Books
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There's a sci-fi subgenre that Snowy and I enjoy called "cyberpunk." Just replace "magic" with "neural implants" and "dragons" with "artificial intelligences."
This is the writer that Buzz Rickson's did their "William Gibson" line after, he's got a great eye for fashion. And unlike many "nerd fiction" writers he is literary, not JUST an imagineer/storyteller.
A more satirical take can be found in Neal Stephenson's brilliant Snow Crash. The protagonist is named… Hiro Protagonist.
OH YES, thank you for getting this down/out :). 200% backed. The Buzz Rickson clothing line of Gibson's came out as a result of the book Pattern Recognition, A less high tech, but still totally awesome book.
I recently finished Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, an amazing blend of current day and WW2, with 3 main characters who's stories intersect throughout space and time.
If you want a lil magic as a by line for an amazing world/culture, The Magician series can't be beat (27 books all in all). Very little magical woo woo stuff, a lot of philosophy and ways of the world.
Gibson = #1
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Cryptonomicon is incredible. I love how in so many of his books he tells generational stories across time concurrently. I also love how he blended in historical people like Alan Turing.
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Very interesting stuff, I'm getting schooled in this thread
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Stephenson's books are hard for me to properly describe. Picking up many authors, including Gibson (and I LOVE HIS BOOKS/ideas/concepts), the books are just books, read in a weekend or a few weeks. Stephenson's they're so different and difficult to relate to from the offset sometimes that you really have to suspend some disbelief and become part of the book. At that point the colour of the world opens up, and the themes, "such as mathematics, cryptography, philosophy, currency, and the history of science" - wikipedia take on a new light. I learn enjoyable about our world through his books. Anathem is probably one of the most difficult fiction books I've ever read, but I still recall how I felt when I finished it, now 5 years later.
Stephenson's a bad ass in general as well. His love of sword fighting lead to him trying (it's still in progress) to make an entirely new way of making sword fighting games. The video is pretty fun over @ http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang?ref=live.
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And he has a playing card crypto system designed by another hero, Bruce Schneier, and implemented in Perl by himself in the book. Awesome.
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Whilst I was shopping tonight it hit me that I'd not mentioned The Mars trilogy. Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. A really nice series that works through tera-forming of our closest planet and what it could look like and again, societal implications of a many-worlds society.
Ender's Game is a fun read, which I also forgot, on the space tip.
MCL, You'd appreciate the Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker. One of the most mind blowing series/books I've read. Gibson did the intro (which is how I found it). May have recco'd the book in here before. I found out a few months ago I sometimes hung out with the guy's son whilst I was living in San Francisco, too smaller world sometimes :).
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Been meaning to read Rucker. I think he's a computer scientist iirc
I read a book that was a little pulpy in the genre and kind of ripping off Gibson's style: Running Black, P Todoroff.
Another geek book, though more realistic and less cyberpunk, is Sysinternals' Mark Russinovich's Zero Day. Cyberterrorism. Nice read.
Finally, Counting from Zero, by an Aussie writer, was another entertaining geek read.
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I just finished reading the Mistborn trilogy from Brandon Sanderson, which I enjoyed. I've also recently read some others mentioned in this thread like the two Patrick Rothfuss books (DYING for the third book to come out, although if it takes much longer I'm going to have to re-read the first two), Anathem by Neal Stevenson, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. All good books. I just started Imajica again, it's been years since I read that one. I'm a big fan of King's Dark Tower series as well. I guess I'm a big nerd-fiction fan (I hadn't heard that term before), so if anyone has any more recommendations…
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xtc, I know what you me RE Rothfuss, I feel like I'll have to read them both again anyhow. I'd not read The Ocean at the End by Gaiman, another one for the list.
I'm currently reading Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, enjoying it.
Charles Stross Accelerando is a really amazing look at what a future world would look like. Ties into themes nicely discussed in Diamond Age. I will like re-read Accelerando after this just to re-sync the ideas.
Stross in general is a bit of a younger read (The Laundry Files esp), but Accelerando's idea make it a mind bender. His normal books mix tech, with math, higher/lower planes of existence, and 'spooks'.
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I'm reading Catastrophe by Max Hastings
An essential read if you want to see how a bunch of fecking tossers can ruin a few countries and millions of lives in acts of monumental stupidity, arrogance and hubris…....
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I like how Stross called for death to Microsoft Word recently…
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Man, that review of Catastrophe is so well-written in such quintessential British style.
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Hahaha!!!!
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In the spirit of Halloween–- I highly recommend House of Leaves.
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Sir Terry Pratchett's 40th Discworld book published today… Bought one from Waterstones as they usually have exclusive content. Different cover and a bookmark... oh well, at least I've got a copy. Looked in smiths on the off chance that they'd be cheaper... Yep £6.00 cheaper and with an additional short story... So now I have two, one of which will be a birthday or hogswatch present for a member of my family...
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Love Pratchett!
