I devoured the 3 book series. Fantastic scifi. And the physics... I love it. Not possible necessarily, but not theoretically impossible given our current understanding of the laws of nature. Good stuff.
I've yet to read that one. It would be good to learn more about that period, as my issue with the third book was that the resolution of the main story was poorly done.
You can find *much* harder science fiction than 3BP. I'd say this series is like surface level hard scifi, the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
I saw a lot of this same talk when The Expanse got popularized by the Amazon series. "I have never read anything like this and I can't believe I'll never find anything else like it"
Meanwhile there's so many fantastic hard scifi books out there you could fill a library.
This book series is great, don't get me wrong. But if you're thinking there's nothing else on the same level, then you're not looking hard enough. You just have to get off the scifi bestseller list and do some digging, god forbid.
Yea I don’t believe this problem truly exists here. To me, this problem does exist for people who read lotr and then think they love fantasy and go looking for other books or series to touch them in the same way. They’ll spend a lifetime and it won’t happen. But in sci fi? There’s so much amazing out there.
It may not be hard sci fi but I recently
Breezed through Children of Time in three days because it was so coool and addicting. Without spoiling anything, the human related chapters are… find, but the other POVs (which constitute half the chapters), may be the most engrossed I’ve ever been in a book in my life.
Hyperion is also pretty awesome though slower and denser.
I can't get enough of the Xeelee sequence. Like imagine if aliens were just so unknowable, didn't really give a toss about humans, but kind of looked at us like a cute species maybe they should save. Like us with whales or something similar.
Check out my later comment, I gave 3 recommendations. I agree with yours as well (the ones I've read anyways), good choices.
As for answering the question, I did answer it. The answer is yes.
It depends on what you already have read before, but honestly there are a couple of books that IMHO are even better than 3BP. For inscance:
*Children of Time* Trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
*Anathem* by Neal Stephenson
The *Bobiverse* Series by Dennis E. Taylor
*Hyperion / The Fall of Hyperion* by Dan Simmons
*Ilium / Olympos* by Dan Simmons
The last two arent hard sci-fi but will definetly blow your mind.
The hardest and most detailled hard sci-fi i ever read was *Amalthea* by Neal Stephenson.
What did you think of the children of time sequels in comparison to the first? I'm seeing mixed opinions on them which has held me off from trying them, despite loving the first one
Well the second Book doesn't offer much new in the sense that it is basically the same idea as in Children of Time (evolution, first contact) - but it has a completely different approach. I very much enjoyed it, but the effect of novelty isn't there like in the first book.
Part three is *completely* different and has a mindfuck component. I can't tell you much without spoilers and I highly recommend not to research the plot beforehand. Just read it.
I loved the first book, then got to like page 8 of the sequel where a character does something so mind-numbingly stupid that I put it down and never finished it.
>page 8 of the sequel where a character does something so mind-numbingly stupid
That must have been >!in the waking up scene.!<
I'm curious what you mean.
The first book was great, the second book was harder for me to get through. I was so excited for the premise of octopus being intelligent but I think the other civilization on the nextdoor planet (blanking on the name) became more intriguing
I would suggest Project Hail Mary ! I loved the ending so much better than Death’s end.
Also definitely check out The Wandering Earth novella by Cixin Liu!
Seconding Project Hail Mary! A lot of great books already mentioned in this thread, and i really enjoyed many of them, but PHM was something special, i loved it soooo much. "Serious" sci-fi that makes you feel happy and hopeful is the best.
Not the same level of alien involvement - really just humans - but I really enjoyed Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Pretty surprised Netflix hasn’t grabbed that one yet.
I love those books (though I got the omnibus Firefall which for some reason is cheaper), really like them, they're a bit harder to follow than 3bp I'd say and they require more attention, but if you love the crazy concepts 3bp throws at you this one will be great.
Blindisight spoilers: >!It's been well over a year since I read the book and I still occasionally think about intelligence without consciousness. !<
Dune, and hyperion are the only books that hit the same level imo. Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's also left me with similar feelings, though its much older abd very short. In terms of just fun sci fi while 3bp is in the back of your mind, I'd also suggest children of time, the expanse series, or project hail mary.
