Books have always been a huge part of my life. I read a lot. And I’m one of those annoying people who’s always throwing books at other people and demanding that they read them. Here, then, in no particular order, is a list of books (and series of books) that I think anyone who calls themselves a geek should read.
- The Great Book of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
- For a Breath I Tarry and 24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai (short stories), by Roger Zelazny
- The Vlad Taltos series, Agyar, To Reign in Hell, and everything else by Steven Brust
- Wasp, by Eric Frank Russell
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers, by Robert A. Heinlein
- Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, and Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
- Gun, with Occasional Music, by Jonathan Lethem
- Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams
- Jumper, by Steven Gould
- Replay, by Ken Grimwood
- The Integral Trees, by Larry Niven
- American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
I’m sure I’ll think of more later.
Comments
Important classics!
Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Frank Herbert: Dune, et.al.
Isaac Asimov: The Foundation series.
Jules Verne: From the Earth to the Moon.
Re: Important classics!
I was trying not to name the obvious ones, which is why certain well-known classics aren't on the list. ;)
Re: Important classics!
Hmm. Are there other obvious, well-known classics I need to read, by any chance? :o)
One you forgot!
You forgot MicroSerfs by Douglas Coupland. :)
Let's see..
61% then -- I think I fail. Crud.
And what about Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul? Sure it doesn't quite match the original Dirk Gently, but I rather liked it.
Re: Let's see..
I never managed to get all the way through it. It's one of those books that I've started reading fifteen times, but it's just slow and plodding and not as good as the first, and I always eventually drop it in favor of something else.
Re: One you forgot!
Ack! You're right. Microserfs is excellent, as is everything else by Douglas Coupland (especially Miss Wyoming).
Re: Important classics!
Alan Dean Foster has written some entertaining stuff; Glory Road is interesting. Ringworld, by Larry Niven, is widely considered a must-read, and rightly so. Zeitgeist, by Bruce Sterling, isn't really a classic, but it's excellent and should have been on my original list. The Truth Machine and The First Immortal, by James Halperin are both very good if you're into speculative fiction, although people tend to either love or hate them. Everything by Kurt Vonnegut is good. And of course every geek must read (and love) the entire Ender's Game series, by Orson Scott Card.
Moving away from sci-fi: if you spend a lot of time dreaming up violent, bloody revenge fantasies, you'll enjoy the first ten or fifteen books in the original run of The Executioner, although I think they've been out of print since the late 70s.
I'm sure there are tons more, but I'm drawing a blank.
Re: Let's see..
I fail to understand how anyone could do that with Tea-time. I mean, of course it's not great, but I've managed to read it three times and enjoyed it just as much each time..
Hello?
MLO
Re: Hello?
Everything else by William Gibson as well!