Hard SF recommendations

[guessingo]

I am looking for recommendations. I grabbed Peter Hamiltons "Netronium Alchemist" at the library (it was the only one of his they had at that branch). Is that one of his good ones?

I heard Iain Banks is good. What book do you recommend?
Here are some of the ones I have read and what I think

The books could be older, but I prefer if its believable science. Not interested in a book where people live on Venus.

Stephen Baxter: Voyage is GREAT. Timeships (sequel to HG Wells the Time Machine) was good and In the Light of Other Days is one of my favorite books. Did not like Titan.
Robert Heinlein: Like Starship Troopers, did not like Stranger in a Strange Land
Neal Stephenson: Like Snow Crash. Been meaning to read more of him, but never have.
William Gibson: Like Neuromancer, but read it a long time ago so don't really remember it
Kim Stanley Robinson: Mar Series, very good, but took me a while to make my way through them.
Greg Bear: Darwins Radio. I like this. I just grabbed City at the End of Time on audio from the library
Stephen Sawyer: Liked Flash Forward(it is different from the TV Series). I read this 10 years ago.
Kevin J. Anderson: I have the first book from his Space opera on reserve on audio at the library.

Not looking for Alternative History. Some people might list Harry Turtledove as hard. I have read a dozen of his books and not looking for more.

[Sigyn]

My husband read Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks and really, really liked it.

I would also highly recommend Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder. And anything else by Schroeder, actually.

[Nessa]

http://www.timewastersguide.com/review/1599/Chasm-City

or

http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1502

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Dragon's Egg by Robert Forward. Hard hard SF, and a great book. (Not part of a series.) (Also, it has nothing to do with dragons. It's about life on the surface of a neutron star.) (Oh wait, I guess there is a sequel. I should check it out.)

[Bookstore Guy]

Dragon's Egg by Robert Forward. Hard hard SF, and a great book. (Not part of a series.) (Also, it has nothing to do with dragons. It's about life on the surface of a neutron star.) (Oh wait, I guess there is a sequel. I should check it out.)

(Peter.)(You should more parentheses.)(I hear they are awesome.)(Only cool people use them well.)

[Patriotic Kaz]

Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Scalzi, Old Man's War
Ursula K. Le Guin, Left Hand of Darkness
Asimov, Foundation
Gibson, Sequels to Neuromancer (idk the first title but the second is Mona Lisa Overdrive)
Herbert, Dune
Niven, Mote in God's Eye

[Bookstore Guy]

Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Scalzi, Old Man's War
Ursula K. Le Guin, Left Hand of Darkness
Asimov, Foundation
Gibson, Sequels to Neuromancer (idk the first title but the second is Mona Lisa Overdrive)
Herbert, Dune
Niven, Mote in God's Eye

Scalzi isn't even close to hard SF.  It's Hollywood, popcorn, military SF.  Dune isn't hard SF either.  Most of your list is pretty mellow compared to, say, Peter Hamilton.

[ryos]

Have you read Arthur C. Clarke? His is the hardest SF I've read. I mean, the man came up with the idea of geostationary communications satellites, and we're still working on his space elevator concept. The main problem with the science in his books is that they were written in an era when America still cared about space exploration, so he quite overestimated the progress of space technology. (2001: A Space Odyssey is about a manned mission to Saturn...in 2001.)

[Nessa]

Have you read Arthur C. Clarke?

Rendezvous with Rama  is my favorite of his.

[Hero of Ages]

Just about anything by Ben Bova is great.

[guessingo]

@oponn: I tried left hand of darkness 10 years ago. I couldn't stand it. The whole 3 gender thing struck  me as pointless. I felt like she was trying to make political points and not trying to entertain. If I want to be taught a lesson, I will read non-fiction or historical fiction(I read alot of both).

@bookstore: Which Peter F. Hamilton books do you recommend. I grabbed The Neutronium Alchemist from the library. It was the only book of his they had at that branch.

@ryos: I liked Rendevous with Rama by Clark. He wrote a book with Stephen Baxter called The light of other Days which is one of my all time favorite books. It is not a big seller so most people have not heard of it. I got bored with the movies of 2001 and 2010. I doubt I would like those books. I read reviews of the sequels to Rendevous with Rama and read they were not good.

Heinlein: I liked Starship troops alot. Way better then the movie. I did not like Stranger in a Strange Land, though I do drop "I grok it" on people at work just to get the funny looks.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Dune has plenty of fantasy overtones, doesn't make it less of a Sci-Fi staple. And i don't get what you mean by Old Man's war being anything akin to Holywood, it feels real unlike Holywood. Also, Asimov is the King of Hard Sci-Fi.

[mtlhddoc2]

why make this kind of distinction? I dont really get it. Hard or..  soft? or is it "Difficult" or not?

I think what is "hard" or "difficult" varies by person. whatis simplistuc and boring to one, may be challenging and interesting to another. plus, what are you basing the qualities on? Technical confusion? Elizabethan prose?

[Shivertongue]

why make this kind of distinction? I dont really get it. Hard or..  soft? or is it "Difficult" or not?

I think what is "hard" or "difficult" varies by person. whatis simplistuc and boring to one, may be challenging and interesting to another. plus, what are you basing the qualities on? Technical confusion? Elizabethan prose?

Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

The "hard" vs "soft" distinction is a traditional one based on how scientific something is and has nothing to do with "difficult." The more fact-based and possible the science is, the harder the science fiction. The more impossible the science is according to current knowledge, the softer the science fiction.

Star Wars is very soft. A book like Stephen Baxter's Titan, where it takes 6 years to fly to Saturn, is hard. (Though there's a big soft element at the end of that book, and a lot of sociopolitical stuff happening back on Earth during the book.)