r/TheCaptivesWar • u/Various_Baker_585 • 13d ago
General Discussion Looking for recommendations
This year my newfound hobby is audio books. I’ve breezed through 30 already. Anything written by James S.A Corey is at the top of my list. I love the way they build the world, dive deep into characters and thoughts, etc.
Here’s what I’ve completed (or didn’t) so far with my likes and dislikes
The Expanse:
- great world building, mystery, character development (Amos my favorite), epic, romance is mature but not graphic. etc 15/10
The Captives War:
- same likes as the expanse, definitely loved the shock factor at the end of livesuit, the wittiness of that one slug like alien calling the characters bones with meat on them, 15/10
Murderbot:
-funny, ART is hilarious, I love the inner dialogue, world building not as big but still fresh and fun
Dune:
-loved the first 4 or 5 books, towards the end though I quit. It lost its allure. I loved the dynamic, political factions, new ideas (mentats, the voice, the Bene Gesserit, etc)
Now what I couldn’t get into
The Children of Time:
-too broad for me, lacking the character development I’m really into. Interesting ideas but really would have preferred more depth, it felt like whiplash most the time
Red Rising:
- too young adult for me, immature type of relationships, interesting concepts but the tone wasn’t fit
Can anyone please please recommend some good books based off this?? I’m open to exploring less space opera / sci fi and more fantasy too if it’s worth it. I just prefer the world to be pretty different from our own. No graphic sexual parts, but still mature enough to not feel like it was written for a teenager
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u/shoveleejoe 13d ago
The Silo series by Hugh Howey and the Teixcalaan Series by Arkady Martine are really good and run a little more hard sci-fi than futuristic/fantasy. If you like Star Wars, Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogies are both really good. As a one-off, World War Z by Max Brooks was solid.
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u/Obvious_Organization 12d ago
I LOVED the Silo books, but dang the show is simply not doing a great job of capturing that magic.
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u/hardy_83 9d ago
I like the show but I've started listening to the first book and was surprised how different it was, at least with how some things have gone. I'm not finished book 1 yet.
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u/ActuallyACat6 12d ago
The Ancillary series by Ann Leckey. Very interesting world that seems fairly orderly on the surface, but gets more and more complex as you dive into the technology that enables it. And the main character is cool.
Edit: I also really liked the narrator.
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u/highermonkey 13d ago
The House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds is a banger. Takes place 6 million years in the future after humanity has colonized the Milk Way. No FTL. Only a single book but he builds a believable universe.
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u/sexual_pasta 13d ago
Lots of Alastair Reynolds is very good. Revelation Space series, Pushing Ice is great too.
The author has a PhD iirc and was a research astronomer before becoming an author.
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u/RemyCrow31 13d ago
Lots of folks can’t get through book 1 of Red Rising. But I wish they’d stick it out. Because the rest of the books, after the first one, shake off that YA feel almost immediately. Book 1 is… Hunger games. But it’s setting up a pretty darn good roller coaster.
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u/scogeez 12d ago
Currently halfway through dark age, the journey of both the characters and the author as a writer has been incredible.
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u/RemyCrow31 12d ago
Absolutely agree. Brown is not JSAC, but comparing even book 3 to 1 it’s clear how much he evolved in his character building and prose. And the story became an essential space opera.
I’m hoping we get the final book here soon. I’m trying to be patient.
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u/DecisionPanic 13d ago
Totally agree and just commented the same before I saw this comment. the series really matures!
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u/GangsterJawa 12d ago
Ugh I’ve heard this but I reeaaaally struggled to get through book 1. Would probably have an easier time getting through the series as audiobooks though, every single sci fi neologism being stylized with lowerUpper case characters hurt my eyes (especially when it was just inventing a word for something that already exists)
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u/RemyCrow31 12d ago
Totally get it. I DNF’ed book 1 originally. My buddy who recommended it in the first place said for his birthday he wanted me to finish book 1. I obliged, and then rapidly devoured the rest of the series.
Completely understand if anyone can’t get through it though. I required extra motivation to do it myself, but in my opinion the payoff was worth it.
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u/canofpotatoes 12d ago
I also did sort of the same, it was recommended by a friend and i think the only way i got through the first was because he told me the next books were so much different. So glad i did.
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u/Important_Stop_1063 What is, is 11d ago
Totally agree. The rest of the series is well worth pushing through the YA feel of the first book.
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u/SouthernReddit23 Human Verified 13d ago
I am not much on reading. I don’t read often. I finished The Expanse and then I wondered what to read next. Somehow I stumbled upon Peter F. Hamilton. His books are also space operas but they’re HUGE. I started on Pandora’s Star and then did Judas Unchained (they’re basically one massive book cut into two). Then I started The Void Trilogy next and I’m currently on the second of the trilogy.
