(Part 2) Best historical fiction books according to redditors
We found 5,202 Reddit comments discussing the best historical fiction books. We ranked the 1,843 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
> That I can't live anywhere cause they own it and will charge me and if I don't pay will shoot me.
Now, I'm no real estate attorney, but I believe that when you buy a piece of property from another private citizen, the citizen can't threaten gun play at the time of contractual negotiations or signing.
If you can do this, then I really think that HGTV is missing out on some more exciting programming opportunities. "Flip Or Fire At Will", "The Sisters Brothers", "Love It Or I'll Fucking Shoot You", etc.
The idea of "Thieves Guilds" is not a new idea and did occur many times in history. Secret Societies and mafia like organizations can be found in many places in and in many periods. I specialize in Chinese history, and can answer your question in this context. For a great novel on a Chinese "Thieves Guild" read the Water Margin you can buy the best translation here The original was written in the Ming Dynasty about a group of loyal bandits who go together to form a Robin Hood style band. The idea of a "Robin Hood" band of bandits is not new, and forms the basis of a thieves guild found in many fantasy stories. Secret Societies often were an outgrowth of increased discontent or a way to bring order where centralized rule was lacking. The stories associated reflect real organizations. In China these societies included the Heaven and Earth Society, The Elder Brotherhood society, and can be traced many Rebellions such as the White Lotus Rebellion, Yellow Scarfs Rebellion, and many others. The "Guilds" or secret societies therefore played large roles in bandit organization which could lead to the overthrow of a local leadership.
Prolific writers are also ravenous readers. So if you want to be like the greats: It helps having a source of inspiration. Tolkien was inspired by Norse mythology primarily, and George R R Martin was inspired by the Heptarchy period of English history and Maurice Druon's Accursed Kings series on the French nobility. Both borrowed liberally from history and the Classics.
They took the ideas of their inspiration and made them their own. Whenever they got writer's block they could return to their source material and find new insights into their own works.
So if you're not sure where to start: Look to those writers that inspire you, take their ideas and expand on them in your own meaningful way.
As George R R Martin has said, "To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
Well, we hit the 10000 limit. Reserving this comment for the misc. section.
FREE TIME/FUN/MISC.
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
The Art of War
Steal This Computer Book 4.0: What They Won't Tell You about the Internet
How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish without a Trace
The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey
Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart
Casting the Net: From ARPANET to INTERNET and Beyond thanks sjhill
A Quarter Century of UNIX thanks sjhill
A Reading List For the Self-Taught Computer Scientist thanks zinver
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk thanks segamix
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable thanks AgonistAgent
Snow Crash thanks AgonistAgent
Cryptonomicon thanks Mirple
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765324849
Hope this helped
Soviet planning was based on a system of five-year-plans, the first of which was enacted in 1928. The plans were comprised of the national targets as set down by the upper levels of the party. For instance, the first five-year-plan set a target for replacing the then current agricultural system with the kolkhoz, or collectivized farms.
The five-year-plans were rough guides that mostly dealt with the end states rather than the path to hit the various targets. The day-to-day planning was left to an agency known as Gosplan, or the State Planning Committee. In the absence of private property and a price system, Gosplan had to keep a massive inventory of every input within the economy. Given the targets, Gosplan officials would use a a system known as the method of material balances to allocate inputs to producers. Their decision making made heavy use of linear optimization. They would build production functions for every sector in the economy and would allocate resources based on which allocation maximized production functions relative to five-year-plan targets.
Obviously Gosplan could not perfectly predict the output of each producer. There were literally infinite complications that could occur to cause minor deviations in the plan. Even minor deviations create huge calculation costs, since if output in one sector didn't live up to the projections, it would reduce output in another sector. Since every single input had to be accounted for to fully optimize production, any problem would basically necessitate recalculating the allocation of almost every input in the economy. After de-Stalinization, Gosplan moved to using a partial price system to alleviate this huge calculation burden.
Edit: While not a work of history, Francis Spufford's Red Plenty is a fictionalization of Soviet planning and the people who made it happen. It's a moving and, in my mind, true to history look at this massive process.
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
GRRM hismelf said on his blog: "Look, if you love A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, and want "something like it" to read while you are waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for me to finish THE WINDS OF WINTER, you really need to check out Maurice Druon and THE ACCURSED KINGS".
https://www.amazon.com/Iron-King-Accursed-Kings-Book/dp/0007491263
For those interested, one of my favorite historical novels is about this period of Japan: Silence by Shusaku Endo. [Wiki], [Good Reads], [Amazon], [Endo's obituary], [a blog review].
It's about Christianity in Japan, and missionary work from the perspective of a Portuguese missionary, and the Shimabara Rebellion, and the persecutions that followed, and life as a Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christian"), and what it means to be religious, and torture, and faith, and apostasy, and suffering, and martyrdom, and self-sacrifice vs. the sacrifice of others, and hard questions about the true meaning of moral courage.
It's a book about religion and morality that I think the pious, the non-believing, the wavering, and the "religiously unmusical" (to use Weber's turn of phrase) will all enjoy.
If you're a reader, check out The Terror by Dan Simmons
Peter Hamill's Forever is about a man who arrives in New York City in 1740 and through events becomes immortal as long as he does not leave the island of Manhattan. It's a pretty interesting concept and allows the reader to trace both the character's story, as well as the growth of NYC from the mid-18th century onwards.
If you're asking about a single-volume compilation of all four, I doubt there are any -- at least, none that aren't also major abridgments. A boxed set is possible, but when I went looking for editions, the one that ended up looking best to me was actually a group of sets issued by a single publisher -- 16 volumes divided between 4 boxes. Here they are:
I can't personally vouch for the translations, since I don't read Chinese, but they seem to be well reviewed.
If you love this stuff then ill also recommend [The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August] (https://www.amazon.com/First-Fifteen-Lives-Harry-August-ebook/dp/B00ECE9OD4#nav-subnav)
Same general idea, a very small portion of the population relives their lives from birth each time they die.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.
Wool by Hugh Howey.
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie.
Read through the "Look Inside" previews to see if any of these is right for you.
Came here to suggest Grunts.
Also maybe Soon I Will Be Invincible - lots of super-villain POV.
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart - Despicable characters who think that they are completely justified in what they do.
The Sisters Brothers - similarly about villainous characters, but less extreme.
And maybe Villains by Necessity will come back into print some day. (looks like the plot summary there is for the wrong book - check out the reviews farther down if you're curious)
What other reddits do you surf?
I moderate /r/RATS, /r/Louisiana and /r/OpenChristian. I also read a lot in /r/SquaredCircle, /r/SRSBusiness, /r/SRSDiscussion, /r/polyamory, /r/woahdude and I've been dipping back into /r/Christianity a bit lately as well.
What do you do in your free time?
I read. I reddit. I smoke my pipe and drink my cocktails. I watch pro wrestling. I cuddle. I toy around with making jewelry (trying hammered wire recently) or playing with polymer clay. I'm considering this thing they call "ex ur size" or some such. It involves riding on a bike that goes nowhere. I understand I can read or watch TV while I do it, so I figured what the heck.
What do you read?
Right now I'm going back and forth between The History of White People and A Canticle for Leibowitz. Before that I read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. the most powerful book I've read in the last few months was Silence by Shusaku Endo. You should read it. And then you should read Lamb because you'll need something a bit more jovial. But not until after you've sat with it a while.
What do you watch?
Ring of Honor Wrestling, WWE, Leverage, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother.
Do you Blog?
Yup, though not regularly enough to develop any sort of readership.
Do you game?
I just got my first console since the original NES when I was in junior high. It's a Wii. Every once in a while I'll play Mario Kart of do something on the Wii Fit.
Do you play a musical instrument/sing?
I make noise periodically. I want to do more.
What are your favorite movies?
Absolute number one favorite? Hedwig And the Angry Inch. The only tattoo I have is from that movie. Other favorites include The Big Lebowski, Pump Up The Volume, The Wrestler, Shortbus, Dangerous Beauty, Walk The Line.
What is some favorite music?
My absolute favorite band is Over the Rhine. Behind them, tied for second place, you'll find Boris, the Cure, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. Also up there are Kris Kristofferson, Mischief Brew, the CrimethInc band called Requiem (there are lots of bands called Requiem), The New Orleans Bingo Show. The list goes on for days.
Nice read about the historical massacres and bloodbath of communism:
The Rise and Fall of Communism
Funny story about the contradictions within communism - Red Plenty by Francis Spufford
Make sure you read his story before getting tattooed. He could be a little woman beater or rapist and then you are screwed.
Here is a link to the book.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Outlaws-Translated-Shapiro-Complete-Slipcase/dp/7119016628/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=1MZ1Z84QXW4QO&keywords=outlaws+of+the+marsh&qid=1554200410&s=gateway&sprefix=outlaws+of+the&sr=8-1
Cool pic by the way.
My favourite Suikoden pic is Wu Song fighting a tiger by Kuniyoshi.
Edit- With regards to your question, my advice is just keep look and do as much research as possible. This way you will find images with meaning that resonate with you.
I'd repeat indefinitely. Memorize a few lottery numbers and when to play them. Memorize a few key stocks and when to invest. The world is a big place; even with eternity on my side doubtless I could see it all. Life would be like a giant role-playing game that I play over and over; playing the same physical character each time but different role on each pass. Rich media tycoon; homeless (but secretly rich) drifter; swinging bachelor. The only roles that would I would find difficult to play, at least over and over, would be of Family Man, creating children who wouldn't exist the next time around, winking out of existence except in my memories.
Edit: Reminds me strongly of the book "The first fifteen lives of Harry August"
Best Served Cold by https://www.amazon.com/Best-Served-Cold-Joe-Abercrombie/dp/0316198358
Just...really good low fantasy revenge plot.
After reading a couple of the replies, it came to me that you might enjoy reading Sophie's world. It's a novel, but also a general introduction to Philosophy. Since you're sort of 'starting over' in terms of personal philosophy and looking at the world in a new way, you might find Sophie's journey comforting and fun as well. I picked it up a few years ago while I was living in Japan and couldn't put it down:
http://www.amazon.com/Sophies-World-Novel-History-Philosophy/dp/0425152251
note: I'm linking to the Amazon page because it describes the book better than the Wikipedia page, imho.
Got the perfect one for you - Caleb Carr - The Alienist
edit -don't worry that it's pre '40s - it's excellent
somewhat close to truth.
Yes! I read a great book eons ago about this very subject. Basically Roman nobility wouldn't get ostracized or in trouble for having relationships with their slaves if they had those relations in the right way. I.g. a male nobleman would never perform oral sex on a female slave. That would be beneath him.
Let me see if I can figure out what this book was called. It was a pretty great read! It didn't just focus on sexual relations but on day to day life in ancient Rome as well. I'll make an edit if I can find it!
Edit: I feel like this is it. I could be wrong though. It has been well over ten years since I read it!
A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome: Daily Life, Mysteries, and Curiosities https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933372710/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_fV2yDbDDRA1NF
If you enjoyed Journey to the West, I'd also expect it to recommend Water Margin (a.k.a. Outlaws of the Marsh), Three Kingdoms (a.k.a. Romance of the Three Kingdoms), The Tower of Myriad Mirrors (a.k.a. A Supplement to Journey to the West), Quelling the Demons' Revolt (a.k.a. The Three Sui Quash the Demons' Revolt, a.k.a. The Sorcerer's Revolt), or (if you enjoy short stories), Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
For each of these, I've generally linked to the translation that I understand to be best, though I'm not an expert. But regarding Quelling the Demons' Revolt, I've linked to an upcoming translation by someone well-known for their translations of 17th C. Chinese literature. Its previous translations are very different, because they're based on different texts--a shorter "original" and a later version doubled in length by a similarly famous writer--and I'm not sure which of those the new translation will be based on.
Anyway, Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the Four Great Classical Novels along with several of those listed here, but if you enjoyed the wild adventure elements of Journey to the West, I think you'd want to know about these others too. On the other hand, if Dream of the Red Chamber's plot appeals to you, then you should know about The Plum in the Golden Vase--I'm nearing the end of volume four (out of five) at the moment, and it has been an amazing read.
The Golem and the Jinni
Winter's Tale
And as someone else mentioned The Shadow of the Wind and the follow-ups Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven - they're basically Guillermo del Toro movies waiting to happen.
The Accursed King series by Maurice Dixon.
George RR Martin says this was one of his largest inspirations for A Song of Ice and Fire.
That being said, this series is not fantasy. It's historical fiction. But ASOIAF does often read like historical fiction with some dragons and zombies thrown in.
Forever by Pete Hamill was pretty good.
>This widely acclaimed bestseller is the magical, epic tale of an extraordinary man who arrives in New York in 1740 and remains ... forever. Through the eyes of Cormac O'Connor - granted immortality as long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan - we watch New York grow from a tiny settlement on the tip of an untamed wilderness to the thriving metropolis of today. And through Cormac's remarkable adventures in both love and war, we come to know the city's buried secrets - the way it has been shaped by greed, race, and waves of immigration, by the unleashing of enormous human energies, and, above all, by hope.
These are all books on my list to read from various suggestions. Maybe one will spark your interest:
Every Day "Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere."
1Q84"The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.”
The Mists of Avalon "Here is the magical legend of King Arthur, vividly retold through the eyes and lives of the women who wielded power from behind the throne. A spellbinding novel, an extraordinary literary achievement, THE MISTS OF AVALON will stay with you for a long time to come...."
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao "Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love."
The Fault in Our Stars "Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Agustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."
Cryptonomicon - ciphers, startups, WW2 references and haiku writing marines.
Read the book while you wait for the film. It is really good:
wiki - 遠藤周作 Endo Shusaku - 沈黙 (Chinmoku - Silence)
amazon link
There is an important distinction to be made here, though:
We are all sinners. The Church is for sinners. It is not a pre-condition to be free of sin to enter the Church, nor to remain there. It is a requirement that we repent of and regularly confess our sins, especially our serious sins.
We are not all heretics. Heresy is a serious sin; those who persist in it and do not repent and confess their heresy are barred from Holy Communion. In a very real sense, they remove themselves from the fullness of the Christian life, in a way that (say) a chronic but constantly repentant masturbator does not. Heresy is especially dangerous, both to the soul and to the wider Church, for just this reason, and, recognizing that danger, the Church singles out heresy as one of the very few sins that leads to automatic excommunication. Mercy, of course, is available the instant the heretic shows even a faint desire to repent, but we do heretics a disservice when we deny the special gravity of their action.
TLDR: If you have a choice between being Fr. Rodrigues and Ishiguro, be Ishiguro. Every time.
I'm about half way through The Alienist by Caleb Car and it's awesome. Definitely check it out.
Blood Meridian is shockingly violent and has one of the best evil characters ever written. It is set in the past, but in the USA (mostly; there are some scenes in Mexico), and is one of the best books about violence I've ever read.
Link for Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-golem-and-the-jinni-helene-wecker/1112581266?ean=9780062110855&itm=1&usri=the+golem+and+the+jinni
It is the same price on Kindle as well:
http://www.amazon.com/Golem-Djinni-Helene-Wecker-ebook/dp/B008QXVDJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418748008&sr=8-1&keywords=the+golem+and+the+jinni
I picked this up, I've heard many good things!
Have you read Gregory Maguire's Wicked or The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker? Both have a strong literary bent and a ton of allusions to other works.
Wicked is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz with the Wicked Witch of the West as a political activist protagonist. The Golem and the Jinni is about immigrant life in 1899 New York... Except the immigrants are a newly-formed Jewish golem and a just-released vaguely Bedouin jinni.
This wasn't a short story, but it has some similarities to what you described: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.
https://www.amazon.com/First-Fifteen-Lives-Harry-August-ebook/dp/B00ECE9OD4
He sorta time travels, but not from any machine. When he dies he starts his life back at the time he was born with his previous memories. Other people have that sorta ability too. There is a sorta police interrogation scene where he describes stuff like this to them. Probably not it though.
the sister's brothers
https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Brothers-Patrick-deWitt/dp/0062041282
a soon to be film starring Jake gyllenhall, Joaquin Phoenix, and John C reilly
The Sisters Brothers. Been quite a while since I read any SF that would qualify as awesome.
It's a different ship, but I found Dan Simmons' The Terror to be a good read (though the whole Masque of the Red Death play in the middle was a tad unbelievable...)
I highly recommend The Terror.
Theres a supernatural element to it but it's a fantastic read. AMC bought the rights to it last year but they haven't haven't ordered it to series unfortunately.
I like Sophie's World.
You might find Gaarder's Sophie's World of interest.
They literally are novelists.
If you're looking for worlds, nicksan is definitively accurate. Ayn Rand's work represents a like-minded ideology perfectly.
But did you know that there's an actual Bioshock Novel that was released a bit ago--a prequel? I'd suggest you give the work a read, It's great.
http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765324849
When I was reading a lot of true crime, The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer was a book that really stuck with me. You know, and its'a bit cliche, but if we're talking fiction, I really enjoyed both Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris was writing in his prime, well researched, true crime format (something he abandoned with Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising), and it doesn't get much easier to read.
Depending on what you like, Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West is one of the most violent books I've ever read. It's from Cormac McCarthy, definitely literature, definitely a western, and...historical fiction, and wow, it's incredible. The antagonist, Judge Holden...he's probably a serial killer, it's debatable, but IMO he's every bit as large of a character as Hannibal or Darth Vader.
Well, not too Orthodox, but ones I have on my ereader which I liked...
The ebook is also currently on sale.
http://www.amazon.com/Golem-Jinni-P-S-Helene-Wecker-ebook/dp/B008QXVDJ0/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-golem-and-the-jinni-helene-wecker/1112581266
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-golem-and-the-jinni
Here's a book for you: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECE9OD4/
The Accursed Kings is a set of french novels about the French Royals, which Martin accredits as the inspiration for Thrones.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Iron-King-Accursed-Kings-Book/dp/0007491263
The Sisters Brothers Patrick DeWitt https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Brothers-Patrick-deWitt/dp/0062041282
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, historical fiction and fantasy based in beginning of the 20th century New York - 500 pages, standalone.
The Terror by Dan Simmons is recommend on here a lot. Exactly what you said. People stuck on a ship with something haunting them.
http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Novel-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316008079/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370636500&sr=1-1&keywords=the+terror+dan+simmons
Well . . . if you're looking at a book simply as a collection of text, I too have never feared a line of text. What books allow, is a slow building of fear that require quite a bit of character development. I don't read horror novels waiting to be frightened, and truthfully read very little horror. The fear just happens. To be honest, it's a different type of fear - more of an uneasy feeling really. Certainly, a book can't have, what my son calls, "The scary jump out scenes". But if we exchange the term fear with edgy, here are a list of my favorite books with an "Edge":
[The Passage] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Passage-Novel-Book-Trilogy/dp/0345528174)
[The Terror] (http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Novel-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316008079/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404481514&sr=1-1&keywords=terror)
The Stand
Carrion Comfort
Desperation
I am Legend
The Sparrow
Night
Frankenstein
All Quite on the Western Front
Hunger
Blood Meridian
Watchers
The Minus Man
In no particular order - Not the usual suggestions either. Hope it helps, and happy reading!
Historical fiction one for you to try - Dan Simmons' The Terror -
"The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape. A haunting, gripping story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core."
While I have not read it myself, The Terror seems like it might be a good beach read.
Also you can try Creature which I read when it was titled White Shark. Good read if you are into amphibious Nazi-created killing machines.
I love Joe Abercrombie's fantasy noir/grimdark. It's long on swords and short on magic. If you want to emulate someone, I can't think of a better choice. He writes fully realized characters, even for his bit parts. He avoids cliches in his phrasing and dialogue, so everything seems fresh. And he does great action scenes. I think the best introduction to Abercrombie is Best Served Cold.
I think it's also important to read Mark Lawrence, starting with Prince of Thorns.
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. It's set in the same world as the First Law trilogy, but its a standalone. It's actiony low fantasy fun.
I loved The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Go read it!
Since searching wikipedia turned up the Timeline of Non-Sexual Social Nudity(TIL) I'm just going to guess you're you're looking for a more techie true to life rendition of the hacker archetype based on the amazon synopsis.
Based on that I'd recommend:
Cryptonomicon
just.go.read.it.right.now.
It may take a little effort to get into, damn thing is a tomb, but give it a chance. You will not be disappoint.
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Stealing the Network Series
How to Own a Box
How to Own a Continent
How to Own an Identity
How to Own a Shadow
comments
These are told in a chapter/viewpoint style, each chapter is usually written by a different knowledgeable, and sometimes security famous, security dude. Out of those I've only read How to Own an Identity so far, but it was pretty good and and my guess is that the rest hold up to that standard, so dive in. They are a series from what I understand so reading them in order is probably a good idea, but not completely necessary.
_____
And then for flair (these are more scifi/cyberpunk-ish; so if that's not your thing avoid):
Snowcrash
comments
The main character's name is Hiro Protagonist. No seriously. He's a ninja, he's a hacker, he lives in a U-Store-it container, and he delivers pizza for the Mob in a post-collapse USA, can you really not read this book now?
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The Diamond Age
comments
All about the practical social implications of nanotechnolgy told through the eyes of a young girl, her father, and an assortment of disposable associates.
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The Sprawl Trilogy
Neuromancer
Count Zero
Mona Lisa Overdrive
comments
I've only read Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive, which were both great, so I'm guessing Count Zero is probably good too.
Similar to Snowcrash in the lone gun hacker sense, except with more drugs a little bit more of a scattered tone.
And if all else fails there's always the DEF CON reading list.
ninja edits because I suck at markdown
Cryptonomicon, assuming he hasn't read it already. It should be right up his alley.
It really depends on what you are interested in. There is quite a lot to choose from, even in English.
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is a great novel, especially if you're interested in philosophy. Although I first read it as a teenager; so it could be I remember it with rose tinted glasses.
Popular Music from Vittula Is a really funny coming-of-age story set in rural Sweden in the 1960s.
You could try Hunger by Knut Hamsun if you want a classic.
City of Thieves by David Benioff. Hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time, it's also cited as a major inspiration for the video game The Last of Us.
City of Thieves is an exciting thriller/coming of age book set in Leningrad during the siege of World War 2. Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but its a fun and clever page-turner.
There is a book that talks about sort of the beginning of Rapture from my understanding. Here it is available on Amazon
http://www.amazon.ca/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765324849
SILENCE
Is that from Game of Thrones...?
I really enjoy the Irenaean theodicy, and if literature is your cup of tea you should read Silence. It's a historical novel about the persecution of the secret Christians in Japan, and it has some very beautiful thoughts on the problem of evil.
Oh! And the Brothers Karamazov, too.
EDIT: Yeah...Princess Bride, that makes a lot more sense...it's a Wesley line. For some reason I pictured Jorah Mormont (from Game of Thrones) saying it...
Oh, there's much darker. I think the book was ultimately very sweet and touching even amid the harsh setting.
I'm with you, I don't like dard for dark's sake. But I think there's a big difference between Choke and, say, The Alienist which is the darkest book I've ever read, but also one of the best.
Karl Marx doesn't really give us a system of government. He gives us a critique of capitalism, with the occasional remark about how we might not be alienated under another system. If you really want to see how Marx talks about future governance, don't look to the Communist Manifesto, but to this later essay:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critique_of_the_Gotha_Program
Lenin is the thinker you want instead of Marx if you need to talk about actually existing socialism.
This novel might also interest you:
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Plenty-Francis-Spufford/dp/1555976042
Edit: Also, there is no way of analyzing "objective effectiveness of hypothetical systems of government." You should define what you mean by "successful" as it pertains to your interests, and see how that trait is dealt with in the various thinkers that you read. You will not have the time or the space to do what you're proposing to do, which isn't a problem! But you should take some time and try to shrink down this project to Communism in a particular time or genre (i.e. literature or political pamphlet)
Since I'm technically on spring break from classes, I'm about to start the People's History of the US as suggested by my cousin or this book my uncle got me on the economy of the Soviet Union.
What kind of books are you usually into?
EDIT: Here's the book about the Soviet Union
If you want more from the Roman world, I enjoyed Alberto Angela, A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome: Daily Life, Mysteries, and Curiosities. Not Christian nor a novel, but rather a good solid history and entertaining. It is better than the borderline cheesy novel-by-Christian-scholar books, IMHO.
This is probably a bit outside what you intended but the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and Three Kingdoms have many really good political intrigue plot lines to steal from as well as hundreds of npc archetypes. And they are both fun to read as well.
I've got this version but haven't started on it yet.
I've read Unconquered, and it was pretty good. The Author also wrote a book about Bioshock that was really good. I haven't read The Fallen yet though.
Here
There's this.
amazon links
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West
Whittaker Chambers: A Biography not sure if this is the one he was mentioning
Nomadology: The War Machine
The Golem and the Jinni was an excellent book!
For interesting time travel concepts that are like the Butterfly Effect or Inception....then:
The Accursed Kings series is amazing imo.
I think you might enjoy The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova based on your like of WWZ. It isn’t a oral history but it is a vampire story deeply based in history: https://www.amazon.com/Historian-Elizabeth-Kostova/dp/0316067946
For something with a bit more levity but still engaging and fun to read, try The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. It’s a story about two brothers who happen to be Wild West bounty hunters. Definitely has aspects of magical realism sprinkled in for good measure. https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Brothers-Patrick-deWitt/dp/0062041282
Lastly, if you’re into science fiction, Wool by Hugh Howey is a collection of short stories about a society forced to live in massive underground silos after an unknown disaster: https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Kindle-Motion-Silo-ebook/dp/B0071XO8RA
This one! https://www.amazon.com/Golem-Jinni-Novel-P-S/dp/0062110845
I read this one years ago and it was really good as well: https://www.amazon.com/Alif-Unseen-G-Willow-Wilson/dp/0802121225
How about The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker?
Someone else already mentioned Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Also, try The Alchemist by Donna Boyd and the Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier. Both have a beautiful and evocative way with words.
You might enjoy The Golem and the Jinni...It's set in turn of the century New York, and has strong cultural and religious overtones. The magical aspects of it are quite secondary to everything else.
A Winters Tale...the movie apparently sucked, but the book has stuck with me for quite some time. It's a lyrical piece of magic realism, much stronger on the realism. Another book on turn of the century New York.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell may be a bit more magic than you'd like, but it's astonishingly good. It's what Jane Austen would have produced if she'd decided to write a fantasy novel.
The Night Circus is good.
Here it is in novel form!
Well duh, otherwise you wouldn't be posting in this subreddit, but there's a lot of different types of fantasy/scifi. Do you tend to like adventure novels a la lord of the rings, 'farmboy becomes savior' novels like the wheel of time. Do you like suspense? Or do you typically enjoy more 'character driven' stories? Etc. Fantasy is really just a setting.
Imajica by Clive Barker is a mystery/horror novel that generally gets strong reviews and the audiobook is 37 hours long so you get a lot of bang for your buck.
The golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is a character driven novel about a Golem and jinni who are both learning to live in a early 1900's new york city. It's also over 30 hours long.
Others mentioned ready player one and the martian. Ready player one is great. The primary criticism you'll see is that it's too 'fanservicy' to eighties/videogame themes. It's the 50 shades for video game nerds. The martian is also great, though chances are you saw the movie. It's a suspense novel about a man stuck on mars.
Not quite a pirate ship, but check out The Terror.
If anyone wants to read more about the HMS Terror, I have a great book for you: The Terror by Dan Simmons, frickin fantastic novel.
The Terror by Dan Simmons.
It might have a lot of white space...but I think it could turn out pretty good with the right artist.
If you're into something with a bit more of a fantasy vibe, Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie might fit the bill.
The main character absolutely fits "The colder and deadlier, the better."
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Served-Cold-Joe-Abercrombie/dp/0316198358
Good shit right here.
It might be Forever, by Pete Hamill
>In the aftermath of a slave revolt, Cormac saves the life of an African magician and is granted the power of immortality--provided he never sets foot off Manhattan Island. Not a bad deal, since it allows the ever-observant Cormac to be eyewitness to some of history's greatest spectacles--from the American Revolution to the Draft Riots, from the rise and fall of Tammany Hall to the stock market crash. Oh, and that business of September 11, 2001, too.
Forever by Pete Hamill. If you happen to have seen the cutesy ABC tv adaptation, the book is much darker and beautifully written.
You have so much wonderful reading ahead of you! I am almost a tiny bit jealous. :-)
Try Tamora Pierce's novels for sure. They are all good, but her earlier books are geared more towards young readers than some of her newer ones. Personally, I would start with the [Protector of the Small] (http://www.amazon.com/First-Test-Protector-Small-1/dp/0375829059/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407034954&sr=1-1&keywords=first+test) series. If you like it, you can go back and read the two earlier Tortall series (the Song of the Lioness series and the Wild Magic series). If you like it but find it a little juvenile, read the [Daughter of the Lioness] (http://www.amazon.com/Tricksters-Choice-Daughter-Lioness-Book/dp/0375828796/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407035106&sr=1-1&keywords=tricksters+choice) series and the [Beka Cooper] (http://www.amazon.com/Terrier-Legend-Beka-Cooper-Book/dp/0375838163/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407035135&sr=1-1&keywords=becca+cooper) series instead.
For the Arthurian element, definitely consider the Mists of Avalon, which is the Arthurian myth retold from all female POVs, including Morgaine (aka Morgan Le Fay).
However, without a shadow of a doubt, my all time favorite fantasy novel with a female POV is the Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon. It's actually a trilogy published as an omnibus edition and is one of my all-time favorite books. I have read it a million times and I still feel the same sense of joy when I get ready to start reading it again. Honestly, I can't really describe the impact this book has had on me, especially as a woman who loves fantasy and sci-fi. I hope you will give it a try!
*edited to add links and fix a few embarrassing typos!
If you want a different take on the whole saga, check out Mists of Avalon. Truly a great modern reversal/rethink of the legends.
This is probably gonna hurt...
http://www.amazon.com/Sophies-World-Novel-History-Philosophy/dp/0425152251
Sophie's World -When I was around 19. I havent tried re-reading it for years, but I think I found it at perfect age.
David Benioff was such a fantastic author. He doesn't write novels anymore. I know I'm bringing on the down votes but this whole GoT thing has sidetracked him from what he does best and I'm really disappointed. City of Thieves was a fantastic book set in Russia during WWII. I've heard he's trying to get it made into a movie.
In that case I strongly advise the beauty killer series.
Loved this one, City of Thieves. From the critically acclaimed author of The 25th Hour and When the Nines Roll Over and co-creator of the HBO series Game of Thrones, a captivating novel about war, courage, survival — and a remarkable friendship that ripples across a lifetime.
The collected short stories of Sherlock Holmes and all the Agatha Christie books are also something I think every one must read.
Everyone in this comment thread should read City of Thieves!
http://www.amazon.com/City-Thieves-Novel-David-Benioff/dp/0452295297
If you're looking for a prequel, I'd suggest the recently published book Rapture. The action jumps around a bit beginning in the second third, but I found myself engrossed in the rise and fall of Andrew Ryan's world. Highly recommended.
There exists a great novel that goes into this topic.
Silence by Shusaku Endo
Check it out, well worth the read.
http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Shusaku-Endo/dp/0800871863
Silence by Shusaku Endo
This is a great book about the persecution of priests and Christians in Japan. It's a pretty interesting and rather shocking fictional tale based on historical truth. I had to read it for my study abroad class, but I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
Edit: FYI I'm agnostic-atheist.
The Ecstacy Club
The Alienist
This is fiction, so not sure if it fits the bill but "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr. A book about the first "psychologists" working as profilers to find a serial killer in 1890s NYC.
The problem is that Communism made its debut too soon and in the wrong place. I'm going to quote from Francis Spufford's Red Plenty. You should buy it. It's fantastic.
>The problem was that Marx had predicted the wrong revolution. He had said that socialism would come, not in backward agricultural Russia, but in the most developed and advanced industrial countries: in England, or Germany, or the United States. Capitalism (he’d argued) created misery, but it also created progress, and the revolution that was going to liberate mankind from misery would only happen once capitalism had contributed all the progress that it could, and all the misery too. At that point, there would be so much money invested by capitalists desperate to keep their profits up, that the infrastructure for producing things would have attained a state of near-perfection. At the same time, the search for higher profits would have driven the wages of the working class down to the point of near-destitution. It would be a world of wonderful machines and ragged humans. When the contradiction became unbearable, the workers would act. They would abolish a social system that was absurdly more savage and unsophisticated than the production lines in the factories. And paradise would very quickly lie within their grasp, because Marx expected that the victorious socialists of the future would be able to pick up the whole completed apparatus of capitalism – all its beautiful machinery – and carry it forward into the new society, still humming, still prodigally producing, only doing so now for the benefit of everybody, not for a tiny class of owners.
If the USSR hadn't come about and poisoned the words "Communism" and "Socialism" (or, I should clarify, caused the West to poison those terms), there would still be some hope of Marx's dream coming about. As it is now, though, no matter how bad it gets, every's just going to go "Fuck Communism!" and trudge on about their repressed way.
A day in the life of Ancient Rome was really interesting and a fun read.
Well, it was an Italian book by Alberto Angela but I don't remember which one exactly... It was either this one:
https://www.amazon.it/life-ancient-Rome-Alberto-Angela/dp/1933372710
or this one:
https://www.amazon.it/Reach-Rome-Journey-Through-Following/dp/0847841286
In any case, they are both worth a read.
https://www.amazon.com/Legions-Rome-Definitive-History-Imperial/dp/1250004713/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1554330687&sr=1-1 This a reference book rather then a story but one of the best books on the subject.
https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Romans-Robert-Knapp/dp/0674284224/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=invisible+romans&qid=1554330866&s=books&sr=1-1
Looks more at the average people
​
https://www.amazon.com/Day-Life-Ancient-Rome-Curiosities/dp/1933372710/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SQM52LIXLPEI&keywords=a+day+in+the+life+of+ancient+rome&qid=1554330990&s=books&sprefix=a+day+in+the+life+of+Anc%2Cstripbooks%2C175&sr=1-1
This one is more story then dry text book.
​
https://www.amazon.com/Around-Roman-Table-Feasting-Ancient/dp/0226233472/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HXK35FACBK1&keywords=around+the+roman+table&qid=1554331210&s=books&sprefix=around+the+roman+%2Cstripbooks%2C168&sr=1-1
Translating Roman recipes mostly from Apicius but with other sources.
Not all may be what you are looking for but I own them and have enjoyed them. I really mean it about the first one.
And if you buy good condition used books your not even half way through your allotment at this point.