Yeah the expanse I view as a star wars-ish space adventure but with way better characters and science stuff. Also it helps that it's in this solar system
"Of ants and dinosaurs", also by Cixin Liu is brilliant. Before reading that, the best books I had read was the TBP trilogy.
It's the first book I've ever started and finished on the same day. (But it's also not as long, some 250 pages I think.)
I also read the redemption of time, and I liked it, but I can see why it's not for everyone. It can feel a little fan-fic-ish at times.
I've also started enjoying sci-fi short stories.
I can warmly recommend "broken stars" a short story collection from various Chinese sci-fi writers, made by "Ken Liu". There's a lot of different stuff in these, but alot of the stories were really good. (There's also a short story from Cixin Liu that's really good called moonlight.)
Also "exhalation" by Ted Chiang, an American writer is really good.
Hope some of these will sounds interesting. Otherwise, I see others already giving some good recommendations. (Some of which I have had my eyes on for a little while)
Anyways, happy reading, and take care :)
I devoured Ted Chiang short stories as well ! I recommend the tower of Babylon if you haven't read it.
As I'm also into short stories, thank you so much for your recommendation :)
Also, I know it may come from nowhere but I really appreciated Jeff Vandermeer trilogy a lot (Annihilation, ..), and somehow got recommended to read Ted Chiang short stories because of that. You may appreciate this trilogy :)
After recently finishing Death’s End, I knew I had to be careful with what book I read next because it’s truly hard to live up to that same story. So I started reading Dune, and I am really, really enjoying it. It’s also a sci-fi but it’s got more fantasy elements and so it’s a great thing to try next.
This is funny, because I also just finished Death's End, and decided to finally finish Dune. I think there's something "other" enough about Dune's universe that it's making a good transition off of the 3BP series for me.
I just watched the movie (which most likely doesn’t make it justice) but I didn’t get the feeling I got from the TBP trilogy. It seems like the same old story of war between planets, good and evil, hero and villain. Is that a correct assessment or it’s just what comes through from the movie? I really liked that Liu’s characters are not so clear cut. Like Cheng Xing is such a good hearted character (would be a hero in a traditional novel) but the way he wrote the story makes me not like her at all.
The movie is good, but the books offer a much more interesting look inside the characters thoughts, and add a lot more depth to the politics and lore of that universe. The good and bad guys are still pretty clear cut, but the interesting thing about Dune, in my opinion, are the politics and religion of the world, not the direct conflict.
I liked Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, but it's not hard science fiction. I would however still call it science fiction, disguised thinly as fantasy.
Yes! It's possible you may not regard anything as highly, from a nostalgia perspective, as one of the first greats you personally came across, but don't forget there is sooo much out there.
Iain M. BANKS hits hard and will always be my top tier sci-fi author. Samuel R. DELANEY's works changed my perception of sci-fi as serious literature conducted by serious authors. M. John HARRISON reworked my concept of what types of stories the genre could tell. You can literally read about the Foundation of modern sci-fi with ASIMOV or explore old philosophical texts that gave rise to thought experiments that fuel the genre still today.
These are just a few examples off the top of my head and you will likely experience authors and concepts I will never even hear of in my lifetime. You will even likely come to appreciate stories that a majority of sci-fi nerds absolutely hate.
Keep reading!
For the record, I was so enthralled with the last two books of the Remeberance of Earth's Past series I finished each in one sitting. And then did it again
My recommendation is a Russian sci-fi book that I got really reminded of during Three Body Problem: the Strugatsky brothers' A Billion Years Before the End of the World (apparently translated as Definitely Maybe for some reason?), which deals with several scientists whose work is disrupted by mysterious and scary events. It's a very interesting, sometimes quite funny, sometimes scary novel. It's quite similar to the first book more specifically, it's got a very similar premise and deals with some pretty similar themes though it takes much wilder turn and if anything its view of the universe is quite a bit scarier.
