Vernor Vinge is good for software engineering in sci-fi. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga books are my standard recommendation for hardish sci-fi, but the role of computers in them feels very dated.
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Vinge does seem very very much the person to check out.
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Yeah if you're interested in software engineering in sci-fi, Vinge is basically a must read. It's fairly rare to see it done well, and he's by far the most prominent example of it.
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Shall I read "Deepness in the sky" as a first port of call?
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That's my favourite of his, so I'd say yes. :-) "A fire upon the deep" was written first and deepness is technically a prequel, but deepness then fire is the reading order I did. "The Peace War" is also worth reading though.
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Great advice. I'm going to heed this. Very excited!
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Enjoy!
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Thank you!
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I haven’t read it personally, but my wife really really liked the three body problem. Hard sci fi translated from Chinese. I think it’s about aliens though?
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I think aliens can still be hard sci-fi! Oh, you mean, not SE!

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Yes! I think it’s hard sci fi from a physics standpoint? It’s on my to-read bookshelf. It’s also a trilogy!
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I'll check it out!
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I've read it too and really enjoyed it, so seconding the rec.
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OK, I'm certainly going to check it out!
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What have you enjoyed recently? Not SE per se but some stuff I like with sort of softwareish aspects: Reamde, Neal Stephenson; Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi; Rainbow's End, Vernor Vinge. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's suggestions.
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I haven't read sci-fi in years!

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Ooh, you're in for a treat then! Some good stuff published in the last few years. Hugo Award winners/nominees list has a nice diverse range of (mostly) good reads. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel …
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Any one(s) stand out?

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So hard, I'm crap at choosing favourites! I really liked Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice plus sequels, Neal Stephenson's Seveneves and Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet/A Closed and Common Orbit.
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On my imaginary but real list now!
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FWIW seveneves is not escapist reading. but if you haven't read Stevenson yet (or recently), you are definitely in for a treat :)
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You mean because it's too upsetting?
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