I’m sure it’s been asked before, but I can’t find it anywhere. So…
Suggested literature for Uncharted Worlds?
Longer version: I’m going on holiday for three weeks. I want to read one or two good sci-fi books with an UW vibe — the original game, not FBH. So, far future and FTL travel, but no aliens, magic, or weird warp things. But lots of exploration, political conflict between factions, and the unsuitability of human anatomy for vacuum.
Community, knock me out!
Asimov’s Foundation, Foundation & Empire, and Second Foundation are extremely good models of basic UW. The first book is a little sparse, but the other two are solid. I don’t know about the other books in the Foundation series, but I’ve heard they’re not as good. These three, though, give very cool insight into colony crises, negotiating with warlords, what the interference of technologically advanced traders would look like, stellar conspiracies and mysteries, psychic tyrants, and so on.
Bonus, these books all read very fast so you could probably knock them all out on your trip and still have time.
Revelation Space is also very good. It does go a little beyond UW’s defaults, in that it is full of transhumans, but it simultaneously embraces slower-than-light travel and weirdo super-science and that mixture is very exciting. It’s got some very pulpy characters, which is great for UW: a xenoarchaeologist who has made enemies of a political minority faction, a crewman on a slower-than-light ship dealing with a technophage killing the heavily-cyberized captain, and so on.
The Expanse books, starting with Leviathan’s Wake.
Jay Posey’s Outriders series of solar system spec ops adventure.
I am quite a fan of the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, and always willing to recommend it 🙂 I find it quite a good match for the core UW book (very playable even without the FBH expansion). It’s a good mix of politics, action and intrigue. Raises some interesting topics in regards to how technology introduces moral dilemmas (cloning, etc). Also, seeing how every single move by Miles Vorkosigan turns up as a “success at a cost” snowballing spiral, it just makes a good match for PbtA. It’s just a fun read.
Some partial matches:
Old Man’s War series by John Scalzi. No magic, but some of the tech better fits FBH and yes there are aliens.
The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey. Really excellent for the “realistic living in space” bits, although it’s got a fair share of FBH stuff too. Probably the best I’ve read for combining swashbuckling adventure with the unique aspects of zero-G and vacuum.
Black Ocean series by J.S. Morin. It’s got a bit of magic too (literally, that’s how FTL works) but it really captures the spirit of “crew on crazy space adventures” perfectly. Sort of like Firefly but with an old Harry Dresden on board.
Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’ve personally only read “The Warrior’s Apprentice” but that one seems like a pretty ideal fit for your criteria. And if you like it, there are apparently plenty more. 🙂
Dumarest books by E.C.Tubb
To me The Vatta’s Wars books by Elizabeth Moon (Trading in Danger, Marque and Reprisal, etc) give me a lot of Inspiration for Uncharted Worlds.
The expanse and Dark Matter as well
CJ Cherryh’s Chanur series.
Let’s get back to the roots of UW! — Sean writes that he was inspired in large part by the Traveller RPG. Traveller was itself inspired by SF of the 40s through 60s — this was a time when stories about interstellar trade were popular. The ones I most highly recommend are:
– The Foundation
– Andre Norton’s Solar Queen series (about a free trader plying the fringe of the civilized galaxy)
– Heinlein’s Starman Jones and Citizen of the Galaxy.
I have not read the books sadly but I have seen the show thats based on it.
The Expanse novels by Daniel Abraham seems to be really great.
Earth and Mars in a cold war, the belters working class being used by both turning to unrest, and a fourth unknown party looking to start a war between them all.
Thanks everybody for answering! Asimov is my favourite author, but I’ve read it all, and the Expanse is my fav TV series (but it’s not too space opera).
The Vorkosigan saga keeps popping up in all my searches, so I’m definitely gonna read it at some point. In the meantime, I decided to go for Andre Norton’s “Sargasso of Space”, which definitely has the right vibe and setting (Though, man, this book really shows its age!).