A good fiction book for Gamers With Jobs
I highly recommend "Halting State" by Charles Stross. It's technically sci fi, being set around 10 years into the future, and concerns a novel crime being investigated by a Police sergeant, a forensic accountant, and a games industry worker. The crime (minor page 1 type spoiler!)...
is a bank robbery committed inside a MMORPG by a bunch of orcs. The theft is on a grand enough scale to destabilise the economy of a game large enough to dwarf WoW.
The slight time hop forwards allows for some pretty feasible technological developments, in both gaming and the real world, which are well explored and explained (though I do not work in the industry, and so cannot speak to the more complex stuff).
The involvement of the accountant is due to investment and insurance involvement, and gives the author a great way of discussing the "big business" aspect of the industry.
I am involved in the UK criminal justice system (the book is set in an independent Scotland, which is a bit of an indulgence on the part of the author, but also allows some fudging of the jurisdictional differences between England, Scotland and the EU) so I find the legal aspects very interesting. As items and experience in online worlds involve an increasing amount of real world financial value such as buying items on eBay, through post release transactions, or having someone designing art for a fee to put in your Second Life home, the role of law enforcement in such issues is actually becoming a foreseeable reality.
If nothing else, it is a thoroughly engaging mystery. The only thing that might put some off is the fact that the story is told from the perspectives of the three characters mentioned, and all 3 use the second person to do so. Eventually, I clicked that the idea was to give it an almost game like feel by placing you within the character, like the narration in the old text based games I used to play on my BBC Model B a few decades ago.
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On Robear's recommendation, I've read Stross's Accelerando and liked it a lot. I mean like a whole lot. Upon finishing I immediately lent it to a friend to read it.
The book delves into the future of human kind, our next evolutionary step, and Moore's law taken to the extreme. I think almost every page has some crazy new sci-fi idea in it.
I just picked up Stross's Singularity Sky, but I will check out Halting State next.
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Actually, I'd go for Iron Sunrise in that particular case (as it's a direct sequel to Singularity Sky).
World war Z by Max Brooks. The sequel to Zombie Survival Guide about life after a global zombie epidemic. I've been reading it on and off for a while now, but it's very good. Very creepy as well which is always a plus in my book.
I also picked up Accelerando based on Robear's recommendation and liked it immensely.
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Recent reads include:
Be warned, the Sharpe series is a fairly daunting series of some 20 (give or take) books. It's a lot like reading the Patrick O'Brian books.
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World War Z is gold. It's so good, I sometimes forgot I was reading a work of fiction.
Currently reading Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn omnibus. Being Warhammer 40'000 fiction, it's no art, but solid entertainment thus far. Another one I'm going through is Alastair Reynold's Galactic North. It's a sort of candy store if you're familiar with his Revelation Space work, wonderful little secrets revealed for fans.
Next on the list, Iain M. Banks' Matter and Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone, memoirs of a child soldier. Okay, that's not fiction, but I don't discriminate my books.
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I've hear a lot of good things about the Song of Ice & Fire series, anyone here able to support or refute this before I go out and buy the four available books?
LobsterMobster wrote:
The Song of Ice and Fire are a fantastic series of books. Deep, complex characters, with an equally complex plot. It pulls absolutely no punches. He is fond of horribly and unjustly murdering your favourite characters. Nobody is safe. You won't be disappointed with them, Jaunty
But I've found myself moving away from it since I've had kids. GRRM, James Ellroy and China Meiville used to be my favourite authors but I find the unremitting nastiness increasingly hard to take. I'm becoming a wimp in my dotage.
If you like Song of Ice and Fire then try Meiville's books. Perdido Street Station is like an Ankh-Morpork Discworld story written by James Ellroy. Amazing and brutal. The Scar is even better. However, I found Iron Council a bit disappointing in comparison.
I've just finished Matter which I really enjoyed. It's a quintessentially Banksian plot, very reminiscent of Consider Phlebas and Look to Windward.
I've got my eye on Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry series. Can anyone offer an opinion on them?
