I posted this on Reddit a while ago and it sparked some really good discussion and recommendations.
I really like The Expanse - as it doesn’t just discuss the attempted terraforming of Mars and the colonisation of the Main Asteroid Belt but also
spoiler
the way that these communities decline when abundant habitable planets are discovered, where life is much easier.
So yeah, what are your best examples?
Asimov’s End of Eternity is a great exploration of the practical problems of time travel.
- The amount of bureaucracy and the specialist expertise needed to plan an intervention in the timeline,
- The rules for whether to even intervene,
- The observers monitoring the ‘future’ after the change to report on its success.
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy of course.
Have you take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End_(novel) ? Dr Vinge does “thought bombs” a lot with most of his books where you read something and he has all kinds of implications that jump out with one of his concepts.
Another of his works - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cookie_Monster_(novella) about simulations reminded me a lot of Stross’ thought experiments - but from the other side.
But all of them tend to have something - “Reality Graphics” in A Fire Upon the Deep, the localizer net and the Focused in A Deepness, Rainbows End above considers why you might have an underground market in Bootleg processors… Interesting stuff to ponder.
I’ve read a deepness in the sky, I really liked it. I didn’t realise it was the second book!
“off to be the wizard” takes the universe is a simulation trope and REALLY runs with it. I don’t know if I’d call it good scifi though…
I remember being pretty impressed with “permutation city” for it’s depiction of the consequences of being able to upload consciousness into machines.
Firstly I’d like to mention The Lost Fleet series by John G Hemry. It’s military sci-fi, as a part of the plot it discusses two forms of FTL travel, jump drives allowing you to FTL between adjoining stars, and the later invention of hypernet gates allowing direct travel from one star to another. It talks extensively about how certain star systems fared after hypernet gates made it unnecessary to travel through them to reach higher value systems.
Some star systems were only inhabited as a means of supporting various cargo haulers, transporters, and warships that must pass through those stars. As pass-through travel waned we saw declining economies, civilians abandoned as extraction costs would have affected profit margins, increased societal unrest and rebellion as a result of being cut off from the central authority, and various other legal and illegal activities.
It illustrated how truly huge space is, and how difficult communication, transportation, and protection could be out among the stars.
I’d also like to provide an honorable mention to Malazan - Book of the Fallen, even though it’s high fantasy.
This is because it not only goes in to significant detail regarding the magic system used, but also talks several times about the societal stagnation that comes about as a result of reliance on magic, and the reduced need to invent, discover, and innovate. The lack of science, and the implications of that, being the point here.
