More Philosophical Science Fiction You Need to Read

Philosophical science fiction is my favorite subgenre of science fiction. I love the way that science fiction writers can explore philosophy in many different ways. Today’s video touches on consciousness, AI, memory, personal identity, and more.

Beginning 00:00
Children of Time 00:40
Snow Crash 4:13
Hyperion 6:56
A Memory Called Empire 10:31
Ancillary Justice 13:08

Previous videos on the subject:

Enjoy!

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[TheAmericanClassicist]

Ted Chiang's short story, "The Story of Your Life, " is a great dive into the practical question of "how would humanity communicate with aliens?" While also experimenting with the idea of how language affects thought or even perception of things, such as time. I love that short story. The movie, "Arrival, " is a film adaptation based on the story. While it is very good, the short story does a better job exploring the types of language use that may not be so common to western civilization and really gets at the impact of language in reference to perception. The movie does a better job illustrating the potential struggles of contacting an alien life-form. Highly recommend.

[insert_moniker]

For anyone interested in reading Snow Crash, I recommend the Audible version of the book. The narrator does an excellent job portraying the different characters and the way it was edited makes it feel like an old radio broadcast. Also, linguistics plays a huge role in this book, so if language theory interests you then it is a definite read.

[CainOnGames]

I love reading science fiction, but you have insights and call out relationships to other books in a deeper way than I tend to, and I appreciate those points you make. Plus I’ve only r ead 4 of the 5 books you discuss, so now A Memory Called Empire is in my list. Thanks!

[blsks]

Read Endymion. There is a scene in an ice cave that is the most moving and beautiful things I've ever read. Absolute brilliance.

[NicJ]

Hi Jared, just wanted to say I'm so glad I found your channel - keep it up

[amydebuitleir]

Another philosophical science fiction book I'd recommend is A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, as well as the rest of her Monk and Robot series. On the surface, it's a delightful sweet story... but there's a lot of complexity just below the surface. It will make you think about what it means to be a "person", what brings meaning to life, what we owe each other, how we make up for injustices committed by past generations, and more.

[jeremyd]

I am glad I found your channel. We have similar interests in literature and I really enjoy your comments, reviews, and suggestions. Thank you, sir.

[martinbrisebois]

Hi Jared!

As a fan of Hyperion Cantos, I would recommend that you forget about the two following books, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion. They are not bad, they explore the theme of people living in a reversed flow of time but in fact, there's a generic space opera aura around those books. Instead, look up Illium and Olympos, also by Dan Simmons. Just as Hyperion, there are unconnected stories that eventually converge together. The ideas explored are even wilder than those touched upon in Hyperion. There is a strong presence of Greek mythology, so much that I rushed to read the Iliad and the Odysseus in between the two books.

[Witty_Jackson]

I would definitely recommend the Endymion books. They are splendid. They are slightly slower paced than Hyperion, but they are fantastic and well worth a read.

[pattyfalls]

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and A Prayer for the Crown Shy, both by Becky Chambers, are wonderful!

[alixbarks]

Uplift Series by David Brin
Earth! by David Brin, especially for a musing on Gaia. Almost coming real today.

[howloudcansilenceget]

I loove your philosophical sci-fi recommendation videos ❤ I dont when I will have the time to read them all but they are on my tbr list

[Yuumiiiiiiiii]

Awesome video! I was always loved this part of scifi that explored interesting philosophical ideas and accidentally found your video perfectly aligning with it.
Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge!

[everrit]

You are going to love the book 2 & 3 of Adrian Tchaikovsky. Yes for Snow Crash.

[zuzanamadaras]

I don't know if it was mentioned already in the previous video, but "Silently and very fast" by Catherine M. Valente is one of the most beautiful explorations into how AI develops/learns/grows. It's not your typical scifi, but I have never before seen AI/robots described in such a way (a deep dive into how consciousness begins, what would be the psychology of an AI, how it would communicate and develop naturally if it didn't need to copy human examples etc.)

[LaughingStockfarm]

Really appreciate your choices and the fact the you are not about the cult of the new, but bringing forth some older works. I’d love to see you visit LeGuin’s catalogue from a philosophical view point.

[bartsbookspace]

Viewing the accelerated evolutionary progress of spiders -and their civilization- through their eyes (and legs) in Children of Time, was fascinating. Tchaikovsky does a great job of effortlessly dropping us into the body and mind of an animal that we have little in common with, forces us to suspend our preconceived notions and find comfort. This sparked many thoughts and emotions in me including how I touched I was by the plight of males in the arachnid society. Great book, as are all books mentioned in this video. Hyperion!

[zarleewoodland]

My goodness, I had no idea someone would make a video that I needed so badly. You are awesome, thank you.

[shwetasinghnm]

Loved the spider species in Children of time series.

[FITBREAD]

Love seeing the scifi content. Can I add to your radar:
Solaris/Lem
Diaspora/Egan (ai not in a human body..existing as data on a hardrive.. hard to beat)
The Thing Itself/Adam Roberts (Kant's transcendental realism + SETI)...
Also love children of time and snow crash etc.
I felt Ancillary Justice, while not as great as Left Hand of Darkness, accomplished more in a philosophical approach to gender and language than Left Hand did...