Has anyone read any good modern fantasy/sci-fi?

Hey duders,

I'm trying to get back into reading again. As a young boy, reading was my all time favourite hobby. I never had my nose out of a book. I'm trying to break the habit of being obsessed with screens (As when I get home from work, I sit in front of my laptop from for to ten almost every day)

Growing up, I loved Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Abhhorsen, anything by Garth Nix, Philil Pullman, Gaiman- basically any of the big fantasy worlds :)

If anyone has any ideas for some good modern fantasy/SF, please leave me your recommendations here, aswell as a little explanation as to why you like it so much. I got the Red Rising book already, as a guy on my main podcast really rates it.

Thanks in advance team

@sombre: Hello. So not so much fantasy but if you're interested modern SF I would highly recommend "The Expanse" by James S. A. Corey (pen name). The writers just recently finished the series so if you get into them you don't have to wait on any books to come out can just read the whole thing. One of my favorite "hard" SF series and after finishing the last book I started it over to read through it again. Thanks for your consideration and have a nice day.

I started reading The Expanse series recently and found the first book, Leviathan Wakes, to be one of the most gripping reads I’ve had in years (and much more enjoyable than the little I saw of the Syfy/Amazon show). Wouldn’t really call it the most sophisticated read I’ve ever done, but if you like the pitch of relatively hard sci fi with a dash of hardboiled detective fiction sprinkled on top it’s really, really fun.

EDIT:

@cyrusraven: gah, beat me to the punch!

Yeah I'll second The Expanse series as an incredibly easy recommendation for anyone who likes SF.

The ever-expanding oeuvre of Brandon Sanderson is also an easy place to look for Fantasy, with the added benefit of him writing at a pace incomparable to anyone else in the game right now. The thing I look for most in fantasy is great worldbuilding and he has that in spades. I would feel fairly comfortable recommending almost any of his books, including the ongoing series The Stormlight Archive, but in particular I'd recommend starting out with the Mistborn Trilogy. It's not exactly modern at this point but it is just a delight to read with great characters, well executed twists and most importantly it sticks the landing as a trilogy.

I say that because there's quite a few series that I probably would have recommended a few years back that I have soured on somewhat due to their later books. Of those, the one I still feel the best about is The Licanius Trilogy which has a somewhat uneven final book that ultimately pulls it back around by the end. It's got great worldbuilding and characters of course, but what stands out is just how narratively complex these books get, even by the end of the first one. The prose can falter at times but generally everything about this trilogy is incredibly well realised.

I'd echo the love for Sanderson here. I grew up reading a lot of similar stuff to you then fell out of it in my late teens. Came back in my mid 20s to reading and Sanderson is what made me fall in love with it again. Mistborn is an excellent starting point and if you love that then dive into The Stormlight Archive - my current favourite series.

Just echoing The Expanse series. I just started reading the series about a month ago and I'm already halfway through book three, Abaddon's Gate. For me, at least, they've been those books where it's impossible to put them down.

The Imperial Radch series is also very good. The beginning half of the first book (Ancillary Justice) is kind of a slog, but after that it gets really good.

As for fantasy, The Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin is a solid trilogy. The world building is really something. They're a dense set of books without being overbearing. They're also, relative to a lot of fantasy, short books.

So if you are looking for something intense and on the darker side, The Second Apocalypseseries by R. Scott Bakker is PHENOMENAL. It's probably what some would call a "Grimdark", but I don't feel like it fits into any category of fantasy. It's in a class of its own.

I am an extremely prolific fantasy reader. I couldn't possibly tell you how many series I have read over the years. These books are far and away my favourite, and in my opinion, the best written and most exciting fantasy series ever. Bakker is a philosopher and teacher who has created one of the most original set of characters and settings I have ever read. There is a real sense of scale and majesty to his writing, and at times he writes beautifully and I find myself re-reading paragraphs just for the way they feel.

Be prepared however for some pretty graphic violence of all kinds, including sexual (the orc equivalent are creatures who are driven by pure hatred and lust combined, they are pretty fucked up)

It is a sprawling tale of holy wars, hidden societies, power and violence. It is epic in the truest sense of the word, with vast powers and armies clashing on a devastating scale. I fully recommend it, but be warned it is not for the faint of heart and it may take some time to become accustomed to the scope of the story.

Books in the series in order :

The Prince of Nothing

• The Darkness That Comes Before (2004)
• The Warrior-Prophet (2005)
• The Thousandfold Thought (2006)

The Aspect-Emperor

• The Judging Eye (2009)
• The White-Luck Warrior (2011)
• The Great Ordeal (2016)
• The Unholy Consult (2017)

There are hopefully more books to come, I think Bakker has had issues with publishing the last few and has also taken a bit of a break.

