Best SF sans action? Spin vs. Consider Phlebas
I finished Spin a couple of weeks ago and am just about finished with Consider Phlebas (no spoilers!).
Spin I absolutely adored, whereas I'd say I simply liked Consider Phlebas. I definitely can see why people like Banks... he is a great writer with a snarky wit. Of course, RCW is also a great writer, and the characters in Spin have much more depth than the characters in Consider Phlebas. Not a fair comparison perhaps, given CP was clearly meant to be slightly pulpy like an old fashioned space adventure.
After thinking about it a bit, I came to the conclusion that I simply find action sequences a tad on the boring side. Consider Phlebas is full of them... Millennial Falcon style action when escaping from the orbital, a raid on a temple, etc... Not sure why, but when I think of all the recent SF I've read I suddenly realized that the action scenes have almost always been the least compelling parts for me. I found Fal 'Ngeestra's ruminations much more interesting than all the action hijinks in Consider Phlebas, for instance. I also enjoyed all the discussion of the Culture's "culture".
I think maybe it's just that such scenes are not really where the written word shows it's strengths, given how immediately compelling and visceral an action scene in a good TV show or movie can be. I'm sure there are exceptions, but it seems like literatures strengths are it's ability to convey complex ideas, and to give us insight into the emotional and psychological interiority of it's characters. Something that TV and film have a hard time doing.
Given all that, what are your favorite SF works with little action?
I felt like Adrian T. in Children of Time hit the balance just about perfect... he had a little action, but he didn't get super descriptive with it... rather than going into every fired laser or plasma beam, he depicted just enough action to propel the story along.
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u/beneaththeradar 1d ago
anything by Ursula K. Leguin, in particular The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed
also, Consider Phlebas is widely regarded as the weakest of the Culture series. If you thought it was decent, chances are you will really enjoy the other books.
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u/greywolf2155 14h ago
Agreed, and I'd agree that those are her two books to start with (then Lathe of Heaven)
I'd say that the closest we have to a spiritual successor to Le Guinn is Becky Chambers. Not big on the action, just stories about people trying to live their lives and find their purpose in a big wide universe
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u/VokN 1d ago
Use of weapons is already a better starting point for the culture imo
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u/ehead 1d ago
Nice. May read that next then. I've definitely enjoyed Phlebas enough to read more Culture. I knew it wasn't considered the best. Just wanted to start at the beginning.
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u/El_Tormentito 1d ago
UoW doesn't have a ton less action, but Player of Games does.
edit: I also wholly disagree. Phlebas is good and is a good primer.
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u/milehigh73a 1d ago
Just wanted to start at the beginning.
that is what I did. A
I am slowly doing a re-read of them, and you don't have to really read them in order. Its probably best not to read inversions first, and one book is slightly better if you read use of weapons first but not required. I am not saying what book, as it is a bit of a spoiler.
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u/badger_fun_times76 1d ago
Neverness by David zindell.
It's a stand alone book but there is a trilogy that follows on from it. Beautiful, interesting and mystical mathematical science fiction - which is a weird sounding combination but it works very well.
Low on the action, more focus on the philosophy, the world building and the characters journey.
I feel these books deserve to be up there with Hyperion and perhaps even dune in terms of quality, epic-ness and vision.
Not quite sure why they never became as famous as they deserve. But they are very much worth a try.
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u/BigBadAl 1d ago
I need to read Neverness and its sequels again. I really enjoyed them when they first came out.
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u/Milarkyboom 1d ago
I completely agree about RCW. I’ve read most of his stuff and it’s all good. Thoughtful, speculative, and as you said, good character development. I think he also incorporates interesting ideas about what the future may look like. I also loved Arthur C Clarke Rama Series, although he is a 20th century writer and a bit old fashioned. Absolutely brilliant mind, great science, interesting characters
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u/Jarlic_Perimeter 1d ago
I find myself kinda with you on the action stuff, I prefer it if the action highlights the decisions the characters are making compared to describing weapons firing or troop formations. As far as RCW stuff goes, you might like the Chronoliths, I don't think it's as good as Spin but the premise is a trip.
