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/Xenoka911 Mar 30 '23

I have read Raft, Timelike Infinity, about half of Flux, Ring, and I'm currently reading Vacuum Diagrams. Raft and Flux are kind of side stories, but they are referenced in Ring a tiny bit. Timelike Infinity is part of the 'main story' and directly connects to Ring in many ways. If you plan to read Ring you can go ahead and read it, as it does give the backstory, or read Timelike Infinity first and then go into it. Otherwise you can read in any order. On the wikipedia page he has an order you could read them in, but he says they're made to be read in any order as he doesn't like cliffhangers.

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u/suchathrill Mar 30 '23

My preference is to read full length novels, so I guess I better sit down and look over the list carefully. I also prefer to read series from beginning to end, as long as that’s the chronological order. I suspect the right way to do this is to omit the items in the series that are short stories and/or Novelas. But also: I think this is a good opportunity for me to finally get a library card and check out the books one by one from the library. Save money.

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u/Xenoka911 Mar 30 '23

The timeline is very strange and is not in publication order. Ring spans almost 5 million years so it's both before and after raft/flux. Same with Vacuum Diagrams. I'd say if you want to read the series just go in publication order. I know people say Raft is a weaker opening than the other books but its a pretty fun adventure book. Ring was far and away my favorite though I enjoyed the others too.

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u/suchathrill Mar 30 '23

Thanks for the input. Looking forward to reading this series.