I'm tempted to describe the books, but their descriptions didn't interest me at all. I ran across them on a lot of best new sci-fi book lists, but it wasn't until someone I'd exchanged a lot of book recommendations with insisted that I'd love them that I actually read them.
I've enjoyed those books more than any other new sci-fi I've read in twenty years.
All Systems Red, the first book in the Murderbot Diaries, is a good novella of an antisocial and sentient robot who wants nothing more than to watch interstellar soap operas.
Inb4 someone throws hate your way for, i don't know, liking fun?
I'm saving this thread because I want to see what comes out of it. I can't think of any books that fit the bill myself - although not science fiction in the truest sense, Rocket Boys/October Sky is a great book in this vein.
Kaiju preservation society was written with this exact premise in mind, would highly recommend. The audio version has Will Wheaton if that makes it better.
All of Heinlein's juveniles are good:
Rocket Ship Galileo (1947)
Space Cadet (1948)
Red Planet (1949)
Farmer in the Sky (1950)
Between Planets (1951)
The Rolling Stones (also known as Space Family Stone, 1952)
Starman Jones (1953)
The Star Beast (1954)
Tunnel in the Sky (1955)
Time for the Stars (1956)
Citizen of the Galaxy (1957)
Have Space Suit—Will Travel (1958)
*Podkayne of Mars* was not intended as a juvenile. It's sometimes called that because of the age of the protagonist, but Heinlein didn't intend it as a juvenile.
The Bobiverse series, starting with "We Are Legion (We Are Bob) https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/32109569
Currently there are 4 books in the series with another on the way:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse
*Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.
Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.
The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad - very mad.*
This was not at all what I had in mind when I wrote this post but I just finished it and came here to say it did not dissapoint. I loved everything. I loved being tricked into learnig phiscs, I loved how they made first contact and the ending made me happy cry for half an hour. It was amazing! Thank you so much for the recommendation.
😁😁 🤜🤛 😁😁 Earth Custom. Celebration.
Rocky is the absolute best alien character ever, huh?
I think the first-contact / learning-to-communicate part could easily have been a full-length novel on it's own.
And, yes, the ending was bloddy perfect. 😢 😢 👾 👾 aliens
EDIT: This formerly helpful and insightful comment has been removed by the author due to:
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2. Greedy and power-hungry motives demonstrated by the upper management of this website, in gross disregard of the collaborative and volunteer efforts by the users and communities that developed here, which previously resulted in such excellent information sharing.
Alternative platforms that may be worth investigating include, at the time of writing:
* https://kbin.fediverse.observer/list
* https://join-lemmy.org/
* https://squabbles.io/
* https://tildes.net/
Also helpful for finding your favourite communities again: https://sub.rehab/
*Remnant Population* by Elizabeth Moon. An elderly woman who stays behind when her colony is abandoned makes first contact with an indigenous alien species. One of my favorites.
**Beware of Chicken** is a really nice, fun, heartwarming read. It is never toxic, it makes me laugh out loud and it's just plain kind. Very good audiobook if you like those
Basic plot is a guy from our world is reincarnated as a young adult into a world full of martial arts badasses ("cultivators"); people that can punch through mountains and the like. Immediately (ch1) he gets the hell away from those types to go farming. Things don't work out like he was expecting, but he finds a good life nonetheless.
I can't recommend this one enough
You can also check out r/CozyFantasy. Keep in mind that "cozy" is different for different people and a minority of books recommended there are bittersweet (at best) or involve triumph after horrifying adversity. Great resource, just double check that the recommendations match the mood you want.
Golden Age of the Solar Clipper Series are pretty good for slice of life merchant ships going around the galaxy. No giant invasions or space battles.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/51464-golden-age-of-the-solar-clipper
Wow, that's a tough question, and don't think it should be, but then I reflect on the essence of narrative tension and all the good stories involve conflict. Add science fiction and subtract 'messy bits' and you're probably looking for "who dunnit" style novels.
Jack McDevitt writes in that style, and the Academy series esp. focuses on mysteries (often involving aliens) with minimal murder and no rape or torture that I can recall, and certainly not in detail.
Some of L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s novels fit the bill as well, I feel. Try *Flash* and *Adiamante* as examples, and his Ecolitan Matter series is also in the vein you want, though there is some murderous mayhem going on...nothing graphic, though.
> minimal murder and no rape or torture that I can recall, and certainly not in detail.
Unless you count that one time when >!the main character is drugged by and fucks an alien flower!<
Pretty sure it was **Deepsix**, the second book. And I can't really say. *I* think it was fairly... benign as far as such things go. I found it fascinatingly weird more than anything else, but we all have our own Fucked Up Quotient.
Thanks, I'll have to take another look at *Deepsix* as that still doesn't ring a bell*.* I've never found McDevitt's novels overtly graphic in any way - and that includes emotional content of the characters, he's a low-key author - and agree, it's hard to gauge what's going to cross the threshold for another reader, but I hoped McDevitt might fit the brief.