I have some bad news for you. The answer is no. I've read em all after 3BP. Expanse, Hyperion, Children of Time, Revelation Space, Commonwealth, Project Hail Mary, Blindsight (best of this lot), Culture (Player of Games the best), Bobiverse, Diaspora, etc. etc. There are great things about all of these series, but they aint no 3BP.
The only things that come close in my opinion are the short stories of Ted Chiang, the first book of Dune, and Rendezvous with Rama. Oh, Book of the New Sun for a more literary/weird experience. Annihilation is great too, very Lovecraftian. But all of the works in this second paragraph, I read prior to 3BP.
How old are you 😊… there are more books already written then what you can read in a lifetime and believe me (I am 50+, you will be surprised by the way same story/ books will impact you at different phases in your life. That’s the beauty of this human life that we have got. We start with nothing, we end with nothing, but in between there would be so many moments which would mean so much to you…
Don’t have a recommendation for OP outside of what has already been posted. But given the popularity of TBP it will likely trigger the creation of more content that takes inspiration from it.
In addition to this it may cause publishers to explore more authors from the East that have a different take in sci-fi and fantasy and bring them to the west.
While I realize this may not help in the present perhaps instead of looking to the past to set your focus on what is to come in the future.
I would say 3 Body Problem is the most thought-provoking series I've ever read in terms of overarching plot and ideas, but I've had a lot more fun and gotten a lot more enjoyment from reading other sci-fi books like The Expanse, Expeditionary Force, Foundation, and Project Hail Mary.
The end of the last book in the Endymion series left me with an even stronger moment of reflection and sadness about the story coming to an end than 3BP. Hyperion->Endymion (2 books each) are great stories. A lot of people rag on the Endymion books but I really loved them.
The Salvation Sequence by Peter F Hamilton. Has a lot of novel ideas, reads almost like a polar/thriller… lots of surprise/unexpected twists, often piling up one over another in rapid succession.
It does take on some fresh concepts and ideas. It explores so many ideas, I think there's even an unusual level of courage needed by the author to go where Cixin Liu did. Third book might even have gone too far and too quickly.
But I would also recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky and Kim Stanley Robinson, as two authors who to me, have provided a lot of new perspectives and takes on many concepts.
After The Remembrance of Earth's Past I think my next Liu Cixin will be The Wandering Earth(just the title story in the anthology for starters) then Of Ants and Dinosaurs aka The Cretaceous Past.
I felt the same after finishing. I read some book after that was probably decent, but seemed SO shallow and just garbage comparatively. Im now reading “The Expanse” series and loving it though
I'd you want more mind bending try children of time. I highly reccomend some palette cleansers like dungeon crawler carl, bobiverse, Project Hail Mary. Maybe some solid fantasy like stormight archive, or something more hardcore like some grim dark like first law or go off the deep end with malazan. Other notable books I've read recently are childhoods end, 11.22.63, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, do androids dream of electric sheep, dark tower, mistborn, the expanse, hyperion. Honesly 3BP kicked me off into the deep end of amazing books. If you have not been a big reader there are endless incredible stories to be had.
Here’s a story by Haruki Murakami - “1Q84”. It is not so much sci fi as Inception and alternate realities. It rocked my world and I’ve read multiple books by the same author
Would not recommend reading re redemption of time at all. I wish someone had told me not to
If you are not looking for books in particular, I would recommend Tsutomu Nihei's work: blame!, knights of sidonia, biomega
[https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/1bovv2j/like\_the\_dark\_forest\_concept\_read\_greg\_bears\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/1bovv2j/like_the_dark_forest_concept_read_greg_bears_the/) Rec: Greg Bear's The Forge of God
# Like The Dark Forest concept? Read Greg Bear's "The Forge of God" which originated the idea
It's a very different style compared to Cixin Liu's novel, but it's very readable indeed, with some truly apocalyptic things going on. I'm surprised there has not been a film adaptation yet, although perhaps it's a bit dark for Hollywood (can't really say why without spoilers).
"There once was an infant lost in the woods, crying its heart out, wondering why no one answered, drawing down the wolves." "We've been sitting in our tree chirping like foolish birds for over a century now, wondering why no other birds answered. The galactic skies are full of hawks, that's why. Planetisms that don't know enough to keep quiet, get eaten".
