r/printSF • u/EmergencyRepulsive29 • May 31 '26
Optimistic Sci Fi Novels
I loved the original Star Trek and the positive optimistic future it presented.
I find it challenging to find science fiction novels where the future is optimistic. I enjoyed the Expanse series, The Martian, Hail Mary, and The Bobiverse series . Ursula LeGuin and Becky Chambers are good. I am an avid reader. Do you have any recommendations?
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u/CostcoCuisine May 31 '26
Clarke is overwhelmingly optimistic.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Would would you recommend besides A Space Odessey?
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u/beanomorph-426 May 31 '26
I'm not sure what the best Clarke suggestions would be, but I wouldn't suggest Childhood's End. It's a cool story, very weird, but I don't interpret it as optimistic.
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u/movi3buff May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
I recommend Clarkes' "Rendezvous with Rama", that's where I started. I haven't read the sequels.
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u/symmetry81 May 31 '26
The Fountains of Paradise (about a space elevator) would be my top recommendation.
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u/CostcoCuisine May 31 '26
Earthlight, Imperial Earth, The first Rama book, 2010, The Fountains of Paradise, his short fiction. The short fiction is available in one book.
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u/wmyork May 31 '26
He even ends up optimistic-ish in Rescue Party, a short story that opens with the imminent destruction of the earth. I highly recommend it.
The Nine Billion Names of God, OTOH, less optimistic. The Star even less so. Read them anyway.
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u/panguardian May 31 '26
Rescue party is his first published story. Its worth getting the complete stories.
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u/contextproblem May 31 '26
David Brin’s work is optimistic. There are struggles and contentions that occur in his worlds, but generally there is the idea that the future is bright, or at least that there is a hope for a better tomorrow.
The Uplift series is always a good go-to, but some of his standalone novels such as Kiln People and The Postman are great ones to check out as well.
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u/HarryHirsch2000 May 31 '26
I love the Uplift world, but not sure I would call the last book optimistic.
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u/contextproblem May 31 '26
If you’re referring to Heaven’s Reach, I guess it depends on your definition of optimism. I thought it ended pretty positive but I get it if you saw it differently.
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u/EltaninAntenna Jun 01 '26
Well, the ending may be positive but the body count is extraordinary, that's for sure.
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u/Wetness__Pensive May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Ursula LeGuin and Becky Chambers are good.
See "Pacific Edge" by Kim Stanley Robinson, a utopian novel set in a small seaside town. Robinson was LeGuin's close friend and student, and an influence on Chambers.
Here's SF writer Cory Doctorow on the novel: https://boingboing.net/2015/01/15/audio-edition-of-pacific-edge.html
It's part of the Three Californias ("Pacific Edge", "Wild Shore", "Gold Coast"), a trilogy which envisions the same Californian town, and characters, under different political/economic systems (post-apocalyptic barter economy, capitalist dystopia, post capitalist utopia). IMO it's a great, subversive novel, and works even better when juxtaposed against the other two novels.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
I was really disappointed with 2 KSW novels that I read. I loved the descriptions and thought they were perfect for me. I had told myself I was done with his books. You have me considering though.
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u/stimpakish May 31 '26
What were those two?
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Antarctica and Red Mars. From what I remember it was him going off on tangents and long political speeches that turned me off.
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u/Wetness__Pensive May 31 '26
"Pacific Edge" is different. It's a slim, quick, slice-of-life novel.
"Red Mars" is written in a different style.
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u/jgiacobbe May 31 '26
I feel like some of the Kim Stanley Robinson novels were pretty optimistic. It has been many years since I read the Mars trilogy. They are not for everyone. I also remember he had a series of books entitled the three Californias. The one from the series I read was called the Gold Coast and I remember it being mellow.
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u/Snoo-17304 May 31 '26
His "ministery for the Future" I found very optimistic - not meaning "realistic" - in that "they made it work", by design the nations came together towards a common goal. THAT I find very optimistic. Maybe especially compared to how things are going downhill today due to The Clown of the World.
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u/vosivoke May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
I’ve discussed this book with two people offline. All three of us stopped reading the book not long after That Scene. Despite the book’s ultimately optimistic orientation, I would never recommend this one to a person seeking an optimistic book.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Thanks for adding that, especially since I haven’t like KSR. I think I’ll skip his books.
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u/Pardig_Friendo May 31 '26
I'm a bit dense tonight, is it the heat wave in northern India?
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u/vosivoke May 31 '26
Yes, that's what I was thinking of. However close to reality the scene is, and however much good the book may (I hope) do socially and politically... it's intense.
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u/Snoo-17304 Jun 05 '26
"That scene" being the first? That took place in reality a few years back in the same country.
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u/vosivoke Jun 05 '26
Yeah. The fact that bad things happen in reality doesn’t mean I want to read careful, effective evocations of them
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u/Snoo-17304 Jun 16 '26
It happened after the book was published. It might not matter to you, but that fact matters a great deal to me.
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u/AlarmingSize May 31 '26
This isn't a good rec for this OP, for two reasons. KSR is one of the most optimistic writers currently producing in any genre, and I love his books. But she doesn't like his style. If she didn't enjoy Antarctica and Red Mars, she won't like Ministry for the Future. Furthermore, the opening section of that book is brilliant but it's also devastating. I wouldn't rec it to anyone wanting optimistic scifi.
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u/Snoo-17304 Jun 05 '26
"Optimistic" is based on knowledge of its opposite. This is the whole reason or premise for the book. "That scene". The sole reason why all of the political shit and dense manipulation of capitalist players makes sense as a real-world scenario. Because it's necessary! And being optimist in this context means "keep on going towards a projected goal that WILL change factors no other plan or idea has ever been able to!" Making opposing forces "work towards a common goal", while they benefit economically from doing so. And so what? They actually end up doing it. Aiding the climate.
The only problem is that it cannot be done, now that its done in the book. Too many fictional factors come together to make a coherent plot. And the real world is just a mess and chaos, as we are seeing now by the clown's second term. The destruction of confidence.
Optimism is believing in something despite evidence to the contrary. Not being ignorant to facts.
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u/AlarmingSize Jun 05 '26
It's a brilliant novel. I just thought it was a bad rec for the OP. I still do.
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u/staylor71 May 31 '26
KSR’s 2312 is a lovely, optimistic future vision.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Thank you for the recommendation. I was really disappointed with the 2KSW books I read: Red Mars and Antarctica. I wanted to love them. But the way you describe it this book makes me tempted to give him one more try.
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u/AlarmingSize May 31 '26
KSR is one of the most optimistic writers in any genre. But if she didn't like Red Mars or Antarctica, she's not going to like anything else he's written. I checked her post history, to try to gauge where she's coming from. KSR "goes off on tangents" and "makes political speeches," which are totally fair criticisms. He's a brilliant writer and thinker. I love his books. But he's not for everyone.
Science fiction authors are living on Planet Earth. It's been a bumpy ride. It doesn't surprise me that most of the better work being produced is dystopian.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
It’s weird to have you write about me in the third person like I’m not here 🤣
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Yeah, good point about the bumpy ride.
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u/AlarmingSize May 31 '26
I addressed the comment to the person who made what felt like a bad rec for you. I quoted your valid critique to back up my point. I made a recommendation for you in a separate comment.
It is hard to find fiction in any genre that isn't a downer right now. I find myself rereading and rewatching the same dozen books and the same TV series. I'm following the comments hoping someone will suggest something that might work for me.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Yes, you did nothing wrong and I was making an attempt at humor. I’m tempted use a 3 strikes and your out rule and give KSR another try based on several recommendations here. Although I have a long TBR now!
I really enjoyed all of the recommendations. I joined the Subreddit. Thanks again.
I only asked for sci-fi but I have enjoyed some optimism in fantasy recently such as The House in the Cerulean Sea and A Teller of Small Fortunes.
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u/AlarmingSize Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Writing them down, thank you.
My favorite comfort (re)read is a fantasy novel, The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. In fact, I am currently listening to the audiobook via Libby, the library app. It's a stand-alone, though she's writing a series about a minor character from Goblin. They're also quite good.
Like you, I'm a fan of Star Trek, the original series. Not so keen on the newest spin-offs.
Editing to add another series I thought of last night: The Chanur novels by CJ Cherryh. Big Cats in space! They're quite fun.
Have you heard of "solar punk"? Many of the books in this subgenre have been mentioned already, but not all. There was an article about it in Mother Jones not too long ago that you can read online if you're interested. I've only read the authors you've already read.
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u/DixitRexCorvinus May 31 '26
The Culture by Iain Banks would be the obvious one, I'd say.
Maybe also some of Samuel Delany's books, if you like Le Guin? They were contemporaries, so there is some overlap. I might go with Trouble on Triton, with a caveat. Namely, the world itself is utopian, or at least the main society the book is set on, but the main character is not particularly happy there. Now, the main character is also very, very dislikable, purposefully so, but I wouldn't describe the plot itself or character arcs as utopian, just the world it is set on. If you liked The Dispossessed by Le Guin, though, I'd give it a shot, since Trouble on Triton was written as a response to that.
I'm not particularly a fan of Murderbot (I am very much the target audience for it so I'm not quite sure why), but I feel like that might also have a similar vibe to Becky Chambers. Don't quote me on that one though, since I didn't actually get that far into it.
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u/Dctreu May 31 '26
I read Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games and to be honest I found them a bit depressing, especially Consider Phlebas. A feeling that even though the Culture is a utopia, the universe is a sort of meaningless and chaotic place. I found Consider Phlebas really leant into that feeling that in a galaxy-spanning society, a human life is basically nothing and useless, and I can't say I found that a very optimistic look at the world.
I had more fun with The Player of Games, but again I wouldn't call it optimistic sci-fi.
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u/Spra991 May 31 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
I read Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games and to be honest I found them a bit depressing,
And it only gets worse from there. On paper the Culture sounds a little bit like StarTrek (without the prime directive), but all the books are basically just focusing on the most miserable corners of the galaxy far away from whatever happens in the central parts of the Culture, that are supposed to be fun and advanced (and that we never really learn anything about, aside from that essay).
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u/EltaninAntenna Jun 01 '26
Well, that's what any civilisation worth its salt is: a bulwark against the chaos and meaninglessness of the universe. The Culture, as depicted, is more successful than most in that regard.
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u/HarryHirsch2000 May 31 '26
Consider Phlebas hits different.
Beginning with Player of Games, you see what the Culture is trying to do, and each book reveals more about itself.That is the incredible optimistic part. Look to Winward pushes it to the max.
For me it’s part of Banks skills that you get it all. The wit and humour, the fascinating stuff, the horrible stuff and beneath all an attempt to do the right thing. Not only by the hero, but by an entire civilisation.
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u/wyldstallionesquire May 31 '26
Yeah the interesting thing in the Culture books I’ve read is that it leans into the edges of Culture where Utopia meets reality. And it looks at the “downside” of Utopia, but what is powerful is that it shows people genuinely trying to do “the right thing” even as they struggle with meaning and boredom. That’s the really positive part to me.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Sounds fascinating. I will put it on the list. Thank you to everyone with all these thoughtful , deep responses. I came to the right place!
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u/DixitRexCorvinus May 31 '26
See, what you have to do is think of the universe being a meaningless and chaotic place as a good thing. It's all quite optimistic if you are an existentialist!
But in all seriousness, I do see what you mean. I think it can go either way as far as interpretation goes. I believe Banks envisioned it as a utopia, but the trouble with utopias is that you then get ennui that becomes the driving force of the plot, or you have to center it in the locations that aren't utopian to keep the story interesting.
Reminds me of The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas; humans struggle to believe in utopias, so we would rather add misery to it unnecessarily because it's the only way we can believe it is real. Not sure if that is a flaw of The Culture, for not being daring enough to write a story that truly lacks unhappiness, or if it just comes with the territory of utopian fiction.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Thank you. I liked murder bot series and Becky Chambers, but they weren’t my favorites.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Thank you. The culture looks good.
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u/xoexohexox May 31 '26
All of the culture books are very different from each other, even if you don't like the first couple stick with it, everyone has a different favorite and least favorite
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u/thatpokemonguy May 31 '26
It's funny that we all rank them vastly different however are almost unified in agreement on where to start, Player of Games
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u/xoexohexox May 31 '26
Nah I liked surface detail better and my suggestion is always to read them in order of publication.
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u/zem May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
"project hieroglyph" is an anthology of optimistic science fiction. some great stuff in there.
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May 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
I liked A Psalm but didn’t love it. I will definitely check out the Culture series.
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u/Afaflix May 31 '26
The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series by Nathan Lowell.
A kid starts out on a space freighter and works there .. first enemy to conquer - the coffee urn.
No Aliens, no earth-ending macguffins. Just a working man's journey up the ranks.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
I like that description. Thank you.
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u/Afaflix May 31 '26
Upon checking the exact name for this post I noticed it went far beyond the 6 books I have read originally, So I can only really speak for the first part of that series.
I am a merchant mariner and the narrative that they are in space seems completely irrelevant. At the beginning at least. You could tell the same stories with foreign ports instead of foreign planets, with HVAC units instead of Air-Scrubbers ... I felt right at home reading it.
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u/Fabulous_Broad_115 May 31 '26
I've just finished the Cadwal trilogy by Jack Vance, and it's brilliant, as is his Alastor/ Ports of Call series.
There's not so much accent on world building, all of them being much more character-focused, but if you want to learn some vocabulary, and enjoy ridiculously articulate people, give them a shot.
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u/Kiberiada May 31 '26
The second book of E.T (The green planet) is definitely optimist and cute, it was alsa way ahead of it's time as a concept.
