SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

More and more I'm falling in love with Adrian Tchaikovsky and I'm wondering if there are authors out there who are able to write in a similar balance like he does.

What I'm looking for: authors who write novels with a solid base and emphasis in natural sciences (preferably biology, chemistry or geology) AND are able of lively character writing/ layered interactions.

I often seem to stumble across either one or the other.

Authors I tried but didn't turn out to be what I was looking for are:

Alastair Reynolds
Vernor Vinge
Neal Stephenson
Sue Burke
David Brin
James S. A. Corey

Author that came near was Peter F. Hamilton, (his characters still felt a bit too clichéd)

don't stick with just the sci fi authors - Tchaikovsky also writes fantasy like the Shadows of the Apt series and the one I'm currently reading Made Things which has magic and animated little people made of wood, metal, paper, etc called the homunculus. For the Shadow of the Apt type books, try Django Wexler's Shadow Campaigns series. He's another of my favorite authors

That's correct, CBRetriever, but what I'm looking for are authors who can write like he writes SF. I'm looking for hard natural science in a solid character driven story. I'm not looking for Fantasy in this topic.

Have you tried Borne by Jeff VanderMeer? He's definitely a lot trippier than Tchaikovsky but the bio-focus is there - you can also find it in his Southern Reach Trilogy if you can live without the focus on character.

Also, I recently read To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, this novella should fit your request quite well! Can't say if her Wayfarers series does the trick as well, I haven't read it yet - but it is certainly on my list.

Another book that came to my mind is Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation. It's a short story collection of Solarpunk stories (a new utopian SciFi subgenre), pretty sure there'll be a few stories in there you find interesting.

@Jannik: Thank you for the suggestions. As a matter of fact I couldn't stand "To be Taught ..." ^^' The lets-explain-it-to-the-kids tone of the narrator was really annoying to me.

I've read "Annihilation" as well and "Borne" is on my TBR. Annihilation was more mystery to me and the character take was not as good as with Tchaikovsky - but I certainly loved it.

I will have a look at the short story collection you suggested. Thanks a lot!

Damn, okay ^^
Well, it was worth a try.

I second Jeff VanderMeer.

I have yet to read their other books but Sue Burke - and Audrey Schulman wrote good natural science books with layered characters that have been nominated and won several awards. (edit: just found out you already read Semiosis, but I keep the rec here for other users)

I also enjoyed Kelly Robson's novella Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach which was mentioned in this list: https://www.tor.com/2019/09/09/the-ri...

And I have not yet read it but Nancy Kress' Tomorrow's Kin is about evolutionary biology. Can anyone who read it tell us about the characters?

Thank you, Silvana. Sue Burke is on my didn't-work list, unfortunately. ^^' I will probably read her second book, but only if I can get it on sale somewhere.

I have to look up Audrey Schulman. I haven't heard of her before.

Ah, and thanks for the heads up for the Lucky Peach. It is on my TBR. I have to move it up.

I found Audrey Schulman's Theory of Bastards incredibly good. While it is definitely very biology focused, their writing styles are very different. But I'd be interested in hearing your opinion of it, if you read it!

Try We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (the whole series) - very solid science and exploring alien planets, and you'll never forget the Bobs and their fun interactions! Even my brother and his girlfriend loved them and they usually don't like SF.

How about Paolo Bacigalupi - the Windup Girl? or Kim Stanley's Robinson The Year of Rice and Salt?

Alastair Reynolds did this great online conversation/mutual interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky recently: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/reynolds-t... that I thought you might enjoy watching even though it's a bit off-topic to the question.

@Dawn: the style doesn't have to be similiar to Tchaikovsky, I just need authors who can deliver on both parts: the science and the character writing - and that in a way that I like (:D which of course is quite subjective

@Eva: "We are Legion" is on my TBR I will bump it up. Thanks for the rec.
The audiolink you posted ... I clicked on it, but I have to register and whatnot for it, so I didn't listen to it yet. Yet it looks interesting.

@ C.C.: Thank you! Bacigalupi and KSR are both authors that for me are great on the science side but lacking on the character side of their stories. I've read both of them and they are not what I'm looking for here (but I liked both of them in other terms).

No need to register, you can just log in with google or facebook by clicking on the e.g. google symbol and then you're in.

But in the interview, Tchaikovsky himself recommends Temi Oh (who has a background in neuroscience) and Premee Mohamed (when asked about new authors). And later, he says Gene Wolfe is one of his favorites.

They also discuss why they love diversity in SF, how hard they make their "hard" SF, and lots of other interesting topics.

Eva wrote: "No need to register, you can just log in with google or facebook by clicking on the e.g. google symbol and then you're in.

But in the interview, Tchaikovsky himself recommends [author:Temi Oh|169..."

Thanks, Eva. They are both on my TBR, "Premee Mohamed" has a 2020 release that I've already marked for my list of reads for possible nominations.

I am following this thread closely, because I don't have very many suggestions and would love some more authors like Tchaikovsky.

My only additional idea - did you get to The Island in Strangest of All? That was another of the stories that I liked, and Oleksandr says the whole series is good.

Kaa wrote: "My only additional idea - did you get to The Island in Strangest of All? That was another of the stories that I liked, and Oleksandr says the whole series is good...."

I started it, but then I put everything aside cause I had to dive into "The Doors of Eden". When I'm done with it, I go back to "Strangest of All" - now I'm especially curious about Peter Watts's story.

Similar to Adrian Tchaikovsky is a tough thing to find, besides the Bobiverse books what came to my mind was this trilogy of Novellas Killing Gravity by Corey J. White or if you want more into the sci-fi fantasy direction Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio

Hmmmm characters AND hard sci-fi like Tchaikovsky? I think you’re giving up too soon on Hamilton and Reynolds. Just because the first book you read by them didn’t work out doesn’t mean they don’t have what you’re looking for.

