Among Others
Seeking refuge in fantasy novel worlds throughout a youth under the shadow of a dubiously sane half-brother who dabbled in magic, Mori Phelps is forced to confront her mother in a tragic battle and gains unwanted attention when she attempts to perform spells herself.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
4mentions
4people
2012–2018years
75% recommend25% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The article is Carl Sagan's perspective, and a lot of it is his current views of the SF he read when younger, as well as a general discussion about the value of SF to young enquiring minds.
For a very different take, I really enjoyed the novel "Among Others" by Jo Walton which is a coming of age story about a young girl who is avid reader of SF/fantasy. It really puts you in the mindset of someone who is growing up with SF while they are in fact growing up, rather than thinking about it as an older person.
- You realize not a single person has mentioned a female author? Let's fix that:
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Among Others by Jo Walton
Feed by Mira Grant
The Hunger Games!
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Grass by Sheri S Tepper
Gate of Ivrael and Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh
And the fabulous space opera:
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
- It Starts With Food was the book that has had the most significant impact on my life this year. Power, Speed, Endurance, which I recently got, has a shot at being the next most impactful.
Among Others was one of the most enjoyable fiction reads. Beautiful. Prep was also surprisingly good, and not something I would usually have read.
Leading So People Will Follow surprisingly insightful and clearly actionable.
The Big Nerd Ranch's guide to iOS development carried me through last Christmas and the new year admirably. I haven't really read many programming books this year but it stands out as being well crafted.
- I don't have built-in lighting, but I bought my e-reader before that was a common feature. I'd like to buy a physical book and get the e-book as part of the deal. This was something that Baen did, but I'm not sure if they still do.
As things stand, I now usually buy the e-book (or audiobook) and if I love the book, I'll buy the physical book. The only physical books I buy are for series where I've already been buying them as physical books before I got my e-reader (and cookbooks).
The most recent physical books I've bought are Jo Walton's Among Others and Nicole Krauss' The History of Love. I'm planning to pick up The Rook at some point too (although I think it's best as an audiobook).