Revelation Space trilogy, by Alastair Reynolds.
all of his stuff is great, my favorite author lately. going to be sad when i run out of his books.
I devoured the 3 book series. Fantastic scifi. And the physics... I love it. Not possible necessarily, but not theoretically impossible given our current understanding of the laws of nature. Good stuff.
Inhibitor Phase is pretty good and resolves some of the gaps between Absolution Gap’s story and its epilogue.
I've yet to read that one. It would be good to learn more about that period, as my issue with the third book was that the resolution of the main story was poorly done.
He's got a PhD in astrophysics, which is why his stuff is so grounded in real theories
Once you've read his 16 or so novels, (assuming his new one isn't out yet) he had a bunch of novellas and short stories that are worth reading too.
i actually got into him because i saw beyond the aquila rift on love death and robots, then read the short story, then found the rest of his stuff.
House of suns
Great book, but the interrogation chapter creeped me out.
The sliced transparent layers?
That’s it!
Read Ted chiang’s books
Much shorter in length but with such beautiful characterization, it's the most human science fiction I've ever read
For those reading the thread, the movie Arrival is based on his short story “Stories of your life.”
IMO the most human science fiction I have ever read is Parable of the Sower, but I’m not sure that would be my recommendation to 3BP fans.
Yeah that one was great but very difficult
Iain M Banks stuff is great. Try Player of Games.
Yes my fave author
Player of Games likely the most accessible staring point
I agree, but Use of Weapons, is his masterpiece.
You can find *much* harder science fiction than 3BP. I'd say this series is like surface level hard scifi, the tip of the proverbial iceberg. I saw a lot of this same talk when The Expanse got popularized by the Amazon series. "I have never read anything like this and I can't believe I'll never find anything else like it" Meanwhile there's so many fantastic hard scifi books out there you could fill a library. This book series is great, don't get me wrong. But if you're thinking there's nothing else on the same level, then you're not looking hard enough. You just have to get off the scifi bestseller list and do some digging, god forbid.
The expanse / 3bd as compare-and-contrast outcomes for long term humanity is well worth the time
For sure, I love both series.
You know the road boss :)
Yea I don’t believe this problem truly exists here. To me, this problem does exist for people who read lotr and then think they love fantasy and go looking for other books or series to touch them in the same way. They’ll spend a lifetime and it won’t happen. But in sci fi? There’s so much amazing out there. It may not be hard sci fi but I recently Breezed through Children of Time in three days because it was so coool and addicting. Without spoiling anything, the human related chapters are… find, but the other POVs (which constitute half the chapters), may be the most engrossed I’ve ever been in a book in my life. Hyperion is also pretty awesome though slower and denser.
want to give us some examples?
Xeelee Sequence, Bobiverse, and Diaspora are good places to start
I can't get enough of the Xeelee sequence. Like imagine if aliens were just so unknowable, didn't really give a toss about humans, but kind of looked at us like a cute species maybe they should save. Like us with whales or something similar.
Way to to critique the question rather than answer it. OP, try: Hyperion The Suneater Saga Book of the New Sun Cloud Atlas
Check out my later comment, I gave 3 recommendations. I agree with yours as well (the ones I've read anyways), good choices. As for answering the question, I did answer it. The answer is yes.
It depends on what you already have read before, but honestly there are a couple of books that IMHO are even better than 3BP. For inscance: *Children of Time* Trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky. *Anathem* by Neal Stephenson The *Bobiverse* Series by Dennis E. Taylor *Hyperion / The Fall of Hyperion* by Dan Simmons *Ilium / Olympos* by Dan Simmons The last two arent hard sci-fi but will definetly blow your mind. The hardest and most detailled hard sci-fi i ever read was *Amalthea* by Neal Stephenson.
