I was recently recommended the sci-fi space opera "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge. That was an absolute blast to read. If you're into computer science, you'll really dig it.
No problem. I've been a sci fi reader my entire life and was shocked I hadnt stumbled across Vinge earlier. The sequel/prequel to Fire Upon the Deep, called A Deepness in the Sky, is arguably even better and the same idea of tech/code being used and customized far after its written is even more central to the plot.
Two of my favorite reads of the last few years, so I highly recommend them.
A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge. It's all about the nature of computation vs thought, usenet, and truly evocative aliens. Not much actual code though.
Seconding "A Fire Upon the Deep": a fast-paced, high-stakes action adventure in a zany, 5th Element-esque space opera universe. Explores the idea of strong AI in a unique and interesting way.
Tangential, but I found one of my favorite books on a thread related to this topic, so I thought I would pass on the favor. Vernor Vinge's _A Fire Upon The Deep_ is based on the premise that physics changes throughout the galaxy. The inner "slow" sections have physics that is normal to us, but the outer sections allow faster than light travel and incredible AI.
Fire Upon The Deep and A Deepness in the Sky by Vinge I felt were really interesting from a CS perspective, when thousands of years in the future you have billions of lines of code running ships, etc. that no one exactly knows how it works anymore, code archaeologists, etc.
Vernor Vinge's work is amazing. In the story "A fire upon the deep" he introduces the most amazing concepts, and there's a realistic way that an AI reboots itself after being in cold storage, there's a Usenet communication between civilizations, and the most impressive was an idea that there's regions in the universe where the speed of light is faster and brains work at a higher rate. It's an amazing work. Later he comes up with the prescient "focus factor" in the sequel.
If you haven't read A Fire Upon the Deep I'd recommend reading that first. It's not vital but there are some subtle links between the two that are rather cool (not the shared character, more the shared "physics" and tech).
Vernor Vinge is another great hard sci-fi author. "A Fire Upon the Deep" is a space opera epic if I've ever read one. Currently finishing up "Rainbows End", and wasn't sucked totally in until maybe 1/3 through, but now I'm hooked :)
This gets posted from time to time. I highly recommend Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep. One of my favorite SciFi novels of all time. When I read it (90s), before the www was in wide spread adoption and usenet was king, there are some very funny usenet riffs in the book. Anyone that was alive and aware of early usenet will appreciate it. My favorite Vinge usenet header: Translation-Path.
I also recommend _A Fire Upon the Deep_ which is "space opera" written as intelligently as possible by "someone who should know better." (Vernor's words)
There are similarities but Fire is more of a space opera and Deepness is more of a character drama. The tech details in Fire are more fantastical since they involve superluminal communications/travel and the book centers around the mechanism that makes that possible. I like Fire more because I like the pacing and the xenos better (space operas are fun) but the tech and its implications are far better in Deepness. I like the depiction of computing/programming in both and both have the history of technology as a major theme, which is one of my favorite topics.
A Fire Upon The Deep is one of my favourite sci-fi novels...I thought the idea of high technology (FTL, intelligences living in manufactured substrates, etc) only working in certain parts of the galaxy was pretty unique.
I read it before I knew what the Internet was, so when I first got access to Usenet after reading it, imagine my surprise.
FYI, Children of the Sky (sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep) is planned for October, but I'm sure you probably know :)
Both Hamilton's _Pandora's Star_ and Vinge's _A Fire Upon the Deep_ are "Modern" sci-fi (though, definitely not hard sci-fi) where computing and networking are important to the story. The plot being A Fire Upon the Deep involves travelling to a planet lacking modern technology and the changes that brings.
Agreed about A Fire Upon The Deep, optionally followed by A Deepness In The Sky. Those are classically styled hard science fiction novels with spaceships and aliens. But much more thoughtful than you might expect from a typical spaceships and aliens scifi novel.
If you're looking for something more germane to present concerns, Rainbows End is about a near future where people's interaction with the world is mediated by augmented reality and various forces are fighting over access to information.
And since I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, Marooned In Realtime is also really good.
But if you're looking for a single book, then you won't go wrong with A Fire Upon The Deep.
I'm sure his other books are good, too, but this is the only one I've read. I've never seen anyone else able to extrapolate the consequences of entire races advancing past the Singularity and how mortals manage to get by in such a galaxy (if you're able to accept faster-than-light travel as a premise, but he has a very interesting take on even that). A ton of innovative sci-fi ideas in one novel.
There is a summary with no spoilers at the start of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5jTNUSIR18
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