The Sword and Laser discussion

I just saw Europa Report, and I think I'm in love. It was great to see a pretty low-fi move about such big events (planetary exploration). Also, there are no "evil" scientists and the pursuit of scientific discovery is cheered and not "misguided."
I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for novels that feature planetary explorers? I can think of Red Mars, but I was also thinking more along the lines of Sphere (although in that case, it was under the ocean). I'm sure there are others, I just can't think of any.

Obviously, Arthur C. Clarke's classic of the genre (book and film): 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also his Rendezvous with Rama, although technically it's a giant generational ship. Alastair Reynolds' Pushing Ice treads similar ground.

Ursula LeGuin's classic The Left Hand of Darkness.

Some more good suggestions on this list: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/12...

There's more of this stuff in older SF, especially in short fiction.
Few dare to write book-length stories about science anymore.
Egan would be an obvious exception but his topics are usually quite a bit deeper.
Bova is notable for having written a whole series on the very topic at hand (exploration of the Solar System).

Clarke and Robinson would be other obvious recommendations.
But while LeGuin and Reynolds are great, the former is not very interested in science while it is usually merely background for the latter's books.
And the less said about anti-science authors who defile the genre, the better.

So my main recos would be: do check out Bova and explore the decades short fiction which are arguably the true legacy of the genre!

/drive-by

Ricardo wrote: "I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for novels that feature planetary explorers?"

Despite the inclusion of execrable Sphere (which isn't a planetary exploration story anyway), I assume you mean things that are more along the lines of Hard Science Fiction rather than Planetary Adventure.

So more Rendezvous with Rama than Princess of Mars, yes?

Something like Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein, perhaps.

Hurricane Moon by Alexis Glynn Latner.

The Songs Of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke.

Mars Crossing by Geoffrey A. Landis.

I second, or third, the suggestions of Ben Bova's Grand Tour books. Check out the chronological order on his webpage first as some of them are parts of mini story arcs that you need to read in order.

Stephen Baxter wrote a few -- Voyage (which is a weird kind of alternate history), Titan (which is kind of grim and depressing) and Moonseed (which answers the question: What if we had to go to the Moon RIGHT NOW?!?). All are hard SF nuts & bolts primarily based on Apollo program-level technology.