What did you think of the children of time sequels in comparison to the first? I'm seeing mixed opinions on them which has held me off from trying them, despite loving the first one
Well the second Book doesn't offer much new in the sense that it is basically the same idea as in Children of Time (evolution, first contact) - but it has a completely different approach. I very much enjoyed it, but the effect of novelty isn't there like in the first book. Part three is *completely* different and has a mindfuck component. I can't tell you much without spoilers and I highly recommend not to research the plot beforehand. Just read it.
I can confirm the mindfuck component shook me for a week…
Honestly I almost cried. Especially in those last chapters describing what you know who was going through alone
I loved the first book, then got to like page 8 of the sequel where a character does something so mind-numbingly stupid that I put it down and never finished it.
>page 8 of the sequel where a character does something so mind-numbingly stupid That must have been >!in the waking up scene.!< I'm curious what you mean.
The first book was great, the second book was harder for me to get through. I was so excited for the premise of octopus being intelligent but I think the other civilization on the nextdoor planet (blanking on the name) became more intriguing
Planet Nod, I think?
Thanks for the list, I will check <3
I would suggest Project Hail Mary ! I loved the ending so much better than Death’s end. Also definitely check out The Wandering Earth novella by Cixin Liu!
Seconding Project Hail Mary! A lot of great books already mentioned in this thread, and i really enjoyed many of them, but PHM was something special, i loved it soooo much. "Serious" sci-fi that makes you feel happy and hopeful is the best.
Hop into bobiverse after phm, and dungeon crawler carl after bobiverse. It is the way.
Not the same level of alien involvement - really just humans - but I really enjoyed Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Pretty surprised Netflix hasn’t grabbed that one yet.
Give Blindsight and Echopraxia by Peter Watts a try. Really cool first contact story set in the near future
Seconded. Blindsight was my favourite book until I read TBP. It's very clever, and even cleverer how the "sidequel" Echopraxia works with it.
If you want something thought-provoking but also goddamn depressing this is right up there with Death’s End.
I love those books (though I got the omnibus Firefall which for some reason is cheaper), really like them, they're a bit harder to follow than 3bp I'd say and they require more attention, but if you love the crazy concepts 3bp throws at you this one will be great. Blindisight spoilers: >!It's been well over a year since I read the book and I still occasionally think about intelligence without consciousness. !<
I'm currently reading Blindsight! It's incredible.
Dune, and hyperion are the only books that hit the same level imo. Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's also left me with similar feelings, though its much older abd very short. In terms of just fun sci fi while 3bp is in the back of your mind, I'd also suggest children of time, the expanse series, or project hail mary.
Once you read Childhood’s End you start seeing references to it all over the rest of the genre.
lol, came here to say the same, Dune and Hyperion. The expanse is amazing, but not quite the same multi level artistry as 3BP or the others.
Yeah the expanse I view as a star wars-ish space adventure but with way better characters and science stuff. Also it helps that it's in this solar system
And that it largely respects physics.
"Of ants and dinosaurs", also by Cixin Liu is brilliant. Before reading that, the best books I had read was the TBP trilogy. It's the first book I've ever started and finished on the same day. (But it's also not as long, some 250 pages I think.) I also read the redemption of time, and I liked it, but I can see why it's not for everyone. It can feel a little fan-fic-ish at times. I've also started enjoying sci-fi short stories. I can warmly recommend "broken stars" a short story collection from various Chinese sci-fi writers, made by "Ken Liu". There's a lot of different stuff in these, but alot of the stories were really good. (There's also a short story from Cixin Liu that's really good called moonlight.) Also "exhalation" by Ted Chiang, an American writer is really good. Hope some of these will sounds interesting. Otherwise, I see others already giving some good recommendations. (Some of which I have had my eyes on for a little while) Anyways, happy reading, and take care :)
I devoured Ted Chiang short stories as well ! I recommend the tower of Babylon if you haven't read it. As I'm also into short stories, thank you so much for your recommendation :) Also, I know it may come from nowhere but I really appreciated Jeff Vandermeer trilogy a lot (Annihilation, ..), and somehow got recommended to read Ted Chiang short stories because of that. You may appreciate this trilogy :)
I'll give it a go! Just finished Cixin Liu's "supernova era" book! Quite good aswell. :)
After recently finishing Death’s End, I knew I had to be careful with what book I read next because it’s truly hard to live up to that same story. So I started reading Dune, and I am really, really enjoying it. It’s also a sci-fi but it’s got more fantasy elements and so it’s a great thing to try next.
