this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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Which sci-fi titles (movies, books) do you consider comforting, cozy, something you come back to from time to time? For me, I guess it is The Matrix. Still holds up to this day, gets better with every re-watch, and gives me a sense of peace when I need it.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm at home in the chaotic universe of Douglas Adams.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I can see that. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie felt really comfy. I read the book, but it did not draw me in, for some reason. Any particular novel you like, other than obviously The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I felt the same way. I got about 2/3 of the way through the book and just did not GAF about a single character, so I tried the movie and it was much better. I haven't read any of his others.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The Martian. Both the book and the movie

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Same author (Andy Weir), different book: "Project Hail Mary". Almost a spiritual successor to "The Martian" and gives you cozy feels AF.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Loved it it's much more "fantastic", ie mind inspiring. Also there's gonna be a movie!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I loved the book. Tried enjoying the movie three times, I think, then finally realized that the book is way better.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Just finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It's a fun and wholesome scifi story.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Great pick. I read that over the summer and found it both excellent and uplifting! It really showcases a shining example of humanity we should strive for

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Murderbot of course (Martha Wells), also The Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers. Also her novella To Be Taught, If Fortunate

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (3 children)

For me it's The Expanse.

And also pretty much anything by Philip K Dick.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (5 children)

On the topic of The Matrix, I'm surprised by the number of people who think that Matrix 1 2 & 3 are the only Matrices. In my opinion, The Animatrix is better than both sequels combined, by a lot, and most people seem to have never heard of it. If you're a fan of The Matrix, watch The Animatrix!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I remember watching it back in the days. Some of the "parts" were a bit too weird (especially the animation) for my taste, but yeah, I enjoyed it overall.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Anything written by Becky Chambers is like a comfy blanket for your soul. She puts so much humanity and empathy in stories about aliens.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Pretty much any of the Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers, not so much for familiarity or nostalgia but because that’s intentionally part of their vibe

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've found myself rereading Old Man's War multiple times.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have the audiobook of that one. For me it's Project Hail Mary.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Project Hail Mary definitely has a comfortably buddy feel to it

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The 1973 BBC Radio Dramatization of Asimov's Foundation. It's about eight hours long and the voice work is quite good. It's comfortable for me to listen to and come back to, very digestible. One complaint: I've yet to find a version that had properly equalized sound levels, so the comfortable listing volume for their speech throughout the work is suddenly jarringly loud when they switch to the machine-clacking "encyclopedia" segments that serve as segues between parts of the story. Other than that, I have no complaints: It's a fairly faithful adaptation of the original work, and does not suffer from the fatigue and dating many other works do (in my opinion, audio balancing notwithstanding).

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

My favorite all time movie is Interstellar but I wouldn’t call it comforting or cozy

I loved Orson Scott Card’s Ender and Alvin cycle

YSK Card had some problematic words regarding LGBT community at some point but made amend since. I read the books before hearing about that, and that’s something I wish I had known of. You might want to check his words before giving him your money.

I guess one cozy and comforting show would be some old stuff from my youth like Stargate SG1, X-Files or Sliders maybe? Something that I would put on a screen like an old friend and doing something else in the meantime.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

The first couple seasons of Sliders are really comfy. It starts fast, episodes are self contained, and the world is usually in a slightly better state at the end of each episode. Often it's thought provoking too, but not in a Black Mirror doom and gloom way.

SG1 is great and can have the same feeling, but it takes a couple seasons to get there. Definitely worth watching in my opinion, but if you want an immediate hit of comfort it may not work unless it's a rewatch.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

For me it's definitely a book that often doesn't get much love: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. I read that book like ten times by now in both English and my mother tongue. Such a defining book for me since I first read it in my youth and it gave me a lot of food for thought regarding what it means to live a meaningful life. It is not really hardcore sci-fi after all but more a kind of coming-of-age novel that happens to take place in a sci-fi setting.

[–] captain_aggravated 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Certain episodes of Star Trek TNG are that way for me.

A lot of Futurama is this way as well.

I don't know how many times I've listened through the audiobook of Andy Weir's The Martian.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I adore the book The 5th Gender but it's worth knowing in advance its also gay smut 😅

It's really sweet and romantic gay smut though 🥺 and to be fair the sci-fi and mystery elements are genuinely fantastic. At the beginning I was worried it was gonna be overly quirky, just ignore that part. Its endearing quirky, I swear.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Here's some I consider cozy:

  • Asimov's R. Daniel Olivaw Trilogy starting with "The Caves of Steel" is downright cozy.
  • Nathan Lowell's "Quarter Share" and the other "Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper".

And if you like to listen to books, "Quarter Share" is available as a podcast: https://chartable.com/podcasts/quarter-share/episodes

Edit: It varies by book, but many chapters of "The Vorkosigan Saga" are downright cozy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Inception (2010)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Do comics count? If so, Freefall. Philosophy, ethics, science, questioning what it truly means to be human, and all while never losing its sense of humor.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

The books Walkaway (Cory Doctorow) and Accelerando (Charles Stross) both give me nostalgia for a time when the future seemed like an exciting challenge instead of an unbearable one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Another one... Ell Donsaii series. It's light but nice to read and quite interesting in a science fiction kinda way

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Annihilation is my go to comfort movie. I've probably seen it thirty times.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Arthur C. Clarke's stuff is like that... So are a lot of the old anthologies from 50s-60s (e.g. the Groff Conklin ones ... Omnibus for one - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groff_Conklin).

The 'Riverworld' series by Farmer and 'Ring' series by Niven are also.

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