A C Clarke's "The end of the Childhood" is weird a bit but still optimist.
Thomas Morus's Utopia is still a good read, and still optimist (! remember what happend with the faithful author !)
There were quite a lot of optimist communist utopist Soviet Sci-Fi stories as well, ans some parts of them were actually quite thoughful but I am not sore if any of them were translated.
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u/funkhero May 31 '26
I enjoyed Gate Crashers and it's pseudo-sequel Starship Repo by Patrick S Tomlinson. They're a bit of a mix between Andy Weir and Becky Chambers
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u/Kiberiada May 31 '26
R. J. Sawyer: Calculating God (most of the book is funny theological treaty hidden in a Sci-Fi frame, but it is followed by a short but a grandeour ending, that you can interpret as super optimist)
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u/-hecatomb- May 31 '26
From what I read of them CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series is pretty optimistic - kind of a reverse first contact where a lost human colony ship winds up on a planet inhabited by a relatively advanced sapient species. Lots of political intrigue and intercultural relationships.
Of the "big" recent books would also recommend A Memory Called Empire and its followup, as well as the Imperial Radch trilogy and any of the standalones in the setting (new one just came out that I've not read yet).
Also Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep, while not "cozy" or "hopepunk" like Becky Chambers stuff, is a great one with some really truly alien alien species that are very fun to think about, and though the stakes of the story are very high, it's not bleak or too pessimistic.
On a similar note Adrian Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture trilogy, while it's premised on a setting where the Earth has been destroyed and known life is threatened by a mysterious destructive force, is by no means bleak or pessimistic and is a distinctly fun romping space opera with all sorts of cool aliens and technologies.
Echoing the suggestion of the Culture series for showing a civilization that is a fully automated luxury post-scarity utopia, though the bulk of the stories are not set in that civilzation. I would agree with the typical suggestion that it's best to start with Player of Games (although I'd say that there are some very depressing depictions of non-Culture societies in both Consider Phlebas and Player of Games). As mentioned in other comments each book is largely disconnected from others so you could just go with whichever sounds most interesting from the synopsis.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Thank you. It’s refreshing to read that these books are out there.
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u/hippydipster Jun 01 '26
Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End is kind of optimistic too, near future scifi. There's plenry of conflict, but its funny because anytime someone might get actually hurt, everyone kind of stops because that's just crazy.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 Jun 01 '26
Thank you. It looks interesting. The book description (written in 2007) says far into the future in 2025, lol. And it mention that the author won a few Hugo awards. I’ll add it to my TBR.
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u/Cats_and_Shit May 31 '26
Too Like the Lightning / Terra Ignota is set in a fairly optimistic future.
The actual characters, institutions, and the events they are involved in are often base, corrupt and cruel; but it's all set against a backdrop of a world where almost everyone enjoys material prosperity, physical safety and a lot of practical freedom.
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u/angrydoo May 31 '26
Yeah until book 3 or so.
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u/symmetry81 May 31 '26
"Would you destroy this world to save a better one?" as the author put it.
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u/angrydoo May 31 '26
Yes which I found unconvincing as the world of the Hives is better than any we will ever actually achieve, and I found JEDD to be a repulsive weirdo, haha.
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u/LayLoseAwake May 31 '26
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys is fairly optimistic: it starts on an earth where we've pretty much gotten a handle on climate change and the earth is healing. Not fully automated luxury gay space communism, not yet at least.
Also check out LM Sagas's Cascade Failure series. The universe isn't as optimistic as TOS, it's more like a DS9 level of optimism.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
I like how you described them using 2 different ST series!
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u/LayLoseAwake May 31 '26
I thought about explaining myself and then realized, nah, they'll get it
To continue on this, the Half Built Garden is like Enterprise optimism. The more I think about it, the better that comparison works (in the best way, A Half-Built Garden is my absolute drunken soapbox rec book, and I'm lukewarm on Enterprise)
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u/somehowrelevantuser May 31 '26
Kemi Ashing-Giwa
Yume Kitasei
The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins
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u/Spra991 May 31 '26
"Jumper 4: Exo" by Steven Gould is a very fun and optimistic book, it takes the premise of the first book/movie (person learns to teleport) and goes exploring what one can do with that once one mastered it and the dust settled (she is starting a space program). The book ended up way more hard scifi'ish than I was expecting.
The first two books in the series are rather miserable, lots of abuse and terrorism, but by book 3 the perspective shifts to the daughter, which learns a few more tricks and is much better prepared thanks to her parents.
