Please recommend a good hard sci-fi book

I would recommend as a start...

Keep in mind The Culture is a galaxy-spanning, post-scarcity utopian society. On the surface, it seems to be a paradise in which most of today's problems with humanity have been solved, with benevolent super AI's taking care of running society. Alas, not all is as it seems, and trouble is brewing under the surface.

Consider Phlebas - Probably the most straight-forward of the Culture books, it is the only book written from the perspective of someone outside the society of The Culture, who has an antagonistic view of it. Falls into a sort of action/adventure space opera genre for the most part.

Use of Weapons - Perhaps my favorite of the Banks books I have read. Has a unique dual structure, with one narrative in the past moving back through time, revealing events sort of like the movie Memento, while the other narrative takes place going forward in a current timeline. A fairly dark book, overall, and perhaps not as accessible as some of the others. Maybe don't read this one first.

The Player of Games - A slower, more philosophical examination of empires, political meddling, and the tactical mind. This tops many 'Best of The Culture" lists, but would probably fall somewhere in the middle for me. Still, this is really thought provoking stuff, especially if you are, or ever have been a gamer.

For the record, I started with Consider Phlebas.

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Thank you!

In my many years of reading sci-fi I see Sturgeon's Law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law

Agreed, which is why it is crucial to have places where people can congregate and sift through the data, after which people can recommend what they consider to be the other 10%, that of the non-crud variety!

This is a pretty good site for gathering opinions/info about a book: https://www.goodreads.com/

That's why I come here for book info/opinions/reviews. I figure the folks here would know the 10% that is worth reading.

Yea, I have an account on there

I've ordered four books from the list that I made from those that you all have suggested. I will order more after finishing these. I used to read a LOT when I was younger but nowadays maybe one book a month, some years fewer. I'll let you know what I think of each after reading.

Anyhow, thanks for the responses and suggestions

This looks like the second book in a series, yes? Can I assume one needn't start with the first book, A Fire Upon the Deep?

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Even though A Deepness in the Sky was published 7 years after A Fire Upon the Deep, it's a prequel, which takes place before the events of the earlier book. Depending on what order you read them in, you either read a more epic story that focuses on more than one of Vinge's "zones," and has a much vaster scale, followed by a story that takes place in one zone, in a much smaller area of space...or you start in the small area of space, after which the next book expands out to a larger galactic scale.

I read the prequel first, then moved on to A Fire on the Deep, which does in fact have a returning character from the prequel, even though it takes place twenty thousand years later. Both books were excellent, both are first contact stories, and both have really creative approaches to alien life. That said, A Deepness in the Sky is easily my favorite.

I recommended that one, as it doesn't require as much suspension of disbelief, as it takes place in only one of the zones, which are kind of a fantastic and wild idea - it's the harder sci-fi of the two. A Deepness in the Sky is one of my favorite books of all time.