The Nemesis Effect by Michael Shotter . Great writing and fun adventure. Check out the YouTube review! https://youtu.be/qaIQgavJhBk
Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
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Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#462I just finished a re-read of the "Commonweal" series by Graydon Saunders, which begins with The March North : https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=MoIOAwAAQBAJ I've never been sure how to sum up these books. They're thoroughly strange fantasy books, oddly written and frequently chewy reads. They have an interest in politics and metaphysics; but they also have magical railguns, the sorcerous application of F…
I re-read the series this year too. The books are just as good the second time 'round--maybe better. There's a fifth one new since my last read-through, and another in the offing perhaps[1].
Saunders' writing is for people who think that Gibson spends too much time explaining things.[2]
You do have to read between the lines a lot, and also stop a lot to figure out how bits of the world work, but the world-building is among the best I've seen. A fully worked out, humane society with its own customs, institutions, methods of government, and history in a world with multiple climatic zones and ecosystems.
Unlike most fantasy it's not fantasy aristocracy--there's no binary-thinking "of the blood/not of the blood" or lords and slaves stuff. Magical ability is Gaussian distributed; the mighty sorcerers come from the extreme right tail of the distribution, but everyone has a place and is allowed to grow and contribute as they desire and are able.
Democratic/collectivist welfare state fantasy, perhaps.
1. Saunders's blog: https://dubiousprospects.blogspot.com/
2. Must re-read The Peripheral.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#463The Dispossessed , by Ursula K. Le Guin. It identified so many of the "edges" of society and how I think about and interact with the world, on a daily basis. Without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe even the best. The only other book that came close this year was Robert Sapolsky's A Primate's Memoir .
I just started reading it a few days ago, and I can't put it down. I can't recommend it enough
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#464An old one, but I read "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky. I was expecting it to be dense and difficult to read, but I found it incredibly engaging - easily the best book that I have read, ever.
+1 I recently read a The Idiot as well, another incredible work of his.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#465Currently still reading, but will finish tomorrow: "Clear and Simple as the Truth" by Francis-Noël Thomas and Mark Turner. This is the only book I know that discusses that there are several styles of writing and that exhibits one particular style that the authors call "classic style". They also discuss differences from other styles ("practical style" as taught by Joseph Williams – my other favorite book about writing…
My goodness, "Clear and Simple as the Truth" is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. They also lay out a theory about what writing actually is (how thought is translated to language) as well as providing an appeal about why one should write in classic style. It contains many wonderful paragraphs of writers such as Pascal, Descartes, and Borges.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#466Throughout the overwhelming majority of the year, I wasn't in a position where I had a lot of "sit down with a good book and a good drink" reading time, but I've gotten some in during the winters at each end. I think best overall was one of the ones I read way early in the year, Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche. I had been saving The Pale King by David Foster Wallace for an "in case of emergency break glass" book be…
When you are time-constrained, you really have to pick the best books. Love the "in case of emergency break glass" category.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#467If you like science fiction, there were a few books published this year worth picking up: - The Hail Mary Project by Andy Weir (of the Martian). Nice page turner and he's back to form with his third novel. - Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. Enjoyable and fun; though arguably not his finest work. I might pick up his earlier work for re-reading over Christmas. Anathem probably, which I would recommend to anyone. -…
I second this. The Hail Mary Project was a great read and even made it into Barack Obama's list[1]. I am working my way through The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin and so far it's a page turner. [1]: https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1471168495312420877
Curious, I wouldn't call Three-Body Problem a page turner - there was a whole lot of nothing happening the whole time. Even fans of the book (which I am not) tend to retreat into "well actually it's the sequels that are good".
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#468Unsong by Scott Alexander A delightful, completed serial that tells an alternate story of the world since 1968, when Apollo 8 crashed into the crystal fabric of the sky and fundamentally broke the machinery of the universe. Now science no longer works, the old ways have power and sometimes people go to bed on Monday to wake up on Wednesday. I loved the way the fiction intertwined with reality.
Yes! Unsong. I love this book, Scott Alexander is such a genius. He has knowledge of modern physics, of Jung psychology, ethics, biblical stories, and he intertwines everything in this book. Also, he is witty man! In my opinion, his fiction is on whole another level (I like it much more than to his non-fiction blog.)
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Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#469"Born a crime" by Trevor Noah. It is about his experiences growing up as the 'product' of an illegal liason between a black woman and a white man in aparatheid South African. Warm, funny and shocking in equal measure.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?
#470Nonfiction: "Rationality: From AI to Zombies" by Eliezer Yudkowsky. It was a fantastic deep-dive into the topic, and despite being extremely long was very readable. Fiction: "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. I've read other Steinbeck before this one, but this stands out as a clear masterpiece. I especially enjoyed the way he blended the experiences of specific individuals with the experiences of a general populati…
"Rationality: From AI to Zombies" is a very influential books. This is one to pick if you want something impactful to your system of belief. I would also recommend a book I think is very similar to this (if for some reason Yudkowsky prose throws you off) "The Big Picture" from Sean Carroll, I think he introduces much of the same ideas in a very different manner.