Recommend ‘cosy’ sci-fi?

[Aecor]

Sci-if or fantasy have never been my taste at all, so I’m completely ignorant of them, apart from Ursula LeGuin. I happened to pick up someone else’s copy of Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in an emergency (ran out of reading material AND Kindle charge stuck in an airport) and, unexpectedly, liked it, and have read all of her work.

There must be more intelligently-written, character-driven sci-fi/fantasy which isn’t hard-boiled, very plotty or overly invested in the hard science of its own world-building, but which is basically warm and mildly feel-good, and in good prose?

All recommendations welcome!

(I keep seeing people recommend Lois McMaster Bujold, but not sure if that’s a whole different type of thing…?)

Well, was about to start by recommending Becky Chambers Of well known authors, the Murderbot series by Martha Wells would probably be a good next choice.

Less well known, but I really rate Gemsigns and the sequels by Stephanie Saulter.

I feel similarly to you about fantasy and sci-fi! Becky Chambers is quite unique I think - and fairly divisive - I've seen her work described as "feeling like fanfiction" because you're basically just hanging out with characters rather than there being an overarching narrative, which I quite like TBH.

Anyway this is what I have enjoyed:

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has a similar feeling to me to Becky Chambers. It does have a plot but it's daft and it doesn't matter if you follow it or not - the characters and world building are fun.

The His Dark Materials series too, technically fantasy, but more character driven. The Sterkarm Handshake.

I don't know if you like YA dystopian stuff - I liked the Divergent series and Allie Condie Matched series. Also The Hunger Games. I think these arw all films now but I liked the books.

Not a book but if you've never watched Dr. Who I would recommend this too as it has similar feelings.

I don't know whether Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman would fit the bill? I've never quite managed to get into them but always hear tham recommended.

As soon as I read the thread title I thought of Becky Chambers!

The Salvagers series by Alex White has a similar feel.

Also some of Elizabeth Bear's books

The Elizabeth Bear ones are 'Ancestral Night' and 'Machine'

@Aecor interesting thread - I've sometimes wondered if I'm missing out on something really good by not trying more sci-fi.

I enjoyed His Dark Materials (persuaded by my teenage son) and read
The Hitchhiker's Guide when everyone else was doing so at university.

I tried the Gods one by Neil Gaiman but didn't love it. And when Iain M Banks died I set out to read all his books (already a fan of his Iain Banks mainstream stuff) but ran out of steam after three or four.

My favourite authors are Jane Austen, George Eliot and Trollope so pretty far removed from sci-fi! I might give Becky Chambers a go though.

Huge 2nd for the Murderbot diaries.

Cat Valente's Space Opera: Eurovision, in spaaaace.

The Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold may also fit the bill. Start with Shards of Honour.

I find Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch quite cosy but it is also fairly high-concept.

The Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding is very Firefly-like (if you watched the show) though less well-written.

Fantasy: The Goblin Emperor by Kate Addison (now has a sequel which I've yet to read)

Station 11 - Emily St John Mandel. Maybe a little close to home with its pandemic plot, but a good tale, well told

The Stone Man - Luke Smitherd. It's a series of 3. Maybe a little dark

The first 15 lives of Harry August - Claire North

Anything by Jasper Forde - he takes a different angle on the world. A good laugh

The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch - not so much scifi as fantasy / magic

Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro

the King's Watch series by Mark Hayden - more fantasy / magic than scifi

I adore Terry Pratchett - but could be a bit marmite. Don't necessarily start with the first book - go for The Night Watch books or The Witches ones to get the hang of the humour

@highlandcoo if you like Trollope, consider giving Jo Walton a go. Especially Tooth and Claw which posits a world in which the conventions of Trollopian fiction are biological imperatives, for dragons. Her WWII alternative history trilogy starting with Ha'penny is also v good.

Bujold, Bujold, Bujold.

Her books are well-written and character-driven, funny and thoughtful. The Vorkosigan saga has a bit of everything: thriller, mystery, military, romance, comedy, social satire.

Read a sample of Shards of Honor and see if it is your thing. Someone on here told me to do that, and before I had even finished the sample, I had ordered the whole book.

Going a bit off request here as it’s not really sci fi but Jodi Taylor series on time travelling librarians is excellent, funny and zippy.

Old school sci fi.... the Ring world series or short stories by Larry Niven

More Old school sci fi - Andre Norton although I'm not sure there's much still in print.

I've also really enjoyed some (not all) of her fantasy work (The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls).

I really like Sharon Shinn's fantasy writing too - start with Mystic and Rider.

Bujold is brilliant, character driven and all round amazing but the Vorkosiverse isn't exactly relaxing due to the personality of many of its main characters.

If you're up for fantasy as well then LMB's Penric's demon and its sequels (mostly novellas) are pure delight, with the sunniest main character I have ever come across. The Sharing Knife or Curse of Chalion are also lovely to read.

Victoria Goddard's Hands of the Emperor and sequels aren't quite on the same level but they're what I read when my brain wants a holiday somewhere sunny and wish-fulfilling.

I liked The Long Earth series (about 5 books) that Terry Pratchett wrote with some other geezer. I think it's the epitome of cosy sci-fi.

I like Zenna Henderson's books and short stories series about “the People”, a group of human looking aliens who were stranded on Earth and had to make the best of it.
They were published in the sixties and seventies, and social attitudes are a little old fashioned, but they are none the worse for that.
The books are:
Pilgrimage
No Different Flesh
The People Collection
Ingathering
The short stories are:
The Anything Box
Holding Wonder
The Zenna Henderson Collection

Thanks, everyone. I realised I’d actually bought Shards of Honour for Kindle, probably after a rec on here, but hadn’t gone beyond the first chapter. I will have another go.

I read and liked The Sterkarm Handshake and its sequel years ago when DH had a bunch of friends who were literary agents who specialised in children’s and YA books.

I’ve read enough Iain M Banks to know he’s not for me, ditto Kim Stanley Robinson, Asimov, Philip K Dick. Have only read one Terry Pratchett, probably about 35 years ago (The Hogfather?). Didn’t much care for Emily St J Mandel’s Station 11, apart from that brilliant section about all the last times someone switched on a light, loaded an internet page etc. I read a couple of Jasper Forde’s ages back and found them forgettable.

Is Ben Aaronovitch sort of blokey? Like, hardboiled police procedural but with magic?

I have an ingrained horror of YA, to be honest, as I see so many young people who seem to get ‘stuck’ in it and never make the transition to adult fiction — it’s why I was surprised I liked Becky Chambers as much as I did.

Though I’m far less keen on the Monk and Robot series, which feels much blander, somehow — the concept of robots becoming sentient and not overthrowing human society but going off to live in the wild and becoming obsessive nature nerds is fabulous, but Sibling Dex isn’t really a character, and the contrivances Chambers goes to to conceal his or her sex (not only no physical description, but not a single reference to any sexed body part ) to contributes a lot to that blandness, I think.

I’m not in general used to the concept of series, either, but I admit I didn’t think BC had entirely played out the possibilities of the Wayfarer universe. I would happily have read a novel that dealt with an emergency on the Wayfarer when Pei was staying with Ashby that involved them fighting Rosk/rogue Toremi New Mothers/ Sianat pairs gone mad, Dr Chef discovering some of his species regenerating a society, Jenks and Kizzy dealing with life after Lovey, and a visit to Seed involving Tessa, George and their kids.

Solaris

and Izak Azimov - not sure is this the English spelling

Project Hail Mary. By Andy weir the writer of the Martian.

I DNFed Shards of Honour too. I've read some of Bujold's fantasy (Penric, The Sharing Knife etc), they were fine but nothing special for me. I do wonder if she's one of those authors (see also Mercedes Lackey & Anne McCaffrey) that you need to have read when younger/ nearer to when they were published to really love.

I reckon Murderbot would be right up your street, though they are only novellas (but there's many). I'd definitely also second The Goblin Emperor recommended up thread if you're happy with fantasy. It's much more interesting than it looks at first sight IMO.

I like the Rivers of London series but they're fairly standard urban fantasy. Not sure if I'd particularly say they were blokey as such, more The Bill with magic rather than proper hard boiled police procedural maybe.

I'd also recommend anything by Ray Bradbury, except that I wouldn't start off with the Fahrenheit book, possibly his most well known, because it is dystopian and not typical of his warm lyrical style.

I would also recommend More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon and the Alvin series by Orson Scott Card.

Stephen Baxter. I've not tried any of his solo books.

Legends and Lattes and Bonedsts & Bookshops by Travis Baldree - more fantasy than sci fi but very good.

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell as well.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis was my first thought after reading your OP.