recommend me some books please

[KerbMav]

Yes, I do still read, and not for school!

Id like to read a good space travel sci-fi book. Should not take place all over the galaxy, preferably in our own solar system or the near interstellar neighbourhood at least. Low tech level, no hyperdrive - maybe some alternate reality during the 60s or a look into the future of the next 10 - 50 years.

[MalletFace]

From my experience, Isaac Asimov would be an author you should look into. He is one of the men who helped create science fiction as we know it, and he is famous for the "three laws" he felt all robots would have. The collection of nine of his short stories known as I, Robot, is likely to contain a few stories that interest you. Runaround has to be my favorite of those short stories, so I recommend that one very highly. I believe the price of this ranges from 5-10 U.S. dollars if you want to download it legally, and be assured of a clean conscious and no viruses.

(The movie I, Robot did not draw directly from any plot elements in any of his stories, and was merely another look into what could happen with Asimov's "three laws")

Most of his works came out between 1950 and 1970, and people around during this time really didn't have what we do now, so their sci-fi worlds tend to be much simpler, and are more likely to only include the low-level tech you are asking for.

Edited July 13, 2013 by MalletFace

[Galacticruler]

The Dune series is a good start for that, but it does not meet your criteria.

[Trekkette]

I'd suggest the Honor Harrington series, by David Weber. But they... really don't match up with your criteria. Military/political space opera based on the Age of Sail...

You should read them anyways.

[Spaceisbeautifulul]

Whoops, forget this post, I didn't read the criteria.

I think 2001 A space Odyssey would be a good fit for you though.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Spaceisbeautifulul

[Spartwo]

my personal favorite in pdf

foundations of paradise: ftp://76.23.52.7/AiDisk_a1/eBooks/C/Clarke,%20Arthur%20C%20(A)/Arthur%20C.%20Clarke%20-%20The%20Fountains%20of%20paradise.pdf

also try rendeavous with rama and the songs of distant earth

[Eric S]

Quite a bit of the science fiction that came out before about Star Wars would fit. Much of Heinlein's early stuff was near-future based and much harder science fiction than his later stuff, for example.

[Rockcoole]

The Land of Crimson Clouds, Roadside Picnic (though that doesn't follow your space travel request, it is still really good) or anything by the Strugatsky brother's.

[Xeldrak]

Well, as mentioned before,

Arthur C. Clarke - (Rendezvous with Rama, Fountains of paradise)

Isaac Asimov - I enjoyed "The Gods themselfes.." just a few months ago. Also the Robot-Series should match your criteria. The Foundation-Serie is also awesome, but does not realy match.

I further enjoyed Robert A. Heinlein's "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" not too long ago. I liked it, but the style of it is realy needs getting used to.

Also, "The Forever War" by Haldemann - does contain a handfull of scifi-gadgets but in return you get some realy hard scifi

[Accelerando]

Coyote by Allen Steele might be up your alley, although when I last read it (when I was very small) it seemed to be very American-centric

Permanence by Karl Schroeder follows a woman of a society of "interstellar cycler" waystations orbiting brown dwarfs in Sol's local stellar neighborhood; the cyclers themselves are large STL vehicles analagous to interplanetary cycler stations, but in order to move at interstellar speeds, they project magnetic fields as they pass through a star's magnetosphere, to accelerate/decelerate and steer, slowly making a complete circuit of a series of stars before returning to Sol (or their respective parent system). They're slowly being rendered "obsolete", though, by FTL spacecraft, and the brown dwarf societies are in a bit of a bind. I haven't read it through and through, but it seems to explore many interesting, consistently well-thought-out hard science fictional concepts as Schroeder does very well in.

The Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds probably falls outside your desires, but I find it interesting and think you might as well. You might not consider it "low tech," but it takes place across the history of a transhuman society (mostly) around near-Sol stars.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Accelerando

[Motokid600]

It's not about space, but if your not reading a song of ice and fire you are missing out greatly.

