Recommendations for science fiction novels please.

[LiveLifeWithPassion]

Has anyone read any recent sci fi that they would recommend?

It's not recent, but one of my all time favourites is The Sparrow by Donna Russell

Sorry, brain fart, it's by Mary Russell

Just finished Extracted by RR Haywood- I quite enjoyed it.

In my preview, it looked like you were recommending a book called brain fart

I'll have a look at those. Thanks.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chalmers

The Exile series by Julian May (6 books as saga of the exiles) Anything by Margaret Atwood. Anne McCaffrey if you like dragons.

Dark matter. By Blake crouch. I loved it. (Judy wrote the same on a different thread).

Not sure how recent is recent?
The Ancillary Justice trilogy by Ann Leckie is excellent if you've not read it. Good old fashioned space opera but done in a modern way IYSWIM.

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett is well worth reading - I didn't like the sequel Mother of Eden as much, but lots of people rave about it.

A bit less well known, but I was absolutely blown away last year by Dark Star by Oliver Langmead. It's set on a planet with no visible light (strangely the same is also true of Dark Eden above), written in epic verse in the style of a noir thriller. It took me a few pages to get into it, but then I was totally hooked.

I quite liked Small Angry Planet, but wouldn't rave about it. But, the sequel A Closed And Common Orbit is really excellent (SAP is a first novel & was originally self published, I felt she'd really tightened things up & benefitted from a professional editor with the second book).

Planetfall by Emma Newman is interesting, but I have to admit I like her fantasy novels better (if you also like fantasy, would def. recommend them).

I'd second Ancillary Justice. The second one not so much.

Do you want spaceships or not?

And some more!
If you've not run into it already - The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu + sequels.

Less well known, but I really enjoyed - Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter and the two sequels - near future sci-fi in which genetically modified humans have been created as a supplementary workforce in the wake of a major epidemic. The first book in the trilogy takes a couple of chapters to get going, but I loved the overall story. It's also only 99p on Kindle atm so a bargain!

The Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F Hamilton is excellent. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan but DH insisted I read it and I'm glad I did.

OP - What kind of books do you read?

There are many different kinds of sci-fi.

What Cote said! What are you were in particular, I could write a looong list but it may not be your thing!

Argh, garbled phone nonsense.

What are you after in particular?

Thanks for all the recommendations.
I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. I like spaceships, travel, technology, human relationships, human and machine interactions.

I was lucky enough to visit NASA recently and it's really reignited my interest in sci fi which I haven't explored since I was a teenager.

"I like spaceships, travel, technology, human relationships, human and machine interactions. "

You need "A Closed and Common Orbit", definitely. And Ancillary Justice.

I can recommend one not to read: Silo trilogy by Hugh Howey - Wool Shift and Dust. God they were boring. I kept persevering hoping they would get better but no.

How about some Iain M Banks?

Hitchhiker novels

My last favourite was Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Absolutely outstanding.

Iain M Banks definitely. Really fabulous.

Ooh The Wanderers by Meg Howrey was very good. Astronauts prepping/practising for a long-term mission to Mars.

Oh and The Martian of course. Not great literature but a cracking read.

Voyage by Stephen Baxter also good if you're intrigued by NASA.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_(novel)

Ah I just came on to say the Martian also. Fabulous romp around Mars with lots of fun mishaps and loads of technical detail (hated the film though)

Just finished The Power by Naomi Alderman, which is excellent though very violent. I love Iain M Banks too. I read a lot of sci fi back in the day: probably Ursula Le Guin is my favourite.