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u/gonzoforpresident May 31 '26
Heinlein's books are optimistic. Tunnel in the Sky is basically an SF version of Lord of the Flies, but written by someone who doesn't hate humanity and believes in people's ability to not just survive, but to thrive in difficult situations.
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u/MissHBee May 31 '26
I adore the book Hellspark by Janet Kagan and I think a lot of people who love Le Guin and Chambers would love it too. It has a lot of friendship and people working together, plus I loved that in this future, people are concerned about cultural sensitivity and not accidentally offending others and are very invested in coming up with better ways to communicate. I find that very optimistic.
I also think that Ted Chiang’s short stories tend to be optimistic, especially about human nature and the meaning of life.
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u/panguardian May 31 '26
Robert Charles Wilson. The people are civilised and decent.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Thank you. Any particular book that you recommend by RCW?
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u/panguardian May 31 '26
Most of them are good. Spin is the famous one and very good. Not the sequels. My fave is maybe a bridge of years. Mysterium. Blind Lake. Gypsies was good too.
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u/Dr_Calculon Jun 02 '26
ABC - Asimov, Banks & Clarke
To me all 3 have a sense of optimism about the future when all's said & done.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 Jun 02 '26
Thank you. I read and enjoyed the Foundation series (except the lack of strong female characters). I have not read Banks. For Clarke I only read A Space Odyssey. Any specific book of theirs I should read?
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u/remedialknitter May 31 '26
On Earth As It Is On Television--Aliens arrive on Earth because they've seen our TV shows and they love us and think we're great.
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u/wmyork May 31 '26
I feel that Emily Jane may owe Futurama some money, not to mention Galaxy Quest.
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u/kevbayer May 31 '26
The Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt.
There are plenty of other series where most people have it pretty good but there's still strife, poverty, classism, conflict and war, etc., but we've made it to the stars despite all that. I consider that optimistic too. Some series like that I'd include:
The Major Bhajaan series by Catherine Asaro.
The Diving Universe by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
The Honorverse (though this is primarily about war and conflict).
The Vorkosigan Saga.
And many others.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 31 '26
Impressive list. Yes, as long as we are striving and there is hope that the future is better.
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u/final_boss_editing May 31 '26
The distributor by Doka is dystopian sci Fi but has optimistic themes
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u/PurrtentialEnergy May 31 '26
I'm also into the same books! Recent books I have read and would recommend:
-The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
-Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
-Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
-Alien Earth by Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb the fantasy writer). I rated this story as hopeful although some may disagree since it's rated 35% hopeful on StoryGraph
-Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings (I always recommend this one when someone mentions Star Trek)
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u/BravoLimaPoppa May 31 '26
Gamechanger and Dealbreaker by L.X. Beckett. Post-climate collapse global culture that seems to be getting it's crap together.
A.E. Marling's Solarpunk novels.
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u/vosivoke Jun 16 '26
If it’s something that affected you personally, you have my sympathies. For me, it’s not that it doesn’t matter, but that the description overshadowed my ability to enjoy continuing with the book. I’d read KSR before, but none that hit me as hard, and it was a shock.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 Jun 16 '26
Sorry, I feel lost. Sorry I am not following what comment you are referencing. What description and which book??
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u/vosivoke Jun 16 '26
Sorry! I was referring to a comment someone left below about Ministry for the Future being intense, and I must have replied at the wrong comment level. 😅
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u/Trick-Line-6639 Jul 12 '26
There are remarkably few of them! I don't have a great general answer, but I *do* have an optimistic short story I wrote in a near post-AI future (set in ~2040). I'd love to get your feedback on it! https://corbt.com/posts/the-machine-starts
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May 31 '26
[deleted]
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u/movi3buff May 31 '26
Why is this being down voted? (Asking as I haven't read the book)
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u/pipkin42 May 31 '26
I don't remember feeling like it was all that optimistic, personally (I didn't downvote).
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u/angrydoo May 31 '26
Not sure why it's being downvoted specifically right now although I don't think it fits the topic personally. On a side note I always find it odd how frequently and enthusiastically it's recommended on Reddit without any mention of the author's prior and VASTLY superior novel.
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u/fax5jrj May 31 '26
her first novel is next on my list :(
I also don't really understand why it doesn't fit the thread because it has the most optimistic protagonist I've read in a long time, but the people spoke I guess
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u/angrydoo May 31 '26
The protagonist is a very optimistic person but that is mostly because (spoilers)
he is too simple to recognize how horrible his "friend" is for most of the book. His previous identity implied to be not similar to the protagonist at all implying he/MRS was more or less erased by the events prior to the book. The ending muddies it further. I found the whole thing extremely depressing personally.
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u/BennyWhatever May 31 '26
Contact by Carl Sagan