[ryanSrich]

Others have recommended Three Body. I’d second that. Amazing trilogy.

Rendezvous With Rama is one of my favorites.

I’d also recommend Children of Time and Children of Ruin by adrian tchaikovsky. It was one of those random ones I picked up with low expectations, and it turned out to be amazing. It’s well regarded now, but this was when it first came out.

Dune is one I recommend reading even if you’re aware of the story or the movie. It’s an amazingly creative work that lays the foundation of many modern science fiction concepts.

I’d also highly recommend Fire Upon the Deep.

Last ones I’ll recommend are the space odyssey books. I’m a huge fan of long timelines (if you couldn’t already tell) and this series spans 1000 years.

[mmastrac]

I tried the get through the Three Body but it was a slog and I didn't really get the hype for it. I agree with all the other recs but Three Body is just not a universally lovable book.

[CarelessExpert]

I could not agree more with this. I find sci fi authors can fall into the trap of being so in love with their concept they forget about the characters, and IMO The Three Body problem has that issue in spades; I just didn't care about the characters. They struck me as two dimensional cardboard cutouts.

Now, I grant you, some of the challenge might be in a) lacking Chinese historical and cultural background, and b) the nature of the translation itself. But I simply could not get into this series.

[fellowniusmonk]

I will second these recommendations and add Armor by John Steakley.

It's a sci-fi book that made sense of PTSD for me.

[mariushn]

> Last ones I’ll recommend are the space odyssey books.

Which ones? :)

[ryanSrich]

The entire series, 2001-3001

[mariushn]

Got it. I've read 'space opera' instead of 'space odyssey' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Odyssey