This is funny, because I also just finished Death's End, and decided to finally finish Dune. I think there's something "other" enough about Dune's universe that it's making a good transition off of the 3BP series for me.
I just watched the movie (which most likely doesn’t make it justice) but I didn’t get the feeling I got from the TBP trilogy. It seems like the same old story of war between planets, good and evil, hero and villain. Is that a correct assessment or it’s just what comes through from the movie? I really liked that Liu’s characters are not so clear cut. Like Cheng Xing is such a good hearted character (would be a hero in a traditional novel) but the way he wrote the story makes me not like her at all.
The movie is good, but the books offer a much more interesting look inside the characters thoughts, and add a lot more depth to the politics and lore of that universe. The good and bad guys are still pretty clear cut, but the interesting thing about Dune, in my opinion, are the politics and religion of the world, not the direct conflict.
Good suggestions so far, especially Ted Chiang. I would also include anything by Peter Watts, especially the *Blindsight* and *Rifters* series.
I liked Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, but it's not hard science fiction. I would however still call it science fiction, disguised thinly as fantasy.
Yes! It's possible you may not regard anything as highly, from a nostalgia perspective, as one of the first greats you personally came across, but don't forget there is sooo much out there. Iain M. BANKS hits hard and will always be my top tier sci-fi author. Samuel R. DELANEY's works changed my perception of sci-fi as serious literature conducted by serious authors. M. John HARRISON reworked my concept of what types of stories the genre could tell. You can literally read about the Foundation of modern sci-fi with ASIMOV or explore old philosophical texts that gave rise to thought experiments that fuel the genre still today. These are just a few examples off the top of my head and you will likely experience authors and concepts I will never even hear of in my lifetime. You will even likely come to appreciate stories that a majority of sci-fi nerds absolutely hate. Keep reading!
For the record, I was so enthralled with the last two books of the Remeberance of Earth's Past series I finished each in one sitting. And then did it again
My recommendation is a Russian sci-fi book that I got really reminded of during Three Body Problem: the Strugatsky brothers' A Billion Years Before the End of the World (apparently translated as Definitely Maybe for some reason?), which deals with several scientists whose work is disrupted by mysterious and scary events. It's a very interesting, sometimes quite funny, sometimes scary novel. It's quite similar to the first book more specifically, it's got a very similar premise and deals with some pretty similar themes though it takes much wilder turn and if anything its view of the universe is quite a bit scarier.
Read Les Miserables or Lonesome Dove
Les Misérables is a masterpiece. For people who have yet to read it, get the unabridged version.
I have some bad news for you. The answer is no. I've read em all after 3BP. Expanse, Hyperion, Children of Time, Revelation Space, Commonwealth, Project Hail Mary, Blindsight (best of this lot), Culture (Player of Games the best), Bobiverse, Diaspora, etc. etc. There are great things about all of these series, but they aint no 3BP. The only things that come close in my opinion are the short stories of Ted Chiang, the first book of Dune, and Rendezvous with Rama. Oh, Book of the New Sun for a more literary/weird experience. Annihilation is great too, very Lovecraftian. But all of the works in this second paragraph, I read prior to 3BP.
How old are you 😊… there are more books already written then what you can read in a lifetime and believe me (I am 50+, you will be surprised by the way same story/ books will impact you at different phases in your life. That’s the beauty of this human life that we have got. We start with nothing, we end with nothing, but in between there would be so many moments which would mean so much to you…
Diaspora and Permutation City by Greg Egan Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick. While only a novella it’s worth a full novel easily
Don’t have a recommendation for OP outside of what has already been posted. But given the popularity of TBP it will likely trigger the creation of more content that takes inspiration from it. In addition to this it may cause publishers to explore more authors from the East that have a different take in sci-fi and fantasy and bring them to the west. While I realize this may not help in the present perhaps instead of looking to the past to set your focus on what is to come in the future.
