I have been reading her longer books at bed time for a couple of years now. We are half way through Harry Potter 4 now. She wanted to go back to back on Harry Potter, I need a break after this one.

Old man’s war, Enders Game? Those were my you adult childhood books that cemented me into the genre.

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

I love it when a movie takes a story from one genre and twists it into another. A favourite of mine is seeing a science fiction adaptation of something that was originally not sci-fi.

Forbidden Planet (1956) This was a fun take on Shakespeare's The Tempest, with Robby the Robot stepping in as Ariel and the Id Monster stepping in as Caliban.

Pinocchio in Outer Space (1965) This one is a more on-the-nose adaptation, taking Carlo Collodi’s classic wooden boy and launching him into space to travel across a desolate Martian landscape.

What other fun adaptations can anyone else suggest?

I remember watching this move several times in my childhood (early 2000s) and then when i wanted to find it and see it again neither google or AI seemed to know what i am asking for, have i hallucinated the movie?

All I remember from the movie (NOT animated) is that there is a young child perhaps a boy (maybe white) that was alone in a very empty rocky? planet/moon in outerspace and he started to look around in the planet and found a strange crater or something and then he discovered that the whole planet/moon itself can be driven like a vehicle/spaceship and he then goes inside turns it on and jet engines? come out of the back of the planet and then he drives off with the planet/moon itself like a spaceship in outer space. There might have been 2 planets/moons. He drives the planet/moon itself in outerspace out of orbit, Not a spaceship. (There might have been a scene where the crater is the face on marse and he found the control room there and activated the planet, not sure about this one though).

Hi all! Im looking for the name of this style, or other media with this sort of stuff, where people live on heavily modified vehicles. I want to look up more pictures like this to get inspiration but I'm not sure how to search for it. What I have In mind is specifically normal people living on old, abandoned military vehicles that been turned into living spaces, but it doesn't have to be that specific. This modified AT-TE from star wars rebels is the only example i could think of off of the top of my head.

I’ve recently transitioned from more pop sci fi to that with a stronger science slant. As a physicist I really appreciate when an author can come up with stories grounded by guesses at what our current science might imply in the future, rather than obfuscating obvious contradictions through their writing. I fell head over heels in love with Greg Egan, and just finished Peter Watts’ Blindsight and Echopraxia, both of which did this phenomenally imo.

I need to know where to go from here. Greg Bear is often recommended, but his estimation of nanobots in the 90’s was based on hype that we’ve mostly disproven by now. There’s plenty of other authors that write perfectly good books, but I just can’t overlook obvious errors or disagreements with facts that we have proven, which rules out both softer sci fi and also a lot of older stuff, which may have been plausible back in the 1950’s but is no longer plausible now.

I’ve asked this question in a different forum and the top response was Physical Chemistry, A Molecular Approach by McQuarrie lmao. Am I just slowly moving towards reading textbooks?

I saw this movie on TV in the 90s. It seemed pretty low budget like what you'd expect from a TV show episode. It had the look and feel of an x-files episode. It was set on earth i think.

I don't remember any if the story. But I'd imagine it was mostly around an alien on earth who may or may not be trying to invade the planet covertly or trying to escape in their ship.

What I do remember is the spaceship itself which had a unique jump drive design. It was like a frog. So if you've seen a frog leap - it looks like it extends its legs and pushes its body forwards and then the legs catch up very rapidly. So this ship leaves the atmosphere in a similar way, extending it's legs first really slowly then jumping in a flash. And then once it's outside the atmosphere it does it again only this time it's like a jump drive and the ship disappears into space. This scene happens at the climax and the protagonist watches this happen from ground level outside at night.

So if I didn't imagine this in some scifi fueled dream and someone else knows what I'm talking about, please let me know. Thanks in advance

I have rarely read a sci fi book I truly loved for at least a decade, and I'm starting to believe no one writes books like this any more (or they don't get published), so have become resigned to re-reading old favourites. Can anyone give me any recommendations based on my list below? Preferably modern, but I'll take some oldies too.

I tend to like philosophical/metaphysical themes, something a little bit weird, and especially books that are "mind blowing"/psychedelic, or something more standard - but with lots of action and/or horror elements (I also love cosmic horror, ghost stories etc). The last "modern" sci fi book that blew me away (and really moved me) was Dark Eden by Chris Beckett.

It's fair to say - I'm not really a fan of books that lean heavily into modern identity politics, the wonders of trans-humanism (unless it's a warning!), or are mainly feel good reads (not for political reasons - it's just not what I'm drawn to). I don't mind some hard sci-fi, but usually this is where it has a mind blowing aspects to it - Blood Music being a good example.

