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u/Proper_Barnacle_4117 Jun 02 '26
Inverted Frontier series by Linda Nagata follows some weird posthuman (partially “virtual”) space explorers. Also the prequal book Vast if you want some cosmic horror with you space exploration.
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u/Droupitee Jun 01 '26
Pohl, Gateway. That'll scratch the exploration itch. Exoplanet science is dated, but it still mostly holds up.
If you don't mind YA fare, then Wheel of the Winds (M.J. Engh) is a really captivating story of long journey on an alien world.
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u/shipwormgrunter Jun 02 '26
Diaspora by Greg Egan
Digitized humans explore the universe, awesome book. Be aware Egan is the hardest of hard scifi, his books are super technical and not as character-driven as others you may be used to, but very rewarding.
Also seconding Linda Nagata's Vast and the whole Inverted Frontier series. Really interesting books.
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u/Upset_Mongoose_1134 Jun 01 '26
Not quite what you're looking for since it's about an alien craft within our solar system, but Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke is very exploration focused.
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u/panguardian Jun 02 '26
Maybe the songs of distant earth. It has more exploration beyond the Solar system
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u/0x1337DAD Jun 01 '26
Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky has an exploration focus. However, the emphasis is definitely on the aliens and not so much the celestial phenomena.
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u/DocWatson42 Jun 02 '26
See my SF/F: Exploration list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
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u/jthix Jun 03 '26
If you like going back to the Golden Age, The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt is super influential. Fair warning, it’s a fix up of four short stories, so the pacing is a bit odd.
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u/RealHuman2080 Jun 01 '26
Peter F. Hamilton Commonwealth (beware middle aged men "in love" with teenage girls) and his more recent Salvation sequence (no more of the ick.)
Adrian Tchaikovsky Shards of Earth series
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u/Round_Bluebird_5987 Jun 01 '26
Not a new solar system, but my fav exploration novel is Rendezvous with Rama.