Outlaws of the Marsh (This was a very fun read back when I was in highschool, there's a bit of dark humor too. Of the books listed here Outlaws of the Marsh is the funniest and very epic)
https://www.amazon.com/Outlaws-Chinese-Classics-Classic-Volumes/dp/7119016628/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=outlaws+of+the+marsh&qid=1558135198&s=gateway&sr=8-1
​
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (The novel is intriguing and epic but might get too confusing depending on the age and person reading it- lots of characters and politics both personal and national)
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Kingdoms-Chinese-Classics-Volumes/dp/7119005901/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3Q6KP7GL4E200&keywords=romance+of+the+three+kingdoms&qid=1558135222&s=gateway&sprefix=Romance+of+the+three%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-3
​
Journey to the West (The Monkey King. I admit I personally don't like the Monk & Su Wu Kong chapters and mostly enjoyed the Su Wukong's creation, desk job in heaven chapters and his rebellion. My man Su Wukong should've rebelled again, screw working for a living in heaven and their stupid workplace bureaucracy)
https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Chinese-Classics-Classic-Volumes/dp/7119016636/ref=sr_1_4?crid=C0DF58D83YS3&keywords=journey+to+the+west&qid=1558135303&s=gateway&sprefix=Journey+to+the+west%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-4
​
There's also Dreams of the Red Mansion but I never finished it so can't really recommend it.
The original "Suikoden" is a famous novels about resistances (exaggerated historical facts) written in China over 500 years ago.
Konami's Suikoden is called "Gensou Suikoden" in Japan. Meaning "Fantastic Suikoden". It continues to maintain a strong respect for the original novel at the plot level. (108 members and their waterside castle, the mighty empire...)
If you challenge this project, please read the original novel once.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/7119016628
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804840954
> Underdogs using superior strategy to overcome an oppressor (business, culture, military)
For military strategy nothing beats the Three Kingdoms Romance, but it can get quite confusing and dry as it has a huge number of cast and can get quite repetitive.
Maybe you should try The Water Margin first. It's a tale of a band of 108 robbers forced to rebel against the central government. Somewhat like Robin Hood and his merry band, but much more violent. Many people say that the Sydney Shapiro's translation is the best.
> Low-tech Invention Stories
Check out The Genius of China. It's a distillation of the work of a famous expert on Chinese science, Joseph Needham.
To get a start on general Chinese history, you can also check out Understanding China Through Comics. Maybe it's less boring and easier to get started with comics?
non mobile link:
http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley-ebook/dp/B003OUXECE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408385444&sr=8-1&keywords=bioshock+rapture+book
Perhaps, bioshock? https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B003OUXECE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
I would ask this question /r/books, I am curious to know as well. I was looking with something futuristic but with retro aesthetics to read and couldn't find any either.
Ben Nichols - The Last Pale Light in the West
Really solid dark country inspired by Cormac McCarthy's book Blood Meridian. I particularly like the title track.
It's dense but very rewarding. It's an, "epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion" and there's a dancing bear. Best book ever written.
you have a delusional belief about reality. reality is impossible to understand on an absolute level. direct communication is impossible. transmission of true intent is impossible.
we learn a symbolic system of expression (language), and we identify with our use of those symbols in our thoughts. we also have animal impulses that can fill our mind, and sometimes we identify with these, and other times we feel controlled by them. for example, does hunger feel like you?
in any case, any communication is magic. people have been working on this language (collection of symbols) forever. this language is somehow transmuted and evolved by needs and wants of humans back since the dawn of language. when you say "mother" or "car", it evokes a set of impressions within you. you might say "mother" and it will give you a positive emotional tone, but you're saying it to another person who has a negative emotional tone. everyone's symbolic system of impressions and associations is different.
still, people argue over the technicalities of certain symbols using nothing but other symbols. we argue over the technicalities of those symbols. we are doing this with squiggles and lines and sounds, like an occultist reciting invocations.
we are all completely fucking mad, wandering around in the dark. you are depressed because you think that we're not supposed to be this way, but we are. it's the only way for us. communication is magic, so the best option available is get better at magic. stop using magic to frame the world negatively and demotivate yourself.
i can't convince you of this shit. i would encourage you to find some sort of developmental spiritual practice. i can't tell you what.
the most convincing treatise on the madness of humans i've ever read is beelzebub's tales to his grandson, but you have to make the effort to read it. if you prefer novels, the road and blood meridian by cormac mccarthy or slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut give some sort of picture of the madness of the world. aleister crowley has a ton of fascinating writings. the book of lies and the book of law are short and strange.
you think you know things that you have no idea about. nobody can help you unless you let go of this.
You are totally awesome.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XT60E0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1RHM3VGJHM5FM&coliid=I2G5TZGNC85CGX
This is a question that fascinates me to this day as I've always been absolutely enamored with America's westward expansion during the 19th century. I love western movies/books/shows (and yeah, you bet your ass I'm deep into Red Dead Redemption 2 right now), but I've known since I was a kid when we learned about the era in school that those stories are usually exaggerated if not outright fabricated with some exceptions.
That said, in my experience, a lot of the wild west "mythology," usually takes a kernel of truth of something that did in fact happen and either exaggerates it and/or portrays that sort of event as being common all across the Western US. Obvious examples would be the OK Corral -- something that did happen but 1) has been exaggerated (and romanticized) and 2) was pretty much a one-off thing, yet movies/stories would have you believe that kind of thing happened in all manner of towns. It certainly makes for excellent and entertaining stories that in some cases do capture the spirit of the era even if there's little truth to the story being told, but they aren't exactly representative of the reality of the era.
However, I do want to draw attention to a true story that inspired my favorite book of all time: Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. If you haven't read the book, then go read it. It is a masterpiece of American literature and one of the best ever written, period. Some refer to it as an anti-western as it takes place in 1850 along the Texas/Mexico border region and follows the Glanton Gang -- an actual gang of outlaws and ne'er-do-wells who went hunting for and scalped Apaches as mercenary work for Mexican authorities. The story (both in McCarthy's book and in actual history) shows the brutal, bloody, horrifying violence they committed and the atrocities they left in their wake, eventually killing agrarian Indian tribes and ordinary Mexican citizens for the hell of it and scalping them as well.
McCarthy based his book on the autobiography of Samuel Chamberlain titled, "My Confession." Chamberlain was one of the people who rode with the Glanton Gang and both saw and participated in the horrible shit they did. The Glanton Gang was ended with the "Glanton Massacre." The gang became partners in a ferry operation at the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River. The Yuma Crossing was a popular crossing for people looking to head to California during the gold rush and, true to form, the Glanton Gang began kidnapping and killing people and stealing their belongings and gold, including Mexicans, Americans and Indians. It didn't take long for their sins to come back to haunt them, as a band of Quechan raided them one morning and killed nearly the entire gang.
I mention the above story because it serves as an example of what I described above. The Glanton Gang was a real gang of brutal, murderous outlaws who killed and robbed basically everyone they came across throughout Mexico, Texas, Arizona, etc. In many ways they are the kind of evil gang you'd expect to see in a wild west story. The thing is (as far as I know -- I'm not a historian), gangs like that weren't as common as those stories would have you believe.
John Joel Glanton
A pretty good short summary of the Glanton Gang and My Confession
Amazon link to Blood Meridian because it's a great book worth reading
The Golem and the Jinni (fantasy New York in 1899) comes immediately to mind.
Read The Golem and the Jinni - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008QXVDJ0 TWO immortal protagonists for the price of one. Plus it is a wonderful story.
Amazon
Google
iBook
B&N
Kobo
The Iron King by Maurice Druon is quite good so far; I'm about half way through. The ebook is currently on sale for $1.99. George RR Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire (more popularly know as Game of Thrones) recommended it for historical fantasy fans. Here's the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Iron-King-Accursed-Kings-Book/dp/0007491263/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371230196&sr=1-2&keywords=the+iron+king
I remembered and solved it myself! The Iron King by Maurice Druon. Also wrong war, it was the Hundred Years War. It was actually the responses that helped me realize it was the wrong war. Thank you!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0007491263/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_o1jIDbFMSC95Y
You might be intrested in the The Accursed Kings Series. Its about the french royal familly in the high middle ages. It starts out around the time when the king goes after the templars. Its a lot of politcs and familly matters. It his really close to what actually happens, I always like that.
This one is the first: http://www.amazon.com/Iron-King-Accursed-Kings-Book/dp/0007491263
The Accursed Kings series by Maurice Druon. One of the inspirations for ASOIAF. Martin even wrote the forward to an English edition of the series.
>Over the years, more than one reviewer has described my fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, as historical fiction about history that never happened, flavoured with a dash of sorcery and spiced with dragons. I take that as a compliment. I have always regarded historical fiction and fantasy as sisters under the skin, two genres separated at birth. My own series draws on both traditions … and while I undoubtedly drew much of my inspiration from Tolkien, Vance, Howard, and the other fantasists who came before me, A Game of Thrones and its sequels were also influenced by the works of great historical novelists like Thomas B. Costain, Mika Waltari, Howard Pyle … and Maurice Druon, the amazing French writer who gave us the The Accursed Kings, seven splendid novels that chronicle the downfall of the Capetian kings and the beginnings of the Hundred Years War.
>Druon’s novels have not been easy to find, especially in English translation (and the seventh and final volume was never translated into English at all). The series has twice been made into a television series in France, and both versions are available on DVD … but only in French, undubbed, and without English subtitles. Very frustrating for English-speaking Druon fans like me.
>The Accursed Kings has it all. Iron kings and strangled queens, battles and betrayals, lies and lust, deception, family rivalries, the curse of the Templars, babies switched at birth, she-wolves, sin, and swords, the doom of a great dynasty … and all of it (well, most of it) straight from the pages of history. And believe me, the Starks and the Lannisters have nothing on the Capets and Plantagenets.
>Whether you’re a history buff or a fantasy fan, Druon’s epic will keep you turning pages. This was the original game of thrones. If you like A Song of Ice and Fire, you will love The Accursed Kings.
>George R.R. Martin
As an Englishman I'm actually rather interested in American history, mainly in the greater context of the conflicts with France happening at the time. If you enjoy GRRM's series I would recommend you read either some narrative histories or some historical fiction.
The Plantagenets by Dan Jones is extremely good as a cursory introduction to the beginnings of the English monarchy. It starts with the anarchy and makes it's way up to the fall of Richard II to the Lords Appellant and Henry IV that was so fantastically dramatised in Shakespeares play of the same name.
Dan Jones also wrote some terrific narrative history on the Wars of the Roses. He's a young historian, more focused on the narrative than the analysis but his bibliography is impressive enough.
For historical fiction, look no further than The Accursed Kings
It's a terrific look at the end of the Capetian dynasty and the set up for the Hundred Years War, where Edward III claimed to be the successor to the Capetians by English inhetitance laws and the French claimed he was not due to their new found love of Salic inheritance law. This was truly the war that forged the nation states of France and England and set them apart from each other.
Give it a read, although I'm not sure whether the last couple have been translated yet.
The Accursed Kings series from Maurice Druont are the main inspiration for ASOIAF. And it's a great series.
[The Brothers Sisters] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Sisters-Brothers-Patrick-deWitt/dp/0062041282/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395954070&sr=8-1&keywords=the+brothers+sisters) is the story of two brothers who work as hired assassins. An excellent read!
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Sisters Brothers
To Kill a Mockingbird
Any of the 'Dortmunder' comedy/crime novels by Donald E. Westlake, starting with "The Hot Rock".
and
["The Sisters Brothers"] (http://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Brothers-Patrick-deWitt/dp/0062041282/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373319565&sr=1-1&keywords=sisters+brothers) by Patrick deWitt
The Sisters Brothers.
Loved The Golem and the Jinni. Gave me my first book hangover in a really long time.
I would say The Golem and the Jinni.https://www.amazon.com/Golem-Jinni-Novel-P-S/dp/0062110845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469853610&sr=8-1&keywords=helen+wecker
Or The Magicians by Lev Grossman. https://www.amazon.com/Magicians-Novel-Trilogy/dp/0452296293/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469853727&sr=8-2&keywords=the+magicians
The Golem and the Jinni was just excellent. Fantasy set in 1920s New York.
Would this book be okay, used is A-OKAY! YAY BOOKS AND YAY YOU!
What kind of books do you like to curl up with?
ALL OF THEM.
I just like reading. Reading's my favorite.
And physical copies. Because dat book smell. So good.
I'm currently reading Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni and it is super good.
Andrew knows nothing about Star Trek. so Greg explains the most exciting and interesting parts to him - politics and economics.
-Is it weird that the government space “scientists” have torpedos and lasers and ranks like “Admiral” and “Lieutenant”?
-Is it weird that even though it’s supposed to be a multi-species, multi-cultural utopia, all the leadership positions are held by humans, and mostly white dude humans?
-What if Call of Duty culture was a planet?
-Thought Experiment of The Week: Donald Trump in a Post-Scarcity Economy. We recorded this before he was your kleptarch-elect.
-Utopia Bottlenecks
-Universal Basic Income makes things more like Star Trek. Tell your local representatives.
-The human spirit of adventure! (as an insidious government plot!)
-A really weird coincidence suggests dark forces haunting your hosts!
Trigger warnings: Rape, Abortion
Recommendations:
Dillinger Escape Plan: Dissociation
Dan Simmons: The Terror
Dan Simmons: Hyperion
Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E1 "The Child"
Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E9 "Measure of a Man"
(The entire Star Trek franchise is available on Netflix)
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Music courtesy PANDAS
>the Terror
I was not expecting this show to be as amazing as it is, and I read the book. The casting, writing, and cinematography have blown me away so far; granted we are only two episodes in so far. I'm very excited about where this is going, the tension and atmosphere alone would make Hitchcock jealous. Hope anyone reading this is enjoying it as much as I am; if you haven't heard of it yet, the book is also very much worth checking out as well!
>There's also Mute, the City and the City
Haven't heard of these, I'll check them out now. Thanks for the recommendation, kind internet stranger!
Yes they do. For instance some recent Fantasy novels (by Joe Abercrombie) I expressly picked up the UK version instead of the US version since the US covers are fugly in comparison.
US: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Served-Cold-Joe-Abercrombie/dp/0316198358/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323368339&sr=1-15
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Served-Cold-Joe-Abercrombie/dp/0575082488/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323368376&sr=8-1
The US versions always seem to have some tight-leather clad women looking all edgy while the UK versions have more classy covers in my opinion.
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie.
Joe Abercrombie. Best Served Cold is a stand-alone book and is a good introduction to the world. If you like it, he's got a whole series.
I really enjoyed this one. http://www.amazon.com/Forever-A-Novel-Pete-Hamill/dp/0316735698
"The magical, epic tale of an extraordinary man who arrives in New York in 1740 and remains ... forever"
Forever by Peter Hammell is one of my favorites, it's slow to start but after the first chapter, I was hooked! Another is by a local Connecticut author it's based on his personal experience in Ukraine at the fall of the Soviet Union while learning about Chernobyl Journey To Chernobyl: ENCOUNTERS IN A RADIOACTIVE ZONE by Glenn Cheney, the Amazon reviews for both a mixed, but I loved them.
Forever?
https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Novel-Pete-Hamill/dp/0316735698
The Mists of Avalon—a retelling of Arthurian legend from the female characters' perspectives.
I'm not sure about the red riding hood part, but could it be the Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley? Some covers are kind of green and purple.
Have you read The Mists of Avalon?
http://www.amazon.com/Mists-Avalon-Marion-Zimmer-Bradley/dp/0345350499
I never liked Snow Crash much although not as bad as the Baroque cycle. Of all Stephenson's books: Anathem and Diamond Age are excellent and Cryptonomicon and The Cobweb are very good.
Edit: grammar and links
Cryptonomicon
After I powered through the first 100-200 pages I couldn't put it down (This is not sarcasm) It made me realize some (Cant think of the word here... Amazing? Earth Shattering? Life altering?, meh) things! Such as there is no "chance". For example we say the flip of the coin in a chance thing, but it isn't, if you could replicate all the variables (how hard you hit the coin, the angle at which you hit the coin etc.) the coin would land on the same side every time.
It's long too! I think it was at 1000 pages? It had me reading a good two weeks before I finished it... That was in a third world country where I had nothing to do BUT read.
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0380973464
Not horror, but this one is brilliant:
The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan.
Also very good: Cryptonomicon.
Disclaimer: I haven't read Chronic City, so I don't know exactly what you're after, but here's some real/unreal/you're not quite sure what's going on fiction.
Sophie's World Awesome book, I've read it at least 3 times
Shutter Island
> This is where I'd disagree with you. I think you should maybe check out some higher level apologetics, or philosophical defenses of theism, to see how believers attempt to respond to that charge.
Fair enough. I will withhold judgment until I've had a chance to understand how higher apologetics deals with evidence.
> If a Christian says "our claims in no way rely on modern claims of X supernatural ability" then it's hard to see how modern claims of supernatural happening can really relate to theist claims. Again, I think the keys are the Resurrection and the Incarnation.
I remember being taken aback when I first realized that James Randi considered religious claims as perfectly eligible for the $1 million dollar prize. So I can understand that religious people don't see themselves reflected in ghost hunters, or UFO abductees. But on the other hand, I suspect that users of homeopathic medicine would similarly take umbrage at being lumped in with cryptozoologists. Whatever you commonly practice doesn't seem strange to you.
What I'm struggling with is how an outside observer might distinguish Christianity from other superstitions, or from other religious traditions. As I said above, I'll withhold judgment until I can read some higher apologetics.
> I'd reply with the question of what sort of claims that are scientifically testable does classical theism make that have not been verified
Unfortunately, it's been years since I read it, and I gave my copy to a friend. I vaguely remember several items, but I doubt I could do them justice. I also hesitate to recommend it, as it's really not that great. It makes a lot of bald assertions, but it doesn't actually get into much detail - presumably to keep the book suitable for general audiences. You essentially have to trust Strenger's good word as a physicist.
I did find it to be the most compelling of the "new atheist" books, though, due to its focus on facts and its lack of rhetoric.
> I'd suggest wondering why they are considered to be among the greatest minds of all time by many people who are vastly smarter than you or I
No worries there - I have little doubt that the issue is mine and not Hegel's.
That said, one thing that surprises me about philosophy is the manner in which it is taught. Even beginner texts on the subject, such as Sophie's World seem to be merely a whirlwind tour of the key thinkers and their ideas.
Contrast this with mathematics. As undoubtedly brilliant as Newton and Leibniz were, no student today still learns calculus from their original texts. Indeed, with updated notation and 300 years of refinement by admittedly lesser minds, modern treatments of the subject are simply better than the originals.
I'm surprised that philosophy doesn't seem to go through a similar process.
> You can't expect to simply read a 1000 year old highly technical philosophical argument without a lot of grounding in the time period, vocabulary, and relevant philosophy that is simply assumed by the authors
That's good to know. I feel kind of sheepish admitting that I was underwhelmed by Plato. I'll have to tackle him again when I have a better grasp of his environment.
> 1.) you're not simply reading yourself into their works ... or 2.) you're not simply saying "oh these philosophers are the best because I understand what they're saying and they agree with what I already believed."
Criticism accepted. Appreciate the advice.
This may be too simplistic for what you're looking for, but Sophie's World is a pretty good introduction to philosophy.
What about sophie's world? Does a really good job of introducing the basic history and why philosophy is important. Although it's a kids book, so probably below her.
Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder. It's the history of Western Philosophy told through a meta-mystery about a girl receiving mysterious postcards in the mail written c/o her to some other girl she's never heard of. I read it when I was a Senior in high school and it was both an incredible LOST-esque story as well as an easily digestible intro to the major philosophers and their schools of thought. GET IT. READ IT. ENJOY.
City of Thieves - David Benioff
Envy - Sandra Brown
Something like City of Thieves by David Benioff? I'm not sure what I liked about it, the setting and storytelling maybe.
He recently put out (another) book that should mollify your concerns if ~250 amazon reviewers are to be believed: http://www.amazon.com/City-Thieves-Novel-David-Benioff/dp/0452295297/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267611982&sr=8-3
City of Theives. Great book.
Two (OK, three) come to mind:
Railway Man, by Eric Lomax
Railway Man, on Amazon
An American captured by the Japanese in (I think) Indonesia during WWII, and forced with other prisoners to build a railroad, and survive a Death March. He's also tortured for information. The story of his sheer survival is fascinating, but what's really amazing was the surprising forgiveness that emerges.
The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz
The Long Walk, on GoodReads for a change
"The harrowing true tale of seven escaped Soviet prisoners who desperately marched out of Siberia through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India." It's also quite moving.
Finally, a more recently written WWII tale (no, I don't have a thing for war stories - these are the ones that occur to me) during the Siege of Stalingrad:
The City of Thieves, by David Benioff (the screenwriter).
City of Thieves
It's really really good!
Amazon here i come.
BioShock: Rapture
And what is also good if you're really into the story aspect you could check out Bioshock: Rapture, it provides some more back-story to the game as it details the building of Rapture from Bill McDonagh's (chief engineer) and Frank Fontaine's perspective. You can get on Amazon for 10 bucks, which is pretty good for a 200 page book. Bioshock: Rapture
Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765324849?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765324849
It's called Rapture and is written by John Shirley
/u/LurkerTriumphant did a good job of answering this question. If you're looking for more information, I highly recommend reading Silence, by Shusaku Endo. It is a historical narrative that deals with the time frame and issues you're interested in, and will help paint a more vivid picture.
Interesting topic. I recently read this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0800871863?cache=57da7cb9d62bf1111418b1c6247026fd&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1413159606&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1 that talks about why Christianity can't thrive in Japan. It follows a fictional account of a Spanish priest who goes to feudal Japan to be a missionary yada yada yada. Long story short: the book concludes stand Japan is a "swamp" that absorbs all outside forms of ideologies and creating their own form and denying the previous versions.
The Alienist by Caleb Carr is a favorite of mine.
Most of what's on here is fairly classic straightforward detective stuff, which is great, but I've always been a sucker for mysteries that merge with other genres or do unusual things. A good handful if that's your bag:
Those are all more or less "detective fiction" style mystery, if you're looking at the broader genre I cannot recommend The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon any more highly. I haven't been sucked into writing like that in a long long time.
The Alienist by Caleb Carr sounds up your alley. Just fair warning though, it's very descriptive in its scenes, but ultimately it's personal favorite crime novel. The Alienist
The Alienist by Caleb Carr -
Just responded to Hopped, but sounds like you might be interested too. Have you read https://www.amazon.ca/Red-Plenty-Francis-Spufford/dp/1555976042 ?
I read a huge blog post over a series of days going in depth about market planning and it single-handedly (and quite enjoyably) convinced me that a market economy is the only feasible (if imperfect) way to do things. This was the blog post I think: http://crookedtimber.org/2012/05/30/in-soviet-union-optimization-problem-solves-you/
It seems that it would take a computer the size of the sun to process the multi-million by multi-million matrix of inputs and outputs in an economy.
> Demurrage the shares at whatever rate means that it would take you putting in the same portion of your stollars each unit of time to stay in the same place?
That makes sense. It's equivalent to my model, but with only a limited amount of companies you can vote for per "election" cycle. Neat solution for voting, as well.
> Are you sure that the ability to grow that large isn't just an effect of regulatory capture?
I guess I can't be? My point is that a monopoly on invested capital is as problematic as a monopoly on e.g. railroad stock, and as such a company that massively outranks the next competitor in terms of capital investment should be treated the same as a natural monopoly.
> If you can explain why even amazon as a co-op is a problem, then sure.
Coopazon would be able to insert itself as a crucial part of a supply chain and proceed to eliminate all competition through predatory pricing, then create class separation in the same way the Yugoslavian energy coop did.
> Woah, really? Source?
It's mainly linear programming (developed by Leonid Kantorovich and intended for economic planning. There's an absolutely excellent fictional novel about him), Krylov spaces (developed by Aleksey Krylov, a Tsarist admiral who switched sides during the war to become a Soviet admiral -- quite an interesting character as well), as well as a ton of work building on the works of Kantorovich, Markov (e.g. Markov chains), or Chebyshev (e.g. information theory) -- Markov and Chebyshev were both dead by the time of the revolution, but their students and their students' students published a ton of theory that is used today. You've also got Kolmogorov, famous for Kolmogorov complexity, as well his collaborator Vladimir Arnold. I don't have a good source, I just work in AI currently trying to teach a robot language with a bunch of old Soviet mathematics :)
Anyway, Kantorovich developed his theory of linear programming in 1939. He tried for years to convince people that the idea should be applied to economic planning, which is actually not a stupid idea (if economic allocation was not a nonlinear problem, his idea would give a provably optimal solution). Brezhnev finally told him to stuff it after getting into power, then proceeded to take away the majority of his funding for being insufficiently Stalinist in his approach to mathematics.
> Have you run into my concept of stratodemocracy
No, but please explain!
You might enjoy reading Red Plenty, which is a novelization of lots of very dry Soviet planning documents and ideological treatises. It's not a controversial position to say that Marx was a materialist, or the Soviets after him.
Am înţeles că Why Not Capitalism, de Jason Brennan, ar fi o replică mai bună, n-am început-o, dar recenziile sunt favorabile. Mie mi-a plăcut mult Red Plenty.
Seek mental help. At one level the answer is that Marxists are right: the revolution was supposed to happen in a highly developed country and the socialist system was dependent on the plenty that an industrial economy could bring. ("Red Plenty" is good on this. take a good peak at it on your kindle if you don't mind spending the change: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Plenty-Francis-Spufford/dp/1555976042)
Neither Tsarist Russia nor China were the right place according to Marx's theory. But somehow many Marxists seemed to forget the theory and the iron laws of history once the USSR was established.
Stalin's war crimes, human rights violations, purges, little bizarre anti-semitic campaign disguised as going after the "rootless cosmopolitan" https://www.rbth.com/history/327399-stalin-versus-soviet-jews (hypocritical given his claims supposedly bashing the ideology, and the historical Jewish presence among leftist groups leading up to the Revolution) are well documented. I don't need to explain that to you or drag it out here, if you wish to willingly ignore it and assume it's all "western bullshit" then have fun in the asylum. All you have is ignorance and blindness to the facts. http://blogs.bu.edu/guidedhistory/moderneurope/laura-hill/
China wasn't much better.
https://www.ft.com/content/762ad992-1be0-11e6-b286-cddde55ca122
China under Mao and the USSR (the same can be applied to the kim cult state today) weren't “true socialist” countries but rather “countries striving to build socialism”. This was their own claim until Khrushchev announced that the first part of socialism had been attained in the 1950s.