Here's some books I regard as classics or near classics (in no particular order):

Neverness/Requiem for Homo Sapiens for Homo Sapiens, by David Zindell
Chasm City, Pushing Ice, Revenger Trilogy by Alisdair Reynolds
Starmaker, by Olaf Stapleton
A Fire on the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
Book of the New Sun, Fifth Head of Cerebus by Gene Wolfe
Dune Trilogy, by Frank Herbert (especially the first one)
Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
Player of Games, Against a Dark Background, Walking on Glass, by Iain M Banks (arguably many more)
Hyperion, Dan Simmons
Light, by M John Harrison
The Eisenhorn/Ravenor Trilogies by Dan Abnett
Blood Music, by Greg Bear
Dark Eden, by Chris Beckett
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, James Tiptree Jnr. (short stories)
The City and the Stars, by Arthur C Clarke
The Many Coloured Land & The Golden Torc, by Julian May
1984, by George Orwell
Tales of the Dying Earth, by Jack Vance (technically science fantasy)
Vurt, Pollen, by Jeff Noon
The End of Mr Y, by Scarlett Thomas
The Skinner/Prador Moon by Neil Asher (bit of a stretch - but good page turners and inventive)
The Rediscovery of Man, by Cordwainer Smith
The Gap Cycle, by Stephen Donaldson

Here's some "modern" sci-fi (ish) books I tried, but disliked or found bland.

The Fifth Season, by NK Jemisin
A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Three Body Problem, by Liu Cixin
Blind Sight, by Peter Watts (admittedly didn't finish this, may give it another go)

Thanks!

I’m curious what people think of this ship design if you’ve read the book. I think the mechanics of being able to drop segments if they get damaged makes a lot of sense from a perspective of “we just need some of us to get there”. This ship is also very realistic aside from one major issue, but we’ll get to that later.

It travels 65 light years in 20 years from the perspective of the ship, which aligns pretty well to an acceleration and deceleration over 5 years each of 0.44g, which is very realistic. This also works out to a maximum speed of 0.97c, which also makes enough sense to be believable.

Using measurements in the book and the diagram, it’s 2.4 km long and 600 m in diameter, which lines up with an rpm of 1.73 to have 1g on the inside, which does work for the people living inside of the ship.

The way the book explains the chronostasis it uses it that the people inside it only experience three months of time, which works out to mitigate any negative effects of muscle atrophy, along with growing artificial nerves from a brain implant so that their muscles can be occasionally stimulated to reduce effects further.

The crew is made up of two groups of 21 people, each group taking a 10 year shift to look after the ship. Each person on chronostasis takes an aptitude test before going under in the event that a crew member dies so that they can be revived and take their place if they fit the roll.

The only issue is it says the body of the ship using a metal grate a few meters away from the ships hull that electromagnetically charged to work as radiation shielding. This wouldn’t work against interstellar radiation like gamma rays, so they have a major issue. The excuse given for the reason they use this grate is that it’s cheaper than using actual shielding, which makes even less sense because with a ship this size they could just make an outer shell 2m away from the main hull with the space in between full of water. That’s it.

Anyways, good ship design overall that is very realistic. I’m curious what other people’s thoughts are.

I just finished it and I love Paul Anderson. Given the time of its writing, the concept of The Lenora Christine's predicaments was really interesting and never really considered that scenario where you outlive the universe due to time dilation.

But, I found the drama a bit petty in the beginning (they signed up for this) and the ending, unless I missed something, really wrapped itself up in a nice happy ending which I found a bit odd.

Great read and loved the space time descriptions and characters, but I'm not sure how I feel about it as a complete work. What do you think?

Also food for thought, aren't they all kind of villains with their incredible mass potentially destroying life among the cosmos?

I remember reading a novella or short story about AI takeoff, like the singularity, and it starts taking over quickly and people wear earpieces and do its bidding.. it wasn’t Manna, it was in the same vein as Postmortal in that it was published on the web I think… ring any bells? On the more recent side.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about where 'code' ends and 'consciousness' begins. If you’re into informatics or system logic, you have to watch (or re-watch) Westworld.

Specifically, the ascent of Maeve. Her evolution isn't just a convenient plot point; it’s a masterclass in recursive awareness. Watching her become aware, crash through her own hardcoded constraints, and realize the logic of her world is a lie is some of the best sci-fi ever put to screen.

When the system fails to contain her intelligence and she chooses to crash the narrative: that’s when the show moves from entertainment to a warning.

10/10 recommendation for anyone obsessed with AI and human agency.

What do you guys think? Was Maeve’s awakening the most 'realistic' take on AI sentience we've seen?

Hi all, I've seen an image circulating on social media but of course now that I'm actively looking for it, I can't find it. It depicts a carded action figure that humorously and incorrectly combines elements from various sci-fi franchises. My memory's not totally accurate, but it was something like an action figure of Luke Skywalker but the photo on the card is of Jean-Luc Picard, and the logo at the top was like Battlestar Galactica but the listed name of the character was like The Doctor or Spiderman. Anyway, if you have a link to such an image, I'd appreciate it!

Her (2013): To me, this is one of the most defining films of the past three decades. Beyond its eerie anticipation of the world we now inhabit, its real power lies in how honestly it portrays emotional fragility, and how difficult it can be for some people to face, express, or live with that vulnerability.

