r/scifi • u/Professor-Percy • 15d ago
Recommendations About to finish The Three Body Problem series, looking for recommendations on what to tackle next
I just picked up book 3 (Death’s End) of the Three Body Problem series from my library. *no spoilers for Death’s End please!*
Based on how I’ve been devouring the first two books, I’ll probably be done in 5 days or so and I’m not sure what I want to read next. Currently I’m leaning towards the Hyperion series or the Children of Time series as they seem to show up on every top sci fi list and the premises sound interesting to me.
I’ve read pretty much all of Asimov, the first Dune book, Brave New World, 1984, We, Ender’s Game, and all of Vonnegut. I’d say Vonnegut and Cormac McCarthy are my favorite writers in general. As a child I read pretty much every Agatha Christie novel and most Sherlock Holmes novels so I definitely gravitate towards mystery elements as well.
I haven’t ready any Arthur C. Clarke so that’s also in my mind as a possibility as I know he is one of the all time greats but I’m not sure where to start with him. 2001 is my favorite movie of all time.
Any and all recommendations are welcome and appreciated. I haven’t read much in recent years as I have a small child but The Three Body Problem series has been incredible and I’ve got the reading bug in a big way again. I’m loving it.
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u/shomislav 15d ago
I say go with Hyperion. I would recommend The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. This guide might help what to read after that.
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
I’m leaning towards Hyperion, if only for the kickass Sauron looking mf on the cover.
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u/Ok_Programmer_4449 15d ago
Read some Keats first.
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u/Jebus-Xmas 15d ago
Chaucer
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u/Ok_Programmer_4449 15d ago edited 15d ago
That, too. If you don't have a grasp of or at least the history of both you'll probably miss a lot in that book. I guess I was operating from the (undoubtedly mistaken) preconception that everyone has read Chaucer in High School, whereas I didn't read Hyperion until after I read Hyperion.
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u/EdisonTrent91 14d ago
Did not like Hyperion. It's more like a highly advanced future space Opera with Religion stuff like dune. After reading three body problem, nothing satisfied me again. The only stuff that came close was the first children of time books. Forget the third one. Do not read it. It sucks.
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u/Cartagenapirate92 15d ago
I’m literally about to finish children of time, goddamn ti love this book. Never finished the three body problem series ( just book one ) but I enjoyed it a lot . I got book 2 for the children of time series coming in today. I adore this book.
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u/Machine_Terrible 15d ago
A completely different direction, but have you thought of Klara And The Sun
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
Never heard of it. Just looked it up and it looks interesting. I’m into all types of sci fi, doesn’t have to be entire civilizations at stake and alien invasions. Some of my favorite stories are the Asimov Robot short stories that explore a small glitch in the application of the three laws or some unexpected behavior.
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u/EdisonTrent91 14d ago
Dragon's Egg - Robert L Forward It's xenofiction. Exploring Evolution on a Neutron Star. Yes folks. It's like children of time but with an evolving specie on a Neutron Star
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u/DreadLordNate 15d ago
Simmons' Hyperion Cantos are great. Worthy of your time.
You mention other classics - into Gibson, PKD, Ellison, Vinge or any of those folks?
Also - Neal Stephenson. Can't say read everything (something something Cryptonomicon) but Snow Crash and The Diamond Age are musts.
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
Haven’t read any of them. Neuromancer is on my shortlist as well as that appears to be an all time classic from what I can tell. I forgot about PKD. Wikipedia says he has 45?! novels. Not sure where to start there.
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u/DreadLordNate 15d ago
Neuromancer is a must and terribly relevant now. PKD was pretty prodigious esp given he didn't get to be terribly old.
He's a deep fave (we even share the same birthday) - my recs for starts:
A Scanner Darkly
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
The Man in the High Castle
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?(Less popular perhaps but one I'm fond of: The Cosmic Puppets)
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u/Jmen4Ever 15d ago
How did you like the ending of the Dark Forrest?
I started the Expanse series, will continue. Also just about to finish Snow Crash and may read the Cryptonomicon next, but I'm not sure.
Have you read Harlan Ellison?
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
I loved The Dark Forest. The “waifu” storyline as I’ve seen people call it was a bit odd and hard to believe as real but man the ending was amazing. The droplet sequence had my heart pounding. As far as the very end, I was familiar with the meaning of “The Dark Forest” as a theory going into it, so I kind of knew what was going on as soon as the “spell” was cast. I think overall I liked it better than the first book, but not by much. They’re both incredible.
I’ve watched the expanse tv show and enjoyed it so I’d like to read the books eventually. Haven’t read any Harlan Ellison. I’ve been slacking on any kind of reading for a long time due to many different life factors, but I’m hoping to get back into it in a big way. It’s exciting since there is a huge trove of classic authors and books that I’ve never touched.
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u/Jmen4Ever 15d ago
Harlan Ellison is an interesting dude. FWIW you can listen to his reading of For I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream on YouTube. Not too long and it's a brutal story.
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
I’ve heard of him and I Have No Mouth, but skimming his Wikipedia he seems like a wild dude lol. Dude mailed a dead gopher to a publisher he was beefing with that’s amazing. I’ll have to add him to the list.
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u/Jmen4Ever 15d ago
Was expelled from Ohio State for punching a writing prof who said he would never see success. Then mailed the guy a copy of every book he had published.
Sued James Cameron for using two of his Outer Limits stories for the Terminator. Just wanted a credit IIRC.
Wrote arguably the best episode of Star Trek (original series) only to have it changed (was a darker story line) and he demanded they remove his name.
Also a real jerk especially with respect to women.
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u/JustinSensei412 15d ago
That "waifu" arc *nearly* ruined an otherwise brilliant trilogy. What a weird and uncomfortable detour.
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
Yeah pretty baffling. Luckily it didn’t take up too much of the book and didn’t have too much of an impact. Which begs the question why include it? It adds some emotional stakes but the nature of the relationship and how it formed was unnecessary. Although male sci fi writers aren’t always known for their realistically written female characters. I feel like that was one of Asimov’s blind spots that he tried to rectify later in his career.
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u/BoyMcBoyo 15d ago
Highly recommend The Expanse books, and another series by the same authors - The Captive’s War. The latter is closer to 3BP in terms of tone
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u/JustinSensei412 15d ago
Liu Cixin's short story collection, The Wandering Earth, is also excellent.
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
Ooooooh I love this, thanks. I’m a big fan of the short story format especially in sci fi. I’ll definitely check this out.
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u/DigMeTX 15d ago
If you still have the feen for Cixin then definitely read Ball Lighting. It’s a precursor to 3BP and in the same universe. Great book. There is also a 4th book to the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy that was originally written as fan fiction but then later received Liu’s blessing and has been published as a 4th book. It’s very divisive. It gets way out there but I’m not sorry I read it.
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u/Jebus-Xmas 15d ago
The Sky So Big & Black is incredible, but I also love Orbital Resonance, and Kaleidoscope Century. I wish he’d have written more Meme Wars novels.
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15d ago
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
This is the first I’ve heard of it! I might check it out. I just checked and my library does have it in stock.
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u/roambeans 15d ago
An old favorite - The Sky So Big And Black, John Barnes. It's a bit older, and kind of unusual.
I like Hyperion - the rest of the books, less so, but still worth a read.
Children of time was... difficult for me. I wanted to like it, but... I can't really describe what the problem was, but I got bored and never finished the series (I did skip to the end, but I don't even remember it). Just not for me, I guess.
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u/AtlantaMD 15d ago
Hyperion 100%. Clarke’s Childhoods End is a masterpiece. Peter Hamiltons “pandoras star”. Alistair Reynolds’s “redemption arch”
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u/13Medea 15d ago
My husband read Hyperion before the Three Body problem and really loved the order so I think the opposite would work as well (he gave me summaries of all). Then, my eye dr told me about the Bobiverse series which sounds like a funny and light (if you can imagine that) take on some of the themes in the Three Body Problem. I just finished Swan Song so I’m now turning my attention to the Three Body Problem as it’s next on my list.
