Summer reading for scifi fans

I always plan to read more when summer holiday approaches, then spend the first few days reading books but then over time I read less and less. Well, summer is approaching again and I'm looking to something new to read.

Luckily I'm part of Finnish software developer community Koodiklinikka where we recently had a thread about suggestions for books to read. I decided to collect them here for my own sake and for those who are seeking for something to read. Now, it's important to note that I have not read most of these so these are not my personal recommendations.

The prompt that started the discussion was, roughly translated, "Recommend me a good, modern scifi book or series with good theme, plot and characters."

The books

The books are ordered in alphabetical order (at least I tried, don't @ me if you find a mistake :D) by the last name of the author. Some are links to series page (if series was specifically mentioned), others are either first book in a series or individual books.

• Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
• Culture series by Iain M. Banks
• Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers
• To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
• Exhalation by Ted Chiang
• The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
• The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
• Recursion by Blkae Crouch
• VALIS trilogy by Philip K. Dick
• Little Brother series by Cory Doctorow
• The Peripheral by William Gibson
• Last Exit by Max Gladstone
• The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
• Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin
• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
• Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
• A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
• Planetfall series by Emma Newman
• Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer
• Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell
• The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
• Blue Remembered Earth (and the rest of Poseidon's Children series) by Alastair Reynolds
• Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds
• Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
• Revenger by Alastair Reynolds
• Old Man's War by John Scalzi
• Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons
• Halting State by Charles Stross
• A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
• A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
• Blindsight by Peter Watts
• The Martian by Andy Weir
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells

Now the problem is, where to start. I decided to start with Chambers' Wayfarers series. I've only read a few chapters but I already like her style of character and world-building and am looking forward to learning more about the adventures.

Bonus Suggestion

I also wanna recommend a great scifi short-story magazine that I've been subscribing for a while now. Etherea Magazine is monthly subscription based e-magazine that features short stories from Australian writers.

Summer update for 2024

New books have been written and published in the two years since this post.

• Apostles of Mercy by Lindsay Ellis is part of Noumena Series.
• Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead
• Translation State by Ann Leckie
• The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older
• Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
• Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh