Got back into reading fiction again and I love it. Just finished The Martian, and while it was enjoyable there's some lib shit in there that annoyed the fuck out of me. I mainly enjoyed it because I'm a physicist, so I could understand all of the (mostly correct) science and how decisions were being made, and why some of them were so cool. If anyone has any recommendations for more hard Sci-fi (or from any other genres) I might enjoy, either without or with absolutely minimal lib shit, I'd be v v v grateful.
Thanks chapos! :ancom-heart:
anything by peter watts, hardest shit this century
prepare to hate your stupid navel gazing monkey brain, all glory to the neurologically superior space cephalopod collective unconscious
edit: lots of his works are also free
edit2: honestly ted chiang is probably best sf guy because he can actually write, but he leans a bit soft comparatively. also watts has that mad scientist x factor going on
Blindsight and Echopraxia are both just phenomenal. Incredible worldbuilding and also the hardest of "hard" sci-fi (along with some awesome concepts from philosophy as well). I think the series is supposed to get a third part eventually, but I haven't heard anything about it for quite a while now. I'm teaching a low-key "fun" elective course on speculative fiction next year, and I think these two are the first books we're going to cover.
third part's called omniscience, he's posted snippets on his blog before
I'm also a huge Watts fan. Blindsight is his magnum opus, but if OP wants a taste his novelette The Island is excellent. He also wrote some great shot stories, but the only one which name I remember is Mayfly.
fist bump.
after much introspection, i've decided that i prefer echopraxia over blindsight. it's just blindsight introduces all the big batshit ideas that makes watts so fun to read for me.