I'm going to go a little out of the box(ish) and say The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Just a brilliant combination of surrealism, humor, and bizarre fantasy, and one of my favorite books of all time.

Fantasy Book Series

Series 1 : A Land Fit for Heros by Morgan Richard K. Morgan

I will note that the main protagonist is gay. I am a straight white male, and I think the books kick ass, so if you are cool with that, these books are really gritty and really great. The story of Ringil "Angeleyes" Eskiath, the hero of Gallows Gap and wielder of Ravensfriend, and is set a decade after the end of the war with the lizard folk...

1. The Steel Remians
2. The Cold Commands
3. The Drak Defiles

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Series: 1 & 2 Riyria Books by Micheal J Sullivan

First Series by Sullivan: Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, are enterprising thieves who end up running for their lives when they're framed for the death of the king and get embroiled in larger political machinations. [ Great Book...really fun reads that are well written.]

1. The Crown Conspiracy, Self Published (2008)
2. Avempartha, Self Published (2009)
3. Nyphron Rising, Self Published (2009)
4. The Emerald Storm, Self Published (2010)
5. Wintertide, Self Published (2010)
6. Percepliquis, Self Published (2011)
7. The Thieves (2013)
8. Traditions (2013)

The 2nd series by Sullivan: place in the same world as the Riyria Revelations/Chronicles, this is a prequel series that takes place thousands of years before those series and reveals the truths about the First Empire that were hinted at in the Riyria novels.

1. Age of Myth (2016)
2. Age of Swords (2017)
3. Age of War (2018)
4. Age of Legend (2019)
5. Age of Death (2020)
6. Age of Empyre (2020)

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Science Fiction Series

Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

A science fiction series by a Hugo and Nebula Award winning Bujold featuring the Vor Kosigan family. Note: The books were issued in novels and in a weird pattern. What is below is the "modern" publishing in the correct order. Just a relaly great serie sof book...funny, witty, and full of intergrigue and light politics.

1. Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga)(Miles Vorsokigan Book 1)
2. The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 2)
3. Ethan of Athos (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 3)
4. Falling Free (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 4)
5. Brothers in Arms (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 5)
6. The Vor Game (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 6)
7. Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 7)
8. Mirror Dance (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 8)
9. Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 9)
10. Memory (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 10)
11. Komarr (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 11)
12. A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 12)
13. Diplomatic Immunity (Vorkosigan Saga) (Miles Vorsokigan Book 13)
14. Cryoburn (Miles Vorsokigan Book 14)
15. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (Miles Vorsokigan Book 15)
16. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (Miles Vorsokigan Book 16)

I have Killing Commendatore on my kindle, ready to go. I'm excited, as Kafka is my in my top 5 books of all time

I think a couple of my older GOTY lists have a bunch of books in there, and maybe I have a blog or two about it? Anyway to give a single recommendation I still HIGHLY recommend The Gone World:

The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch

This is absolutely my book of the year; it’s one of those books that makes you angry the author hasn’t written more stuff so you can binge it all. Holy shit, y’all, someone took a goddamn space nightmare and made it into a book. Some critic described this as Inception meets True Detective but I think it’d be more accurate to say that it’s What The Fuck meets I Want To Stop Reading This Before I Go Crazy meets But I Can’t Stop. A very unique reading experience, with a mouthfeel similar to House of Leaves if you left out all the weird Johnny Bartender stuff. I don’t want to describe it any more than that, but I’m not sure I really could if I tried. Try a Kindle sample! It starts off fucked and only gets worse!

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The Three Body Problem. It's actually a trilogy, the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" series. A couple of disclaimers.

1) The (Chinese) author has said some fairly awful things about Uighur Muslims. Don't know exactly what but I could see how that would turn some folks off.

2) The first book in particular features a lot of Chinese names which, to me a native English speaker, was really tricky to stay on top of. There is also some Chinese cultural stuff I wasn't fully informed about, The Cultural revolution etc.

3) Liu isn't really a character writer. There's very little charm to be found in the characters nor is there much growth or development. He basically min-maxed on amazing Sci-Fi concepts.

So yeah, they can be a tricky and ... problematic read BUT....

Holy SHIT are they good. I read them two years and honestly not a week goes by that I don't think about them concepts and scenarios in them. Tough up front but so worth it.

I am pretty old fashioned as love Jules Verne. And "Around the World in 80 Days" but really have not read anything recently! Hope you do enjoy the books that are helpful there.

