I'd like my reading list for next year to include more indie authors (instead of just reading the whole Discworld series on a loop like I usually do), and my fave genre is sci-fi.

So, I'm betting Fedi has quite the treasure trove of indie sci-fi authors, please say hello and tell me where I can find your books! Or if you're not an author, recommendations of people to check out obviously very welcome too.

Thanks!

(Boosts welcome & appreciated ♥️)

#SciFi #Bookstodon #IndieAuthors

@thegiddystitcher

Just off the top of my head from authors I've read here.

John Wilker's Grand Human Empire @jwilker

Si Clarke's Starship Teapot
@clacksee

Dave Walsh's Trysero @dvewlsh

L J Cohen's Halcyon Space @lj

I'm blanking out on more but there are a lot of us here.

I only read self pubbed books, usually in series, so if you need more, hit me up! :)

@thegiddystitcher

Hello,

I write #scifi adventure and you can learn more from my website.

https://edwindownward.com

@thegiddystitcher I always recommend Henry Neff's Tapestry series.

Wonderful story, five books and there's a follow-on book that, while technically part of the series, is set 1000 in the future from the original.

Also he's an awesome human being.

@thegiddystitcher it’s more fantasy than sci fi, but I think you would like the Temple of the White Rat series a lot!

@thegiddystitcher I assume you're asking for Indie because you've already worked through the more prominent works of William Gibson, such as the Sprawl trilogy?
The Difference Engine collaboration with @bruces is particularly good if you've likewise knocked off his solo work like Schismatrix

I've always had a soft spot for Andre Norton's "Android at arms" - it's got a really quirky classic sci-fi fantasy feel to it.

@thegiddystitcher not necessarily an indie guy but I think you'd like John Scalzi if you like Discword!

@thegiddystitcher
Haha, that has shades of "I know what I like, and I like what I know." I can be similar.

One you could try that I've enjoyed so far is @courtcan who has several fantasy novels, and a few spec-fic.

And all of @cstross
His "Laundry Files" books are wonderful and funny, and just disturbing enough to make you want the next one.

@thegiddystitcher Vandana Singh is absolutely amazing - here my mini review of one of her books: https://mastodon.social/@vicgrinberg/112924978930142365

Simon Stalenhag's "Electric State"

Karin Tidbeck's "Amatka"

@thegiddystitcher I highly enjoyed "The Twice Drowned Saint" by C.S
E. Cooley. It's short, but very imaginative and cleverly put together.

@thegiddystitcher

What makes an author "indie"?

The Crystal trilogy by Max Harms is pretty awesome.

@thegiddystitcher maybe check out the books by @vicorva ? Leans a little more fantasy but I think I saw a comment you weren’t against that? ^^

@thegiddystitcher A great way to find out about more indie authors (depending on your definition of indie) in Sci-Fi I've found is to look at some of the short story magazines like Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Shoreline of Infinity, Uncanny Mag...

But also how indie is indie? I've been reading a lot more less-than-mainstream authors this year, so maybe get onto a Bookwyrm instance and follow some people too?

I like Rambling Readers as a UK based instance https://ramblingreaders.org/user/Kevin/books

@EdwinDownward Nice to meet you! Will give it a look, thanks for sharing 😊

@thegiddystitcher The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer. It’s sci fi, mystery, psychological thriller about one single space mission and two young men.

@FlashMobOfOne I do like supporting awesome humans 👍

@venite Fantasy is my second fave, so I am totally down for that 😄

@SocialCommentaryBot It's more that I'm just really curious what weird and wild stuff is out there in indie-land. But clearly I need to add these to the list too 😄

@bytebro I am a degenerate comfort zone reader and there's no point denying it 😅 Thanks!

@StryderNotavi Given how many suggestions are already coming in, short may be a very good thing 😅

@thegiddystitcher Neuromancer's a must-read; it's very much a progenitor of the Matrix and the suchlike.
That said, I think I found the two sequels (Count Zero & Mona List Overdrive) to be more satisfyingly constructed.

Dune's very much in the zeitgeist ATM because of the films - but the original run of books are definitely worth reading for the sheer intellectual depth of the conceit that the action-oriented movies can't really cover.

HHGTTG is Discworld adjacent if you've missed that?

@thegiddystitcher
As for really indie and really weird-and-wild:

Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect is worth reading if you can tolerate *very* graphic content.

It's so indie that it was published online for free.

@thegiddystitcher also Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells. It’s a trilogy, union power, magic, sci fi mix? I enjoyed it.

@thegiddystitcher I write humorous science fiction (and PTerry was a huge influence when I was first getting started writing my first novel 🙂)

I only have two novels out at the moment since I took a 20 year break after my first one, but I'm hoping to write more now that I've started writing again ...

https://books2read.com/b/4E9lME
https://books2read.com/b/mgw00v

@thegiddystitcher Hi, I've written various things, but mostly a trio of sci-fi novels that are sort of a workplace comedy if the workplace is an embassy to extraterrestrials.

https://readsteven.com/read/

If you're into that sort of thing. Zero pressure!

(Also seconding @nlowell's recommendations up thread, and Beckie Chambers and Martha Wells, who aren't really indie, but have an indie vibe and I reread them often.)

@troublewithwords @thegiddystitcher

Oh yes!

I read Clash of Cultures last year and loved it.

I wrote up a bunch of reviews using my Bookwyrm instance at

https://books.theunseen.city/user/nlowell/books

Steve's book included :D

@thegiddystitcher
Two books I really love are:
#BangkokWakesToRain by
#PitchayaSudbanthad
and
#HowHighWeGoInTheDark by
#SequoiaNagamatsu
I previously followed and interacted with both writers online. SciFi isn't my primary genre.
#AmReading

@thegiddystitcher Okay SO

@rowyn wrote a delightful sci-fi romance with a game dev protagonist

@mwl has written some extremely cool sci-fi mysteries

@LJ writes awesome sci-fi with found family themes

@cheribaker has a grand space opera sci-fi adventure out!

These are all authors whose sci-fi is indie (self-published and small press) so do check them out!

@vicorva @thegiddystitcher @rowyn @mwl @cheribaker thank you! I feel like I'm in really lovely company. And I'd add @nlowell for really engaging and comfort reading space opera.

@vicorva @thegiddystitcher @rowyn @LJ @cheribaker @ParadeGrotesque

(gluing two replies together in my response, like a barbarian)

aww, thank you!

Permit me to add @zzclaybourne to this list. Rich, rich voice and action.

I have freebies in various stores, but you can get my samples at my store, https://www.tiltedwindmillpress.com/product-category/free/ -- both SF and orcness available.

@mwl @vicorva @thegiddystitcher @rowyn @cheribaker @ParadeGrotesque @zzclaybourne oh, hell yes! I'm a big Brothers Jetstream fan!

@LJ @mwl @vicorva @thegiddystitcher @rowyn @ParadeGrotesque @zzclaybourne Thanks for the list! I need more sci-fi in my life. 😁

Ok I have woken up to a LOT of new author friends and book recommendations and it's going to take a while to go through them all but this is definitely more than a year's worth of #scifi (and fantasy) reading right here!

I know a few others are going through the thread looking for suggestions now too, so I'll try and format it in a more scannable way over the weekend and update here.

Thank you for all the visibility on this, got some really great suggestions and other resources to check out. #Bookstodon did not let me down!

@thegiddystitcher thanks for prompting that thread! I'm also reading Pratchett on loop (with occasional Sanderson thrown in) and while I love it, I also wanted to open my horizons again a bit. Lots to explore!

@marthasterias It's definitely hard to break out of the comfort of something we've read a million times before! But I believe in us :D