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A-ha! Finally something I can recognize! I totally second the recommendation for Meiville's Scar, which I own, and I'm looking around for Perdido Street Station as I type.
LobsterMobster wrote:
I highly recommend these 2 works of "fiction". The way they are developed as a story and how real and exciting they seem make them both great reads. The Zombie Survival Guide reads like a Government pamphlet with facts and history of the plague that puts some historical events in a different light. But, World War Z is really a creep-fest. Written in the interview format of the writer interviewing survivors on their experiences during the "Great Panic" and beyond. I just finished my second reading after sandwiching in the Survival Guide....they are both must reads.
Ahhh....so happy to live in the land of being famous for the most polluted lake in the country and the best hot dogs. Are these 2 related....GOD I hope not
I have been reading a lot of Stross lately, I will have to pick this up. For people who like Stross, you might want to read some Neal Asher also, I am 3 books into his Polity/Ian Cormac series (Gridlinked, The Line of Polity and The Brass Man - I have also read Prador Mood which is set in the same universe). The only bad thing is that some of his books have not been published in the States; I have ordered some of them from Amazon.ca and I ended up paying more for shipping than what the book cost.
I am a big fan of everything by Stephen Baxter (particularly the Manifold series), but I haven't read that one yet.
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Stross is a lot of fun, I'm glad you guys liked the books. My current recommendation is "Sun of Suns" and it's sequel, "The Queen of Candesce", by Karl Shroeder. Amazing, fantastic stories in a hard-science space opera way, with an absolutely jaw-dropping setting. I mean, unique in SF. The pair of those are related to "Ventus" and "Lady of Mazes" as well.
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Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett.
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Just finished Banewreaker and Godslayer by Jacqueline Carey. Basically Lord of the Rings from the bad guys point of view. Does a nice job detailing the motivations of both sides.
Currently reading, The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien. S'ok so far. Only recommended for LotR fans.
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I picked up Halting State from Amazon, I'll start reading it soon. I also bought another Neal Asher book, The Skinner. Stupid me didn't realize I already had it until it arrived. So, if anyone has an interest in reading it, send me a PM and it is yours. I'll pick up shipping as long as you live in the States. I haven't read the book yet, but I really enjoyed Asher's Polity series; The Skinner is set in a different universe.
If anyone missed it, Tor has their Watch the Skies promotion going on right now where you can receive free ebooks if you sign up for their newsletter. The latest one was Old Man's War by John Scalzi; I'm about halfway done and it's a great piece of military sci-fi. They're also giving away an Asus EEE PC which is no kick in the teeth.
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I disagree. I thought they were boring and the only reason I made it through one and a half books was because the near-universal praise heaped upon them, I kept waiting for it to get better.
Has anyone mentioned Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon? A great sci-fi cyberpunk view of the future. Morgan gives Philip K Dick and William Gibson a run for their money. If you haven't read it yet I think you could consider yourself missing out on one of the genre's best authors.
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Altered Carbon has at least two sequels as well. Fantastic post-cyberpunk stories. I wish Morgan wrote more.
“Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.” Atty Gen'l John Ashcroft, on secret NSC torture guideline discussions.
Altered Carbon, Woken Furies, and Broken Angels are some of the best sci-fi I've read in a long while. Be warned though, there is some fairly graphic sex thrown in at somewhat random points, that doesn't really serve any purpose but to indicate that it is an adult setting. Really kind of a bugger when you are listening to the audio version at work.
I have to add one of my favorite series Soldier of the Mist, Soldier of Arete, and Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe. Fantastic series that is basically read as a daily journal of a Roman mercenary in Greece. He recieved a head wound that causes him to forget everything more than 24 hours in the past, but causes him to see the various gods and spirits hanging about that no one else can see. He's writing the journal as a sort of written memory that he reads every day to figure out where he is and what he's doing. Very well executed.
I just finished A Game of Thrones and am about 100 pages into A Clash of Kings and I can't believe how much I am enjoying this series. I have to say that the last time I enjoyed something so completely and was so absorbed by what I was reading was in 8th/9th grade while I was reading the first 3 Dark Tower books, it's nice to have that feeling again. Considering my fantasy experience up until now was pretty limited to Salvatore, Goodkind (insert groan here) and a few others I may not be the best judge of "good" fantasy but I'll be damned if this isn't one of the best series I have ever read, fantasy or not.
