recommendation pls

I am tired of post apocolyse, space operas, over technological or military sci fi. im looking for a sci fi novel that doesn't add to my depression, something with perhaps some hope. Is such a book possible today?

>1 cindydavid4: Try some of Becky Chambers' stuff - beautifully written, and - I think - hopeful.

Gamechanger has a nice level of hopepunk. Song for a New Day might hit the spot. And have you read the Murderbot books?

Agreed on the Becky Chambers books for sure! The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet for starters or A Psalm for the Wild-built. And also agreed on Murderbot! A Song for a New Day has a post pandemic setting but it still fits the bill if that doesn't turn you off. There's also some novellas or collections like Binti (and other Nnedi Okorafor books) or How Long 'Til Black Future Month Maybe too close to a space opera but You Sexy Thing is very reminiscent of Becky Chambers to me at least.

>1 cindydavid4: Perhaps try Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon? And I wouldn't rule out space operas as a whole. Most of them have lots of struggle, but many have upbeat overall messages & endings.

Maybe Desolation Road and Ares Express. Despite the dark-sounding titles, these are sort of buoyantly adventurous novels set on a far-future terraformed Mars.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ... but then, is it actually hopeful? I'm not sure.

>1 cindydavid4: Have you read Cherry's Foreigner series? Yes, it's a bit complicated but Bren is eternally hopeful and always working toward the goals of improving things. Maybe too much tea drinking tho...? ;)

How about Jo Walton? My Real Children is a quietly amazing story of a woman living two lives in parallel. Among Others is also excellent.

Maybe try Cory Doctorow if you're in the mood for some nerdy SF?

>2 SChant: I rather bounced off the first Chambers book as I found it a bit too twee. I'm clearly in the minority though as many people seem to love it.

>3 Aquila: I really enjoyed A Song For a New Day. Though it is post-apocalyptic, who can dislike a story featuring a post-punk one-hit-wonder rock star living hand-to-mouth in a post-pandemic dystopia? I thought the Murderbot books were pretty fun too.

>4 Casablancastr: How Long 'Til Black Future Month? is an excellent collection. So is Nalo Hopkinson's Falling In Love With Hominids, and Sarah Pinsker's Sooner Or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea. And then there is Tiptree's Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, probably my favorite collection of all time.

>5 rshart3: This is a good rec, IMHO. I loved Remnant Population. The side characters were caricatures, (possibly intended?), but the protagonist was a delightful surprise.

>6 paradoxosalpha: I haven't read either of those but I have yet to experience a bad Ian McDonald book.

>7 Cecrow: hee I have the 6 volume set and just read them a few weeks ago. yes its hopefull or as much as sci fi can be I suppose

I'm going to suggest Cyber-Mage; while it's post-apocalyptic, it does offer a side-ways view that looks like hope, and it's fun.

>8 ScoLgo: How Long 'Til Black Future Month

love the author, and that collection. Unfortunately we usually dont read collections, but all the ones you listed look great and might just read them for myself

Thanks for all the ideas folks. Gonna check out remnant population and cyber-mage

Have you read The Martian by Andy Weir? I suppose it's a bit techy, but more sciency really.

Yes we did and loved it! Havent tried his new one, haven't heard much good about it.

K. B. Wagers has some really good books. The first series starts with Behind the Throne about a gunrunner princess. The other series starts with A Pale Light in the Black about a sort of space coast guard mixed with an x-games sort of competition. Both series are character-driven with some good action.

>13 cindydavid4: I've heard a ton of good things about Project Hail Mary and I thought it was great. My wife enjoyed it too and she is not a fan of scifi.

I don't know if you're okay with reading YA (well, teen protagonists as much as the genre). I really enjoyed Charlie Jane Anders's Victories greater than death, where it turns out that a teenager is really a clone of a famous alien, and her talents are needed for an intergalactic war. Parts of the book are almost joyful, I'd say. It's also entertaining and space opera in the present day.

Please report back on how much you liked the books you read! (I couldn't get into Cyber Mage but I did like Djinn City, for example.)

>1 cindydavid4: If I'm allowed to suggest my book, I think it checks all the boxes.

hi all, its been a while, wanted you to know that I put several of these on our possible list of reads for the coming year! thanks so much for your help!

>18 cindydavid4: Welcome!

>18 cindydavid4: Happy reading!

>13 cindydavid4: Project Hail Mary is a giant step better than The Martian: 1) The author has fortunately grown past his reflexive hyping of nuclear power; I don't mind pro-nuclear SF plot elements as such as long as the author gets the facts straight, but The Martian contains way too many howler errors on nuclear anything. 2) As a longtime SF reader, Hail Mary's plot is one I haven't seen before and is sustained beautifully by brief explanations throughout the book; it's a thoroughly great read. Go for it.

Yay, thanks!