this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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Sci-fi books which don't involve too much space travels and massive world builds? (self.sciencefiction)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by giriinthejungle to c/sciencefiction
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Don't really know how to explain this. I like sci fi and would love to dig deeper into it. Am avid reader and enjoyed Project Hail Mary (though set in space, this book is just amazing), Dune, short stories by Ray Bradbury and TV shows like Raised by the Wolves, Westworld, From (love From!). But e.g. Foundation I really disliked. Wheel of time is massive and I lost interest. Even the guide through galaxy I appreciated but was not really into it. Somehow, all those lots of traveling, lots of worlds, lots of many novel/invented names and terms render reading laborious for me.

Can you help me pin what is that I like and perhaps offer me a suggestion where to start? Thanks!

EDIT: thanks everyone for your excellent suggestions! So happy to be a part of lemmy community. I might make a follow up thread in couple of months so we can discuss some of the works. And lastly, if you been reading this far: have a good weekend.

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[–] CrayonRosary 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Dune is an example of massive world-building with a tons of jargon, but you still liked it? It seems that this post is saying you don't like books like Dune, so how did you manage to enjoy it?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It sounds to me like while OP can absolutely enjoy longer, more complex works, they can prove daunting and time consuming, so they're looking for shorter and more straightforward stories.

Maybe I'm casting my own experiences onto this, but I know that's a feeling I get too, especially with some video games. Some of my favorites are 200+ hours of meticulous exploration and grinding, but I rarely find myself with the energy to engage with journeys of this magnitude, so I usually gravitate more towards shorter stuff.

[–] giriinthejungle 7 points 1 year ago

Exactly this. Thank you. :)

[–] giriinthejungle 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You do know nothing is black and white in life, right?

Anyways, I wouldn't put Dune as my 5* read, but I did enjoy it. I only read the main part of the main Dune book, not the whole series, prequels etc. Also, it is mainly set on one planet.