I loved Leviathan Wakes, which gets a lot right, but it misses the wealth that comes with mining. If the Belt had that much wealth it would be like N. Dakota or Saudi Arabia.

Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men, a "future history" of 18 successive species of humanity, and Star Maker, an outline history of the Universe.

Dragon’s Egg by Robert Forwatd. Life on a neutron star evolves so fast it eclipses human discovers in hours.

Hands down: Three Body Problem trilogy. Siphons, cosmic sociology, dark forest deterence - it's is utterly arresting. Auto #1 in my sci-fi fame hall.

Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem trilogy seems like an easy example from a great PRC author, but I'm also quite partial to his Ball Lightning, which is a more narrow application.

Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem trilogy seems like an easy example from a great PRC author, but I'm also quite partial to his Ball Lightning, which is a more narrow application.

What a fun read that is. Lots of interesting ideas + a murder mystery.

I, Robot is a particularly great one because the narrative arc of the book is fundamentally of society, not of any of the individual characters. Technology that is new and experimental in the first chapter is commonplace by the middle and outdated by the end of the book.