Books

Fiction I read in 2023:

A fire upon the deep, by Vernor Vinge
The Man who Folded Himself, by David Gerrold
Shogun, by James Clavell
Reamde, by Neal Stephenson
Crystal Trilogy, by Max Harms
Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer
Seven Surrenders, by Ada Palmer
Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson

Excited to read Quicksilver this year! My wife got me a signed special edition:

I work for Ethereum at the Ethereum Foundation.

Excited to read Quicksilver this year! My wife got me a signed special edition:

https://warpcast.com/francos.eth/0x1cb732ba

it's very different, and also the slowest of any of his work that I've read. I tended to read it for a while, put it aside, and pick it up again later.

but payoff was great, if you love stephenson-esque grand sweeping narratives, and want to learn a lot about the historical setting

Really want to read Quicksilver. How do you think it compare to the rest of Stephenson's work? Seems very different...

Best overall: Quicksilver

Best relative to initial expectations: Crystal Trilogy

Most value per page: Man Who Folded Himself

Exactly what I was looking for rn. Started the code book but found myself skipping too many too lengthy explanation. Picked up Chuck Palahniuk short stories but they deserve space between them. Then started Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell but can’t see myself finishing it.

I enjoyed it! Definitely a bit pulpier (violence, sex, exaggerating elements of Japanese culture, etc) than I would normally like, but kind of expected given the era it was published in. Was surprised how much it grabbed me, had a good "cant put it down" factor despite being long and dense.

Curious, what did you think of Shogun? It was one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever. Also quite intricate. I feel like I need to re-read it to follow the political moves more closely