Being an honest observer of the world outside, Mr Palomar seeks patterns in everything and is always torn between constantly emerging contradicting perspectives. He strives to attain transcendent understanding and fails; he also strives to connect with mundane everyday things and fails. He can’t even decide which of the two is a nobler goal, and that indecision is also something he analyses.
Way of Kings is over a thousand pages and I read the whole thing in like a week. At the end I was literally in awe. Mistborn is much shorter and gave me a similar experience, but not as profound. Oh! Necromancer might be up your alley. It’s the grandfather of cyberpunk. The craziest sci-fi series I’ve read is definitely Hyperion. There’s quite a lot to be amazed at in that series, and it is very original. The absolute most original series I have ever read is the Fifth Season & the Broken Earth series. There is nothing else like it, and the scale of the plot is immense.
If you want something that’s not sci-fi or fantasy, and you haven’t read it yet, 1984 is the most excellent book. There were times when I’d just stop reading to think about what an amazing wordsmith Orwell is. It is pretty dark and hopeless though, so I don’t recommend it if that sort of stuff is bad for you.
The Library at Mount Char is a bit like what you’re describing - quite intimate in getting to know the characters but as the story develops there’s a huge “holy shit” awe to it for me.
Kingkiller chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. Its a trilogy that only has 2 books, so beware. The way he writes about music, Kvothes time in Tarbean and earlier in the forrest is extremely intimate.
Rothfus took a lot of ideas from Wheel of Time for book two. So, if you want more of the Adem, you can get your fill with the Aiel in WoT. But it’s a colossal 14 book series that tends to wander at times. I still loved it though, despite Jordan’s tendency to describe the stitching on a woman’s dress for 5 pages. It is probably the most epic series I’ve ever read.
Klara and the Sun. Told completely from the view of an android who strives to understand her world, her place in it, relationships gained, lost and changes.
If you like new non-human perspectives like that one I have a few more suggestions.
I just read Ancillary Justice and I have to say it’s written in a way that truly gives you insight into a new perspective from a not exactly human perspective. An ancillary (human body as an extension of a Ship AI) who is coping with being alone (when she’s used to having hundreds of eyes, tasks, conversations all at once). Dealing with her limitations, feelings and also driven towards a goal decades in the planning.
Finally just funny and short would be the Murderbot Diaries series. A machine/cyborg made to be a soldier or security apparatus… who breaks free and really just wants to watch dramas and be left alone. Touching and funny.
Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama gave me a real feeling of awe. It doesn’t have much in the way of characterization; the amazing part is the setting, the mystery of the incomprehensible.
If you liked Annihilation, you might enjoy Leech, by Hiring Ennes. It’s not the same at all, but kind of has a similar feel. Very unusual plot, very well told story.
Not sure what projects or languages you’re considering but Automate the Boring Stuff with Python is excellent if you want to get into Python. Rather than teaching concepts up front, it teaches you how to solve specific problems and build up a programming mindset focusing on a particular project in each chapter.
I am leaning towards Rust eventually but I do know that it’s very much not a good idea to start off with Rust. I mainly need to build more of the foundations of establishing a programming mindset as well as the basic fundamentals involved in programming before going to Rust and having to break all of it apart.
Nah, i dont think that’s true at all. Priority number 1 is learn the language that deals in what you’re most interested in. Priority 2 is learning the language whose ecosystem you can tolerate.
Why? Because you learn most when you enjoy what you’re doing.
I’m interested in performance and systems programming so i tried to start with c++. C++'s ecosystem and tooling are complete garbage and i spent more time fighting it than learning to program. I learned python for a specific project, but eventually started learning rust because i was frustrated with python’s lack of low level functionality (and speed).
Rust has a lot of modern features that c++ doesnt (and that arent buried behind 20 years of “do this, no wait that’s bad, actually do this instead”). The tooling is excellent for beginners, and there’s lots of core and standard library features that simplify some of the stupid things about low level programming. And you dont have to start with all the low level fiddly bits, you can start with variables, conditionals, and functions just like you would in python or whatever.
As for book recommendations:
NOT the official rust book. Imo it assumes you already know at least one other programming language. It doesnt always go into enough detail about advanced concepts, but other times goes into WAY too much detail for true programming beginners.
The two that i liked the most were:
Programming Rust by Blandy, Orendorff, and Tindall
Rust in Action by Tim McNamara
I’ve also heard good things about Command-Line Rust by Ken Youens-Clark, but i havent read it myself.
Also, dont be afraid to read language-agnostic books that cover general computer science concepts like Dive Into Algorithms, Understanding The Machine or Data Structures The Fun Way after you’ve gotten your feet wet.
Rust isn’t the easiest language but starting with it might not be the worst option. Rust is weird enough that if you start with some other language you’ll spend a lot of time unlearning that when you eventually try Rust.
Also I’ve found that the rust compiler gives the most helpful suggestions. It’ll tell you exactly what is wrong and where. I’ve worked in at least half a dozen languages and the tooling for Rust has been the best.
This made me realize I don’t read a lot of feel good books. On the easy and chill, the Culture series is pretty good as far as I have read. Similar to the Dresden File, I enjoyed the Laundry Files. I got told that the female characters become more believable over the books and the writing improves, but the first books are already entertaining.
Well, I guess The Dresden Files can be considered like that. The series is pretty easy to read, without using much brain power, but they are still lots of fun.
There are many crime series like that too. But I have only heard about them, haven’t read them personally.
Also, if you don’t mind progression fantasy, there are tons of web novels that fit the bill.
bookrecs
Hot
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.