Great post OP! I haven't seen the video in question (sorry) but as an anarchist I do feel confident in giving some of my views. First off, there are no right answers to these questions. Even within the same school of anarco-socialism, you'll likely get different answers to these questions from different people (ask 10 anarcho-socialists and you'll get 11 different answers) and in my view, that's a strength, not a weakness. However because I haven't seen the video, I don't know how much of what I'm about to say is addressed by it. I'm sorry!

I personally don't believe that lazy workers are as much a problem as you believe they will be and I base this on my personal experience. I have visited anarco-communes and also "temporary utopias" like climate camps and anti-globalization convergences. And, no, they were by no means perfect. In anarchist households dishes often don't get done to the extent that it's kind of a running joke. But there are lots of reasons for that. Houses aren't designed with communal living in mind. Under capitalism most of us suffer from depression and anxiety and it's hard to be motivated with that kind of thing when you're worried about your next deadline at your unfulfilling job or paying the bills by the end of the month. A more collectivist society could do things like ensuring no one ever has to do menial jobs alone (even by the simple provision of bigger sinks and bigger kitchens--ever notice how classically houses in western society were designed for use by a single-occupancy gendered labour force; my kitchen is barely twice the size of my wardrobe, but the living room, where the man of the house was expected to spend his off-labour time, is huge). And ultimately I would expect that anarchist societies would not only have a good working understanding of the sexism of gendered labour (most menial jobs are traditionally performed by women) but also be more lenient around all labour. Like maybe you can skip the washing up for that day if it's your period or if you're nursing, both of which are labour neglected by capitalism, just to choose a stereotypical and thought-provoking example. Going back to my own experiences, there were plenty of problems with places like the convergences and anarchist camps, but they never actually suffered from not having clean toilets because people understood that cleaning them was as important an activity as any other type of labour which needed to be undertaken. Ultimately, I agree with the point raised by the WNDWU (youtube link--above): "So you're asking me, who will do the dishes when the revolution comes? Well I do my own dishes now and I'll do my own dishes then. Funny that it's always the ones who don't, who ask that fucking question."

There are a lot of different thoughts about how economics can work in anarchist societies at large-scale. Most likely there would be several different economic models, possibly even within the municipal area, but certainly within different ones. In the future, Kim Stanley Robinson describes a system where small consumptive goods are created in situ, then optionally exchanged as gifts with traders. Underlying this, potassium is used as an exchange of hard currency and reserve, regulating the flow of resources throughout for the production of goods the solar system. Meanwhile, Ursula Le Guin envisaged a society organised by collectives (syndicals) where work was undertaken out of a sense of duty. Less speculatively, David Graeber has done a lot of good work documenting the use of gift economies throughout human history and it's hard to believe there's nothing there, given the overwelming preponderance and importance of gift economies to advanced human societies so far.

But I myself am not an advocate of gift economies. Michael Albert and co. have done a lot of writing on how non-gift participatory or democratic economies could be run and I highly recommend checking out his work. Albert's work is pretty much the closest to what I would like to see myself, I think and he also talks a lot about the psychological benefits of job rotation, e.g. a system where doctors also clean toilets. There is also a form of anarchism known as mutualism in which productive work is carried out by coops instead of companies or conglomerates owned by shareholders or an owner or owners. A coop can be structured along purely democratic grounds, where every decision requires a consensus meeting from relevant workers, through the whole gamut to a system with middle managers and bosses basically being like a company except that the workers form and control the board instead of vice versa. After producing goods, they are exchanged through a free-market mechanism as under capitalism. I myself am not a mutualist but really even mutualism would be a huge step forward compared to what we have under the current system, where productive labour is essentially organized by unaccountable and undemocratic corporate oligarchies.

