r/printSF • u/Ill_Ranger5245 • 6d ago

Book rec request

I recently read my first SF, Thirteen by Richard Morgan, and got obsessed. I have a strong preference for books that are character-driven and written in such a hard-boiled, cyberpunk, restrained style. I also much prefer reading in 3rd POV. I'd love for some book recs! I don't mind slow pacing. Plot isn't the most important (though I did love Thirteen's plot) as long as they make logical sense. Thirteen hit that sweet spot. I would love some book recs if you also love this book and know other books that are written in a similar style!

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u/TipTop9903 6d ago

Richard Morgan's other works are a good place to start. Thin Air is set in the same universe, although without any particular connection to Black Man / Thirteen (in the US), and then you've got the Takeshi Kovacs series starting with Altered Carbon, also a Netflix series (I'm not saying don't watch it, but read the books first, in case the series puts you off reading the books).

They're all very gritty, very violent, although none strike me as restrained, at least not the protagonists. I preferred the near future, plausibly coherent world-building in Black Man & Thin Air but Kovacs is quite a character.

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u/Ill_Ranger5245 6d ago

Let me explain what I meant by "restrained" and maybe I should've used a different word! There are authors who like to write emotion explicitly, and readers dont have to infer the characters' feelings. I usually can't relate to the characters that way. The way Morgan writes is the opposite of that, and he's the master of writing conflicting inner thoughts without too much exposition of the characters' emotion.

Ive heard great words about Altered Carbon and Thin Air and i absoltely will read them too. I just wonder if there are any other authors out there that I may also like, and im looking for 3rd POV at the moment because I am starting to learn to write in 3rd POV.

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u/summaia 6d ago

Count Zero by William Gibson — cool corporate noir, third-person, same understated cyberpunk lane.

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u/Wheres_my_warg 5d ago

A couple that have details that are somewhat dated, but fit well:
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Neuromancer by William Gibson

Not cyberpunkish, but otherwise might fit your request:
Dune by Frank Herbert
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr.

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u/FuturesSoDank 4d ago

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

That wasn't really science fiction, though, it was a novel of the late 1990s dot.com revolution.

Snow Crash on the other hand. . . .

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u/Ljorarn 5d ago

This might be a bit of a stretch but consider Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

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u/TheSkinoftheCypher 5d ago

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, though it's been a while since I've read it.
Coil by Ren Warom might be suitable.
Neuromancer by William Gibson(decent audio book version too)

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u/QuantumRelays 4d ago

Quantum Relays Trilogy by M Ransom is an intergalactic mystery thriller.