Hey, thanks for the comment. I totally respect the authors for writing hard sci-fi space opera. It's just that... the bleak hopeless future theme is getting a bit long in the tooth, you know? If I want to feel depressed I can just turn on the daily news.
Incidentally, can anyone recommend some hopeful science fiction? "Schismatrix" is probably my favorite.
Ian M Banks’ “Culture” series can be kind of hopeful in a way, in that the entire existence of the Culture itself is a neat space utopia. The stories themselves aren’t always hopeful in the small, though, but it’s that contrast that makes it so good!
That's one of the themes in "Schismatrix": part of mankind turn their back on technology (blamed for disasters like the melting of the ice caps) and stay on Earth, remaining stagnant for centuries. The remainder, not allowed to go back to Earth, colonize the solar system and evolve into new species.
The humanoids that populate the Culture belong to any number of entirely unrelated species that are capable of interbreeding through deliberate interventions (upgrades, really) that paper over the genetic, proteomic, biochemical, etc. differences.
None of those species are related to Earth's Homo Sapiens, or to any other species belonging to Earth's biosphere (though I think there might have been an allusion or two to panspermia insofar as origin-of-life goes).
So. When I say that Earth isn't part of the Culture, I mean to include anyone who has any Earth ancestors.
OTOH, the Culture has had observers, agents, etc. visit Earth (after being appropriately retrofitted to resemble Earth humans at least anatomically, and optionally biochemically and genetically) on occasion, to determine whether to continue with the policy of nonintervention. In the Culture books published so far, the policy holds.
Constellation Games, The Martian, Too Like the Lightning, Moving Mars, Nexus, Blue Remembered Earth,and The Caryatids are some hopeful SF that's come out recently that I recommend.
For what it's worth, and this is perhaps super light spoilers for the whole series, the "bleak hopeless future" is not a running theme for the series.
The authors have said they approached each book in the style of the characters and story they were telling at that time.
The first book is a noir detective novel (that happens to be set in space and in the future) so I can definitely see how it comes across as bleak..
The next book and beyond are written in different styles.
Thanks for the Schimatrix recommendation! I'd never heard of it, and I looked it up.. Added it to my reading list!
I might recommend The Inverted Frontier series by Linda Nagata to you, that I've only just started... It's pretty good and I think falls under the hopeful sci-fi category (at least so far). :-)
Incidentally, can anyone recommend some hopeful science fiction? "Schismatrix" is probably my favorite.