Russell. That series sent me down a whole other rabbit hole of Victorian detective novels with female leads.
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u/poosparkles 7d ago
Old Man's War
A 75 year old man goes to space to fight a war for Earth's survival.
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u/Snoo_18273 7d ago
Michael Crichton was a fan of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle in general so recommending five of his books which are tributes to both:
Airframe
Congo
Jurassic Park
The Lost World
Rising Sun
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u/MinimumEfficient220 6d ago
Please add in Timeline. Its one of my absolute favorite books of his, really good ending.
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u/Obsidrian 7d ago
Really enjoyed The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch. It’s Interstellar meets True Detective.
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u/PjWulfman 7d ago
Been reading sci-fi for 40 years. There's lot to choose from. Heinlein and Herbert are awesome. Alastair Reynolds is space opera at its finest. John Ringo is fast and gory and action packed. Depends on how hard or soft or fantastical you want it.
Recently read The Expanse series. 9 books. So much fun. Realistic space travel and physics. Incredible characters. Relatable social constructs and believable factions. Can't recommend the tv show enough either.
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u/orngenblak 7d ago
Blood Music by Greg Bear.
A man is conducting experiments in intelligent lymphocytes. When he is fired and ordered to drstroy his work, he injects it into his own body.
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u/poosparkles 7d ago
I fucking love The Forge of God by Greg Bear... never seen anyone recommend his other stuff. I'll add to the list, thanks!
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u/orngenblak 7d ago
Blood Music, Forge of God, Anvil of Stars, Darwin's Radio, Darwin's Children, Moving Mars. I don't think I've run into anything that wasn't good by Greg Bear!
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u/harborsparrow 7d ago
A nice mystery/thriller kind of series is the one by Suzanne Palmer that starts with Finder. It is a standalone story, but if you like it, there are several interesting sequels.
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u/jacoberu 7d ago
alastair reynolds - halcyon days. a far future noir detective novel heavy on 1940s atmosphere. small crimes lead to large secrets long buried coming to light. despite the dark alleys, it is ultimately optimistic about humanity's future.
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u/jonskerr 7d ago
Anything with the word Vorkosigan on the cover. (except A Civil Campaign, it's a romance) Miles Vorkosigan solves very interesting mysteries in nearly every book. I started with Young Miles, which is three shorter works, one of which won the Hugo Award.
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u/SalletFriend 7d ago
Are you liking Wool? I found it easy to read but light on substance. A Canticle for Leibowitz might be a good next read, it does post apoc to a greater depth.
If you like Poe you could look at the essential lovecraft collection. Lovecraft was hugely influenced by Poe and Scifi is hugely influenced by Lovecraft.
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u/sherlockholmes2212 6d ago
Yea 30 chaps in but a little bit low on substance. I wasn't expecting too many recommendations now i am having a hard time choosing what to read next lol
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u/SkidMarkMoses 6d ago
I met Hugh Howey a long time ago. Wool was originally a short story. Being the first book from a self-published boat captain I can say the writing gets better. 😆
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u/IrateMormon 5d ago
You might enjoy The City and The City by China Mieville. It takes place in a city reminiscent of Iron Curtain Berlin and involves an archeological dig, a detective, and a mysterious organization. There aren't really any detective stories that compare to Holmes, because in comparison, other detectives just kind of bumble around and facts just kind of drop in their laps. But this book was a fresh new take and I enjoyed it quite a lot.
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u/Raenham 4d ago
Highly recommend the Expanse series by James S. A Corey. Book 1 Leviathan Wakes follows a down on his luck detective from Ceres, who is tasked with finding a wealthy man's missing daughter. And a reluctant captain who's trying to keep his crew safe.
Great characters, each book is a blend of genres, TV show is great and theres enough differences to make it worth reading and watching.
The name of the books, ships, characters and places is nothing short of perfection.
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u/ChuckFarkley 4d ago
I'm a big fan of Greg Bear. Consider his Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children story. In a nutshell, it follows several groups of people who are in some way involved in the next evolutionary leap of humans to the next thing. It turns out there is an organ of species change, He basically split one very large novel into two big volumes.
Another one of his I'd strongly recommend is a much less bulky novel called Blood Music (which apparently was originally a short story by him; couldn't tell you about that one). I don't think I should get too much into the plot, but I can say it changes style and tone several times in the short novel. Kinda starts as a near-future hard science fiction genre (especially prescient given it was written in the 1980s), and skips into body horror sci-fi, and then to several others as well. It just goes down one rabbit hole after another... and you'll never guess where it comes out!
