- “Too Like the Lightning”, Ada Palmer
- “Reamde” and “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell”, Neal Stephenson
- “Children of Time”, Adrian Tchaikovsky
- “Bullshit Jobs”, David Graeber
- “A Fire Upon the Deep” Vernor Vinge
- “A Half-Built Garden”, Ruthanna Emrys
- “3 Body Series”, Cixin Liu
- “Neuropath”, R. Scott Bakker
- “The Animals in That Country”, Laura Jean Mckay
- “Termination Shock”, Neal Stephenson
- “Spin”, Robert Charles Wilson
- “Around the World in Eighty Days”, Jules Verne
- “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”, Dale Carnegie
- “Never Split the Difference”, Chris Voss
Hopefully I’ll publish my 2023 reading list less than a year after 2023 ;)
Here’s what I read last year, generally in order of how my personal enjoyment:
“Too Like the Lightning”, Ada Palmer
My absolute favorite series I read in 2022 and now among my favorite books of all time (alongside Walkaway, Cryptonomicon, Prince of Nothing, Blindsight). Expertly written in style and technique, keeping me rooted through every single book in the series without any dirty tricks or tired tropes. Totally unique. It presented ideas I hadn’t encountered yet in Sci Fi, which is really rare at this point; most sci fi, no matter how unique, is working with at best a heavy modification of a known trope. Tied together Classics with the modern era. Unlike books like “Fall, or Dodge in Hell,” it didn’t necessarily add a lot to my library of “books I quote to demonstrate a point,” but it did stick in my memory and stay there, especially with some of the values the various characters play with, which I came to admire. Absolutely must-read the whole series.
“Reamde” and “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell”, Neal Stephenson
This is a more fun than normal Stephenson novel that takes an ABRUPT left turn about 1/3 of the way through the book. Unlike its predecessor, “Cryptonomicon,” and its sequel, “Fall; or, Dodge in Hell,” no large techno-philosophical issues are tackled, and it doesn’t leave me thinking as much as those or his other works do. But, it’s good fun, and worth a read. One of my favorite books.
Fall; or Dodge in Hell Wikipedia
I quote thought experiments proposed in this book CONSTANTLY. Stephenson always manages to create scenarios and metaphors that are perfect to describe technological and philosophical issues we’re dealing with today. This final book in a psuedo-trilogy does so better than most of his books, exploring transhumanism and “fake news” expertly. Also it’s just straight fun. I recommend if for no other reason that to get up to date on some of the “tropes” being discussed around topics like open source, fake news, transhumanism, and philosophy of mind.
“Children of Time”, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Finally, a scifi novel that escapes the game theory / prisoner’s dilemma trap. Very cool hard-ish scifi dealing with generational ships, terraforming, transhumanism, AI, linguistics, and explores different biologies and ways of thinking nearly as well as Peter Watts. I’m just now working on the final book in the series and each one has been quite good.
“Bullshit Jobs”, David Graeber
Maybe a good book to radicalize with. Points out some of the glaring contradictions in the modern capitalist system, such as the fact that the people with the most useful jobs (teachers, firefighters, etc) get paid the least, while the people with the least useful jobs (investment bankers, landlords) get paid the most. Filled with gems.
“A Fire Upon the Deep” Vernor Vinge
I really liked the speed-of-thought concept this novel played with, and I want to read other books set in the same universe. A fun sci-fi that has a couple tropes it picks and drills into that are interesting to play with. I felt the concepts (linguistics, physics) were handled competently, never any handwaving magic. Also really fun to read about what the internet might look like as written by someone in 1992. Aged well.
“A Half-Built Garden”, Ruthanna Emrys
This was another scifi that rejected the traditional scifi game theory trope of prisoner’s dilemma. It was also an excellent anarchist speculative scifi. Lots of mutual aid and non-market-based resource allocation and management. For that reason alone I can recommend it, though it was also an interesting eco-scifi and first contact novel. If you were into Dune you might enjoy it for that alone. It’s funny to read reviews of this, since there’s a lot of non-binary characters and some neopronouns thrown around casually, so some people are flipping their lid at it being “too confusing.” Anyway, worth the read, good fun.
“3 Body Series”, Cixin Liu
Four books, three by Cixin Liu and a fourth by a fan called Baoshu. Very interesting to get a PRC perspective on scifi, especially as the beginning of the first book deals a lot with the Cultural Revolution.
A little disjointed, each book seems to imply a very different sort of story being told, though I liked that. There’s some cringe to wade through with stuff like the over romanticization of character creation by writers, or like, a sometimes ridiculously Han chauvinist treatment of female characters. Other than that it’s a fun thought experiment of many different sci fi concepts that I haven’t found much in other books, like its treatment of existing in multiple dimensions, computing, and universal civilizations. I’m annoyed that it’s a bog standard reiteration of prisoner’s dilemma at parts, which I think is often a false dilemma, but oh well.
“Neuropath”, R. Scott Bakker
R. Scott Bakker is a prodigy and insane. Everything I’ve read from him I’ve loved and chewed on for years after, but he’s deeply cynical, and I worry that a young atheist might approach something like Neuropath and think it’s the end-all be-all on concepts like determinism and dualism vs materialism. It’s also, btw, horrendously violent and abusive, so avoid if that kind of thing isn’t for you. If you can work past that, it’s basically a very interesting thought experiment, and an introduction of several of Bakker’s ideas, such as “Semantic Apocalypse”. Less “fun” than the Prince of Nothing series, but in some ways a little less gross, too.
“The Animals in That Country”, Laura Jean Mckay
Super weird but extraordinarily well-written novel. A proper “focus on the characters and kinda ignore the wacky scifi shit that’s going down” novel. Every sentence a delight. Recommended.
“Termination Shock”, Neal Stephenson
Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite authors and I believe one of the greatest masters of the craft in history, but this book was just weird. I feel like the only explanation for this book that makes sense to me is that Stephenson got bored writing it halfway through and just raced to the finish. It ends more abruptly than anything I’ve encountered in a while, which is only more painful because of Stephenson’s more long-winded style that spends a lot of time building up characters, environments, and rules for a given universe. It was interesting to get his take on concept like how climate change affects geopolitics and sovereignty, and how the future might handle pandemic, but beyond that it’s the most disappointing Stephenson I’ve read.
“Spin”, Robert Charles Wilson
Pretty fun sci-fi. Didn’t stick with me as much as others like “Fall, or Dodge in Hell” or “Walkaway,” but it deserves praise for being fully self-contained, resolving its story satisfyingly. Nothing too crazy in terms of tropes or new ideas. Good characterization.
“Around the World in Eighty Days”, Jules Verne
I’m not sure why I re-read this year, but I was surprised at how well it holds up not only for this year, but also in a re-read as an adult (I last read it when I was I think about 10 or 11). Jules Verne inspired my early interest in scifi, technology, and philosophy, and all of his books are worth a read. They are shockingly prescient for books written in the late 1800s.
“How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”, Dale Carnegie
A really good book for anyone to read, as it’s quite short, but especially for those that aren’t great at setting aside worries and focusing on things that need doing. Personally I had learned a lot of what was written from other books, therapists, or just stumbled onto it on my own, but it was still nice to have tips formally laid out. Not just for people who are “chronically worried,” I think this book has good advice for every human.
“Never Split the Difference”, Chris Voss
A negotiation book written by a cop. Not total garbage, as it’s useful to read how cops are trained to be uncompromising, and get a feel for the kind of chauvinistic questioning you might get at the hands of someone like this. The strategies in the book are percolating throughout the “self help” world, supplanting more empathy-based approaches proposed by people like Dale Carnegie. Good read just to keep abreast of this.