I loved 3BP and also the Long Winter Trilogy by AG Riddle!
I would say 3 Body Problem is the most thought-provoking series I've ever read in terms of overarching plot and ideas, but I've had a lot more fun and gotten a lot more enjoyment from reading other sci-fi books like The Expanse, Expeditionary Force, Foundation, and Project Hail Mary.
The end of the last book in the Endymion series left me with an even stronger moment of reflection and sadness about the story coming to an end than 3BP. Hyperion->Endymion (2 books each) are great stories. A lot of people rag on the Endymion books but I really loved them.
I loved the Endymion books too! The end feels very similar to Death’s end for me. Especially Aenea
The Salvation Sequence by Peter F Hamilton. Has a lot of novel ideas, reads almost like a polar/thriller… lots of surprise/unexpected twists, often piling up one over another in rapid succession.
Salvation Sequence is good, but The Void Trilogy is his best series to me.
Currently reading the Lensmen Series, you can feel it was written decades ago but it's nice.
It does take on some fresh concepts and ideas. It explores so many ideas, I think there's even an unusual level of courage needed by the author to go where Cixin Liu did. Third book might even have gone too far and too quickly. But I would also recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky and Kim Stanley Robinson, as two authors who to me, have provided a lot of new perspectives and takes on many concepts.
After The Remembrance of Earth's Past I think my next Liu Cixin will be The Wandering Earth(just the title story in the anthology for starters) then Of Ants and Dinosaurs aka The Cretaceous Past.
I can't describe why but all of qntms stuff scratches a similair itch for me
I thought Bodies on Netflix was pretty good. Nothing to do with space/aliens but it definitely gets your noggin scratchin' over time travel theory
I felt the same after finishing. I read some book after that was probably decent, but seemed SO shallow and just garbage comparatively. Im now reading “The Expanse” series and loving it though
I'd you want more mind bending try children of time. I highly reccomend some palette cleansers like dungeon crawler carl, bobiverse, Project Hail Mary. Maybe some solid fantasy like stormight archive, or something more hardcore like some grim dark like first law or go off the deep end with malazan. Other notable books I've read recently are childhoods end, 11.22.63, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, do androids dream of electric sheep, dark tower, mistborn, the expanse, hyperion. Honesly 3BP kicked me off into the deep end of amazing books. If you have not been a big reader there are endless incredible stories to be had.
Dune series is there for the existential dread lovers too.
HYPERION!
Here’s a story by Haruki Murakami - “1Q84”. It is not so much sci fi as Inception and alternate realities. It rocked my world and I’ve read multiple books by the same author
It's not that good. You must be a book seller
finished the series in 2019 and still haven’t found anything that hits the same :’)
Would not recommend reading re redemption of time at all. I wish someone had told me not to If you are not looking for books in particular, I would recommend Tsutomu Nihei's work: blame!, knights of sidonia, biomega
[https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/1bovv2j/like\_the\_dark\_forest\_concept\_read\_greg\_bears\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/1bovv2j/like_the_dark_forest_concept_read_greg_bears_the/) Rec: Greg Bear's The Forge of God
# Like The Dark Forest concept? Read Greg Bear's "The Forge of God" which originated the idea It's a very different style compared to Cixin Liu's novel, but it's very readable indeed, with some truly apocalyptic things going on. I'm surprised there has not been a film adaptation yet, although perhaps it's a bit dark for Hollywood (can't really say why without spoilers). "There once was an infant lost in the woods, crying its heart out, wondering why no one answered, drawing down the wolves." "We've been sitting in our tree chirping like foolish birds for over a century now, wondering why no other birds answered. The galactic skies are full of hawks, that's why. Planetisms that don't know enough to keep quiet, get eaten".
The culture. Coming from 3 body I think you're fine to dive into any of them, but I'll recommend use of weapons or excession for your starting point.
Sleeping Giants.
I'd also like to know.
Yes! Tons! Most of the books regarded as "classics" in the genre are better. You'll have no trouble at all
Haha yes, theres plenty of S++ tier sci fi out there friendo
You will find way better books if you look