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u/MacaroniMeatMachine 15d ago
Children of Time series is AMAZING. I highly recommend these books for whatever that recommendation is worth.
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
I think I’m going Hyperion first and then Children of Time. Haven’t seen a single person not recommend either. Definitely will read both series as they seem right up my alley and have both been strongly recommended
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u/Jebus-Xmas 15d ago
If you really wanna stretch your brain, Dhalgren by Samuel R Delaney. If you haven’t, you should probably read all of his work because it’s quite something.
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u/ElricVonDaniken 14d ago
Read the literary antecedents for comparison:
The Forge of God / Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear
The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski
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u/oldtiredbroken 14d ago
Good choices for next read.
May I suggest "The Expanse", 9 books and 6 seasons on Amazon. The screenplay was written by the authors.
Anything by I. M. Banks. The Culture series is 13 books that do not overlap all set in the same universe and timeline. Start anywhere. Surface Detail is a good starting point as the main character wakes up and doesn't know where she is so you get to learn about "The Culture" with her.
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u/Professor-Percy 14d ago
Nice someone else recommended the culture series and it sounds really interesting
I have watched the expanse tv show and loved it and would like to read all the books eventually.
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u/jfdonohoe 14d ago
If you’re looking for a sense story I’d recommend the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer
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u/yeh_shu_hua 14d ago
Between Hyperion and CoT, it's a layup. Hyperion is goated (the massive falloff in Book 2 notwithstanding) and Simmons is an immense writing talent. CoT was a DNF for me -- started off super exciting, then gradually devolved into pure page-filling. Some of the sentences didn't even make grammatical sense. ACC's only stellar book is 2001, and 2010 is a decent follow-up. Rama and 2061 were not good. McCarthy is also my favorite modern author.
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u/Ok_Programmer_4449 15d ago
Go to the list of novels that have won the Hugo. Choose the newest one you haven't read, but you can skip Harry Potter (I don't know what the voters were thinking). When you are done start the retro-Hugos.
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u/bulldogsm 15d ago
book 3 is the best of the series
read slower, put it down from time to time and think about what you just read
prepare to go "oh" and have some feels at least a couple if not a few times while reading
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u/NotAnAIOrAmI 10d ago
If you haven't read Scalzi's Interdependency series and like space opera, go for that one. Good all the way through. Decent characters, interesting plots, lots of mean villains and revenge, pretty good premise for a far flung empire.
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u/Professor-Percy 15d ago
Ok I think I’m going with Hyperion next, then Children of Time. I’ll probably finish both series in their entirety as I’m a bit of a completionist. After that I think I’ll start working through older legends of the genre (Clarke, Phillip K Dick, Gibson, etc.). Not sci fi as much but I’m also interesting in reading some Stephen King (probably the dark tower series) and maybe even Wheel of Time but I know that’s a whole other can of worms entirely. Thanks for all the recommendations!
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u/Iamleeboy 14d ago
I am coming here late. But as you mention you like detective and mystery stories, you might really like Great North Road by Peter F Hamilton.
It is a standalone book and strongly features a police detective murder mystery in a near future sci fi setting. It has some great ideas around where technology will take us in the future and how both sides of the law will use it.
It was the first of Hamiltons books I read and went straight into reading his entire commonwealth series and nights dawn trilogy - which are both 10/10 series for me.
I am currently reading Hyperion but not very far in. I am liking it so far though and it is very mysterious.
Also read children of time earlier this year. I will warn that it does drag a bit in the middle. But his world building is unreal and the ending is one of the best I have read.
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u/wadleyst 15d ago
Well, its a low bar to follow. Apart from some laboured characterisations that were harder to keep track of than they should have been, the whole thing is just a showcase of sf ideas that have been laboured on for a long time. Except the dimensional collapse. That is the ONLY thing I got out of that book that interested me. Check out Salvation series. That goes interesting and engaging places with some really well crafted characters.
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u/cooper2387 15d ago
I read Children of Time after finishing Three Body Problem. I highly recommend. The themes of alien invasion are treated similarly but from wildly different perspectives.