When I am done with the Song of Ice and Fire series I think I am going to want to go the Science Fiction route so I'll be looking for some good GWJ recommendations in that category soon.
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Check some of the older book recommendations threads, Grifter. Like "Recommend me a book!", I think one was called.
“Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.” Atty Gen'l John Ashcroft, on secret NSC torture guideline discussions.
Looks like Broken Angels might have been taken out of print. Also his stand alone books Market Forces and Black Man (Thirteen for us whining Americans) are great additions to the genre. I honestly predict that he will be one of the most well regarded writers of our time.
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Good to know! This is one of the the books I'm planning to pick up next. I'm a huge Warhammer 40,000 fan, but somehow I've always avoided the fiction.
I recently finished Scott Smith's The Ruins. It's well written and a solid choice for someone interested in contemporary horror. Of course, being horror the subject matter veers towards the implausible, but I found the build-up and payoff worthwhile.
I plan on reading Arthur C Clarke's 2001 next, after I've finished plowing through Pratchett's Witches Abroad. And to my disappointment, "plowing" is exactly what I'm doing. I've never been a huge fan of the Witches, but Equal Rites and Lords and Ladies were enjoyable enough. The rest of the Witches' stories are quite ho-hum though, and I find myself really struggling to finish them up. Even the latest Pratchett, Making Money, was disappointing. Not horrible, but nowhere near Pratchett's best. I hope things pick up again once he goes back to more established characters (Death, City Watch, Wizards). I would hate to see him become a by-the-numbers writer!
(These threads are great stuff, by the way. Always a first stop when I'm searching for something new to read.
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Let me add another endorsement for The Ruins. Creepy, unsettling, and incredibly well executed. It took Scott Smith far, far, far too long to get to his sophomore effort, but I'd say it was worth the wait.
I already mentioned Lucky Wander Boy in a different thread, which I think is tailor-made for this crowd. Far as I'm concerned, any novel which features the E.T.-Atari landfill in a prominent scene is a winner in my book.
A more out-of-the-way recommendation, but since this crowd seems to gravitate toward sci-fi and fantasy (understandably), I'd heartily recommend Sputnik Sweetheart, by Haruki Murakami. Many of you, I'm sure, know Murakami already, and those who don't are in for a treat. This novel's about what happens when a man falls in love with a hip, young girl, who runs off with a lesbian, and then disappears. The lesbian comes back to the man to find the disappeared hip, young girl -- and the ultimate solution to her disappearance will take. your. breath. away.
My last recommend isn't fiction, but the author is spectacular -- David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster is a fabulous collection of essays, and the fact that the man manages to replicate the feeling, and the way we surf the interwebs in two dimensions on the page, in an essay about a right-wing talk radio host -- and still make said essay funny, informative, heartbreaking, and wonderful just makes me believe in Santa Claus all over again.
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LouZiffer wrote:
I'll recommend Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. The fiction book for geeks. It's a little hard to explain so I'll just lift a synopsis from wiki.
Put together an engrossing storyline, add some quite in-depth cryptographic and mathematical discussion, and you have the ultimate geek novel.
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Speaking of Neal Stephenson, I can really recommend Snow Crash. Chances are most of you have already read it and if you haven't you probably should.
I don't know, self! I still kinda suspect that this sucks!
I'm just finishing off Ventus and it's astounding. I feel bad that the only reason that I started reading it was because John Scalzi (Old Man's War & The Android's Dream, both fantastic books) linked to the free download off of his blog. Needless to say, the combination of excellent writing and open source material make me a life-long fan.
Android's Dream was fun, even better than I expected after his War series. Scalzi has a real future ahead of him.
And I see Iain M Banks has a new book released in the US....Anyone read it yet? Another Culture novel.
“Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly.” Atty Gen'l John Ashcroft, on secret NSC torture guideline discussions.