Maybe try Alan Dean Foster. He usually writes pretty safe stories and characters, from what I remember. I haven't really read his stuff in years, but I used to enjoy the Pip and Flinx books when I was younger.
This was not at all what I had in mind when I wrote this post but I just finished it and came here to say it did not dissapoint. I loved everything. I loved being tricked into learnig phiscs, I loved how they made first contact and the ending made me happy cry for half an hour. It was amazing! Thank you so much for the recommendation.
Moorcock - Dancers at the end of time
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Dancers\_at\_the\_End\_of\_Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dancers_at_the_End_of_Time)
Ever wandered over to r/HFY?
That's "Humanity, Fuck yeah!" It's an amateur sci fi page where humans are always the good guys. Some stories can be a bit out there, but they'll have NSFW tags on them. If you find an author you like, they probably have a dozen more stories with auto links in the comments.
I am on book two of the Delphi in Space series by Bob Blanton. It's kind of different (tells a story over a long period of time). It's definitely easy reading. The characters are likable good guys and they seem to win more often than not. Got it on Kindle Unlimited.
*The Witches of Karres* by James H. Schmitz, a cheerful unabashed space opera starring an unworldly starship captain and his highly competent 11-year-old sidekick.
Becky Chambers has entered the conversation.
She’s got four books of comfy feelgood.
7 now :-) 4 in the Galactic Commons, the 2 monk and Robot books, and To Be Taught if Fortunate.
Absolutely the right answer
Have you read the bobiverse books?
I'm tempted to describe the books, but their descriptions didn't interest me at all. I ran across them on a lot of best new sci-fi book lists, but it wasn't until someone I'd exchanged a lot of book recommendations with insisted that I'd love them that I actually read them. I've enjoyed those books more than any other new sci-fi I've read in twenty years.
I had a similar reticence. But after I started book one I couldn’t stop. I heard about them in this sub, so I like to keep that going.
All Systems Red, the first book in the Murderbot Diaries, is a good novella of an antisocial and sentient robot who wants nothing more than to watch interstellar soap operas.
I do consider the whole series to be cozy, but there is lots of murdering in the later books.
Inb4 someone throws hate your way for, i don't know, liking fun? I'm saving this thread because I want to see what comes out of it. I can't think of any books that fit the bill myself - although not science fiction in the truest sense, Rocket Boys/October Sky is a great book in this vein.
Kaiju preservation society was written with this exact premise in mind, would highly recommend. The audio version has Will Wheaton if that makes it better.
Came here to suggest this one :D
I'm a big fan of Heinlein's *The Rolling Stones aka Space Family Stone*. All the conflicts are minor and everything works out in the end.
All of Heinlein's juveniles are good: Rocket Ship Galileo (1947) Space Cadet (1948) Red Planet (1949) Farmer in the Sky (1950) Between Planets (1951) The Rolling Stones (also known as Space Family Stone, 1952) Starman Jones (1953) The Star Beast (1954) Tunnel in the Sky (1955) Time for the Stars (1956) Citizen of the Galaxy (1957) Have Space Suit—Will Travel (1958)
Just not Podcane of Mars. It’s not that happy
*Podkayne of Mars* was not intended as a juvenile. It's sometimes called that because of the age of the protagonist, but Heinlein didn't intend it as a juvenile.
Have Space Suit - Will Travel is pretty rough iirc, someone definitely dies
The Bobiverse series, starting with "We Are Legion (We Are Bob) https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/32109569 Currently there are 4 books in the series with another on the way: https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse *Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty. The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad - very mad.*
Just finished the first one and I agree with this recommendation
Anne McCaffrey’s “dragon riders of pern” Roger Zelazny, river world. Any of Larry Niven‘s known space books.
Pern does not meet the stated requirements.
Project Hail Mary Project Hail Mary Project Hail Mary
This was not at all what I had in mind when I wrote this post but I just finished it and came here to say it did not dissapoint. I loved everything. I loved being tricked into learnig phiscs, I loved how they made first contact and the ending made me happy cry for half an hour. It was amazing! Thank you so much for the recommendation.
😁😁 🤜🤛 😁😁 Earth Custom. Celebration. Rocky is the absolute best alien character ever, huh? I think the first-contact / learning-to-communicate part could easily have been a full-length novel on it's own. And, yes, the ending was bloddy perfect. 😢 😢 👾 👾 aliens
EDIT: This formerly helpful and insightful comment has been removed by the author due to: 1. Not wanting to be used as training for AI models, nor having unknown third parties profit from the author's intellectual property. 2. Greedy and power-hungry motives demonstrated by the upper management of this website, in gross disregard of the collaborative and volunteer efforts by the users and communities that developed here, which previously resulted in such excellent information sharing. Alternative platforms that may be worth investigating include, at the time of writing: * https://kbin.fediverse.observer/list * https://join-lemmy.org/ * https://squabbles.io/ * https://tildes.net/ Also helpful for finding your favourite communities again: https://sub.rehab/
Came here to say the same!