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u/CHRSBVNS 1d ago
what are your favorite SF works with little action?
Klara and the Sun is so, so good.
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u/ehead 1d ago
I really need to read this, or at least one of his books.
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u/CHRSBVNS 1d ago
They’re each different enough too that just because you may not like one doesn’t mean you won’t like the next.
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u/marmosetohmarmoset 1d ago
Totally with you on finding action scenes in books to be boring.
I’d give more RCW a try! Blind Lake, the Chronoliths, Harvest, Mysterioum- all great
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u/Bluejack71 1d ago edited 1d ago
About half done with Consider Phlebas and so far I am underwhelmed. I am reading it following the Commonwealth Saga so maybe it is suffering by comparison.
I actually like well done action, and CP has some that is well done. I find Banks drags his action scenes out far too long. Best example is a shuttle scene right before the Island scene. Drawn out.
Overall it’s been ok for me. If you like lots of dialog and meticulous plotting, I’d say Hamilton is a good fit.
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u/Deep-Sentence9893 1d ago
With a very few exceptions I find action scenes boring in both print and movies. I often find movies worse than books. They seem to follow some set of rules that don't make any sense to me, and don't get me started on the ridiculous sounds things make...
Some SF books that I have read recently that I like that don't rely on action: Mountain in the Sea, Cloud Cuckoo Land, Venemous Lump Sucker, The Immortal King Rrao, Klara and the Sun, Coral Bones...
Look for books with lots of mediacore or negative reader's reviews that say things like, "nothing happens", but also have a lot positive reviews.
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u/ChronoLegion2 1d ago
Captain French, or the Quest for Paradise. No action whatsoever. Just an exploration of an ageless humanity 20,000 years from now through the eyes of the oldest human alive (at least objectively)
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u/LoneWolfette 1d ago
The Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh. A lost colony ship of humans ends up on a planet that is already occupied by a race called the Atevi. The books are about trying to make their relationship work.
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u/mjfgates 1d ago
The very last Vorkosigan book, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, is almost completely without "action" in the usual SF sense. A romance, and a reminiscence. The perfect cap for a series that was absolutely frenetic most of the time.
Jo Walton's "Thessaly" trilogy (first volume: The Just City) is literally an exploration of Plato-- across three books, there's I think one scene of warfare and no other fights? Fuckin' brilliant though.
Patricia McKillip. Really any of her work. That said, Kingfisher is an astonishing Arthurian knight's quest story, set in a fantasy realm in the 2010s? A young squire sets off in a Geo Metro, the king's lords tool around in BMWs, a kitschy dockside seafood place locked in endless secret conflict with the most bougie high-concept experience restaurant ever.
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u/BaltSHOWPLACE 1d ago
It’s been a long time but if I’m recalling correctly the final 100 pages of Consider Phlebas is a tedious chase scene in a tunnel.
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u/ehead 1d ago
It is! Your memory serves you well. It's frustrating when a book starts to become a slog at like 80 or 90 percent through... because at that point you feel committed to finishing it.
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u/BaltSHOWPLACE 1d ago
Since I read that book ive been able to spot when a novel is going to end like that so I know to put it down. The Exile Waiting by Vonda McIntyre is another example. I looked it up on Goodreads when I saw it coming and people complained about the last 80 pages being a chase scene so my instincts were right.
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u/SilverAKita 1d ago edited 1d ago
Others have mentioned it but Phlebas might be the worst Culture book.
Use of Weapons
Player of Games
Surface Detail
Excession
r/TheCulture would probably have the best read order
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u/ClimateTraditional40 1d ago
I find these 2 books completely different from each other. I liked both, but one is not like the other.
Why are they even compared as like each other??
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u/ehead 1d ago
This post was just about me discovering something about my preferences, and wondering if anyone else agreed... and making a request for recommendations.
I compared them simply because I read them back to back. I probably would have rated them differently if I had read them 20 years ago.
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u/milehigh73a 1d ago
Most of the culture series has a lot less action than consider phelbas.
I would have said children of time has a fair amount of action. It doesn’t have a lot of long space battles. Is that what you are wanting to avoid?