However, soviet (and, even more so, Chinese) “socialism” lacked the core feature that is meant to characterize the system; democratic control.
The command economy had a very unsocialist effect on society and disenfranchised ordinary people leading to an odd kind of bureaucratic, inefficient blend of state capitalism and feudalism.
In the end, the leaders in the USSR and China started to redefine socialism to justify their system but any real analysis of the way things worked in these societies feeds the conclusion that they were not socialist in the sense meant by Marx or even most of Marx’ rivals in the socialist movement.
The same thing happened in Cambodia under Pol Pot
http://endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-cambodian-genocide/
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/04/khmer-rouge-cambodian-genocide-united-states/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnVn2YzXypo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SI8RF6wDE
Also in Ethiopia under the Derg . And I know many Ethiopians and Cambodians' parents that would testify to this firsthand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX-I6HK_FSw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opqIf3dZ3xs
Not to mention the shit-show of the North Vietnamese so called "communists". BTW fuck the US, they were a bunch of corrupt imperialist genocidal maniacs during the war murdering and raping plenty of civilians, but war crimes were a plenty by the vietcong 'comrade's. Plus the Hmong were literally being genocided by other similar "comrades". https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/laos-forgotten-killing-fieldsandquot/Content?oid=2174619
This was just a continuation of generations of anti-Hmong prejudice that already existed in Laos. The Pathet Lao killed dozens of people. https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/historpedia/home/politics-and-government/the-secret-war-and-hmong-genocide-fall-2012
And in countless other shit-shows masquerading as 'marxist thought'. Fake communists who were just either genocidal psychopaths or power-hungry despots. There was no intention of a true democratic worker's paradise or a stateless society in which the workers controlled the means of production. This was only terror.
You don't have to be a Marxist-Leninist to be credible in any way, shape or form. Lose that sectarian bullshit.
A Day in the Life of ancient Rome does a great job of detailing what it was like for people then. Usually you only hear about the leaders and battles, etc. This book gets into the day to day stuff for ordinary people in Rome.
A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome by Alberta Angelo is a great read to start at. It really puts the society and city itself in context. Knowing the people of history really enhances the events of that era, in my opinion.
You can try this book : https://www.amazon.it/dp/1933372710/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_c_i-GDAbSCWZHJE
or the other book of Alberto Angela
Some of the good Rome books I've read over the years:
In the Name of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy
The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy
Rubicon: the Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland
A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome by Alberto Angela
Now, as someone lucky enough to have lived 6 weeks in Rome, the best prep is to somehow get yourself to La Città Eterna and visit where it all went down. The Palatine Hill and the Appian Way are places with less tourists and allow you to contemplate the power and splendor of Rome.
I really liked "a day in the life of ancient rome". You will learn allot about the ancient romans.
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Life-Ancient-Rome-Curiosities/dp/1933372710
Water Margin is my favorite, but there are some short story collections that use oral storyteller phrases to shift focus. Look for Stories Old and New, the most famous of these collections. For Water Margin, this is the version you want, here titled Outlaws of the Marsh.
Outlaws of the Marsh, also known as Water Margin, is a classic of Chinese literature. It is a great book with an expansive world contained within. At the beginning of the book, an inept government official releases 108 demons from a sealed room in a monastery. These 108 spirits are reincarnated as the protagonists of the story, sent to earth to crusade against corruption and restore the throne to the rightful emperor. One by one, the 108 heroes (who are actually outlaws, I guess) collect at a bandit stronghold in the mountains before the government sees their deeds and tasks them with driving out foreign invaders. My favorite character is Lu Da, who I suppose you could compare to Barrett in some ways: big, strong, brash, and loyal. He is a military man who becomes a fugitive after killing a butcher. He is sent to a monastery to hide out, but his appetites and vulgarity prevent him from being a convincing monk, so the other monks kick him out. His story is pretty hilarious, involving a lot of drunken ass-whoopings.
Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle. Not fantasy, but it has political intrigue and a really wild plot twist. I don't know that it is really all that similar to FF to be honest, but if you're a nerd like me then maybe you'll find something in it.
H.P. Lovecraft's stories are centered around a few central mythologies and offer a lot to the reader. Barnes and Noble printed his complete fictions in handsome synthetic leather binding. The short stories range from a few pages to a few chapters, so you can kind of pick and choose how much you want to read. You'll want to keep reading though. I've spent entire nights glued to the page, story after story. His dream cycle is more on the fantasy side, but he is known more for his cosmic horror. The Cthulu mythos has inspired a lot of creepy creature art. Related authors include M.R. James and August Derleth, but I have yet to get around to their works.
So here's some of the textbooks I read (and still own) from my Asian History courses at college. All are worth reading over, but you'll also want teachers to help you, to talk with historians from China, and eventually just to go to China and see a lot of stuff for yourself.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, by Patricia Ebrey.
Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, edited by Patricia Ebrey.
Quotations from Mao Tse-Tung, written by the man himself.
Fiction:
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie.
The Outlaws of the Marsh, by Shi Nai'An and Sidney Shapiro.
The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu and Ken Liu.
These are a relatively good start to help you get a grounding in China's history. Everyone in this thread has also given some good suggestions. And visit /r/askhistorians; they'll have some better sources you can check out.
Woo! It's much cheaper than when I purchased it. I recommend it.
Of course, you don't have to take my word for it. http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-ebook/dp/B003OUXECE/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1
page-turner Book!! I think it has been there for a month :P
Whatshouldireadnext.com Didn't come up with much. When I did a search for Undersea Colonies this came up. It has good amazon ratings.
BioShock: Rapture has been at the forefront of my must read list for a while. Really, anything involving Andrew Ryan is going to be one of my favorite things. I love the BioShock series.
Keep working out, and read books. Good books.
The Naked and the Dead.
Blood Meridian: or, the Evening Redness in the West
The Book of Job
These are serious, adult, masculine books that will leave you questioning, well, everything, and will definitely give you a bias for getting up and living a life instead of letting one happen to you. Bonus points, you read these in a coffeeshop and someone might strike up a conversation with you. But you actually have to read 'em.
Good luck.
Haxan by Kenneth Mark Hoover is a pretty good Weird Western that needs more love/reviews. Also give these a try:
The Goblin Emperor
The Library on Mount Char
Academic Exercises - ($2,99 right now!)
Uprooted
The Golem & The Jinni
The Incorruptibles
Well since no one else has taken you up on this...
I was not able to find much for .99 but here are three (all under 3.00), any of which I would very much enjoy if you feel so inclined and are willing to change your 99 cent policy haha!
The Golem and the Jinni,
Tolkien's Letters, and/or
The City Stained Red.
Thanks for your kind consideration!
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.
The City and the City by China Mieville.
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway.
Find out the answer to your hypothetical here:
https://smile.amazon.com/First-Fifteen-Lives-Harry-August-ebook/dp/B00ECE9OD4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1474292285&sr=1-1&keywords=harry+august#nav-subnav
It's about a guy who keeps living his life over and over again, from birth to old age.
If you haven't read the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown, I think you should give it a go. Stick through the first 50 pages, and you won't be sorry. The second in the trilogy is actually better than the first, and Goodreads called it the best SF of the year.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.
On My Way to Paradise by David Farland.
If I remember correctly "The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August" is without dialogue and I really liked the story.
The first 15 lives of harry August. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ECE9OD4
I was disappointed in Bioshock 2, in part because I rushed through it.
I read Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley, a prequel, and replayed Bioshock 2 with much more enjoyment. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0765324849
UMMMM UHHHHHHH I really like barbershop quartet music.
Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur
ebook!
Concerning the USSR, it's all relative to the conditions that existed beforehand. Living standards absolutely did rise. People had health care, housing, a job, free education and the security of a generous pension. Simply listing every negative thing that happened in 75 years does not mean it was "an awful place" to live for most people for most of that time.
Red Plenty is a great book about the myth and reality of the Soviet Union. It was a time of great hope and crushing disappointment..
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Plenty-Francis-Spufford/dp/1555976042
>Practically the entire economy was based on malinvestment
This is demonstrably false. From the conclusion of non leftist economists:
>Surprisingly, the evidence from our examination of nine industrial sectors during the period 1960–1984 shows only small differences in measured allocative inefficiency between the United States and Soviet economies.
Their ability to divert resources and invest capital in the most efficient manner is on par with the US in the same time period.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00153775
You should read The Mists of Avalon