I’ve basically been ordered to pick up any fiction book and read, after a friend discovered I’ve not read anything but non-fiction for a decade.
The ones I’ve enjoyed in the past have been short, fantastical or sci-fi (think Aldous Huxley, Ian McEwan), but crucially with amazing first person descriptive prose - the kind where you’re immersed in the writing so much you’re almost there with the character.
I liked sci-fi as the world’s constraints weren’t always predictable. Hope that makes sense.
Any recommendations?
Edit: I’m going to up the ante and, as a way of motivating myself to get off my arse and actually read a proper story, promise to choose a book from the top comment, after, let’s say arbitrarily, Friday 2200 GMT.
Edit deux: Wow ok I don’t think I’ve ever had this many responses to anything I’ve posted before. You’ve given me what looks like a whole year of interesting suggestions, and importantly, good commentary around them. I’m honouring my promise to buy the top thing in just under 4 hours.
Haven’t seen this one mentioned, but The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin might work. I don’t believe there’s a lot of first person, but it’s an interesting read.
IMO this is a wild recommendation to give to someone that doesn’t do a lot of reading.
That’s fair, I had thought op had mentioned they didn’t read fiction, not that they didn’t read at all. Maybe I missed some nuance in the comments, thanks for pointing it out if I did. For all I knew they could be reading Foucault. Enjoyable read regardless, I wouldn’t be discouraged.
Most of the novellas in The Murderbot Diaries are short. If you like the first one, the rest are more of the same. And if you don’t, you only invested a little time.
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.
My pick if it was Heinlein would be my own first of his, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
I have a moon as a harsh mistress rib tattoo of Simon Jester
Anything by Iain Banks.
The Player of Games is reportedly the best place to start but I personally started with Consider Phlebas and can’t complain!
Its not scifi, but Thieves Emporium by Max Hernandez.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin.
The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells is a collection of short books in the first perspective of a cyborg. You might enjoy that.
This is exactly what I came to say.
For something a little shorter and easier to chew through quickly you could check out Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. A short story set in Norse mythology, I remember it being an entertaining read
If you also want some fantasy recommendations:
Malazan book of the fallen is one of my favorites
The King killer Chronicles if you can stand the long wait for book 3 to finally drop is also really awesome
I think I read “The Name of the Wind” in two long sittings, about 12 years ago.
Holy fuck, what a great book that was.
Sadly it has been more than 12 years we’ve been waiting for the next book. 🙁
Hasn’t been 12 years for me but it sure feels that long. I also pretty much inhaled both books.
HAIL THE MARINES!
This year I discovered the Elderling Saga, by Robin Hobb. Starts with the Farseer Trilogy, Assassin’s Apprentice. Great epic fantasy.
As for sci-fi Isaac Asimov’s Foundation is great.
Neuromancer is also a great read, and one of the earliest examples of cyberpunk.
Since you asked for a single book, and you might not be keen on jumping into multi-book sagas, I’d say go for Neuromancer
The style of Neuromancer might not fit well with some people but if it does I would absolutely recommend it.
Read Everworld
If you’re into the sci-fi, you’ll probably like Project Hail Mary, it’s hard sci-fi and you get very invested in the story.
Ray Porter also does a great audiobook narration of it on audible.The time is up. I have a promise to keep.
Thanks for the recommendation!
I hope you enjoy it!
I actually picked it up again after recommending it myself lol
Oh, that’s a good choice. That was a fantastic book.
+1 for a Project Hail Mary that was great
Thirding this. Excellent book. Jazz hands!
I’m going to be upset if they change the ending in the movie, it was amazing
The Mistborn Trilogy (start with The Final Empire) by Brandon Sanderson is superb.
After that initial trilogy they are a massive struggle, but the first three are well worth reading.
I absolutely agree with your recommendation, but man if they’re looking for something short, the mistborn series is the opposite lol
To be fair, they say the previous books they’ve enjoyed have been short… Not that they want to read something short this time! But point taken.
Oh I absolutely agree with you about the sequels as well. I tried reading the one that takes place more of like the Victorian era and just could not get into it
Anything by Octavia E. Butler.
Did she ever finish the earthseed series?
No, unfortunately she did not finish Parable of the Trickster before her death. :-(
I’ve read the first one but I’m not sure I want to read the rest if there’s no closure for the story.
I’ve read both Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, and while you can tell the general arc she was going for with the next book (and can imagine the broad strokes of what would happen next), I never felt there was a lack of closure for the story.
They are emotionally difficult books to read, so it’s also hard to recommend them to people, but I would encourage you to not let the lack of a third book prevent you from reading the first two, they are worth reading on their own merits. The Parable of the Talents especially has significance to the situation in the U.S., as some say it predicted Trump.
I read the first. Just wasn’t sure about the second
Definitely worth reading, I remember it being better than the first book.
If you like Andy Weirs novels, Tchaikowskis books are worth a try. I.e.:
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
