Instead of (or in addition to) books with a space captain and/or crew, pirates, adventurers, explorers, robot controllers, asteroid miners, cyberpunk hackers, colonists, etc., I find that I enjoy books following people in modern-day professions, just set in space. Don't get me wrong, I like many of the other kinds as well, but I just find many of these types of stories especially interesting.
Some of my favorites are:
Prostho Plus from Piers Anthony, which is about a dentist abducted from earth.
The Sector General doctor/hospital stories by James White.
The Circuit series by Melinda Snodgrass about a circuit court judge traveling around the solar system.
Bartenders, such as Callahan from the Callahan's series by Spider Robinson (or is that really sci-fi???)
Detectives and Police officers from various series (Space Precinct, TekWars, etc.)
Reporter, in Spindoc by Steve Perry.
This could also apply to soldiers and commanders, as long as the story dealt more with their personal relations, or turning slackers into precision instruments, etc.
I guess part of why I like these is that they are human stories, just set in space or the future, as opposed to space or futuristic stories. The characters have to solve their problems using their intelligence, training, moral codes and knowledge, instead of wacky gizmos or superior firepower, and their interaction with others (even aliens) may be comparable to how they would interact with us on present-day earth (or so we hope.)
What are some other stories like this? Do you enjoy these stories, and what are some of your favorites?
littlefuzzy
04-03-04, 12:45 PM
Anyone? Anyone?
Bueller? Bueller?
darkflounder
04-07-04, 02:29 AM
Originally posted by littlefuzzy
Bartenders, such as Callahan from the Callahan's series by Spider Robinson (or is that really sci-fi???)
I don't know if I'd classify Callahan's Cross-time Saloon as Sci-Fi, per se. Sure, it's got time travel, aliens, and other sci-fi genres. But it's so far from typical sci-fi...
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Ford Prefect is a roving reporter for The Guide, Zaphod is the ex-president of the galaxy, and Arthur is, well, Arthur.
Discworld - Apart from wizards, thieves, witches, DEATH, and other typical fantasy genre-types, there are barkeeps, merchants, farmers, guards and traveling insurance salesmen.
Eric F
04-11-04, 02:40 PM
Janitors on Mars doesn't sound like it would sell...
milo bloom
04-12-04, 03:32 PM
I think BladeRunner/Do Androids Dream...? is a good example of this. They do have the Voight-Kampf machine, but it's shown as not being perfect in the book, though not as well in the movie.
In both cases, human nature takes over.
Drop
04-12-04, 09:09 PM
As far as I've read with Philip K. Dick, most of his protagonists have "normal" earth jobs; heads of companies, police officers, repairmen, officer workers, etc.. Of course it is the future (usually) in his books, so you'd expect new jobs.
TheDude
04-12-04, 10:02 PM
Originally posted by Drop
As far as I've read with Philip K. Dick, most of his protagonists have "normal" earth jobs; heads of companies, police officers, repairmen, officer workers, etc.. Of course it is the future (usually) in his books, so you'd expect new jobs.
PKD is what I thought about when I saw this thread. Just finished Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said... and I'm currently reading Paycheck and most of the characters have relatively normal jobs in some sort of future society, it makes it pretty interesting reading as you can envision the place that the character starts from.
C-Mart
04-20-04, 12:17 AM
I would think of the Ender series as sci-fi that is more about the people than the science/fantasy. Come to think of it, Ender is kind of like Harry Potter... I never thought about that before. A kid trying to be a kid, but also having to prove himeself and constantly having to deal with the general popoulations predisposition towards him. I love the Ender series and it is right up at the top of my favorite series of books.
beefjerky
04-20-04, 01:02 AM
Originally posted by C-Mart
I would think of the Ender series as sci-fi that is more about the people than the science/fantasy. Come to think of it, Ender is kind of like Harry Potter... I never thought about that before. A kid trying to be a kid, but also having to prove himeself and constantly having to deal with the general popoulations predisposition towards him. I love the Ender series and it is right up at the top of my favorite series of books.
When Harry Potter became popular, I told everyone to go read Ender's Game too. No one read it :(. Definately my favorite book series.
benedict
08-05-04, 02:35 PM
<small>Originally posted by littlefuzzy
Some of my favorites are:
The Sector General doctor/hospital stories by James White.
</small>Seen these books recommended before but never read them. This article was drawn to my attention a while ago:James White lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the years of The Troubles, when people who look exactly alike killed each other in sectarian violence.
But he was an optimist as well as a pacifist. He imagined a universe where oxygen-breathers, methane-gulpers and even radiation-eating telepathic gestalt critters could enjoy one another's company and solve problems together.
White (1928-'99) wanted to be a doctor but lacked the means; until his diabetes forced him to retire, he worked in several tailoring firms and for an aircraft maker.
He channeled his passion for medicine into 12 books about Sector Twelve General Hospital, a giant inter-species hospital on the rim of our galaxy. "Sector General is the definitive medical SF series," wrote critic David Langford.
He never won the Hugo or the Nebula, the defining science-fiction prizes, but White was a popular figure in the sci-fi world, semi-famous as a fanzine artist and writer before he crossed over into professional writing. (An annual short story award for non-professional writers is named after him.)
If you like reading clean, upbeat science fiction unspoiled by lousy TV and movie adaptations, and you're brave enough to peek inside the operating room, it's worth your time to explore the world of Sector General.
Main article - with possible spoilers - follows here: http://www.jsonline.com/enter/books/jul04/243805.asp
Jon2
08-24-04, 09:06 PM
If you like Robert Heinlein style SF, there's the early novels of L. Neil Smith. In "The Probablity Broach" and "The Venus Belt" the main character is a policeman who, after being trasported to an alternate universe, becomes a detective in the second and later books.
The books are fun reads. Especially for those who like the particular kind of "what-if" scenarios presented by alternate/parallel universe stories where history takes a different turn.
Buy: