Hi everyone. I’m looking for my next book (or series) to read but I’m in the mood for a particular theme. I’m hoping you all can assist with some recommendations.
I’m looking for a book written around humanity first discovering FTL travel. So the first moments of humanity starting to explore outside of the solar system.
Don’t ask me why I want this specific kind of story but I do haha. Thank you in advance!
EDIT: Thank you all! I’ve added every book here to my reading list.
Have you checked out The Expanse series? I think it’s 8 primary books, with like 4 optional novellas. Its not exactly what you’re looking for, but it does deal with some of what you’re interested in. It was also turned into a pretty good TV show.
Ignore those concerns. The “mystery” is not the only plotline even from the early going, it’s fairly quickly tied into the overarching narrative, and it’s largely used to do some awesome world building. It’s worthwhile in both the show and the books.
The murder mystery thing is literally only in the first season. After that it’s very much an afterthought.
Highly highly recommend. Fantastic series.
9 books, with I believe also 9 novellas. 6 seasons of a show that cover the first 6 books. A video game coming out as well as some comic books.
Books 3-6 very much deal with the premise of humanity discovering FTL travel and what happens to the political landscape when they do.
Fantastic series. Definitely recommend.
I got annoyed at Corey’s constant preaching about ships not swooping. 1) we get it. we got it for a long time, actually. 2) the reason aircraft swoop has more to do with being under constant acceleration and the frame of reference we observe them from. given constant acceleration and an appropriate frame of reference for observing… yes, space fighters would “swoop” too.
Old Man’s War by Scalzi, The Forever War by Haldeman, and Galaxy’s Edge are good series that cover this. The last one not so much from the inception point of view though
I’m currently going through Niven’s work. I’d suggest The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is also an amazing book if you haven’t read it yet.
One more suggestion: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary, just couldn’t put it down and it is similar enough to OP’s prompt to recommend to them.
It’s not a book but if you enjoyed Project Hail Mary you might enjoy For All Mankind on Apple TV. It has a similar vibe of engineers and tech driving the plot balanced with looking at the human costs of a rapidly advancing space program both on and off Earth
My wife’s review of project Hail Mary is that “it was a good book, but now I know how to build a centrifuge”. If you like that kind of sci-fi I’d recommend it. I also really enjoyed it as well.
Rendezvous with Rama is also very good.
Not FTL, but speaker for the dead and the rest of that plot line is my favorite, and of course you can read enders game as well if you want continuity.
Thanks for making me remember these. I read Ender’s Game as a teenager and loved it, but Speaker for the Dead really stuck with me, and it may be a bit hyperbolic to say, but I really feel like it had a huge impact on my perspective on life.
Pandora’s Star might be a good one. They are a little past the discovery but do look back on it.