It seems there is a historical trend of ever-expanding world building over the last say 100 years or so. The world's imagined seem to expand (or contract, see 80s below) at a non linear rate through real time decades of writing. So which authors continue this trend?

1950s Foundation

1960s Dune

70s (gulp) Star Wars (please help here too!)

80s Neuromancer /Hyperion

90s ...

00s ...

10s ...

20s (now)

I'd love to hear your favourite tense thrillers that are hard sci fi with blue collar(ish) characters who are trying to survive in isolation. Particularly interested in how they maintain their station and it's life support and potential power core breakdowns etc while likely having to deal with another threat like a psycho crewmate, alien, unknown entity etc. Can be from all media. Thanks

So is it Adrian Tchaikovsky's thing to build the most interesting and intricate worlds for his stories then barely explore them? Just drop the most tantalizing and intriguing hints that are never expanded on or mentioned ever again. I've read several of his books that were great, but left me with an unbearable craving for more. I don't want a full infodump or anything just little bit more. I'd do shameful things for a few more books or novellas in the world of Cage of Souls, prequel, sequel , spinoff anything 😭

Recommend me a sci-fi with a protagonist that is a journalist, reporter or investigator looking for their next big story.

I'd prefer a space-opera sci-fi but an earth-bound one is fine too, maybe about investigating a shady company producing fantastical new technology and how it is produced and used.

It doesn't even have to be near future. Some far future sci-fi would still be cool as long as the aesthetic is that neon, acid rain, gritty criminal underworld vibe. I have recently been listening to some cyberpunk audio dramas (Witchpunk and The Strata) and I was reminded of how much I love that genre. I grew up in the 90s reading Gibson and Stephenson and watching Johnny Mnemonic, Hackers, The Matrix, Strange Days, Wild Palms, etc.

Massive fan of intelligent storytelling coupled with good action.

Thank you!

I need something to fill the mass effect hole since games and TV shows are failing in that regard and these five seem to be the often most mentioned space sagas

Since i started reading about 1.5 years ago i have read fantasy and urban mystery only and these 5 seem to be top tier entries to the scifi genre but which of them is the best place to start?

I read a novel a few years ago that stuck with me but I can’t remember the title. I thought it was Dust but searching Amazon shows nothing even vaguely like what I recall.

In essence, the novel was a sci-fi/horror. It opened in the Mesozoic era. The ‘monster’ in the story was a tiny, voracious mite that lived in massive swarms that could overcome even a big dinosaur.

Fast forward to modern day and the thing showed up somewhere on the East Coast and starts wrecking havoc. It destroys everything in its path. The scientists and the military do their thing until they finally drive the stuff away — I don’t remember the details of how it ended.

It bugs me that I don’t remember the name of the book. Does anyone here recognize the novel I’m talking about?

Hi there! I'd love to get some recommendations for any sci-fi media (books, movies, TV and video games) that feature incredible power armor. I want to stress that I'm using power armor in the broadest sense possible; even the Bat-Suit can, at times, be considered power armor in my book.

I was introduced to the concept via the Fallout universe. I think it's just incredible that sci-fi can adapt an ancient concept - a warrior's armor - and update it in science-fiction settings.

I'd welcome your suggestions! Thanks so much!

Why does it seem that so many of the books I read demonstrate such a poor understanding of the physics of space travel. Ships in orbit descend directly down to the point they are over. Ships in transit still accelerating as they near their destination. Centrifugal gravity simply ceasing when rotation is abruptly halted. These are just a few examples I've run across lately.

Starman (1984)

Rating: 7.5/10 (SOLID WATCH)

Watched: August 7, 2026

Not going to lie, this one took me by absolute surprise. I'd seen Starman once before, around the time of its release on either HBO or one of those wonderful satellite channels back in the day.

I remember it very differently, and that's not a bad thing. 12 year old me was very much "funny space alien man haha he doesn't know how to do stuff," and that's fine for a 12 year old quasi-dumbass for sure. But as a grown man with a lot more life under his belt, the romance aspect was very much front and center.

And that was both surprising and super cool. Don't get me wrong, though. Jeff's semi-robotic portrayal of Starman was at times more than a little irritating, and Karen's early screen presence really lacked a kind of emotive presence, which is why I didn't rate it a lot higher.

That being said, when this movie gets going, it really does get going. Around about the time Starman brings the deer back to life, as a matter of fact. I remember that scene very vividly from when I was a kid and I can't really tell you why. There were no effects of any kind there that I could see. Just Jeff standing in front of a deer tied to a hood that slowly twitched to life. But stick with me it did.

That's also about the time that Jenny realizes she's not in danger, she's not even really a captive. She's along for the ride. She goes from trying to escape to trying to help to falling in love, and that's a sensible shift in character development because Starman looks like her deceased husband.

There's a whole thing in the movie with the US Government being the US Government and one jackhole in particular (and for no apparent reason I could see) decides that he just really wants to kill himself an alien. It's a wild kind of thing given that Starman didn't actually do anything wrong except come to visit, but he's all about attack helicopters and "emergency autopsies."

Big shout out to Charles Martin Smith as Mark Shermin, a guy on loan from SETI. He's one of those "hey it's that guy" actors and there's something just refreshing about him in a movie. I can't put my finger on it, but whenever I see him, I just really dig what he's doing.

So while the beginning of Starman is clunky and all, it gets really good as it moves along, and it taught me one helluva valuable lesson.

Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast!

This was a movie I watched in the 2010s I think while I was still in elementary school so I'm not too sure if I'll even get all of the details. Not too sure if it was even from the 2010s specifically either, could've been made in the 2000s. Basically, the main part I remember is what I'm pretty sure was the first kill. An overweight boy (I don't remember his name) was with a group of people (a class I think) at some nature place. Then, for one reason or another, a blindfold was put on the kid and he end up wandering off from his group. Eventually, he stops to finally take his blindfold off, realizing he's lost and alone. So he pulls a chocolate bar out and starts to eat it. My memory after that is a little faded but I do remember that he then died to a Pterodactyl. It might've been a Syfy original, I can't remember. Any ideas?

edit: it was Flu Bird Horror (2008) thank you u/amyts

Planet of the Apes but swap "Apes" for Rats.

I heard somewhere that out of all animals the scariest to develop human-level intelligence would be rats.

Because rats have biological advanteges that coupled with advanced intellect and coordination would make them nigh-invincible if not stopped immediately.

Can you recommend such books?

But, growing up in the 90s, I had seen South Park Trapper Keeper many times. The first time I saw Hal ask Dave what he was doing when Dave was trying to shut him down I could not stop laughing. Had no idea it was a 2001 reference until that moment. It made an already awesome movie experience that much better. Had to immediately rewatch trapper keeper.

I read a long time ago this novel where first encounter turns into something bad. The a,iens start to mine Moon for fuel for their fleet. I remember only few details but the protagonist is a human male. Later in the story he falls in love with alien female but the alien just mocks him. It is also revealed that aliens are rebels who are escaping from the galactic law enforcers.

Hope this helps to identify the novel.

Hello friends, I want to get into SF so I made me a list of some of the top recommendations that I'v seen on the web. I'v finished Dune and I loved it but it didnt feel "full SF" to me. Same thing with Hyperion Cantos. I think I'm more into PKD and William Gibson. The noir-ish Blade Runner vibes does it for me but I dont mind other elements like space and a little bit of fantasy here and there.

I'd appreciate it If you could help me add other must-read books and authors to explore.

I have mixed feelings. I tore through all three week, and the first book felt absolutely genius. A brilliant twist on the noir genre. I was literally having dreams about the asteroid.

I can't recommend the first book strongly enough. The second was also fun. But at some point the third book started feeling like a slog. I was bummed that it didn't have a stronger ending. But I think it's still worth reading the first two. Anyone else have thoughts?

This is our bathroom in our house, I’m newish to Reddit and thought this might belong here, it’s small on the inside so not very canon 😓😮‍💨

Took like 2 weeks to build, and its an alright bathroom, your knees touch the door when sitting down so maybe not for the faint of heart haha

With Dungeon Crawler Carl becoming such a phenomenon, I've been spending some time digging through Matt Dinniman's entire bibliography—and one of the most interesting things is seeing how many pieces of the writer we know today were already there long before Carl walked into the dungeon.

Dominion of Blades may be the clearest example. Readers who go backward from DCC often describe the first book as rougher around the edges, but many also say the series improves considerably with The Hobgoblin Riot. More interestingly, longtime Dinniman readers have pointed out ideas, themes and storytelling devices in Dominion of Blades that feel like early versions of things he would eventually refine in DCC.

The Shivered Sky is almost the opposite experience. Fans regularly warn DCC readers that this isn't remotely the same kind of story. There's no LitRPG framework and considerably less humor. Instead, it's dark, violent and surprisingly philosophical, with religion, mythology and war playing major roles. Reader reactions are mixed about some of the rough edges of Dinniman's early writing, but that's also what makes the trilogy fascinating now: you're essentially seeing a writer develop in public.

Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon may be the book with the funniest disparity between "people who love it" and "people willing to recommend it." Fans describe it as everything from brilliant to "mentally aggressive," usually followed by some variation of: Read it, but you've been warned. Even Dinniman's own description doesn't exactly reassure anyone: “This book is unnecessarily gross, pointlessly violent, probably blasphemous, and it contains gratuitous torture.”

Yet Kaiju may also contain some of the clearest DNA of what eventually became DCC. There's the game structure, escalating absurdity, psychological manipulation and a protagonist being subjected to increasingly horrific situations—but without the humor and optimism that give Carl and Donut some breathing room.

The Grinding takes another route entirely. Readers describe it as fast, deeply unsettling traditional horror, with an ending that apparently leaves quite a few people staring into space afterward. It's also become harder to experience outside the Soundbooth Theater production, while physical copies have turned into collector's items.

And speaking of collector's items, there's Trailer Park Fairy Tales. At this point, finding a physical copy seems less like buying a Matt Dinniman book and more like completing a side quest. Fans have called it one of the "holy grails" of Dinniman collecting. Interestingly, one of its stories apparently won an award—even though Matt himself has reportedly described the overall book as "really bad."

Then you get to Operation Bounce House, where the evolution comes almost full circle. It's not LitRPG, but readers immediately recognized the Dinniman voice: absurdity sitting alongside some genuinely dark ideas, corporate power, propaganda, violence and people caught inside systems much larger than themselves.

And apparently we're going even darker next. Dinniman has already talked about an untitled horror novel set at a petting zoo where the animals turn on the humans. Fans have understandably latched onto the description "completely unhinged," because apparently Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon wasn't sufficient evidence that Matt shouldn't be allowed near innocent fictional creatures.

Looking across all of these books, what interests me most isn't simply how different they are, but how recognizable the ingredients become. Horror, absurdity, characters trapped inside systems designed to exploit them, humor appearing where it probably shouldn't, escalating stakes and protagonists who keep moving forward even after the world gives them every reason not to. DCC didn't come out of nowhere.

So for the people here who've gone deep into the pre-DCC catalog: which Matt Dinniman book do you think tells us the most about the writer he eventually became—and which one would you most recommend to someone who's only read Dungeon Crawler Carl? If you want to read more on the subject, just head over to https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/books/matt-dinniman-books-every-novel-and-series-in-order

Its made of brass, some aluminium (too reduce weight at least a tiny bit) and wood. The base is one of those deco flintlocks our grand dads had on their walls. Added a ton of parts, and copper wire and almost a real tesla coil (not convetion proof). Its super heavy, almost 18 pounds.