But for some authors in this mode I would try
RICHARD K. MORGAN (“Thin Air” or “Thirteen”).

Maybe VERNOR VINGE (“A deepness in the sky” and “a fire upon the deep”)



No one else is coming to mind right now....

@Leticia: Thank you for the recommendations! The trilogy by Corey J. White is available on my streaming service, so I've put them on my bookshelf there.

@MadProfessah: as I said in my opening post, Hamilton is the closest so far, so there is no talk about giving up on him.

Vernor Vinge was good with a "A Fire upon the Deep", but totally lost me with "A Deepness in the sky", here I had to suppress the urge to skim larger passages, same went for "House of Suns" by Reynolds.

I have to have a look at Richard K. Morgan, though. I shied away from him yet, cause I didn't like the TV series "Altered Carbon" at all - but that's of course not fair towards the author, the books could be a lot better. I will give him a shot.

Thank you for your suggestions!

How about The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin?
Granted Liu's characters are not as vivid as Tchaikovksy's and some of their choices seem odd - especially if you're not too familiar with chinese culture.

Jannik wrote: "How about The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin?
Granted Liu's characters are not as vivid as Tchaikovksy's and some of their choices seem odd - especially if you're..."

I ADORED "The Three-Body Problem" - but indeed the characters are more or less marginal decorations there. But the concept was so damn cool that I didn't care in this case. It is not similiar to Tchaikovsky's approach, but it is brilliant on its own.

Did you read anything by Andy Weir yet? He certainly writes hard SciFi and still has a focus on compelling characters. His stories, however, aren't as fantastic and grand concept as Tchaikovsky's.

Jannik wrote: "Did you read anything by Andy Weir yet? He certainly writes hard SciFi and still has a focus on compelling characters."

I'd love to be a witness to a Gary Rendell / Mark Watney exchange (perhaps, throw in Stefan Advani for good measure). The combined attitudes / nerd power would be delicious.

I still haven't read Andy Weir, no. But his Martian is way up on my list.

Gabi wrote: "I still haven't read Andy Weir, no. But his Martian is way up on my list."

it's way better than the movie and filled with all kinds of science

CBRetriever wrote: "Gabi wrote: "I still haven't read Andy Weir, no. But his Martian is way up on my list."

it's way better than the movie and filled with all kinds of science"

:D I don't know the movie either (I'm the horrible 'haven't-watched-this' person out there), so I can go into it without any preconceptions.

I read Borne, Jeff Vandermeer and I didn't think it read like Adrian Tchaikovsky at all. Not my favorite.

Andy Weir The Martian is smart witty hard sci fi,I loved reading it. Different humor and experience than reading Tchaikovsky.

well, suffice it to say that they skipped a lot of the science in favor of character in the movie. it was good, but I preferred the book.

I also liked Artemis by Weir. Some people didn't like it as much as Martian but I certainly found it to be a good read. I can also recommend the audio version of Artemis, narrated by Rosario Dawson. She really brings Jazz to life.

Gabi wrote: "@Leticia: Thank you for the recommendations! The trilogy by Corey J. White is available on my streaming service, so I've put them on my bookshelf there."

I hope you like the trilogy.
Which streaming service is that?

Jannik wrote: "I also liked Artemis by Weir. Some people didn't like it as much as Martian but I certainly found it to be a good read. I can also recommend the audio version of Artemis, narrated b..."

Artemis was a humorous book, I think that you had not too take it too seriously to enjoy it. I liked it.

Cixin Liu is a good suggestion. Note for Morgan I deliberately did not include the ALTERED CARBON books in my suggestions.

I think it’s possible you might enjoy Jack McDevitt’s Paula Hawkins books. They are nowhere as expansive as Hamilton but the first few in the series(The Engines of God,Deepsix, Chindi) are quite thrilling.

I think some of the “previous generation” sci-fi authors might have some good stuff but often when I read them they seem dated.

@Jannik: "Artemis" is on our group shelf, so I will definitely read it.

@Leticia: it is on storytel

@MadProfessah: Thank you, I will check out the series by Jack McDevitt.
Yes, I have the same problem with older generations sci-fi authors. The ideas are often great but the take on character writing is sometimes so child-of-their-time like that it makes me cringe.

Vernor Vinge - Fire Upon The Deep / Deepness in the Sky
Robert Charles Wilson - Spin
Peter Watts - Starfish etc.

Poor Gabi, she said she tried Vinge in her first post but it's twice already people still recommended it ;p

Gabi wrote: "More and more I'm falling in love with Adrian Tchaikovsky and I'm wondering if there are authors out there who are able to write in a similar balance like he does."

Six-month report Gabi, have you found any other authors that you like, in the same vein as Adrian Tchaikovsky?

I would give Nancy Kress a look (as mentioned by @Silvana). She often writes SF with sciences like biochemistry, medicine, genetic engineering.

How Science Fiction Helps Us Rehearse for the Future:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/geek-life/profiles/nancy-kress-how-science-fiction-helps-us-rehearse-for-the-future

How about Joan Slonczewski or ... who's the other one whose name is similar... Julie Czerneda. They both are (or were) scientists IRL weren't they? I think.
-Julie E. Czerneda
-Joan Slonczewski

I have not read anything beyond A Door Into Ocean, but I am under the impression that they might fit the bill here.

See blurb for Survival: Herself a biologist, Julie E. Czerneda has earned a reputation in science fiction circles for her ability to create beautifully crafted, imaginative, yet believably realized alien races.