Infoquake
All in three days." "Meanwhile, hanging over everything is the specter of the infoquake, a lethal burst of energy that's disrupting the bio/logic networks and threatening to send the world crashing back into the Dark Ages."--Jacket.
Stats for nerds
6recommend
9mentions
9people
2009–2026years
67% recommend33% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- You might find the Multireal trilogy by Davis Louis Edelman interesting: https://www.amazon.com/Infoquake-Jump-225-Trilogy-v/dp/15910...
Not the best writing in the world but several of these ideas are touched upon before it kinda goes off the deep end. A fun read at least.
- Infoquake by David Louis Edelman and the trilogy it belongs to would be right up HN's alley IMO. It's fun techie sci-fi. Some of the ideas can really make you think about reality.
- Central Station by Lavie Tidhar is an amazing charming story of a world deeply steeped old sitting baking world where new things are coming about. It is charm & delight in the purest & simplest.
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. "Robert Charles Wilson is a hell of a storyteller," said Stephen King and this wonderful tour through time and space, humanity & people's lives is incredible.
The Quantum Thief series by Hannu Rajaniemi is open, scenic, wild, & so so vivid, one of the most beautiful worlds I've ever visited, & it reminds me so much of a joyous wild swashbuckling run. The mystery of the main character is enchanting.
Infoquake series by David Louis Edelson is a gripping suspenseful rise of a star entrepreneur that redefines and radically expands the world, amid an already boisterous & full & busy beautiful world already overflowing in seamless technology everywhere. Although the plot line whips along with some suspense & tension, the scenery and the voyage is incredible.
Lathe of Heaven by Ursala Le Guin could quite easily, quite simply be the best first contact story story ever. Touching, and sincere, & simple. This world is not bright and shiny but her writing and the bonding of characters is incredible. See also the rest of the Hainish cycle.
Left Hand of Darkness also by Ursala Le Guin is a shifting chaotic shizmatic tale, about picking our fates. "Well, I did it through dreams. Phil would have done it another way. But yeah, homage to Phil [K.] Dick is right." - https://www.wired.com/2012/07/geeks-guide-ursula-k-le-guin/a...
Fallen Dragon is an early & involved Peter Hamilton adventure book. There's leaving home, & space ships, more space ships, bad guys, fighting back the bad guys, bigger ships, and action. There is A LOT going on, all the time, & violence, but damn this book comes together into something incredible, & telling, & powerful & strong, something that easily makes it my top pick for most-underappreciated Peter Hamilton.
Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, which I'm providing largely as a counterweight to the Snowcrash & Sevenses recommendations here. Diamond Age is much less dark, and way more a fun tail about an incredible & mysterious primer for a young lady.
Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut.
All Systems Red series by Martha Wells is a underprivileged barely coping robot dealing with the humans she hates having to talk to & a shitty planet trying to kill them. Simple, fun, some action & violence, but the main character is a total hoot the whole time with more loner/zero/drop-out attitude & spunk than anything I've read & it's unbelievably charming.
Lords of Light by Roger Zelazny has more style, pizzaz, & spirit than I feel like any of us deserve. An interesting, storied tale from the post-singularity, with a remarkable & robust cast.
Illium/Olympos by Dan Simmons, are, in my mind still the clear winner, far above Hyperion. The cast is charming beyond belief, stumbling through a world they both know all too much about & far far too little. Some really incredible worldbuilding here.
Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE A Fire Upon the Deep. But Rainbow's End really is our planet, sometime not far out, and Vinge has the most tour of this next place we're headed, with threads, and annotations, and group chat being the defining new technologies of humanity. And the tale of the misfit happenstance adventurers who wind up ensnared in the plot line is a fun, roving hoot of a journey, a wonderful second chance at a coming of age story.
Medusa Chronicles by two of my favorites, Alastair Reynolds & Stephen Baxter is probably my favorite exploring the solar system book, about a guy/robot a bit apart from humanity that really wants to see what the local area has to offer. A lot of high tension conflicting societal impulses that our somewhat aloof lead stumbles through, on his personal mission of exploration. Lots of interesting robot philosophy & very varied elements of space come together with the characters to make an incredibly fun space epic, set in a delightful & intriguing alternative history
Other's recommendations I'd +1: Dune (but super heady material), The Stars My Destination (brimming with class & substance), Mote in God's Eye (some of the best Space Colonial Marines style stuff out there), Accelerando (and Iron Sky and ... overflowing playful scifi), Blue Ant series (dripping with style), Foundation series (and much more Asimov!), Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy (simple direct exciting hunt for treasure in Star Wars), Fuzzy Nation (fun tale)
- A great scifi book that also mixes in entrepreneurial concepts is "Infoquake."
- Don't miss sivers's great list: http://sivers.org/book
As for mine,
Science Fiction (I like these authors so I'd recommend most of their books -- listing which ones I think are a good 'starter novel' for them):
Self-improvement:Charles Stross: Halting State Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon The Deep Iain M. Banks: Culture novels, start with Player of Games David Louis Edelman: Jump 225 Trilogy Daniel Suarez: Daemon and Freedom(tm) John Scalzi: Old Man's War series Dan Simmons: Hyperion
Non-fiction:The Talent Code Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Fantasy:Amusing Ourselves To Death (highly recommended) The Science of Fear The Black Swan Tokyo Vice Racing The Beam (Atari history, very cool) books by Daniel Pink Guns, Germs, and Steel The Prize by Daniel YerginAnything by Gaiman or China Mieville, pretty much.
EDIT: links to previews (legally) available online
Charles Stross's Accelerando (entire book): http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelera...
David Louis Edelman's Infoquake (1st 7 chapters): http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/jump225/infoquake/
- I fully recommend you read Infoquake and Multireal (the first two books of the Jump 225 trilogy) by David Louis Edelman. It has everything you're looking for.