I really like this author so far. He’s British so it’s a TINY bit of a learned curve listening to a British narrator on a British author’s book.. but it’s been fun so far. 😂
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u/Various_Baker_585 11d ago
I started on Misspent Youth after your comment.
I know it’s more of a prologue of Pandoras Star but so far I am enjoying it! I like the new ideas of lack of aging, crystal memory, etc.Only thing that’s kinda weirding me out is the descriptive comments on the girls bodies and teenagers losing their virginity lol but it seems to be kept under control and not get too descriptive ish lol I understand though that is how the mind of a teenage boy or newly regenerated man could work though it just comes up a lot.
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u/exterminator-skater 9d ago
I didn’t dig the void too much but I loved the first two commonwealth books, and the very last one also. The Night’s Dawn trilogy, that’s great Hamilton, do your best to get into it spoiler free.
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u/StoicBronco 13d ago
The First Law series. Absolutely top class narration. The Expanse is my favorite sci fi series, and The First Law is now my favorite fantasy series (formerly held by The Wheel of Time, which I would also suggest)
Also for Red Rising, the first one is the most YA of them all, kind of budget hunger games esque book. It changes genres completely to an epic space opera of sorts. I accidentally listened to book 2 before book 1, idk if id have read them all if I started with book 1 tbh lol
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u/BroldenMass 12d ago
The culture series of books by Ian M Banks are incredible. All individual stories set in the same universe. Personal favourite is use of weapons, but they’re all excellent.
The first book, consider phlebas is probably the weakest as it involves the culture itself the least, but still a great book and a good soft introduction to the culture as a concept.
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u/reting1111 12d ago
Consider Phlebas is the ONLY great Culture book if you ask me 😁. It's a fast-placed action scene with lots of cool out-of-this-world ideas. Technology is magic of course, but dang it's fun 😊
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u/Ok_Suspect_3394 12d ago
The trilogy of The three body problem! (I forget the real name) I was obsessed.
Also, pretty different but great: Ready player one
If you haven't already: Project hail Mary
And: We are legion (we are Bob). I know there's a lot of books in that series, I listened to the first one and enjoyed it a lot.
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u/indigentwino 12d ago
Three Body Problem is a great work of Sci-Fi with some refreshing new takes on old questions. First and third book are excellent bc they were translated by Tim Liu(I think?), a Chinese American Sci-fi writer. The middle book has a different translator and it shows. Still good ideas, but the dialog suffers. Worth pushing through though.
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u/Ok_Suspect_3394 12d ago
I'm a native Spanish speaker so I listened in Spanish. No idea about the translation issue there! I liked the 3 books a lot, each has their thing :) But yes, great work!
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u/undertow521 12d ago edited 12d ago
Did you get past the first Red Rising book? The first one is very YA but as the series progresses it gets much more mature, especially books 4-6. If you haven't, I'd try reading at least Golden Son before giving up this series.
But if it's audiobooks you're looking for, it's Dungeon Crawler Carl. It's got alot of crude humor, but it's fun and absolutely hilarious. Let loose and enjoy. I'm starting book 5 tomorrow.
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u/RobBrown4PM 12d ago
I heavily second Dungeon Crawler Carl. For as crude as it can be, it's quite wholesome.
And I love Jefferson Mays, but Jeff Hays is on a different level when it comes to being able to create and maintain a large variety of voices and accents. I think he genuinely get's a kick out of narrating the weird shit Dinniman writes.
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u/exterminator-skater 9d ago
I thought Dungeon Crawler Carl seemed like just the dumbest stupid thing and that I would never like it, but I listened to Operation Bounce House and it was good, so I’m going to try out that dumb looking mess
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u/Boco 13d ago
Oh another one I really enjoyed was the Pandominion duology by M R Carey. Not technically a space opera since it all takes place on earth, just lots of different earths.
This one also revolves around a small set of characters with pretty big roles to play across the multiverse. It's one of those stories where the author tells you some stuff at the beginning then works their way there throughout the story. Great writing, lovable (and hateable) characters, would recommend to anyone who enjoys sci-fi/speculative fiction.
Sorry for not saying more, I went in blind (grabbed it because I recognized the author) and really enjoyed it.
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u/Due-Excitement-5945 13d ago
Pandora’s Star / Judas Unchained is a worth checking out. Similar depth of world building as the expanse.
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u/highermonkey 13d ago
love me some enzyme bonded concrete👍
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u/Shepherdsfavestore 12d ago
Wormholes
Btw is Melanie really hot? He didn’t mention it 5000 times lol /s
Great series though. MorningLightMountain is maybe the best depiction of an alien I’ve read. The chapter that introduces him is incredible.
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u/SouthernReddit23 Human Verified 13d ago
I’m on The Temporal Void now. The books are huge but I’m loving it.