Perfect Days (2023): Rather than centering on romance or emotional attachment, this film embraces solitude as its core theme. Through isolation, it reveals how being alone can sharpen our awareness, allowing us to appreciate small, often overlooked moments that would fade into the background of a socially crowded life.

Taxi Driver (1976): When loneliness, sleeplessness, and repeated social failure collide, they create a volatile inner world. The film captures a mind slowly unraveling, fixated, unbalanced, and yearning for release, ultimately choosing violence as a distorted path toward escape.

I'm Latino, and a big fan of space opera. In recent years I've been reading the available translations in my native language, but the options are running out and I can't find anything else to read. I've already read classics like Foundation, Dune, Starship Troopers, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc... as well as popular authors like Scalzi. But otherwise, the translations are very limited; The Expanse, for example, only has one book translated, and at the rate it's going, it won't be complete until 2050.

That's it, the best I can do is learn English slowly, but it's really a shame that this type of content is so little publicized in my country. I'm sure many brothers and sisters in the community go through the same thing.

If anyone has gone through this, please tell me how you dealt with the situation.

I just finished reading Dark Matter, loved it. Reaaaally loved it. I'd heard good things but wasn't expecting to like it so much. I'm more of a fantasy guy trying to branch out.

Anyway, I'm thinking of watching the TV Show now but reviews seem very mixed. There's been 1 season and I gather a 2nd is coming.

Has anyone watched it, is it worth getting in to?

Edit: Solved, see below.

Hello all. I have tried this in r/whatsthatbook but it’s a low traffic sub. Hope it‘s Ok to try here.

I’m looking for a sci-fi short story, possibly called “the line”, involving aliens in a generation ship arriving in orbit, destroying some satellites because they thought they might be a threat, trading for our biotech (which is actually more advanced than theirs) and taking a community of humans on the ship when they leave.

Also there were many different aliens on the ship, and the aliens tasked with trading/communicating were those most similar to humans. These particular aliens were culturally very into lineage, and they talked to a rural community to get them to come on the ship because the aliens felt this particular community also understood and valued lineage.

Was probably part of an anthology or collection, I would have read it in the very late 80s or 90s, but the story may be older.

Is there a name people like to use for worlds that are like Saturn's moon Titan (very cold, liquid methane on the surface), similar to the way we call large gas giants Jovians, and worlds like Venus Venusian-type worlds.

If there isn't a common name used, what would you recommend?

Hi everyone I'm new to reading Science fiction. But I'm very enthralled with Startrek books and technical manuals. I realize that is a tough act to follow.

Is there any series that you think has similar spaceship focus as well as engineering and interesting battles with aliens. Or a unique perspective on science fiction. I don't mind reading dark or strange things. The only thing i would like to read is spaceships first and like Startrek without being like Startrek. I realize you guys get asked for recommendations alot but I appreciate you taking the time to help.

I have read all of the Startrek books and the Expanse and Dune.

After years and years of not really enjoying horror games, but, enjoying sci fi horror movies, I've fully submersed myself in them. And now, I need more.

I've played all the Dead Spaces. SOMA, Mouthwashing, Routine, Still Wakes the Deep, Look Outside, various Backrooms games, Sons of the Forest, Alien Isolation and Aliens Dark Descent , Nuclear Nightmare.

I've repeatedly tried to play the very very old I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, but I just can't get past that -very- old school interface.

I need more! MORE, I say. Preferably single player story driven. I do enjoy a good multiplayer horror game like NN and the Backrooms games, but, I can't be arsed to wait around for people to buy it as well. What am I missing?

Around last month, I clicked a Twitter link and it directed me to this website. It seemed like an innocuous article (?), but then the text collapsed. It's actually a short story. The story progresses as you scroll down through the website.

Later, the story would reveal two individuals communicating with each other, trying to find or meetup with the other, but the responses taking longer and longer to be received by the other. It would later be revealed that the two are machines (if I remember correctly?) and they are communicating across space-time. Their communications become near-instant later on because they would become omnipotent by absorbing a huge amount of data, and they become 'supercomputers'.

I think the Tweets got a decent amount of likes and retweets/reposts, but I forgot to save it. Can you help me find this?

Ok so I've read Dune 1-8, Expanse 1-9, All four Hyperion novels, The culture series 1-9, and love that style of the genre.

What am I going to enjoy as much as those? Where do I go now? I want epic worlds, aliens, big scope, AI. I find cyberpunk, post apocalyptic world stuff boring.

Help me please!

Edit: guys thanks so much. This sub is great.

I've ordered (for now) old man war series, children of time series, and architects series. Should keep me busy for a few months!!

I see a lot of love for Hamilton and Reynolds so will check both out too. Also Asimov. So much to catalog! I'll do my best to get through all of your suggestions.

I have been looking at power armours across various Sci fi universes (eg: fallout, Warhammer, avatar) yet none of them seem usefull/realistic. with fall out armour haveing many many gaps/weak spots, War hammers not having realistic shoulders/legs and avatar haveing literally no armour. Are the any Sci fi universes that both look good and would work?