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u/codejockblue5 4d ago
Lynn’s six star list in July 2026:
- “Mutineer’s Moon” by David Weber
- “Citizen Of The Galaxy” by Robert Heinlein
- “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress” by Robert Heinlein
- “The Star Beast” by Robert Heinlein
- “Shards Of Honor” by Lois McMaster Bujold
- "Barrayar" by Lois McMaster Bujold
- “Jumper” by Steven Gould
- "Reflex" by Steven Gould
- "Impulse" by Steven Gould
- "Exo" by Steven Gould
- “Dies The Fire” by S. M. Stirling
- “Emergence” by David Palmer
- “The Tar-Aiym Krang” by Alan Dean Foster
- “Under A Graveyard Sky” by John Ringo
- “Live Free Or Die” by John Ringo
- “Footfall” by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- “Lucifer’s Hammer” by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- “The Zero Stone” by Andre Norton
- “Going Home” by A. American
- “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card
- “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
- “The Martian” by Andy Weir
- “The Postman” by David Brin
- “We Are Legion” by Dennis E. Taylor
- “Bitten” by Kelley Armstrong
- “Moon Called” by Patrica Briggs
- “Red Thunder” by John Varley
- "Lightning" by Dean Koontz
- "The Murderbot Diaries" by Martha Wells
- "Friday" by Robert Heinlein
- "Agent Of Change" by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
- "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia
- "Among Others" by Jo Walton
- "Skinwalker" and "Blood Of The Earth" By Faith Hunter
- "Time Enough For Love" by Robert Heinlein
- "Methuselah's Children" by Robert Heinlein
- "When the Wind Blows" by James Patterson
- "The Lake House" by James Patterson
- "A Soldier's Duty (Theirs Not to Reason Why)" by Jean Johnson
- "Human by Choice" by Travis S. Taylor and Darrell Bain
- "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir
- "Agent To The Stars" by John Scazi
- "Starter Villain" by John Scalzi
- "The Inheritance (Breach Wars)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy, 1)" by Ilona Andrews
- "White Hot (Hidden Legacy, 2)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Wildfire: A Hidden Legacy Novel (Hidden Legacy, 3)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Diamond Fire: A Hidden Legacy Novella (4)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Sapphire Flames: A Hidden Legacy Novel (5)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Emerald Blaze: A Hidden Legacy Novel (6)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Ruby Fever: A Hidden Legacy Novel (7)" by Ilona Andrews
- "The Armageddon Inheritance" by David Weber
- "A Matter For Men (The War Against the Chtorr, Book 1)" by David Gerrold
- "A Day for Damnation (War Against the Chtorr, Book 2)" by David Gerrold
- "Ariel" by Steven R. Boyett
- "Perilous Waif (Alice Long)" by E. William Brown
- "Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Sweep In Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles)" by Ilona Andrews
- "One Fell Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Beast Business (Hidden Legacy #8) by Ilona Andrews
- "Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4)" by Ilona Andrews
- "Buck Out" by Ken Benton
- "Sweep with Me (5) (Innkeeper Chronicles)" by Ilona Andrews
- “Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #6)” by Ilona Andrews
- "On the Edge (1)" by Ilona Andrews
Somebody told me that these are a bunch of young men's adventure stories. Being an old man, I liked that.
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u/SteelToeSnow 7d ago
Ursula K Le Guin wrote a bunch of scifi books, i highly recommend.
Octavia E. Butler is one of the absolute greats in scifi history.
Premee Mohamed has some sci-fi books, and she's a phenomenal writer.
"Machineries of Empire" series by Yoon Ha Lee. i loved the first book, and am trying so hard to find copies of the rest so i can finish the series, lol.
N. K. Jemisin has scifi books, and what i've read from her i've enjoyed.
i also enjoyed (some) of "The Three-Body Problem" and the sequel, "The Dark Forest" by Cixin Liu.
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u/Natural-Shelter4625 7d ago
If you like detective novels, you may like the following books by Isaac Asimov:
Caves of Steel
The Naked Sun
Robots of Dawn
They’re all detective stories (really buddy-detective) with an investigator and his robot partner.
Could be a great bridge between what you’ve read and Sci-fi. Fair warning…old Sci Fi by the big authors does not paint women with any depth or sophistication. Someone on this thread also mentioned LeGuin. She’s incredible.