For fantasy, I have just discovered Robin Hobb in the last few years and her stuff is fantastic. If you like a story focused on one person, start with The Farseer Trilogy. If you prefer one that jumps around between multiple characters' perspectives, check out The Liveship Traders Trilogy. They take place in the same world but are totally different. Don't let the boring names and/or cover art put you off. They're fantastic books with excellent character development and some creative fantasy ideas.

...I guess put me down for another "read The Expanse books" vote. Seriously, they're real good.

I almost skipped out on the TV show because, like you, I had the same first reaction. Those first few episodes really have a bad "slightly better than average SyFy show" vibe going on. But it gets much better and I think that, overall, they do a genuinely great job of adapting the books. It just takes a few episodes to go from "eh" to "OK, they seem to know what they're doing".

It's been some years since I read it, but when you said "modern" I immediately thought of The Circle series by Ted Dekker. It's a 4 novel series about a man being shot and waking up in a strange fantasy world. Now, every time he goes to sleep, his consciousness swaps between the modern world and this fantasy world. He starts to question what is real, what is a dream, who he is, good vs evil; all while attempting to stop a terrorist in the "real" world.

I know there are other series that share the world and possibly some characters, but I haven't read them yet myself.

Also, Dekker is technically a "Christian" writer, but at least for The Circle, it's more allegorical than in your face. Really just asking questions about good vs. evil.

I've really loved the Machineries of Empire books by Yoon Ha Lee. Really interesting SF books about a space-faring empire who's technology works based on the ritual observance of a dictated calendar. Its main characters play off each other extremely well.

Ian M Banks' older Culture novels maybe wouldn't be considered "modern" anymore, but Player of Games, Surface Detail, and Use of Weapons are all incredible reads.

Player of Games is a great place to start as it introduces you to a lot of the concepts of what The Culture is, while being a really fun story about a professional boardgamer being blackmailed into working for the Culture's intelligence agency to win a rival empire's boardgame (that determines who becomes emperor).

Surface Detail is about virtual afterlives, revenge, and psychotic sentient military ships and is an awesome time.

Use of Weapons is about the trauma of war and how it changes us.

Out of modern sci-fi I would suggest the following books if you don't want something than your basic space opera stuff:

The Peripheral by William Gibson

Excellent near/far future sci-fi from the master himself. Once again Gibson is able to predict the near future quite well while also depicting a fascinating look at what might come much later.

The Quantum Thief (Jean le Flambeur series) by Hannu Rajaniemi

Incredibly dense but if you can brave through it then ultimately very rewarding.

Light (Kefachuchi Tract) by John M Harrsion

This series is bizarre but also has some incredibly cool ideas I haven't seen anywhere before. It's not your bog-standard sci-fi featuring people being fused to ships and space bermuda triangles. On top of it all a fever dream noir detective story thrown into the mix.

Seveneves-Neal Stephenson

The Martian, Artemis and Project Hail Mary-Andy Weir

Enders Game, Enders Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon-Orson Scott Card

Probably not hardcore Sci-fi but all enjoyable reads in their own way. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

@humanity:I thought you said The Quantum Magician, which is also a very good series! Maybe they should team up.

@rorie: I’ll have to check it out! Anything “quantum” is pretty cool.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. It's about a young emperor learning to navigate a difficult transition from being on the fringes of the royal family to being in the center of the spotlight. It's heart warming and fun, there's intrigue, and it's also not all about some world ending evil or any cliche like that.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is the first book in a trilogy about a thief and con artist in fantasy Venice getting wrapped up in a wild assassination plot and a revenge quest. It's fun, dirty, and almost feels like an action adventure movie. I haven't read the third book yet, but the first two are really good.

Lastly, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay is set in fantasy medieval Spain. It's set during a time of political turmoil and features a cast of characters coming together to deal with a war brewing, the lead character is a doctor trying to navigate between the different factions and making unlikely friends along the way.

These are all fantasy but I mostly read older Science Fiction.

Ditto on @knellmoray's recommendation of Three-Body Problem. This is the hardest I've seen a sci-fi book go into the science aspect of it all. Agreed that there's not much in terms of characterization though. 200 pages in and I'm still not sure where it's going but I'm enjoying the ride.

Shoutout to Austin Walker for recommending A Memory Called Empire on a Waypoint podcast years ago. It's about a new ambassador for a small mining station being summoned to the empire's capital after the mysterious death of her predecessor. It does something I've never read before by hyper-focusing on language, speech, body language, optics. Basically how diplomacy and politics are done on a microscopic scale. I finally got the sequel, A Desolation Called Peace, on paperback and I can't wait to dig into it once I make my way through my backlog.

