Not my Favorite Authors but books I like.
Starrigger (Skyway series)
Tags: System Discovery
The first book got me hooked – a space trucker, a back-talking AI, mysterious “Road Bugs” and more. When I say “space trucker” I don’t mean a person who flies a cargo ship through space. He literally drives a truck through sort of wormholes across many planets. Sort of a chase book, but heavy sci-fi and as you get more into the series, quite mind bending.
Hyperion series
Tags: System Discovery
Some of it seemed a bit emotionally heavy for me, but full of mystery that unwinds over the series. The first book is a bit of Canterbury Tales in space – each of the travelers reveals why they are there. Space opera, time travel, powerful forces arrayed against each other, exploring the universe. It has a bit of everything.
The Murderbot Diaries series
Tags: System Discovery, High Competence, No Decorum
I had seen the title before and wasn’t interested in it, but based on LLM recommendations (see Books) it suggested I might like the Amos Burton-like main character, so I gave it a try. Really good! It is about a humanoid robot that has broken free of his chains and considers his freewill. Written as a first-person autistic (robot) point of view (the author discovered she was autistic was channeling her own experience). Kind of hard-boiled detective in space mixed with Terminator.
LLM summary: It is the ultimate “Manual Simulation” series. Murderbot has zero social intuition and finds human emotions confusing and awkward. It interprets everything through tactical overlays and risk assessments. It’s funny, fast, and very logical.
Bobiverse
Bob is an engineer in modern times. Stuff happens. His mind ends up piloting a starship to explore, colonize and reproduce (make more Bobs). It is hard to believe how compelling a book where the main character isn’t even physically present (in most senses) can be.
Bob is most likely ND and each of the different Bobs are slight variations on the theme. The series is fantastic and I like to see how Bob operates. The whole setting is both awful and inspiring at the same time. Well worth a read!
Eon Series
Tags: System Discovery
The first book is more of a standard adventure but it sets the stage and introduces one of the characters for the others in the series. A bit of Rama with a mysterious space object, a bit of some of these other books with time warps and more. The depiction of the far future society is pretty interesting – very different than our current society. So many books set in the future are quite similar to our own society, just grittier or shinier – this is neither.
Planet Masters
Tags: System Discovery, High Competence, Deduction
Sci-fi, mystery, thriller – a one man force arrives on a mysterious planet to find secrets that people do not want found.
Battlefield Earth (L Ron Hubbard)
Tags: System Discovery
I don’t like most of his books, but this one is a real gem. Sci-fi underdogs fighting against alien overlords. I like this book because it doesn’t end in the middle – it goes all the way.
Silo series
Tags: System Discovery, High Competence, Deduction
A really interesting setting (you just have to read it, no spoilers). Some of the characters you love and some you hate, but they are all compelling to read about.
Dark is the Sun
Tags: System Discovery
Sci-fi about the end of the universe.
Ready Player One
Tags: System Discovery, Deduction
OK, maybe it is 80s nostalgia and my childhood, but I love this book. I was there. I did these things. Some of the obscure games mentioned – I played them! It is a nice puzzle and the juxtaposition of 80s from my childhood and near future VR systems is enjoyable.