Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's Islands of Space in the November issue of Astounding Science Fiction. The complementary term soft science fiction, formed by analogy to the popular distinction between the "hard" and "soft" sciences, first appeared in the late 1970s.
I have devoured lots of "Hard SF" books, with the following authors in particular amongst my reading list.
Arthur C. Clarke
Philip K. Dick
Michael Crichton
Cixin Liu
Andy Weir
James S.A. Corey
Vernor Vinge
Orson Scott Card
Greg Bear
I recently added 2 more authors to that category, namely Brandon Q Morris and Gerald M Kilby and have read the following books over the last few months.
Brandon Q Morris
Brandon Q. Morris (Matthias Matting's pen name) is a physicist and space specialist. He has long been concerned with space issues, both professionally and privately and while he wanted to become an astronaut, he had to stay on Earth for a variety of reasons. He is particularly fascinated by the "what if” and through his books he aims to share compelling hard science fiction stories that could actually happen, and someday may happen.
Black Monolith Books
The Luna Monolith (2025)
The Luna Monolith 2 (2025)
The Luna Monolith 3 (2025)
These 3 books were all written this year and were quickly added to Everand, to which I subscribe. The premise:
An artifact that was never meant to be found.
Robots are building a colossal telescope on the far side of the moon, with just two people supervising its completion. After a minor incident, these scientists become aware of an obstacle in the lunar soil. It's located outside the area reserved for the hypertelescope and is therefore none of their business.
But their curiosity gets the better of them. The artifact seems to have properties that completely defy physics as they know it. As they investigate, they inadvertently plunge themselves, then the entire solar system, into a terrible, unavoidable whirlwind of events.
Will they manage to make the mysterious black monolith harmless before we all run out of time?
The 3 books develop the main players nicely, something that is not necessarily the case in such books. And, like all of his books, they end with a final appendix chapter which gives more of the latest scientific information relevant to that particular book.
I've seen a few bad reviews on Goodreads but plenty of good ones, and I would give the series 3.5 stars. Not startling but reasonably good.
Solar System Books
The books do not form a single chronological narrative; rather, each book is a self-contained story set in the future, featuring a different astronomical event or location. There are 9 in total and I have read 6 (see below) The books are set at various points in the future, with the earliest stories beginning around 2026 and continuing into the future for subsequent titles. For example, "Hole" (2019) begins its plot in 2026, while "The Uranus Fiasco" (2023) is set in a different future timeline. Here's the overall chronological breakdown:
The Dark Spring: Set in 2026
The Beacon: Set in 2026
The Hole: Set in 2072
Silent Sun: Set in 2074
The Rift: The main action takes place around 2079
The Triton Disaster: Set around 2079
The Clouds of Venus: Set around 2079
The Pluto Debacle: The specific year is not available in the snippets, but it is later than the previous books in the series
The Uranus Fiasco: The specific year is not available in the snippets, but it is the latest in the series so far.
I have read the following six
The Hole (2019)
Silent Sun (2019)
The Rift (2019)
The Clouds of Venus (2020)
The Dark Spring (2020)
The Beacon (2021)
Alas, I read them in publication order, which was a bit disjointed. I recommend you read in timeline order.
As Morris has so far written well over 20 books and is still churning them out, there is lots more to read....
You can actually pick up audiobook versions very cheaply. Check this out: https://motionaudiobooks.com/products/1597?srsltid=AfmBOooyRuI3u7Vth2SGewQKE_S0n3jcoK8UJXV72ObR4IFh-sMdxjXx
Gerald M Kilby
Gerald M Kilby lives in Dublin, Ireland, in the exact same neighborhood as Bram Stoker. He can sometimes be seen, just tapping away on a tiny laptop in the local cafe, with Loki, his dog. “The Belt” and “Colony Mars” are both best sellers, having topped Amazon charts for Space Exploration and Hard Science Fiction.
Colony Mars Books
This is actually a 7 book series, the final 2 being short stories: Gismo Origin (2020) and Winds of Mars (2021). I have not read these final 2.
Colony One Mars (2016)
Colony Two Mars (2016)
Colony Three Mars
Colony Four Mars: Jezero City (2017)
Colony Five Mars: Surface Tension (2019)
Mars Colony 6: Plains of Utopia (2020)
“Colony One Mars” is the first novel in the “Colony Mars” series and was released in the year 2016. Here's the premise:
All contact is lost with the very first human colony on Mars during a destructive and lengthy sandstorm. Satellite imagery from the aftermath shows some extensive damage to the facility. All fifty-four of the colonists living there are presumed dead.
Three years later, and a new mission sets down on the planet’s surface to investigate what is left of the derelict site. It isn’t too long before they realize that the colony isn’t nearly as lifeless as people believed. Somebody is still alive, and hiding out somewhere.
However, before they are able to find the elusive colonist, there is an odd illness that begins affecting the crew. Pressure mounts on Dr. Jann Malbec, a biologist, to find the source and figure out a way to battle it. While she investigates she starts to suspect a lethal and dark secret that lurks within this colony. A secret that threatens not only the crew but the whole population of Earth.
With just limited resources and little time, she has to find some answers and quick. If she doesn’t, no one is going back home.
The novels are all well written novel, with enough mystery, intrigue, and action and just enough technical description to make them believable. And they introduce one of my favourite space characters of all time - the AI robot Gizmo. He keeps popping up and saving the show, book after book.
The Belt Books
Entanglement (2018)
Entropy (2018)
Evolution (2018)
Enigma (2020)
Exodus (2021)
Emergence (2022)
Here's the starting point for the Series:
Out in the asteroid belt, you’re never far from a rock and a hard place. Commander Scott McNabb and the crew of the science vessel, Hermes, are three years into a five-year-long survey of the asteroid belt when they discover a derelict spaceship in orbit around a binary asteroid. The ship contains an experimental quantum device, lost while en route to a research colony on Europa. However, once word of the crew’s discovery gets out, they soon realize that ownership of this technology could fundamentally change the balance of power within the colonized worlds, and they now find themselves at the very nexus of a system-wide conflict. Their fight for survival plays out across the solar system, from the mining outposts of the asteroid belt to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and from the great Martian city of Jezero to an irradiated wasteland on Earth. This is an epic tale of humanity’s battle for power and control in a time when artificial intelligence has almost out-paced our own ability to control it.
Apart from the crew of the Hermes, the other main players on the goodies sides are a small number of immensely powerful Quantum AIs. Talk about creative writing.
I give this series 4.5 stars out of 5.
