2w ago

In the mood for engineering / competence porn. What are your favourite novels / series?

As an example, I love the Martian, and I think a lot of older books from authors like Asimov are heavily into engineering / competence porn. Other favs in this category include the standalone novel Rendezvous with Rama to leave you wishing for more, most of the Culture series for happy utopian vibes, Schlock Mercenary for humor, Dahak series for fun mindless popcorn.

Edit: I'm so happy to have found a replacement for r/books and the rest of them.

You're viewing a single thread.

105 comments

Do you like protagonists that use their wits to beat a scenario or the hard science more?
For example a fun read that’s, in my opinion, best experienced as an audiobook is the dungeon crawler carl. It’s definitely a good example of the first type. It’s not realistic. It’s literally real life made into a D&D game (LitRPG) it is just one scenario after another of Carl just finding ways to manipulate and play with the “rules” of the messed up game.
If you’re more into the hard science than The Expanse as others have said. Or maybe even the Revelation Space series where it is future tech but relativistic time plays a part. Less of the “one person/group against all odds” but a good read nonetheless.
- More looking for the 2nd at the moment. Though yes I did enjoy DCC and all the other series you mention, I've read them all (well maybe not all of Rev Space, at some point I lost track of the timeline and gave up).
  
  I checked the good reads list of top rated hard science and saw a few items I can recommend.
  Altered Carbon. A fun and intense read. Future hard science. If people’s consciousness could be transmitted/used for interstellar travel kind of thing then the scenarios listed here adhere to their own crazy rules.
  Three Body Problem. First book is amazing. The sequels are good enough but the translations are a little rougher but the story carries through.
  Enders Game. Tactical and hard science aspects to it. Gets more metaphysical later in the series.
  Contact. Absolute gem that I re-read a few years back.
  Ancillary Justice. More future/hard science but worth mentioning in any list I’m willing to put Altered Carbon in. It has a viewpoint and it’s use of alternate societal perspectives (from a society that is uniform in so many ways to organic “ship” drones to questions about what is a person/identity) all wrapped in a great sci-fi story
  The moon is a harsh mistress. A little dated and the way women/people are referenced shows it (much like foundation) but a solid one that is a little more hard science and may be more in line with what you’re thinking of.
  Going over this list I realize how hard it is to find true hard science (Martian) that doesn’t lean into the more future tech but consistent physical laws (Expanse) to way future nano tech or consciousness transfer (Altered Carbon, etc)
  
  Thank you Szeth-nimi! I did enjoy Season 1 of Altered Carbon Netflix, so the books should be worth a look. I fully agree with all your other recs (though I have issues with the character writing in Three Body Problem), unfortunately I've read all of them :D
  And now that you mention it, you're right about how tough it is finding modern-day hard science fiction. I think you managed to put your finger on one of the things I wanted but couldn't verbalise.

105 comments