I'm slowly making my way through Ted Chiang's Exhalation short story collection. All I knew about the author is that he wrote the story that eventually became Arrival. I keep thinking about What's Expected of Us where humanity has learned there's no such thing as free will and has a genuine existential crisis; it's amazing the ideas Chiang is able to touch on in a matter of 4 pages.

I really liked the recent Guy Gavriel Kay novels. The only standalone one is Under Heaven, but it's a banger. It draws on Tang China so it's not the usual fantasy fair.

If you're interested in something a bit different I'd recommend the Cradle series by Will Wight. It was his attempt to write a Xiaxian series (a fantasy genre popular in China) for a western audience. There's 10 of 12 out now starting with Unsouled. They're quick and easy reads that start out like they're going to be generic almost shonen-like then really take a hard swerve. They also get better as they go with the first two probably being the weakest, but still good.

If you like the idea of a fantasy series with some eastern martial arts inspiration, a really cool magic system, and some ridiculous power creep then I'd highly recommend. The magic system is interesting because basically early on in training characters have to choose a "path" which is basically what their magic can effect and are essentially locked in to that type. These paths are where the variety come from because they can be simple elemental things like fire or some people have ridiculously specific ones like sword which is hard to explain but basically can make any sharp thing explode out slicing everything around it (leads to some cool stuff). Also a bunch of crazy stuff with Spirit like beings an cosmic scale forces thrown in.

They definitely aren't deep or philosophical, but they're a great popcorn read. Highly addicting, I read all 10 in a little over a month.

Most of my favorites have been out for a while, but one long series that's still ongoing is The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (it's 17 books long and there's supposed to be six or seven more before it's over). It follows Harry Dresden, the only wizard listed in the Chicago phonebook. As a wizard PI, he solves supernatural cases and tangles with vampires, werewolves, etc. It is a bit like the Supernatural TV show, but better IMO. It's not great literature, very much light reading, but they're so much fun that I've re-read them a bunch of times. FWIW the first book is fairly weak, but if you get through the second one and still aren't enjoying yourself then you're probably safe to move on to something else, though IMO they mostly get better as they go (peaking around book 12).

It's a different kind of scifi (not the space kind) but I can highly recommend Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer.

I read it because I really loved the film but it's very different such that it was still a totally fresh experience reading it, but with a similar vibe. I'm not articulate enough to explain why it's good other than to say I found it a really compelling and haunting book.

An absolutely STELLAR noir/fantasy novel set over a grisly murder in a magic school with one of the most genuinely likeable main characters I can remember in awhile.

The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie is by far, for me, the best modern fantasy series out. It's a grim dark series (although not as grim as I thought going in). I think what sells me on First Law is its prose and characters. No author squeezes more style and substance with every sentence. His characters are so defined, it's really incredible how unique each person is and how clear each voice is. I can not recommend this series enough. I find myself wishing other authors had the sort of joy and confidence Abercrombie has with writing about bad people doing horrible things. And while First Law vs. other modern fantasy series is up for debate, I kind of won't hear anything can beat First Law audiobooks. Whether you usually listen to books or not.....the job the narrator for all 9 books does is truly commendable. Just like the written word is so defined with each character, this man is bringing to life dozens and dozens of characters with unique voices. First Law is a darling in the "book-tube" community (and for good reason), I recommend checking any the videos linked and see if it's for you

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=why+read+first+law

Very much seconded on Hobb. I was a little hesitant to bring these up myself only because I don't know how recent you're looking for with "modern," and the Farseer Trilogy is from the mid-90s. But that and the Tawny Man Trilogy (which continues Farseer's story) are probably my favorite epic fantasy. They are not action-focused and so are a little slower than your standard epic fantasy novel, but Hobb's character work is amazing. Probably my favorite set of characters in any book ever.

One thing they share with The Dresden Files that I recommended above is that these two trilogies are first-person. For some reason I tend to prefer first. And Hobb does it as well as anyone.

Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive is dope AF, but you just have to remember he is/was Mormon, raised mormon, so it mostly stays PG-13. But he is probably the best world builder outside GRRM, who much like Jordan, he will probably have to take over for to finish out a series when GRRM passes.

And honestly, hats off for just such great writing and world building without resorting to boobs and extreme violence.

@hayt: The trilogy is just so good. I like it better than the movie. It just leaves you with so many unanswered questions and longing that is very on brand with post modern sci-fi fiction.

@clockworktony: Oh yeah A Memory Called Empire was really good to. Good ol' Austin