epic space exploration novel

**Vooloc** · October 18th, 2012, 01:41 AM

currently i am reading Pandoras Star, loving it.
always been a huge sci fi fan but mostly movies and tv but always read fantasy novels, just wanted a change.
ive been loving Pandoras Star but the thing i wanted more in it was mysterious space voyage exploration.
let me explain.
as the ship was heading to the dyson stars i was getting excited about what they would discover, and then it was all over way too quick. no sooner had the got there than they were heading home. and then the second time they go there its even faster.
i want a novel where some ship or ships head off to explore and discover unexpected things, races, wars.
basically a voyage into the mysterious or unknown, and epic.
good modern writing also.
names and very brief synopsis?

**ian_sales** · October 18th, 2012, 02:19 AM

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushing_Ice

**Vooloc** · October 18th, 2012, 04:35 AM

thanks man, will give that a look. been looking into his novels. is it a standalone?

**ian_sales** · October 18th, 2012, 04:46 AM

Yes, it is standalone. Also worth trying is the Orphans trilogy by Sean Williams and Shane Dix: Echoes of Earth (2002), Orphans of Earth (2003) and Heirs of Earth (2004) - if you've not already read them, seeing as the authors are local for you :-)

**Vooloc** · October 18th, 2012, 04:35 PM

after every single fantasy series being a trilogy [cant anyone write a story within 1 book now??] a standalone will be awesome, might stick with them for a little while too. might check out some more Peter Hamilton standalones too.
i guess id better give Misspent Youth a read too and whats Fallen Dragon like?
a couple years back i read The Reality Dysfunction and started The Neutronium Alchemist but just really really didnt like that the enemy ended up being the dead. so glad i started Pandoras Star, just clicked with the writing style straight away.

**poser765** · October 18th, 2012, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by Vooloc

after every single fantasy series being a trilogy [cant anyone write a story within 1 book now??] a standalone will be awesome, might stick with them for a little while too. might check out some more Peter Hamilton standalones too.
i guess id better give Misspent Youth a read too and whats Fallen Dragon like?
a couple years back i read The Reality Dysfunction and started The Neutronium Alchemist but just really really didnt like that the enemy ended up being the dead. so glad i started Pandoras Star, just clicked with the writing style straight away.

Fallen dragon was ok. I was neither blown away nor let down. The military aspects of it were pretty neat, but I felt it ended with a lot still up in the air.

**Danogzilla** · October 18th, 2012, 11:03 PM

I agree totally with Ian. It sounds like Pushing Ice is exactly what you are looking for.

**Vooloc** · October 19th, 2012, 12:21 AM

excellent. guess ive got my next book after Judas Unchained. man he writes thick books!
also, is the Void trilogy set in the Commonwealth universe as well?

**Pennarin** · October 19th, 2012, 01:28 AM

On the contrary, I found Fallen Dragon so-so but for the youth part, the kid's rebellion, his misspent adulthood, and finally how he fixes it. As a lifelong bullied kid I internalized the character's early life and felt home. The novel is the only Peter Hamilton I've read to date, and I was not let down. Looking forward to Pandora's Star.

Revelation Space I found delivered on all the goods, from menacing space battles, insane weapons, complex characters, exotic physics and hard science. One of my favourites from Alastair Reynolds.

Greg Bears' Anvil of Stars (in this case there's no need of the prequel, as it is only loosely tied) has a flair for severely ficticious hard science of the most delectable kind, and one of the most epic-scale space battle scene you can find.

**krisbslick** · October 19th, 2012, 07:29 AM

Originally Posted by Vooloc

i guess id better give Misspent Youth a read too and whats Fallen Dragon like?
a couple years back i read The Reality Dysfunction and started The Neutronium Alchemist but just really really didnt like that the enemy ended up being the dead. so glad i started Pandoras Star, just clicked with the writing style straight away.

I read most of Hamilton's books and loved all but one - Misspent Youth. I thought it was the weakest by a long shot (it almost felt like it was a different author). Personally, I would not recommend this book to a friend (or anyone for that matter). It's just not on par with his usual epic-ness. Maybe I was going in expecting too much since I read this after the commonwealth saga, the void trilogy, and Night's Dawn - I don't know. Fallen Dragon was very good too and that is a standalone.

Oh, and yes, the Void Trilogy is set in the commonwealth Universe too, just like 1,000 years later or something.

**poser765** · October 19th, 2012, 12:05 PM

The Void Trilogy is sort of on a different level than the Commonwealth books. Yes they are sequels, but there really isn't that much of a connection. They share some of the same characters but that's about it.

I hate to be a downer yet again but I finished the void trilogy and felt less than satisfied. Again it's not that they were bad...just not what I was hoping for. I found the chapters of Inigo's Dreams to be way to prevalent and drawn out.

**poser765** · October 19th, 2012, 12:35 PM

The Void Trilogy is sort of on a different level than the Commonwealth books. Yes they are sequels, but there really isn't that much of a connection. They share some of the same characters but that's about it.

I hate to be a downer yet again but I finished the void trilogy and felt less than satisfied. Again it's not that they were bad...just not what I was hoping for. I found the chapters of Inigo's Dreams to be way to prevalent and drawn out.

**Hitmouse** · October 19th, 2012, 04:43 PM

There's a quite a few novels that fit your brief, to varying degrees. This is a major SF trope e.g. Star Trek, Forbidden Planet Alien.

Time is the Simplest Thing Clifford Simak

Voyage of the Space Beagle AE van Vogt

Various of the books by Jack McDevitt are about exploration of alien artefacts etc: Try Engines of God or A Talent for War for starters.

Consider Phlebas inter alia Iain M. Banks . Banks is great at awesome alienness.

Have Spacesuit Will Travel; Time for the Stars; A Hole in the Sky; Starman Jones Robert Heinlein.

Ringworld Larry Niven. Also his short stories featuring Beowulf Shaeffer.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams

Could go on. Owlcroft probably will.

**ian_sales** · October 20th, 2012, 02:45 AM

It's a shame most of those suggestions ignore the OP's request for "modern writing". McDevitt fits, though IIRC there are no actual aliens in his books, just the ruins they left behind. Banks is pure new space opera, and very good, but not so much "mysterious space voyage exploration".

Some more examples that come to mind are Bob Shaw's Orbitsville books (a Dyson Sphere) - Orbitsville, Orbitsville Departure and Orbitsville Judgement. Stephen Baxter's The Time Ships also features a Dyson Sphere. And Eric Brown's Helix and Helix Wars (published this month) feature a unique cosmic structure.

**Steven L Jordan** · October 22nd, 2012, 10:52 AM

True, Ian, McDevitt's works are mostly devoid of aliens--but Chindi and Cauldron do have alien encounters, and Polaris, I believe, includes aliens that live (uncomfortably) amongst humans. I'd also recommend most of McDevitt's catalog for exploration and discovery stories.