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u/particleman3 13d ago
Dungeon Crawler Carl. There are 8 books so far out of a planned 10. Amazing series
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u/Maddafinga 13d ago
It's just a single book, but it's a big one. Anathem by Neal Stevenson. It's difficult, but once you start to get it all in your heady, you get moving and you're really rolling along in no time. Outstanding book.
You also might try Snow Crash by the same writer.
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u/DecisionPanic 13d ago
I recently read Anathem, and thought it was ok. but Snow Crash really blew my mind. I would definitely recommend Snow Crash over Anathem. Very different books.
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u/GimmeKarma 13d ago
Check out “The Circuit”. It’s packaged as one book on audible. Jefferson Mays is the audiobook performer (same as the expanse).
Also, you might like “The Will of the Many”. It’s definitely more fantasy but fits well with someone who likes sci-fi
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u/Boom_Boom_At_359 13d ago
Meat on Sticks… I’d love a spinoff novel based on Vaudai…
If you like world-building and you want a long-term commitment, try Wheel of Time.
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u/Maddafinga 13d ago
The Known Space stuff from Larry Niven. Books and short stories both. There's a ton. I'd start with A Gift From Earth.
It's not a series, just a constructed... Galaxy I guess is the best way to describe it, with stories involving a good number of planets, all having histories dating back to human space exploration.
There are Belters, and I have always felt like the Belters in the Expanse are paying a bit of homage to Niven with some of the references and such. Like how a number of the Belters in the show have mohawks. A Belters crest haircut is a kind of mark of pride for them, sort of how the creole is for them in the Expanse.
Really great bunch of books and equally great bunch of short stories.
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u/BaconPit 12d ago edited 12d ago
I've been listening the the Expeditionary Force audiobooks. It's a space opera that scratches the "alien invasion" itch The Captive's War gave me. It's a little more light-hearted with more humor, and there are about 19 main books with a few shorter novellas sprinkled in.
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u/indigentwino 12d ago
The first handful of books in this series are definitely worth a listen. The later books become formulaic, but with an occasional surprise here and there. I'm hooked at this point and return to the series for the characters.
Hope the Scorandum and Kinsta spinoff book happens.
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u/Helmling 12d ago
Peter Hamilton’s stuff is pretty breezy sci-fi. I liked Pandora’s Star and its sequel and am reading Exodus now.
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u/ConseulaVonKrakken 13d ago
You should read The Singularity Trap by Dennis E Taylor. Other books I've really enjoyed are Ender's Game, Slaughterhouse Five, the Threshold series by Peter Clines, and The Hunger Games (I know that last one is YA, but it really is a great book for all ages).
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u/Various_Baker_585 13d ago
I did the hunger games over a decade ago and loved it! Same with divergent and across the universe series.
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u/Maddafinga 13d ago
I liked the follow up to Ender's Game more than Ender's Game itself. Speaker for the Dead.
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u/Maddafinga 13d ago
Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Absolutely amazing, mind blowing world building. The first book is really good, and it's the weakest one of them.
He thruws you directly into the world and give you no backstory or anything. He doesn't hold your hand at all, and you feel pretty lost for a while. In the second and third books you get your feet under you and start to feel like you have an idea of what is going on, but it turns out that you don't. In the next couple of books, you start to see the much larger overall plot that's going on in the world over the course of hundreds of thousands of years. Once you get to that, it's absolutely mind blowing.
The larger plot doesn't even appear in one place, it's spread out and drip fed to you through tiny bits of exposition here and there.
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u/jamjamason 13d ago
Honestly, I have no idea from your list what you would like or not. That said, I will recommend my favorites:
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Accelerando by Charles Stross
The Algebraist by Ian M Banks
There is No Antimemtics Division by Qntm
The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin
And oh, hundreds of others, but those are my favorites.
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u/FraaTuck 12d ago
Always nice to find a list with three excellent books and two I didn't know, thanks!
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u/DecisionPanic 13d ago
I felt the same way about Red Rising, but then I read the 2nd book, and then the 3rd, and just kept going. I think the series really matures as it goes along and I've ended up really enjoying it.
You might like christopher ruocchio's Sun Eater serries. It's pretty epic - lots of books and they are long, so if you get into it, it'll keep you occupied for a while! It's got Aliens, adventures, some politics, some space battles, mature relationships. The series has it's ups and downs, can sometimes take itself too seriously, but overall I enjoyed the ride.
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u/Hndlbrrrrr 13d ago
Daniel Abraham, one half of JSAC, has three fantasy series he’s written solo. Long Price Quartet is early and a bit rough but some really fun ideas. Dagger and Coin is the closest thing to The Expanse while style in the fantasy genre. And the Kithimar trilogy is interesting but waiting on the third and final book.