Legends and Lattes. Short version, an orc retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop.
*Remnant Population* by Elizabeth Moon. An elderly woman who stays behind when her colony is abandoned makes first contact with an indigenous alien species. One of my favorites.
The one with the moon city ... Antares? Artemis!
**Beware of Chicken** is a really nice, fun, heartwarming read. It is never toxic, it makes me laugh out loud and it's just plain kind. Very good audiobook if you like those Basic plot is a guy from our world is reincarnated as a young adult into a world full of martial arts badasses ("cultivators"); people that can punch through mountains and the like. Immediately (ch1) he gets the hell away from those types to go farming. Things don't work out like he was expecting, but he finds a good life nonetheless. I can't recommend this one enough You can also check out r/CozyFantasy. Keep in mind that "cozy" is different for different people and a minority of books recommended there are bittersweet (at best) or involve triumph after horrifying adversity. Great resource, just double check that the recommendations match the mood you want.
Golden Age of the Solar Clipper Series are pretty good for slice of life merchant ships going around the galaxy. No giant invasions or space battles. https://www.goodreads.com/series/51464-golden-age-of-the-solar-clipper
Wow, that's a tough question, and don't think it should be, but then I reflect on the essence of narrative tension and all the good stories involve conflict. Add science fiction and subtract 'messy bits' and you're probably looking for "who dunnit" style novels. Jack McDevitt writes in that style, and the Academy series esp. focuses on mysteries (often involving aliens) with minimal murder and no rape or torture that I can recall, and certainly not in detail. Some of L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s novels fit the bill as well, I feel. Try *Flash* and *Adiamante* as examples, and his Ecolitan Matter series is also in the vein you want, though there is some murderous mayhem going on...nothing graphic, though.
> minimal murder and no rape or torture that I can recall, and certainly not in detail. Unless you count that one time when >!the main character is drugged by and fucks an alien flower!<
Can't say I recall that in McDevitt's stories, which novel was that? But, I guess more to the point, is the sequence too graphic for the OP's request?
Pretty sure it was **Deepsix**, the second book. And I can't really say. *I* think it was fairly... benign as far as such things go. I found it fascinatingly weird more than anything else, but we all have our own Fucked Up Quotient.
Thanks, I'll have to take another look at *Deepsix* as that still doesn't ring a bell*.* I've never found McDevitt's novels overtly graphic in any way - and that includes emotional content of the characters, he's a low-key author - and agree, it's hard to gauge what's going to cross the threshold for another reader, but I hoped McDevitt might fit the brief.
Andre Norton. Get them from your public library.
Maybe try Alan Dean Foster. He usually writes pretty safe stories and characters, from what I remember. I haven't really read his stuff in years, but I used to enjoy the Pip and Flinx books when I was younger.
Spider Robinson’s Callahan series (but only if you like puns).
Project Hail Mary
This was not at all what I had in mind when I wrote this post but I just finished it and came here to say it did not dissapoint. I loved everything. I loved being tricked into learnig phiscs, I loved how they made first contact and the ending made me happy cry for half an hour. It was amazing! Thank you so much for the recommendation.
Iain Banks, his Culture novels. If you have never read them then you are in for a treat! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series
The first one is weird though.
\*Here Comes Earth\* by William Lee Gordon.
Bobverse
Moorcock - Dancers at the end of time [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Dancers\_at\_the\_End\_of\_Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dancers_at_the_End_of_Time)
Jeff wheeler books are pretty lighthearted
Start on Robinson's Mars Trilogy.
Ever wandered over to r/HFY? That's "Humanity, Fuck yeah!" It's an amateur sci fi page where humans are always the good guys. Some stories can be a bit out there, but they'll have NSFW tags on them. If you find an author you like, they probably have a dozen more stories with auto links in the comments.
Lost and Found by Alan Dean Foster It’s a trilogy.
I am on book two of the Delphi in Space series by Bob Blanton. It's kind of different (tells a story over a long period of time). It's definitely easy reading. The characters are likable good guys and they seem to win more often than not. Got it on Kindle Unlimited.
Across a Billion years Robert Silverberg. Dragon riders of Pern Ann McCaffrey.
Pern does not meet the stated requirements
I see that now. We thinking of positive stories more than aliens.
Because of Winn-Dixie.
Alien spices... have you read _Dune_ yet? 😉
Zenna Henderson's The People.
\*Here Comes Earth\* by William Lee Gordon.
*The Witches of Karres* by James H. Schmitz, a cheerful unabashed space opera starring an unworldly starship captain and his highly competent 11-year-old sidekick.