# Jack McDevitt-like sci-fi



## Mouseferatu (Jun 3, 2009)

After years of almost nothing but fantasy and the occasional horror, I've recently read an actual science-fiction novel. It was called _Polaris_, by Jack McDevitt, and was one of several books he's written about an antiquities dealer named Alex Benedict. And I found that I really, really enjoyed the novel.

So I'm wondering, for those of you familiar with his work, are there any other authors, of similar style* that I should be looking at? (I say "other writers" because I've already ordered the other Alex Benedict novels.)

*Said style being that the "sci" in the sci-fi is _slightly_ on the "hard" end of the continuum, as opposed to space opera or complete technobabble like Star Trek, but where it's still primarily a background element to a well-written, fast-paced story and clever dialogue.


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## Crothian (Jun 3, 2009)

You mean Jack McDevitt I think 

I have read and enjoyed all of his novels.  I haven't found anyone else that writes quite like him yet.  But I keep looking.


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## Mouseferatu (Jun 3, 2009)

Crothian said:


> You mean Jack McDevitt I think




Oh, sure, if you want to muddy the waters with _facts_. 

Oh, uh, oops.


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## Pbartender (Jun 4, 2009)

Mouseferatu said:


> After years of almost nothing but fantasy and the occasional horror, I've recently read an actual science-fiction novel. It was called _Polaris_, by Jack McKevitt, and was one of several books he's written about an antiquities dealer named Alex Benedict. And I found that I really, really enjoyed the novel.
> 
> So I'm wondering, for those of you familiar with his work, are there any other authors, of similar style* that I should be looking at? (I say "other writers" because I've already ordered the other Alex Benedict novels.)




I'm also very fond of McDevitt.

Also check out his "Academy" series, based around the character Priscilla Hutchins.

I read a lot of authors... I'll have to think for a bit to come up with others with similar styles.

In the meantime, what other sci-fi authors have you read?


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## Mouseferatu (Jun 4, 2009)

Pbartender said:


> In the meantime, what other sci-fi authors have you read?




Honestly, it's been so long since I read any "pure" sci-fi, it's hard to remember. 

Let's see... I read, and really enjoyed, Diane Duane and Peter Morwood's "Space Cops" series. It was pretty light and fluffy, but it was fun. Of course there were the occasional Star Trek or Babylon 5 novels, but those aren't what I'm looking for. And there were a few others, but I honestly can't recall the names right now.

And now, for the part that's going to get me beat up.  I have no interest in Asimov or Frank Herbert. I've tried both, and the writing from both was so dull that it didn't matter to me how cool the _ideas_ might've been; I couldn't get into them. Just IMO, of course, but it gives you a hint of what _not_ to recommend.


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## Pbartender (Jun 4, 2009)

Also, what sorts of sub-genres do you enjoy... action, mystery, suspense, military, comedy, etc.?



Mouseferatu said:


> And now, for the part that's going to get me beat up.  I have no interest in Asimov or Frank Herbert. I've tried both, and the writing from both was so dull that it didn't matter to me how cool the _ideas_ might've been; I couldn't get into them. Just IMO, of course, but it gives you a hint of what _not_ to recommend.




No problem...  I love Asimov, and like much (but not all) of Herbert's stuff, but I understand where you're coming from.  Asimov can be pretty dry.

I will recommend some Asimov, however, that's a little different than his usual stuff...  Hoping that you will give it a try, but fully expecting that you probably won't.  

I'll post a list later tonight, after I consult our extensive library at home.


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## Mouseferatu (Jun 4, 2009)

Pbartender said:


> Also, what sorts of sub-genres do you enjoy... action, mystery, suspense, military, comedy, etc.?




I'm a fan of a number of sub-genres, but action, mystery, and horror would come toward the top of the list. (The fact that I'm posting about McDevitt probably confirms the first two.) 

I have no particular affinity for military material, but so long as it's a good read, I'm not opposed to it. I like humor, but I prefer that it come from the characters and the description, as opposed to it being the _point_ of the book. (For instance, I love the dialogue in Joss Whedon's shows, but I like it because it's a counterpoint to the serious aspects of the show. I love movies with funny lines/scenes, but I dislike movies that actually fall into the comedy genre.)



> I will recommend some Asimov, however, that's a little different than his usual stuff...  Hoping that you will give it a try, but fully expecting that you probably won't.




Feel free to suggest. I'll at least give it some thought. 



> I'll post a list later tonight, after I consult our extensive library at home.




Cool. Thanks.


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## Pbartender (Jun 5, 2009)

Alright...

First, take a look at Issac Asimov's "Lucky Starr, Space Ranger" series, which he wrote under the pseudonym Paul French.  It's a bit more pulp-action than his usual stuff, and the plots are heavily into the sort of action-mystery-suspense that you'll see from McDevitt's Benedict books.  Part of the reason behind that is that the series was intended for a young adult audience and written with the intent of possibly turning it into a television series.

Also take a look at Ursula LeGuin's "Solar Queen" series, which she wrote under the name Andrew North.  It follows the career of a young man who joins the interstellar equivalent of the merchant marine, and misadventures of the crew of the tramp freighter he's assigned to.  She's got a lot of other titles, but honestly most them get pretty weird.

Check out Harry Harrison, especially the "Stainless Steel Rat" series about a future criminal who gets caught and effectively recruited to be a future cop.  The third book in the series, _The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World_ is perhaps one best time travel stories I've ever read.  Also read his book _Make Room!  Make Room!_, which is the novel that the movie _Soylent Green_ is based on...  Spoiler: 



Spoiler



Soylent isn't green, and it isn't made of people.



