best sci-fi books set in a future where the human race is colonizing the Solar

S

SebastianoD

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
System? while reading about terraforming I stumbled upon the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson and I've ordered the first book, Red Mars.
I need suggestions about books or series where the Solar System is colonized. Terraformed planets, or not, it does not matter. What I am looking for is a book, or a series, where there is a good scientific background and where the story is not set in a far corner of the universe. It is ok if the series uses things like the warp drive, but I want the story to be set in the Solar System and on Earth as well. Like looking into a distant future. :-)
Thanks! I'll check Robert A. Heinlein's books, for now. I've already read Asimov (I love it), but it's not what I am looking for right now. One day I may read Dune (I have it) but everytime I start to read it, it bores me to death. I will try again, one day.
 
Both Foundation and Dune are outside the Solar System. I would like to recommend Robt. Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".
 
Robert A. Heinlein is still the best author for this. He has many books set in colonizing the Solar System, including Red Planet Mars, Space Cadet (dated in its view of Venus), Podkayne of Mars, Rolling Stones, and many others, all tied together as part of his Future History.
Asimov's early robot stories would fit your criteria, but the Foundation series is set 30,000 years in a future when Earth is nearly forgotten, and barely habitable.
Dune never mentions Earth and sucks big time.
 
The Foundation Series by Issac Asimov is one of the best out there :D
The Dune series is also pretty epic (even the prequels)

The above are far spanning enough to be set in the entire universe, not a single point of it so may not be what your after if you want this solar system only. There still great books though.
 
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1985) wrote young-adult novels with backgrounds on the Moon, Venus, Mars, and the asteroids, particularly Ganymede. Much less was known about the planets and moons back then, so the ones about Venus, especially, would be impossible. However, the stories are interesting, the characters display can-do attitudes, and the science is at least plausible given the defined backgrounds.

They may seem rather naïve by today's standards, since they were written fifty or sixty years ago, but we enjoyed them at the time, and they're still available in libraries and used bookstores. Many of Heinlein's books are still in print.

Here's a sampling:
.. Space Cadet (1948) — Guys attend a military academy in 2075, with a trip to Venus.
.. Red Planet (1949) — Colonists on Mars are stranded by penny-pinching administrators from Earth.
.. Farmer in the Sky (1950) — The teenage hero emigrates to Ganymede with his family, and starts a new life there.
.. Between Planets (1951) — With dual Earth/Venus citizenship, the hero is caught in a revolution.
.. The Rolling Stones (1952) — A family of scientists and engineers takes a trip through the asteroids.
.. The Star Beast (1954) — The hero's strange pet turns out to be an interplanetary ambassador.
.. Double Star (1956) — One of Heinlein's best. An out-of-work actor (the viewpoint character) is dragooned into impersonating an interplanetary leader who has gone missing. Much of the action takes place on Mars.
.. Have Space Suit, Will Travel (1958) — The hero wins a second-hand space suit in a contest, and goes adventuring.
.. Podkayne of Mars (1963) — Heinlein's main character is a teenage girl with a brilliant, bratty younger brother. They get into dire situations on Mars and Venus.

If you can find a copy, Alexei Panshin's "Heinlein in Dimension" (1968) is a very readable critical biography of Heinlein's work up to that date.
 
Back
Top