
Ask HN: I loved Snow Crash and Daemon.  What should I read next? - tectonic
I also just finished Ready Player One and enjoyed it.  What are you folks reading these days?
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e12e
If you enjoyed "Snow Crash" and "Diamond Age", I'd recommend "Islands in the
Net" (if you can get hold of a copy) and "Holy Fire" by Bruce Sterling. Or for
something newer, "the Zenith Angle" by same.

I've also enjoyed all of Willam Gibsons books, including the latest trilogy
"Pattern Recognition", "Spook Country" and "Zero History".

If you bothered to read through "Cryptonomicon" you'll either love "the Code
Book" by Simon Singh more than I did, or hate it :-)

Assuming you've picket through the classics shelf, you might have missed out
on Samuel Delany - "The Einstein Intersection" might be a good one to try on
for size -- although I actually found "Neveryóna" to be maybe his most
interesting book (of the ones I've been able to get hold of) [edit: After
"Dhalgren", that is. But I think "Dhalgren" is a bit like Joyce's "Ulysses" --
a classic I haven't gotten around to yet. I spent the better part of ten (10!)
years reading through "Dhalgren", picking it up on odd holidays - never
loosing touch with the intricate unreality within, readily satisfied after
reading a few pages or a chapter -- like nibbling on a choice ham that didn't
spoil. It's rather more complex than any of the other books I've listed here].

Also worth mentioning in the "might be overlooked" section is Jerry
Pournelle's "Falkenberg's Legion" (republished as "the Prince").

I'm afraid I've been mostly digging through second hand books lately, so the
only other semi-recent book I could recommend would be "Broken Angels" by
Richard Morgan (technically it's number two in a trilogy -- but I find it
stands better on its own).

~~~
tectonic
Thanks for the detailed reply!

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liquidcool
A book that often escapes even cyberpunk fans is John Brunner's "The Shockwave
Rider". It was written in 1975 but is eerily prescient - at least I thought so
when I read it in the 90's.

Of course, I also recommend Gibson's books. And "Ender's Game"/"Ender's
Shadow", even though they're not cyberpunk/cyber thrillers.

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letterj00
This is one of my favorites.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerando_(novel)>

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hivemindalpha
Massive recommendation for 'Blindsight' by Peter Watts, if you want your mind
blown. And the author has made it available for free!
<http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm>

~~~
naturalethic
I bought that book to support him after his shitty customs experience. Turned
out to be one of the greatest novels I've ever read. Totally fascinating.

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rrival
Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive. The Cukoo's Egg is good as well.

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tqh
Enders Game and Enders Shadow by Orson Scott Card. Before the movie comes out:
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1731141/>

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e12e
I guess op's not really paying attention any more, but there's a relevant
discussion on slashdot today:

[http://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/08/08/2135246/ask-
slashdot-...](http://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/08/08/2135246/ask-slashdot-
most-underappreciated-sci-fi-writer)

I can heartily recommend most of the stuff in the 4+ comments: Ursula Le Guin,
Lem, Strugatsky, Kurt Vonnegut... and of course Alfred Bester, especially "The
Stars my Destination", proto cyberpunk.

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mock
I quite enjoyed Simon Morden's Metrozone trilogy - which has a lot of
similarities to Snow Crash and Daemon (main character is essentially a hacker,
run-amok AI, cyberpunkish dystopian future...)

<http://www.simonmorden.com/books/equations-of-life/> includes an excerpt from
the first book.

~~~
tectonic
Thanks for the reference!

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yaksha
The sequel to Daemon(by Daniel Suarez I'm assuming), Freedom, was good. I also
enjoyed Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge.

~~~
Daviey
& Suarez's third book, Kill Decision.. I read that in two days flat. :o.

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kaipakartik
Diamond Age is recommended. You might also like Little Brother by Doctorow. I
would recommend anything by China Mieville. Take a look
<http://blog.kaipakartik.com> you might find something you want to read.

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SinFulNard
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan - highly. highly. Recommend. Ready Player
One... meh. Much preferred MetaGame (only $2!). Otherwise - The Quantum Thief
was a great mind blower. Haven't heard of Daemon, loved Snow Crash. Will look
into.

~~~
e12e
I wonder how those two stack up to "Dream Park" by Larry Niven?

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LoganCale
I'd suggest The Diamond Age as a logical continuation from Snow Crash because
it's also awesome and because it's very (very) loosely a sequel. It has a
different tone and pace and theme, however.

~~~
tectonic
Ah, yes, I loved the Diamond Age also. Actually, I think I've read almost
everything by Neal Stephenson.

~~~
SinFulNard
Cryptonomicon? The only book I ever read to say "I beat you massive book!" and
not for enjoyment. In the end it was a decent romp.

~~~
smartician
I had the endurance to read through Cryptonomicon, it was long but still
enjoyable.

Then I bought all three volumes of the Baroque Cycle, but gave up halfway
through volume 1 and sold them. It was just too much.

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jrumbut
You might also enjoy Philip K Dick. His style is very different than Snow
Crash, but I feel like their visions of the future have a lot in common.

~~~
dllthomas
Reputedly, Stanislaw Lem thought Philip K. Dick was the only good American
sci-fi author, while Philip K. Dick thought Stanislaw Lem was a KGB
conspiracy.

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TYPE_FASTER
I'd suggest the Otherland series: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherland>