Take a look at Philip K. Dick.  He's considered by many to be the forefather of the cyberpunk genre. His writing is rather dystopian and may be just a bit slow for what you're looking for, but several of his novels were turned into classic sci-fi movies: _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ became the movie _Bladerunner_, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" was made into _Total Recall_, _Minority Report_ and _A Scanner Darkly_ are both movies made from stories of the same names.  Aside from being very good reads, they may be worth reading just to compare with the movies.

David Gerrold wrote a lot of scripts for Star Trek, both the original series and The Next Generation.  He's the man responsible for "The Trouble With Tribbles".  He also wrote several sci-fi novels.  The "Star Wolf" series is fun, but very reminiscent of Trek.  The "Dingilliad" is another fun series directed toward a young-adult audience.

You might also like Richard K. Morgan.  Start with _Altered Carbon_.

Phew.  That's a good start.  Let me know if you need more suggestions...  I'm a prolific reader of a wide variety of fiction, but sci-fi and historical fiction have long been my favorites.


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## Jack7 (Jun 6, 2009)

*Larry Niven.* Yeah his books are kinda crazy sometimes but he has an extremely well developed mythos, such as Known Space, and Ringworld, and his stories are extremely interesting. I also like McDevitt though. Not many really consistently great sci-fi writers anymore though. Not in my opinion.

But you might also try Frederik Pohl and Ben Bova.


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## Pbartender (Jun 6, 2009)

Jack7 said:


> *Larry Niven.*




Gah!  I knew I had one more author to suggest, and then the name slipped my mind...  Thanks, Jack.


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## Punnuendo (Jun 16, 2009)

I just want to drop in and say thanks for starting this thread. Because of it I picked up "A Talent for War" the other day and am totally loving it.


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## Mouseferatu (Jun 16, 2009)

Punnuendo said:


> I just want to drop in and say thanks for starting this thread. Because of it I picked up "A Talent for War" the other day and am totally loving it.




You're quite welcome.

I actually just started that one a few days ago, myself. I got the books out of order, so I've read two of his other Alex Benedict novels--_Polaris_ and _Seeker_--first.


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## Fallen Seraph (Jun 17, 2009)

In some regards it is sort of more "alternative-history" but at the same time it isn't and is a good mystery, suspense, noir thriller is *Century Rain*. It involves in the far future two warring/competing factions of humanity and stumbling across a gateway to another Earth, but one from the far past.

How Sci-Fi do you want to go? Since there is always "future tomorrow" and Cyberpunk type stuff. Which a obvious first suggestion would be to check out stuff by *William Gibson*. While he is no longer pursuing pure-Cyberpunk his modern books are very interesting and feel closer to home.


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## Jack7 (Jun 17, 2009)

One thing you guys might wanna consider reading, even though Mouse said he didn't like military stuff much, is *BOLO*. The original Bolo material by Keith Laumer.

What I really liked about the Bolo is how much it tried to act like a chivalrous human Knight, even though it was an artificial war machine. And it was monstrous, fearless, and unstoppable (most of the time).

Most of Laumer's stories tended to be gritty too, like much of McDevitt's stuff.

Bolo was a helluvah ride the first time I read those books years and years and years ago.

But I'd bet some of you fantasy fans would really like it too, not because the stories were sci-fantasy, they weren't. But because the Bolo was a cross between a Knight and a Dragon. And it fought like a hellion, and just wouldn't give up for nothing, and it always tried to do the right thing no matter who tried to stop it, and it reminded me a lot of a mechanical version of Godzilla (one of my favorite fictional characters). It was just plain admirable, _and my kinda monster._

I highly recommend it to the sci-fi consuming crowd.

By the way, some of my buddies and I used to play _*Ogre*_, based on the Bolo. I think it was Steve Jackson made.  I recommend that game as well.


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## Nellisir (Jun 24, 2009)

This is just some authors I like: your mileage may vary.

CJ Cherryh's sci-fi burns my brain out, but is good.  Highly, -heavily-, psychological, also none of the characters ever gets much sleep (this is starting to piss me off, actually). No humor.  I'd recommend Downbelow Station & related books (Hellburner, Heavy Time, Tripoint, Merchanter's Luck - some available in a collected omnibus trade size) the Chanur series, and Cyteen (available in a trade; sequel apparently just released).  She's also got about a zillion books in the Pretender/etc/etc series; that's technically sci-fi, but of a different sort.)  I've had alot of trouble enjoying her fantasy work, though.

Joe Haldeman - Forever War.

Vernor Vinge - Not as prolific as I'd like, but awesome. 4 Hugos.  Rainbow's End; Across Realtime; A Deepness in the Sky; A Fire Upon the Deep (I haven't been able to read, alas).

David Drake's Hammer's Slammers series is good military sci-fi war porn; not deep, but full of tanks that Blow  Up Real Good.

Personally, I think the best thing to do is pick up the Years Best Science Fiction collection (the big, trade paperback one), and if you like a story, look for more by that author.  Buy as many as you can, actually - I think they're up to #23 or #24?

I'll post new names if I think of them; most of my sci-fi is in boxes.


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## Pbartender (Jul 7, 2009)

Jack7 said:


> One thing you guys might wanna consider reading, even though Mouse said he didn't like military stuff much, is *BOLO*. The original Bolo material by Keith Laumer.




I just finished reading the first of the _Bolo_ books based on your recommendation.  It was a good read...  I'm placing a hold on the others at our local library.

One thing I really liked was that while a Bolo tank was integral to the plot of each of the short stories, they weren't always the focus of the action or the narration.  It kept the stories a little more interesting.


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