Sci-Fi novel about lost civilization

[Green Gogol]

Hello! I am currently playing through the Mass Effect trilogy and I really enjoy the idea of humans encountering mysterious alien technology of an ancient lost civilization and using it. I've read some novels with the same idea and was wondering if some of you would have further reading suggestions.

I've really enjoyed Gateway, by Frederick Pohl.

I have read Rendez-Vous with Rama.

Eon and Eternity by Greg Bear.

The idea behind Prometheus was great, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy the movie.

Thanks!

[russjass]

Richard Morgans Takeshi Kovacs trilogy has this as a theme, but it is not the main focus of the books

This is also a theme in Peter F Hamiltons Void trilogy

[red snow]

Richard Morgans Takeshi Kovacs trilogy has this as a theme, but it is not the main focus of the books

This is also a theme in Peter F Hamiltons Void trilogy

Definitely a side theme of the kovacs book.

The stargate shows actually have it as the central concept most of the time.

[banjax451]

While not strictly speaking a "lost alien civilization" (it's complicated), Ken Macleod's Newton's Wake plays with this concept quite a bit. It ostensibly -is- about exploration involving ancient artifacts...it's just that aliens aren't exactly involved in the pure definition of the word. It's complicated, but I really enjoyed it.

I'd second the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy, though only the second novel Broken Angels focuses on this heavily as a major plot point. Altered Carbon (first book) mentions the ancient alien civilization in passing, but doesn't focus too heavily on it and it isn't a significant plot issue. The third novel, Woken Furies has it as more of an issue than the first novel, but not as much as the second.

[Peadar]

Steven Baxter's Xeelee sequence has a few books about that subject. Jack McDevitt is another author who enjoys "alien archeology". There are lots and lots of others, of course.

[banjax451]

Steven Baxter's Xeelee sequence has a few books about that subject. Jack McDevitt is another author who enjoys "alien archeology". There are lots and lots of others, of course.

Completely forgot about McDevitt. That might be the best choice of all. The Alex Benedict books are entirely about this sort of thing, the main character being an antiquities dealer.

[MinDonner]

That's a fairly major theme in Dan Simmons' Hyperion, which is in any case well worth reading in its own right. I'd also recommend:

Matter by Iain M Banks (a lot of his stuff has the relics of ancient civilisations, but I think this one is the most heavily focused on it)

Sea of Ghosts by Alan Campbell - bit more steampunk and fantasy-ish than hard-SF, but is all about the relics from a vanished possibly-alien civilisation - it's the first in a trilogy though and I have no idea when or if the rest will be published.

Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space trilogy is proper space opera with the relics of ancient races, but... the series turns into dogshit towards the end. Probably worth a go anyway.

[Opisthokont]

If I don't misremember, finding and using an alien artifact is the setup for Benford's Galactic Center series, starting with In the Ocean of Night. But please stop reading after the first two or three books, the last few are terrible.

There's also 2001, 2010, 2061, and 3001 by Clarke, of course.

And outside McDevitt's obvious astroarchaeology series, he has also written Ancient Shores which is almost exactly what you're asking for.

[Green Gogol]

Thanks for the suggestions. Already a lot to choose from.

[Ayx]

Man Kzin Wars is full of discovering the long lost alien technology stories. (sometimes with aliens still inside) Baen is about to do a full reissue of all 13 volumes so far.

[Linden Leaf]

James S.A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes might be worth a look. It's similar to Prometheus in a few aspects but is more pulp than pretentious.

[Green Gogol]

Finished playing through mass effect 3. I don,t understand why people are unhappy with the ending. It made perfect sense.

[Leofric]

As mentioned above the Jack McDevitt books are good.

I just finished The January Dancer by Michael Flynn which deals with alien artificats. I haven't read the rest of his books set in the same universe yet, but assume this continues.

Also Doorways in the Sand by Roger Zelazny

or Tommyknockers by Stephen King

Or watch the classic movie Forbidden Planet.

[Captain Sheepf*cker]

Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space trilogy is proper space opera with the relics of ancient races, but... the series turns into dogshit towards the end. Probably worth a go anyway.

This is why I have a hard time mining recommendations from this forum. I thought all the Revelation Space books were phenomenal and to hear it referred to as dogshit has me more than scratching my head. In another thread, on prose, someone said Guy Gavriel Kay's prose is cringe-worthy or some such craziness I know we all have our own opinions but calling work that is far far above par dogshit or cringe-worthy is ridiculous. And yet people here praise The Tales of Ketty Jay, The Demon Cycle, Night Angel and other books I found juvenile at best.

[beniowa]

Min didn't say all the Revelation Space books were dogshit. She said the trilogy turned that way toward the end. Yes, we all have our own opinions, but it's still possible to objectively realize that the plotting fell apart by Absolution Gap and that the story had to be completed by a short story in Galactic North. And she did say it was still worth reading because it certainly is. He can read it and form his own opinion.

Another decent book that hasn't been mentioned is Wheelers by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. It won't blow your socks off or anything, but it's worth a look.

Doesn't Ben Bova have one or two books that fall into this category?

[red snow]

This is why I have a hard time mining recommendations from this forum. I thought all the Revelation Space books were phenomenal and to hear it referred to as dogshit has me more than scratching my head. In another thread, on prose, someone said Guy Gavriel Kay's prose is cringe-worthy or some such craziness I know we all have our own opinions but calling work that is far far above par dogshit or cringe-worthy is ridiculous. And yet people here praise The Tales of Ketty Jay, The Demon Cycle, Night Angel and other books I found juvenile at best.

Well. I'd say the key thing is how many people like or dislike something on the forum. It could be you're on a different wavelength (or they are) which is fine. You're quite happy to disparage several books, so why can't people dislike the ones you like?

Usually people give recs that are specific to the thread in question. The person recommending it may simply be saying it fits regardless of whether they think it is any good. I agree a rec followed by saying it's dogshit isn't much use but if the book fits the request then the requester may still enjoy it regardless (or be wary of it).

Odd how you pick books that haven't been ,mentioned in this thread as ones you find juvenile. I could toss out a bunch of books i don't like that have nothing to do with the thread. Although one of the ketty Jay books does involve a loss civilization so that's relevant, I guess (no idea about the other ones). You could also have said "these books fit but i think they are juvenile at best". That would have at least been informative.

To be honest the forum has a lot of opinions. Your best bet is to check various threads and see which ones fit your tastes, You'll quickly find those who are of a similar mind to yourself and those who seem to hate everything you like (and vice versa). Try a Scott Bakker thread as a quick way of dividing the board. Once you settle in you'll find it a lot more informative :)

[MinDonner]

To clarify: the "ending" of the Revelation Space trilogy was so bad as to (IMO) render the whole thing unreadable a second time around, even though I'd really enjoyed the first two and three quarter books of it. Like finding half a worm in your last bite of apple, you're not gonna remember how good the rest of the apple was. Chasm City, otoh, is still a great read.

(eta: I despised the one Ketty Jay book I read also)

[Captain Sheepf*cker]

I actually had no problem with its ending, though I know others did. I loved Absolution Gap with the Prefect and Redemption Ark being my least favorites. Having the actual "ending" in Galactic North was no biggie to me. I was just disagreeing with the dogshit part. The Dune's after Frank died, I call dogshit. Goodkind is dogshit. And Stanek is dogshit eaten by a dog and regurgitated into dogshit-throwup.

And staying on topic, Ghost, I guess Reynold's Terminal World would fall under the Lost Civilizations line of discourse (though I'm not sure "lost" is truly applicable).

[maarsen]

Ray Bradbury and the Martian Chronicles, Isaac Asimov with Pebble in the Sky, and I have another one I just cannot put a name to yet. Getting old and the memory is not what it used to be.

[maarsen]

BTW, I like Alastair Reynolds. Found it a bit hard going at the start for Revelation Space but I hung in and found it quite enjoyable. Not dogshit.