Are there any books like the Martian that anyone would recommend?

[Athen]

After I finished the martian, i am left without anthing to fill my semi-realistic scifi needs. Do any of you have a suggestion?

[OrbitsR4Sissies]

I haven't read it yet, but you might consider Stephen Baxter's "Voyage." It's an alternate-history depiction of NASA that keeps the Saturns operational to work into a Mars manned expedition.

[satnet]

I would recommend Saturn Run. I consider The Martian superior, but it also treads the line between being hard sci-fi and writing a good story reasonably well. It does have a few elements that are a bit more fantastic than The Martian but at least most of the human tech is a reasonable extrapolation of things we either have or have designs for. Basically they discover an alien device at Saturn and there is a race to get to it. The main sources of drama are issues from the quickly cobbled together mission and some political intrigue.

I would also recommend Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is about a colony ship sent from Earth generations ago, its last years before reaching the new world, the starting of the colony, and what happens after. This is the same author who wrote the Mars trilogy, but I prefer this since it is self contained and spends a little more time exploring the technology. If you haven't read any of his works before I will forewarn you that he spends a fair amount of time on the politics/social dynamics that arise in these situations. It is a little more pessimistic in the end than I would have liked, but it was an enjoyable read and the science seems reasonable.

From the classical side, Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama has aged reasonably well. It is about a large alien spacecraft detected moving towards the solar system and the crew that investigates it. The spacecraft is a cylinder with spin gravity and deals with some of the implications of that environment and the technology needed for such a long voyage. There are two sequels, but they are collaborations with another author and have a very different feel.

[Superfluous J]

I enjoyed Ben Bova's Mars. I think it mostly fits the bill though it's about 25 years old now so any recent discoveries will of course not be included. But as far as I know it was realistic for the time. It's also part of a series that includes a lot of planets, apparently, but I only read this and its sequel Return To Mars which - in my opinion - was not as good. Mars left you with questions. Mars 2 answers them and you realize that you didn't actually want them answered. Or at least, I did.

[Dafni]

5 hours ago, OrbitsR4Sissies said:

I haven't read it yet, but you might consider Stephen Baxter's "Voyage." It's an alternate-history depiction of NASA that keeps the Saturns operational to work into a Mars manned expedition.

It's an amazing book, by far the best out of his "NASA series". I highly recommend it.

Edit:

I also immensely enjoyed the Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Mars, Blue Mars and Green Mars. As cheesy as the titles sound, the books are amazing. I name my Kerbals after the characters in those books

Edited October 30, 2018 by Dafni

[wumpus]

Mary Roach has written a number of great books including (I hope) "Packing for Mars".  Although this isn't a [science] fictional account of life on Mars, Mary Roach is a great science writer and I'd expect a great deal of accuracy in what you should expect on Mars and what you should bring.

Just got it out of the library, so will read it shortly.

[Xd the great]

If you like non-fiction, Ignition! is a pretty good book.

That is, if you want to blow up someone's backyard

 

[Adstri]

Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement. May not be exactly like the Martian, but it's a good read.

[Aquaticfantastic]

Have you read Andy Weir's Artemis? set in a 'city' on the moon.

Whilst not as realistic as The Martian still a great read!

[Steel]

2 hours ago, Aquaticfantastic said:

Have you read Andy Weir's Artemis? set in a 'city' on the moon.

Whilst not as realistic as The Martian still a great read!

I don't think Artemis and The Martian have much in common other than their author in all honesty. I loved The Martian, but Artemis didn't hit any of the same good points for me personally.

 

I'd heartily second the earlier recommendation of KSR's Mars Trilogy. I've only read Red Mars, but it's hands down amazing and I've already lined up the other two.

Edited October 30, 2018 by Steel

[StrandedonEarth]

1 hour ago, Steel said:

I'd heartily second the earlier recommendation of KSR's Mars Trilogy. I've only read Red Mars, but it's hands down amazing and I've already lined up the other two.

I’ll third that. While I’m not big on the sociopolitical aspects of the trilogy, I get that it would be a major part of colonizing Mars. 

That trilogy is why I think the major export from Mars would be inventions born out of the necessities of trying to live there 

[Athen]

(I didn't get the replies in my notifications, so I'm replying to a bunch all at once. Thanks for all of your suggestions!)

21 hours ago, OrbitsR4Sissies said:

I haven't read it yet, but you might consider Stephen Baxter's "Voyage." It's an alternate-history depiction of NASA that keeps the Saturns operational to work into a Mars manned expedition.

 

Sounds interesting, I'll be sure to check that out soon! I like those alternate history sort of thought experiments. 

 

19 hours ago, satnet said:

I would recommend Saturn Run. I consider The Martian superior, but it also treads the line between being hard sci-fi and writing a good story reasonably well. It does have a few elements that are a bit more fantastic than The Martian but at least most of the human tech is a reasonable extrapolation of things we either have or have designs for. Basically they discover an alien device at Saturn and there is a race to get to it. The main sources of drama are issues from the quickly cobbled together mission and some political intrigue.

I would also recommend Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is about a colony ship sent from Earth generations ago, its last years before reaching the new world, the starting of the colony, and what happens after. This is the same author who wrote the Mars trilogy, but I prefer this since it is self contained and spends a little more time exploring the technology. If you haven't read any of his works before I will forewarn you that he spends a fair amount of time on the politics/social dynamics that arise in these situations. It is a little more pessimistic in the end than I would have liked, but it was an enjoyable read and the science seems reasonable.

From the classical side, Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama has aged reasonably well. It is about a large alien spacecraft detected moving towards the solar system and the crew that investigates it. The spacecraft is a cylinder with spin gravity and deals with some of the implications of that environment and the technology needed for such a long voyage. There are two sequels, but they are collaborations with another author and have a very different feel.

1. Sounds like a fun read, seems a little more fictional (I'm perfectly okay with unrealistic, I'm mostly just in a sci-fi kick. But, I'm just looking for some stories focusing on the space part of it, instead of the type of fantasy/sci-fi that has grown so common since star wars came out. I have no problem with star wars by the way.), but from your description, it seems worth checking out.
2. That looks cool. The science doesn't have to make perfect sense in my opinion, just as long as it makes a good story. We couldn't have gotten the Martian without the storm, and the storm wouldn't have been possible in real life. I'll add it to my list that I'm now making for these.
3. I think the idea of interstellar space being a massive voyage is very fun. It's not like most sci-fi (which, again, I don't have anything against) where they pop from one star-system to another in seconds in a tiny little ship. It's just cool to think of these massive endeavors interstellar space travel is.  

19 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

I enjoyed Ben Bova's Mars. I think it mostly fits the bill though it's about 25 years old now so any recent discoveries will of course not be included. But as far as I know it was realistic for the time. It's also part of a series that includes a lot of planets, apparently, but I only read this and its sequel Return To Mars which - in my opinion - was not as good. Mars left you with questions. Mars 2 answers them and you realize that you didn't actually want them answered. Or at least, I did.

I'm sure that the martian will be outdated in a few years as well, but I don't think that the fact would subtract from how fun the martian was. I might as well check out the series since I've got a lot of time during my day to read, might as make sure I don't ever go short of something fun to read.

17 hours ago, Dafni said:

I also immensely enjoyed the Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Mars, Blue Mars and Green Mars. As cheesy as the titles sound, the books are amazing. I name my Kerbals after the characters in those books

 

Seems like it would be a fun read, especially if you name your Kerbals after it. I'll be sure to put this series pretty high on my newly formed list.

12 hours ago, wumpus said:

Mary Roach has written a number of great books including (I hope) "Packing for Mars".  Although this isn't a [science] fictional account of life on Mars, Mary Roach is a great science writer and I'd expect a great deal of accuracy in what you should expect on Mars and what you should bring.

Just got it out of the library, so will read it shortly.

I like to hear about possible solutions for problems that we will probably face in the future. I think it's kind of interesting to think about how we will explore in the future.

12 hours ago, Xd the great said:

If you like non-fiction, Ignition! is a pretty good book.

That is, if you want to blow up someone's backyard

1

I already love to blow up virtual backyards. Sign me up. 

12 hours ago, Adstriduum said:

Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement. May not be exactly like the Martian, but it's a good read.

Doesn't have to be exactly like the Martian. Sound good!

[HeliosPh0enix]

If you are looking for scientific realism and are willing to forego a modern/near future feel, then I would check James S.A. Corey's The Expanse series and Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series.  The Expanse is set some 300-500 years in the future, with humanity spread out across the solar system, and deals with a lot of the political and interpersonal relationships that come out of a society like that, while also maintaining great action and adhering to the laws of Newtonian physics.  Revelation Space is set a little farther in the future, with humanity spread into local star systems that are connected via "lighthuggers," massive ships that use ultra-efficient engines to accelerate up to 99% the speed of light and physically travel between star systems, a nice refresher from the common hyperspace/wormhole trope.  Some of the science touched on in the series is more theoretical, but it all feels very real and plausible, with more discussion of the effects of time dilation on a far-flung human society.  If you couldn't tell, I like how both series stay true to science while also exploring the socio-political implications of the seemingly alien cultures the worlds have created.

Edit:  Reading your responses to the other comments, it seems to me that you would really enjoy the Revelation Space series because of its unorthodox treatment of interstellar travel.  I hope all this helps!

Edited October 31, 2018 by HeliosPh0enix