BookOwl Picks: Intellectual Science Fiction

 

If you're looking for science fiction with a more intellectual bent, here are a few suggestions to start:

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Three Body Problem by Chinese science fiction writer Cixin Liu is the first in a trilogy named “Remembrance of Earth’s Past.” The three-body problem in physics describes the mathematical difficulty of predicting the motion of three gravitationally bound bodies. This book primarily takes place in China, starting during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when intellectuals were persecuted in a wider attack against capitalism by communists. 

The book starts with a physicist, Ye Wenjie, who goes to work at the Red Coast Base radio astronomy laboratory to protect herself from Cultural Revolution persecution and makes a fateful discovery that will change the course of humanity forever. It then jumps 40 years into the present, when the scientific community is facing a crisis over fundamental science seeming to unravel during a series of observations of the universe not acting how it should. Needless to say, a very interesting book, but perhaps keep Google open while reading!

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

The Mountain in the Sea is a fascinating what-if scenario of what happens when humanity encounters another self-aware species on Earth (in this case highly intelligent octopuses), and how we'd react, particularly considering the context we and this book live in: the climate crisis and political instability. The book takes place in a very plausible future, filled with AI, political intrigue, and conflicts over how best to preserve precious ecosystems from destruction.

This book is definitely food-for-thought, philosophical sci-fi. This book is a fascinating look at intelligence and consciousness and makes one look at animals like octopuses much differently, not to mention a meditation on human nature through the eyes of a species we share the world with. (I, for one, welcome our octopus overlords.) 

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Foundation is old-school science fiction by Isaac Asimov of I, Robot fame. The first book in the “Foundation” series tells the story of a galaxy-spanning empire in decline after 12,000 years. Hari Seldon, creator of the science of psychohistory, has seen this decline coming and is hurriedly executing his contingency plans.

In order to preserve the immense knowledge accumulated by humanity during the reign of the Galactic Empire, Hari Seldon conceives of the Foundation, a planet at the edge of the galaxy, where great scholars and scientists will find refuge and serve as the seed for a new, enlightened empire after the predicted Dark Age. Ultimately, Foundation is an intriguing meditation on the development and collapse of technologically driven civilization and is more philosophical than plot driven. 

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s awe-inspiring world-building, showing the origins and rise of an alien civilization, is on show in Children of Time, the first book in the series of the same name. As humanity’s galactic empire falls, a civilization is born on a planet slated for terraforming and later human habitation. If you thought a society of highly intelligent octopuses is terrifying, try a species of highly intelligent spiders (called Portiids)! Humans escaping the fall of the empire find this Eden-like planet is not unoccupied, and the clash of civilizations is potentially catastrophic for both species. Can they get along and prosper in this new world together?

Children of Time is merely book one in one of my favorite science fiction trilogies. Great science fiction not only shows us what alien civilizations could look like and how they would perceive the world, but also makes us think critically about human nature, and what kind of civilization we want for ourselves. This book continues this grand tradition of perspective-shifting, and in my opinion, is a must-read.

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir has been developed into a pretty good movie, but here I am going to talk about the book behind the film. While more plot-driven than the other books I have on this list, The Martian is still very science-driven, and is ultimately how a scientist would write a thriller. This book tells the survival story of a botanist, the incredibly sarcastic Mark Watney, on Mars after he is mistakenly left behind by his team during a hectic dust-storm evacuation.

The author does a good job of explaining the real science behind the various improvisations Watney makes to his environment in order to survive, including his growing of potatoes in Martian soil and the salvaging of parts from an old Mars lander to communicate with Earth about his situation. For a survival story, it’s full of geeky humor that makes learning about science fun. The Martian is a good place to start if you’re looking for near-future stories where the scientific understanding presented in the story is more closely grounded in present-day science. 

Happy reading!

--BookOwl