[Xiphos]

ENDER'S GAME by ORSON SCOTT CARD. That is a must read!

[JakeGrey]

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is good if you want hard-SF, but some people find it a bit dry. The first volume was available as a free download somewhere at one point.

[llamatoes]

Voyage and Titan by Stephen Baxter. are both stupidly good books, both are alternate sixties, and are stupidly hard sf.

[Brabbit1987]

I loved these 2 books. =^.^=

http://books.google.ca/books?id=lFdOIBbmBdoC&dq=tailchaser&source=gbs_navlinks_s

http://books.google.ca/books/about/Killobyte.html?id=od7nAQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Neither are space travel btw.

[Flixxbeatz]

50 Shades of Grey.

Kidding *raises bulwark against impending firestorm*

[Jones-250]

Not Sci-Fi:

Hagakure

Sci-Fi:

Childhoods End by Arthur C. Clarke

[llamatoes]

I'm currently reading the worldwar series by Harry turtledove, which despite the stupid setting, are stupidly good.

[tntristan12]

Not science fiction, but I've just started reading the Song of Ice and Fire books, and they're pretty awesome (though they follow Game of Thrones almost exactly, so if you've watched the show it may be a while reading before you get to any new material).

If science fiction is more your thing, Jeff Head's Dragon's Fury series is pretty good. It's self published so it may be a little hard to get a hold of a copy, and the guy is about as far right as Rush Limbaugh but if you're willing to forgive the occasional blatant political allegory, it is an awesome portrayal of what World War III would have looked like if it happened in 2007.

I'm currently reading the worldwar series by Harry turtledove, which despite the stupid setting, are stupidly good.

Tried to get into that series, but it has yet to take hold. I much preferred his Timeline-191 series, but I wish he'd continue it with some cold war analogue in this immersive alternate history he's created. Probably won't happen though. (sad face)

[Joshington]

Ender's Game? Doesn't take you particularly far into space, but I still found it a good read.

[Mr Shifty]

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is good if you want hard-SF, but some people find it a bit dry. The first volume was available as a free download somewhere at one point.

These are exactly what you're looking for: near future, soon-tech. I loved them.

[AceMgy]

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is good if you want hard-SF, but some people find it a bit dry. The first volume was available as a free download somewhere at one point.

I picked up a hard sci-fi book about Mars in the library way back in highschool and loved it. Been meaning to re-read it but couldn't remember the name. Is this the one with a big mission to mars with near technology, then a long convoy across the surface in vehicles? The plot on wikipedia about this trilogy doesn't sound all that familiar.

[Jones-250]

War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, a classic book from the invasion literature-fad during the late 19th century.

Here, have the first half of the musical version by Jeff Wayne. A legend from 1978!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfuRPP_L3jU

A legend from 1978!

[pdforigin]

If you want to read interesting stories and novels then you can go to the http://www.pdforigin.com/. This site has good books and you can download in only one click.

[MaxxQ]

Well, since this got bumped up, I'll add a few suggestions.

Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood's End, Imperial Earth, The Fountains of Paradise, A Fall of Moondust, The Hammer of God, The Songs of Distant Earth

Issac Asimov: Anything, really.

James P. Hogan: (those with an asterisk * are books in a series) Thrice Upon a Time, The Genesis Machine, The Two Faces of Tomorrow, Endgame Enigma, Inherit the Stars*, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede*, Giant's Star*, Entoverse*

Robert A. Heinlein: Starship Troopers, Friday, and many others

Dr. Robert L. Forward: Dragon's Egg and Starquake, the sequel to Dragon's Egg.

Carl Sagan: Contact.

Also, even though it was mentioned earlier in the thread and falls outside the criteria, I *highly* recommend David Weber's Honorverse books. I'm a bit biased about this series, though. No, I'm not Weber, but I *do* have an interest in seeing these books read by more people.