this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2025
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Haven't seen these mentioned here, but the "Old Man's War" series by John Scalzi is great as are "The Expanse" books by James SA Corey. I'd highly recommend those to anyone, but especially those looking for grounded and hard-ish sci-fi that doesn't lose the reader or become overly technical.
I highly highly recommend Old Man's War to anyone looking to get into sci-fi novels for the first time, Scalzi really takes care of his reader and his writing is a delight. The Expanse books are awesome whether or not you've seen the TV series... the show runners really took care with the source material and, ask any fan of the books, it is a great adaptation. The show hits the same plot points of the books while getting there in new and interesting ways. Further, the show created a new character in Kamina Drummer who immediately became a fan favorite of both show and book lovers (she's an amalgamation of a couple of book characters and becomes her own thing that really adds SO much to the story and world building).
I think the original idea by Joe Haldeman is superior. I definitely like both though.
Thanks, I never considered myself a sci-fi fan so what you mentioned about old man’s war is appealing. That’s interesting the Expanse show added a character and still gets love from the book fans, speaks volumes to their adaptation
I don't want to hype it up too much, but the Expanse show is really great... IMHO some of the best sci-fi television in decades. I'd say it's easily up there with "Battlestar Galactica" (the RDM or "re-imagined" series) and "Farscape" as a triumph of what I'd guess you would call "post-9/11" science fiction story telling. Most fans of the books would tell you to read them first, but I think either is fine because both are great (I read them as the show was airing and it was awesome all the same). My favorite character in both the books and TV series is hands down Amos Burton... Wes Chatham is the actor that plays him; he has said in interviews that he read the books before filming season 1, fell in love with the character, and it really effing shows. From the writers and show runners to the actors, costuming, and set design... they took great care to be loyal to the books while creating something new at the same time.