Bonus points for any books you believe are classics from that time period. Any language, but only fiction please.
I’m really excited to see what Lemmy has.
- Greg Egan
- Rudy Rucker
- Vernor Vinge
Hard, computational SF aren’t given nearly the respect they should, and these apply math, comp sci, and physics in a way nobody else does. If there’s any civilization in the future, they’ll be seen as visionary.
Runners-up are Robert L. Forward, Alastair Reynolds, but Forward has very little computation, and Reynolds doesn’t show his math too often.
Reynolds sometimes lacks a touch on the human side of his work. That being said, I’ve not read much of his more recent novels so he might have matured since finishing his 10 year contract.
Haven’t read Egan or Rucker, so I can’t speak to them. Vinge had amazing ideas that still pop into my head from time to time, but I couldn’t get into his writing style; he never really pulled me in, despite how much I wanted to bet pulled in.
I couldn’t finish a Deepness in the Sky. It didn’t seem like the sci-fi was important - it was just a setting.
Reading Egan is like getting a PHD in mathematics and a PHD in quantum physics, then going to Burning Man and doing 18 hits of acid.
Strongly agree about Reynolds and VInge.
Some of Rudy’s books are free, and they will blow your minds. Software, etc. and Postsingular as “what technology can do to us”, and White Light as “how does infinity work in a story context”; he also has a couple non-fiction books on infinity.