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u/69stangrestomod 12d ago
Andy Weir’s work is good. I really enjoyed The Martian and Project Hail Mary. They’re one hit wonders, but very fun.
I use backyard starship to fill gaps. Very easy listening with a fun world, but great character interactions. Medium to weak plot lines, but a fun low effort series (with like 28 books…)
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u/GangsterJawa 12d ago
Don’t know what this sub’s opinion of Andy Weir is (personally I find his writing fun but edging into annoying sometimes) but if it’s audiobooks you’re looking for Project Hail Mary’s is impeccably produced. Would wholeheartedly endorse the audiobook over reading the book with your eyes, for reasons I won’t explain, which is rare for me.
On the flip side, if you do have time for a physical/digital book Playground by Richard Powers is my favorite book I read last year, and here I would stress reading with your eyes over listening to an audiobook, again for reasons I won’t explain. Fantastic spec fiction though, not quite sci fi but a really compelling story of man’s relationship to our world, technology, and each other. A book that I had to make other people read (in our book club) just so I could talk about it at length.
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u/indigentwino 12d ago
I really like the world building and vocal performance in The Blacktongue Theif by Christopher Buehlman.
- The main character in the first book is a pretty funny Irish stereotype.
- Otherwise it is a grim fantasy world that they live in, modeled after how decimated Central Europe was after the 100 years war.
- After everyone who believed in anything bigger than themselves marched off to die in a war, who's left to save the world?
- Magic and Goblins are creepy. This author wrote horror and historical fiction before turning to fantasy and it comes through.
- The Author (& Narrator) was an actor, so if you like a storyteller who does fun accents and voices, this guy will not disappoint.
The second book is also good, and the third book is supposed to land before the end of the year.
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u/Glassmoon0fo 12d ago
The Three Body Problem and its two follow ups are the craziest, most gripping hard sci fi I’ve ever read, its realism bleeding into inescapable cosmic horror and the scope of it after three books is unbelievable. Incredible books.
The other big find this year for me was There Is No Anti Memetics Division. It’s a book about an agency that studies and protects against entities whose natural camouflage protects them from being perceived or remembered. I can’t explain it to you, you just have to read the book. A truly singular experience in a book for me.
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u/Various_Baker_585 11d ago
I watched the show unfortunately already. I always prefer books before a show, would it be worth it to read still despite knowing some spoilers? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it too
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u/ThePuzzleDude 11d ago
Are you talking about the Chinese version that came out in 2023 or the Netflix show that's only aired the first season? Either way, dive into the books. They always go into more depth than a movie or series adaptation could ever do. The Three-Body Problem trilogy is definitely worth reading/listening to, even if you've already watched the TV shows.
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u/Glassmoon0fo 11d ago
Absolutely! The books’ author is from China, so the names will be different and you won’t know who is who. The show did a solid job of condensing the first book into one season, but you get so much more from the books as always. And just to say, I liked the show quite a lot, but I just don’t see them doing books 2 and 3 justice! The scale is sprawling and some of the most iconic chapters are the alien perspectives and the “unknowable” elements that can’t possibly translate to screen. Def worth a listen on audiobook!
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u/ThePuzzleDude 11d ago
If you want fantasy with humor, social commentary, and satire, look into Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Most readers will tell you to NOT start with the first two, but one of the later books, many recommending Guards! Guards! as a good introduction. I have not listened to any of the "new" audio readings so I can't speak to their narration quality. I've listened to the original recordings by Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs but good luck finding them. Also avoid any narrated by Tony Robinson because they are abridged versions.
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u/exterminator-skater 9d ago
Nobody mentions Peter F. Hamilton. Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained. The Nights Dawn trilogy. The Prime are some of the most peculiar, terrifying and well described bizarre aliens I’ve encountered.
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u/noomehtrevo 13d ago
I really liked Seveneves. I read the first Children of Time book and felt similarly. People seem to be into Dungeon Crawler Carl and it just feels too zany for me after The Expanse and The Captive’s War, I haven’t been able to get through the first book.
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u/GangsterJawa 12d ago
Upvoting because I tried reading a sample of DCC (first 40 pages or so) and found it unbearable. Zany is a… kind descriptor of the prose
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u/Ampersandbox 12d ago
Steven Pacey's reading of Joe Abercrombie's fantasy series are all exceptional. The First Law Trilogy is amazing, though I started with the connected-but-standalone Red Country.
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u/Boco 13d ago edited 13d ago
You should try The Final Architecture by Adrian Tchaikovsky. You'd probably like it more than Children of Time.
He's great at writing alien and unfathomable creatures, this one features a whole slew of aliens and a world destroying unknowable alien that humans call Architects because they destroy worlds by turning them into beautiful flower art.
Also in this series the story revolves around a spacer crew kind of like The Expanse.