I’ve basically been ordered to pick up any fiction book and read, after a friend discovered I’ve not read anything but non-fiction for a decade.

The ones I’ve enjoyed in the past have been short, fantastical or sci-fi (think Aldous Huxley, Ian McEwan), but crucially with amazing first person descriptive prose - the kind where you’re immersed in the writing so much you’re almost there with the character.

I liked sci-fi as the world’s constraints weren’t always predictable. Hope that makes sense.

Any recommendations?

Edit: I’m going to up the ante and, as a way of motivating myself to get off my arse and actually read a proper story, promise to choose a book from the top comment, after, let’s say arbitrarily, Friday 2200 GMT.

Edit deux: Wow ok I don’t think I’ve ever had this many responses to anything I’ve posted before. You’ve given me what looks like a whole year of interesting suggestions, and importantly, good commentary around them. I’m honouring my promise to buy the top thing in just under 4 hours.

  • Captain AggravatedEnglish
    17•4 months ago

    Have you read The Martian by Andy Weir?

    Diamond hard sci-fi told mostly through the main character’s personal log. First time I read it, I couldn’t put it down, I read the whole thing in one sitting.

    • @Varyk@sh.itjust.works
      6•4 months ago

      I’d like to add The Hail Mary Project by Weir as I recommended The Martian to a friend looking for sci-fi but he couldn’t get into it because it’s a little harder on the science and less on character development, although I personally agree it’s a great recommendation for immersive writing.

      The Hail Mary Project might have more immediate emotional character connection if the Martian feels a little dry.

        • @Varyk@sh.itjust.works
          1•4 months ago

          Really? I actually don’t know his history. Was Martian his first one or just his breakout hit? Are all of his later novels more character driven like Hail Mary project?

          I like realistic science fiction a lot, but I need some more characterization and plots to really get into it like I did with the Hail Mary project.

          If anyone stumbles on this thread, check out the mote in god’s eye for some amazing characterization and hard science fiction.

          • @hades@lemm.ee
            1•4 months ago

            He did some short format writing, but The Martian was his first published novel, I think. He was a software engineer before that.

            Artemis follows the same pattern of a capable main protagonist solving problems, so it is not very different from the other books in terms of characters, but it is much better in character depth and development than The Martian.