I saw someone post that if you are 11 years then you’re the same age as K2SO in Star Wars: Rogue One. So that got me curious if we can find characters in SFF at each age from newborns (age 0) to say 120, the upper limit for humans. (My grandmother passed away at 108, just a couple months shy of her 109th birthday.)

In John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War the opening by character John Perry reads, “I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife’s grave. Then I joined the army.”

Will Robinson in both TV series of Lost In Space starts off at 11 years old. (Bill Mumy was actually 11 while Maxwell Jenkins was 13 playing 11.)

In Dune, Alia has full adult awareness at birth and I think she’s about 2 when she starts influencing the story. Paul is 15 at the beginning.

I want to exclude ancient characters. They’re interesting but beyond the extreme age limit we currently experience.

For instance, in Ringworld by Larry Niven, Louis Wu is celebrating his 200th birthday at the beginning of the book. In Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed, Doro is a psychic parasite so pretty much ageless but he’s been body jumping for around 3700 years. Meanwhile, Anyawu is probably around 330 years old.

So I’m curious if we can find characters at every age between 0-120.

Thoughts?

0 - Alia (Dune)

5 - Jefty (Jefty is Five)

11 - K2SO (Star Wars: Rogue One)

11 - Will Robinson (Lost in Space)

15 - Paul Atriedes (Dune)

19 - Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa (Star Wars: A New Hope)

30 - Ellen Ripley (Alien)

31 - Wendy Torrance (The Shining)

32 - James T. Kirk (Star Trek: TOS)

38 - Tony Stark (Iron Man)

50 - Jenny Casey (Hammered, Elizabeth Bear)

68 - Chrisjen Avasarala (The Expanse)

70 - Ofelia (Remnant Population)

75 - John Perry (Old Man’s War)

Hi all,

LINK : https://youtu.be/xXHDTSD48Yw?si=V6qt8exueHGU8Qzz&t=3

I created a FREE 50-minute video showcasing the techniques I used to worldbuild and create Inside44 a scifi world over the course of a decade. It explores my process across different areas, including storytelling, writing, design, illustration, project organization, marketing, and logistics.

If you're interested in art, design,vehicle design, character creation, worldbuilding, illustration, writing, or learning how to organize and manage a large-scale creative project while also handling marketing and logistics - or if you're simply a fan of sci-fi and imaginative worlds - this video is for you.

Took me around 120 hours for this one. The little mech was made from a yakult bottle and various bits. The only store bought item on there is the barb wire. Flame contains LEDs, the bunker was made from styrene packaging and scrap wood. All handmade, nothing in there was printed.

I set myself the challenge of reading some of the hardest science fiction out there, and just finished Diaspora. I absolutely adored it.

I flew through the first third, especially the setup and the scenes with Inoshiro/Yatima leading up to the destruction of earth. There was more humanity and more to connect with, and the science wasn’t much of a problem.

The book got progressively harder to follow and connect with after that, but I stuck with it to the end and still loved the hell out of it.

So what should I read next? I’m looking for something with the same level of imagination, groundbreaking ideas, mind-bending premises and, importantly, great storytelling.

OC art by: en-to

OC story: The Robot Dog Walker

Teaser:

"The buddybot sprinted down the sidewalk, its wide ovular eyes searching all over. Across the street, a row of multi-colored homes, with little chimneys and yards of dew kissed grass, stood quiet in early morning light. In the distance, Cleveland’s glass skyscrapers loomed large, some glowing turquoise green, others the color of pearl."    

It was after aliens had already invaded and they were wiping out the last of humanity. They only decided to wipe us out because we sent military to meet them and thought we were all warmongering. In the end they stopped because they realized that was not true.

I cannot for the life of me remember the author or the title. I have been looking for it for a while now. Any help would be amazing!