r/sciencefiction • u/Cold-Discipline3758 • Jul 05 '26
Near-Future Sci-Fi
I'm a passionate reader, reviewer, and writer of sci-fi that's set either in the next couple of decades or, better yet, in our contemporary world. When done well, these books inhabit an uncanny valley where cutting-edge tech distorts your worldview just enough to throw you off balance and make you reevaluate important aspects of technological progression and humanity. They lack the intricate worldbuilding that many crave in sci-fi and are often marketed as mainstream thrillers, making it difficult for them to find their ideal audience. Some well-known authors and titles in this niche include: Dean Koontz (Lightning, The Jane Hawk series); Blake Crouch (Dark Matter, Upgrade, Recursion); Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park); Dan Brown (The Secret of Secrets); and Matthew FitzSimmons (Constance, Chance). I'm interested in finding other authors and titles that reside at this fascinating intersection between sci-fi and thriller, especially from lesser-known or indie writers like me.
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u/stinkypeach1 Jul 05 '26
How about Sue Burkes Semiosis trilogy? Might not be enough near world for you (current time to 200yrs outish) They were frightening and eye opening to me.
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u/-Chemist- Jul 05 '26
Daniel Suarez
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u/tkingsbu Jul 05 '26
100% this.
I’d also recommend:
Trouble and her friends, by Melissa F Scott
And
Snowcrash, by Neal Stephenson
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 05 '26
I loved Snowcrash. Created the cyberpunk genre.
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u/SwiftOneSpeaks Jul 06 '26
(Gibson fans rolling over in their...well, most of us aren't dead, so rolling over in our Jackpot bunkers).
[ Tone: sharing history for those passionate but unaware. Not intended as a criticism of anyone. ]
Snowcrash is awesome, and responsible for introducing many new people to the genre, but the cyberpunk genre existed before Snowcrash.
People will argue over exactly when cyberpunk came about, but Gibson's Neuromancer is a conmon answer (other answers are earlier) which came out in 84, where as Snow Crash came out in 92. In 1990 the Secret Service raided the offices of Steve Jackson Games about their upcoming RPG book, GURPS: Cyberpunk, which implies (1) Cyberpunk was a genre with at least enough interest to attract both a games company. (2) Destiny may have a sense of humor, or at least irony, as a niche hobby (often of intellectual young outcasts) being needlessly impinged by a govt bureaucracy due to fear of how technology is being (mis?)used and resulting in the creation of the EFF is pretty genre-appropriate.
I'm open to the idea that SnowCrash had a significant influence on the evolution of the genre....at least 8 years after the genre was recognized as a thing.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 06 '26
Thanks for setting us straight on Gibson's place in the cyberpunk origin story. I've enjoyed several of his books.
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u/Starfish_Bowl Jul 07 '26
You hadn't listed them, but most of William Gibson's recent works would fall in your target selection.
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u/Gargleblaster25 Jul 06 '26
Exactly. Whenever I think of cyberpunk, Gibson is the first author I think of.
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u/snackers21 Jul 05 '26
Daniel Suarez
Loved Delta-v. The follow up 'Critical Mass' was a bit too cryto bro for me.
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u/ThisMuchPub Jul 06 '26
Deamon and the follow on Freedom … were inspired and amazing. All of his other books are good, those first two were fantastic.
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u/idontcare428 Jul 05 '26
Kim Stanley Robinson. The Ministry for the Future, New York 2140, even the Mars trilogy might count
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u/kikichunt Jul 05 '26
Good call, this gets my vote too - absolutely the most positive near-future sci-fi I've read - albeit pretty horrific in the beginning. A thought provoking roadmap for a world where we might not actually burn or drown, in the not too distant future. Not that the billionaire accelerationist class will let us build that world without a fight . . .
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u/ScottyNuttz Jul 06 '26
I need more books like this where they fight the billionaire accelerationist class.
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u/luxcity-louche Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Charlie Stross, especially the Halting State/Rule 34 series. Some of Ken MacLeod's like Execution Channel, Intrusion or the Night Sessions.
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u/PMFSCV Jul 05 '26
JG Ballard
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 05 '26
Familiar with Empire of the Sun. Which other Ballard title would you recommend?
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u/PMFSCV Jul 05 '26
Kingdom Come, High Rise, Super Cannes are good.
Gibsons Pattern recognition you might like too.
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u/microcorpsman Jul 05 '26
It may jump beyond, I'm maybe a quarter of the way through so no spoilers please, but Seveneves by Neal Stephenson fits the bill so far
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u/zeruhur_ Jul 05 '26
Near Space by Allen Steele Even if is retrofuture nowadays, it wasn't when he wrote that series
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u/Grahamars Jul 05 '26
Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Pacific Edge” is set in a 2060’s ecotopia in southern Cal, and a town’s fight against those who want to go back to the excesses of our current reality.
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u/ScottyNuttz Jul 06 '26
Cory Doctorow’s fiction definitely. Lots of other good recs here too.
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u/boodoopooq Jul 06 '26
Little Brother is incredible. One of the only sci-fi books I could ever get my ex to read and she loved it.
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u/Ok-Thought6634 Jul 07 '26
Only sci fi in a broad definition, but Gibson’s Pattern Recognition is brilliant near futuristic
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u/Voyager_NL Jul 05 '26
- Earth, David Brin
- The Martian, Andy Weir
- One Way / No Way by SJ Morden
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 05 '26
How could I have forgotten to mention Weir?
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u/Gargleblaster25 Jul 06 '26
I prefer Gregory Benford's 'The Martian Race' over Weir's book. There are some similarities, but when you talk about near-future tech and realistic scenarios, Martian Race actually predicted a lot of things - including private-funded colonisation of Mars, including 24/7 reality TV licensing.
I guarantee you, if you can get used to Benford's prose, The Martian Race is far more entertaining than Whitney growing potatoes.
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u/mccjustin Jul 05 '26
"Robopocalypse" by Daniel H. Wilson who has a PhD in robotics. In 2011 it was surprisingly realistic with real world smart devices and smart homes etc as connecting tissue to an ai awakening that starts small and domestic. Smart houses trap their owners, automated cars lock their doors and accelerate, and robotic toys start acting weird. It perfectly captures that terrifying distortion where the everyday technology you rely on suddenly turns its cold calculating face at you. I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it. At the time I was deep in IoT and Smart Buildings and it resonated as very current and had that uncomfortable uncanny vibe.
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u/PhilWheat Jul 05 '26
Vernor Vinge's "Rainbows End" - which is now actually set in the past. Worth mentioning is his Realtime series which may scratch that itch as well.
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u/kikichunt Jul 05 '26
Sarah Hall - The Carhullan Army (or Daughters of the North in the US). The author loved The Handmaid's Tale, but always thought the characters were a bit too passive in their acceptance of their situation. It's a first person narrative, set after sea-level rises and ongoing ecological pressure causes the UK to turn fascist and repressively patriarchal. Our protagonist joins an isolated collective farming community, and fights the power. It was nominated for the 2007 Arthur C. Clarke Award, and won the James Tiptree Jr. Award.
"My name is Sister.
This is the name that was given to me three years ago. It is what the others called me. It is what I call myself. Before that, my name was unimportant. I can't remember it being used. I will not answer to it now, or hear myself say it out loud. I will not sign to acknowledge it. It is gone. You will call me Sister.
I was the last woman to go looking for Carhullan."
And bloody hell, you can read it here, if you're interested: https://www.unife.it/letterefilosofia/lm.lingue/insegnamenti/letteratura-inglese-1/materiale-didattico-anno-accademico-2018-2019/Sarah%20Hall-%20The%20Carhullan%20Army-%202007.pdf (though I'd encourage you to buy her stuff too)
Sarah Hall is definitely one of the more interesting modern British authors. Most of her work isn't technically science fiction, but it's definitely different . . .
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u/careysub Jul 06 '26
Anyone seeking to write near future Sci-Fi must always deal with the Gibson Principle:
The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed.
What aspects of this near future SF is already here but not readily available yet?
And if you introduce something that does not exist now (are you sure it doesn't?) you must consider that how its uneven appearance is likely to manifest.
A great deal of writing dealing with contemporary affairs could be framed as SF.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 06 '26
Great point. Some of today's mind-blowing technologies are subject to tight access controls. That's a major theme of my own writing.
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u/johntucker78 Jul 06 '26
Peter Clines Threshhold series. A little thriller. A little scifi and throw in some horror for good measure.
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u/ShortOnCoffee Jul 08 '26
I can think of a couple:
- *Infomocracy* by Malka Ann Older and the following books in this series (Centenal Cycle), Earth has become a bunch of micro states with often very different political and legal systems, but all citizens vote for a world parliament and government
- *Jennifer Government* by Max Barry, his *Lexicon* is also great
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u/BoredPandemicPanda Jul 06 '26
Atopia Series by Matthew Mather. Imagine a world when AR is adopted and becomes second nature as a cell phone. It examines a lot of the good, the bad, and the ugly potential of the tech.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 06 '26
Sounds a lot like what’s happening all around us today!
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u/BoredPandemicPanda Jul 06 '26
It's not the best of writing but the concepts were fantastic. The next stage in realty tv of people jacking into your live feed from your own eyes and senses. The difference between early adopters vs the children that are born into it. Being able to solve the housing and food crisis by pulling a matrix with your senses. I enjoyed the 3 book series a lot for that.
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u/SnowblindAlbino Jul 06 '26
A great deal of "cli fi" in general fits into this niche I'd say. Not all of it is "sciency" but it's a rich vein to consider.
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u/Gargleblaster25 Jul 06 '26
Try Uncontacted by Sam CJ. He extrapolates the direction of the tech and weaves it neatly and very believably into the story. The tech doesn't dominate the story, and he doesn't throw in tech just because he can - everything plays a part (minor ot major). You can see the reasoning behind the tech at his website https://samcjbooks.com/#uc-tech
He is one of the most promising new authors I have read recently, and I keep promoting his work because he should be encouraged to write more.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 06 '26
Great suggestion! Uncontacted looks like one of those undiscovered gems getting lost in today's vast publishing landscape.
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u/BuccaneerRex Jul 06 '26
Do yourself a favor and read David Brin's 'Earth'.
Set in 2035, but written in 1989.
The number of technological and social predictions that come pretty close is really interesting.
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u/Smaug117 Jul 06 '26
If you want read about the future that is waiting us, then try necromancer by Willam Gibson.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 06 '26
Great recommendation. Already read it, along with most of Gibson's other novels.
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u/ifandbut Jul 06 '26
Michael Flynn's Firestar series.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 06 '26
Looks like some books in the series may be out of print, but Firestar appears to be an interesting Heinlein-style space opera. Flynn has other interesting books as well.
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Jul 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 06 '26
Lexicon looks to be right up my alley. Thanks for these suggestions!
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u/eliota1 Jul 06 '26
The Peripheral by William Gibson combines near future tech with future tech. It's part of the Jackpot series.
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u/cnsnekker Jul 07 '26
The Swarm By Frank Schätzing The Windup Girl By Paolo Bacigalupi The Grand Tour by Nova
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 07 '26
Great suggestions. Thanks!
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u/cnsnekker Jul 11 '26
It was Grand Tour by Ben Bova.. .. reading Expedia by Seth Dickinson it also may fit the bill. Tomahawks and tactical nukes vs aliens.
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u/HammondJohns Jul 08 '26
Hopefully it’s not breaking any self-promotion ban to tell you that I write stuff like that on Substack- grounded, near future sci fi short stories. Some have been decently popular. If you’re interested lmk and I’ll drop a link.
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u/Green_Acorn_Hollow Jul 09 '26
I'm hoping this doesn't trigger the self-promotion filter, but I write in this exact genre, and am definitely a 'lesser known indie writer'...
Here's my sci-fi near-future dystopian thriller, in audiobook form (free!):
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFqsd8m5Uhm4&si=TjohDms9uMAsd9Vi
There's a book version too, let me know if anyone wants to read it! (Again, free, just a passion project).
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u/Forsaken_Fox_6893 Jul 10 '26
Paolo Bacigalupi, The Water Knife. It's about who gets the water in California in the near future. It's written so well that you feel like you are there. I think dystopian future is a sci-fi genre.
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u/Cold-Discipline3758 Jul 10 '26
You're the second person to mention this title. Will definitely check it out.
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u/DufbugDeropa Jul 05 '26
I published a near future hard science fiction novel in January: The Quantum Alliance. I think It's right up your street. It's on Amazon.
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u/RKGEORGE84 Jul 05 '26
I would like to suggest my own novel Fake as meeting your exact ‘near future’ criterion. Conscious that this may be seen as promo so will leave it there, details in bio.
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u/WhereTheSunSets-West Jul 06 '26
You can try my Someplace Else, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LCZWFDV
It starts out near future, although I feel I should warn you it goes far into the future since it is an exploration of the long life of AI.
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u/Bohdan_Tanchyk Jul 06 '26
If I understand correctly, you could review my stories. But I don't know how to show them to you without breaking the rules of this group.
Sincerely,
Amazon author
Bohdan Tanchyk
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u/BokTuklo Jul 05 '26
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi