Eon by Greg Bear.
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.
Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
11–20 of 31 posts
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#12"Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley. The themes in this book are more relevant now than at any time since publication in 1818, and to nobody more than ML coders.
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#13Laundry Files Series by Charles Stross
Written by a ex-programmer, features a world where magic is a branch of mathematics, so you can for example write an app to summon demons, or accidentally turn yourself into a vampire by implementing a particularly extravagant algorithm.
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#14These are all entertaining: Definitely the Wizardry series by Rick Cook https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/rick-cook/wizardry/ Programming meets magical realms James Hogan Inherit the Stars - Has supercomputers but not main characters Code of the Lifemaker Has Ancient Tech evolving into a robotic society Two Faces of Tomorrow - humans trying to get along with AI D.F.Jones Colossus, the Fall of Colossus, and Colossus…
Definitely recommends the Wizardry series. It has a FORTH vibe.
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#15"Galatea 2.2" by (my all-time favorite author) Richard Powers
"Off to Be the Wizard" by Scott Meyer
"Daemon" by Daniel Suarez
"The Adolescence of P1" (vintage) by Thomas Ryan
"Snow Crash" by William Gibson
"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline
"We are Legion [We are Bob]" by Dennis Taylor
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#16'Stories of your Life and Others' and 'Exhalation' - by Ted Chiang. In his short stories, he introduces advanced concepts from mathematics, philosophy, and computer science in a way that’s subtly woven into captivating narratives.
Strongly second Exhalation by Ted Chiang. "The Life Cycle of Software Objects" is especially compelling.
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#17Eon by Greg Bear. A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.
I'm finding A Deepness in the Sky pretty drudging to be honest.
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#18Eon by Greg Bear. A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.
I'm finding A Deepness in the Sky pretty drudging to be honest.
It gets slow after the merging of the two competing factions at the beginning and then builds momentum after the anti-hero's back story half way through. It just might be my most favorite book. I found the building dominance of the anti-hero to be similar but less epic than that of Raistlin Majere from DragonLance.
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#19The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu
The Bug by Ellen Ullman
Radicalized by Corey Doctrow
Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm
Re: Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
#20The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu The Bug by Ellen Ullman Radicalized by Corey Doctrow Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm
> The Bug by Ellen Ullman
The best answer.