Ask HN: What should I read next? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#71

Post by hjkl0 » Fri, Jan 27, 2023, 2:28 PM UTC

xmonkee wrote: post #41

cainxinth wrote: post #9

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Recently got around to finally reading it. I know Snow Crash is considered his best sci-fi novel (and it’s amazing, too), but I think I liked this one even better. Snow Crash is funny and weird and action packed, but its light-hearted tone diffuses the tension. The Diamond Age, by contrast, had a lot of hair-raising moments and characters I was really invested in.

I always thought Cryptonomicon would be the go-to stephenson recommendation for nerds, but I guess it reads very dated now.

I recently re-read it after reading it for the first time in the early ‘00s.

I think it holds up very well, as a testament to the time it was written in. It was also quite prophetic. There was a lot that went over my head back then.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#72

Post by vladsanchez » Fri, Jan 27, 2023, 10:44 PM UTC

Ask ChatGPT! LOL

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#73

Post by wisie » Sat, Jan 28, 2023, 11:03 PM UTC

Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy Greenberg

The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock.

Enjoyed both a lot over the Christmas break.

Re: Ask HN: What should I read next?

#74

Post by w0m » Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 7:14 PM UTC

sandreas wrote: post #63

johnthedebs wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adding my vote here too. I recently finished listening to the audiobooks for the fourth time. I don't read (listen to) a crazy amount of fiction, but probably much more than most people, and this series is far and away the best I have read. I'm not holding out hope for a third book, but what a nice surprise it would be.

I did not believe that he'll finish the series since I got my hands on the first two books, because it already was 7 years after the first release. In my opinion his novel "The Slow Regard of Silent Things" is not worth the money and he had lost his flow. That would have been a pity, but kind of ok-ish - nobody is perfect. More recently I feel confirmed (and a little shocked), since I've read about his shady behaviou…

> for his very shady purposes

~2010? I attended PAX East; and the Cards Against Humanities creator introduced Pat for a panel with something like, "Here to give us a release date and read the first chapter of Book 3 of Kingkiller.. !'. Pat honestly looked like he was going to break down down from nerves on stage; and that was relatively early days still.

Since then, I've attributed it to a mental health issue. I am a few years removed from paying attention at this point and just assume we'll never see it.