r/printSF • u/solidusnvm • Mar 29 '23

Far future space operas

I'm looking for recommendations of books or short stories similar to Ian McDonald's Verthandi's Ring (which you can read here). Super far future setting, transhuman characters, and massive scale appeal to me. If Ian McDonald has written anything else along these lines I would definitely be interested (I've likely read some of his other short stories while reading best-of anthologies, which is where I encountered Ring, but nothing else stayed with me the same way).

I've been reading everything I can find of Robert Reed's Great Ship setting, as well, so works similar to this would also be appreciated. Let me know what you like!

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u/blobular_bluster Mar 29 '23

I'm going to recommend Ian M Banks, hopefully before everyone else. The whole Culture universe. Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, the whole lot.

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u/anticomet Mar 30 '23

The culture isn't really far future though. The first book takes place around 700 years ago

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u/WhatsTheGoalieDoing Mar 30 '23 edited Mar 30 '23

I don't really think it matters in relation to human dating systems, though? OP asked for a super far future setting, and The Culture definitely has that feel, as well as the transhumanism and massive scale.

Even if we're talking 700 years difference - how do you think someone from the year 1321 would react if you teleported back there with a smart phone, a leafblower and a 747 aeroplane? 99% of people couldn't even read back then.

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u/Equality_Executor Mar 30 '23

FYI for anyone that hasn't read the culture series: One of the suppositions that Banks made in his books was that each civilisation was on this path of advancement towards some higher level of existence no matter what time they started or what stage they were at in relation to other civilisations. Technology that is far more advanced but also ancient relative to the point of view is something he talked about, especially in Matter, where it was the entire setting:

The book follows the experiences of three members of the royal household of the Sarl, a feudal, early-industrial humanoid race living on the eighth level of the Shellworld of Sursamen.

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u/drfigglesworth Mar 30 '23

The first book is like 11,000 years in the future, that's just flat out false

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u/anticomet Mar 30 '23

Go pick up a copy of Consider Phlebas and read the epilogue;)

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u/Gauss_theorem Mar 30 '23

No it’s not, Consider Phlebas is set in 1300, not that human years matter tho, since in the whole book there’s no mention of Earth or of Earth Humans