The invention thing is quite interesting, I think. Just as in an anarchist society you might get several economic systems, so today we actually have several economic models under capitalism as well. One which I am quite familiar with as a software engineer is the open-source model of software development. Last year I invented a new and pioneering method for installing Wordpress websites using a fairly obscure collection of deployment software. The mechanism I invented is so niche that even I struggle to develop the enthusiasm to explain its benefits even to people within the same field but I was excited enough to develop it that I spent three months of my free-time doing that, and now that it is done I am still pleased with the effort even though no one uses it. So basically I invented something and released it for free which was the very definition of a project for which I receive no thanks: no economic compensation, no fame within my professional circles, etc. And yet I was still happy to create and distribute it for free, even allowing others to modify it if they found it useful. So I think that when you are very invested in a particular problem field it's actually very easy to develop the enthusiasm to figure out an invention for a better way of doing something, even if you know you'll receive nothing for it but the personal satisfaction of having simplified a particular problem. And of course in an anarchist society you could expect that most techniques and methods are open-source, and able to be modified and improved upon for free by any interested party. Receiving fame among one's professional peer group, being invited to prestigious conferences within your field to talk about your invention, maybe even being interviewed by the news media--these are all extremely good motivations for creating something, arguably a lot stronger than money actually. (Considering most invention these days is IP-protected and ultimately owned by corporations, I'm kind of surprised the myth of the solo inventor made rich by his own success succeeds actually.) And this happens a lot in software. The most common operating system software globally across all devices? By far, Linux. Windows only leads in the desktop, and that only because of entrenched capitalist user lock-in paradigms.

Well my favorite author of all time is Isaac Asimov. He tends to write in a very direct way without flowery language, which I appreciate. Anything he writes is fantastic, but some specific starting points:
The Foundation Series is probably his best work.
I, Robot is probably his most famous work because of the film which has LITERALLY NOTHING in common with the book. It is very good and a great way to see Asimov's approach to robotics (a term he coined, by the way; he is credited with first usage of the word 'robotics', which is now a fricken major at most universities)
Nightfall is an amazing short-story-turned-novel. Read the short story version, it is better.
He also wrote [The Galactic Empire series] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Empire_(series)) and the Robot series which tie in to the same universe as the Foundation series, they're all good as well, but I'd probably focus on the Foundation series first and see if you like how that goes

Other great authors of golden age sci-fi include Robert A. Heinlein, and from him I recommend The Past Through Tomorrow a collection of his short stories. Fun fact: the secret service raided Heinlein's apartment and interrogated him on how he has written such an accurate description of multi-stage rockets, as those were currently not public knowledge and highly classified. They were convinced he was a spy or was being fed information from a spy. He was really just a very good writer. He is most famous for Starship Troopers because of the movie of the same name. The thing with Heinlein is that later in life he became a dirty old man, and his writing reflects that. Evidence is Stranger in a Strange Land which is a very good novel, but there is a lot of describing the female form in it, and quite a bit about humanity's attitude toward sex. A very good book and I recommend it, but he was clearly becoming a bit of a lecherous old fart.

Leaving the golden age for a moment, we enter the 'New Wave science fiction' where I'd have to recommend the Ringworld series by Larry Niven. And later Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (a fantastic book despite controversy surrounding the author). Currently I'm reading the Spinward Fringe series by Randolph Lalonde which is recent enough it doesn't have a wikipedia entry, and is not yet finished.

For a brief overview of the author's comparative styles; Asimov is very cerebral, his books don't contain much, if any, action and are mostly about exploring interesting concepts in a brilliant way. Heinlein was focused on the near-er or alternate versions of the future and had a little more action than Asimov tended to include. Larry Niven is renowned for being a very technically accurate writer and some physics professors have actually used his science fiction books to teach in class (he explores the concept of the dyson sphere and applies it in a real-world situation). Card is a mixture of action and psychology, a very deep book with a decent amount of action. Lalonde's series is very action oriented, but he creates a complex galactic community and small innovative details that make the series interesting. There are so many more I want to recommend, but I think I'll leave you with just the 6 paragraphs, lest I get too wordy -_-

I've fallen on a deep sci-fi binge, so I'm going to recommend what I've read so far (lately) and loved:

Ender Series: The sequels to "Ender's Game" are not on par with the first, but they're compelling nonetheless (except maybe Childrens of the Mind), and the Bean series (Ender's Shadow and the sequels) is GREAT. I would recommend reading the sequels, and if not, to stay with the same Ender's Game vibe, then at least read Ender's Shadow, as it opens up the story a lot more.

Foundation (Isaac Asimov): One of the groundbreaking sci-fi series. I've currently read only the first one (Foundation) and absolutely loved it. It takes up several character's point of view over the course of a lot of years. But don't worry, each character get their spot lights and they shine in it. And the universe he creates is one I'm anxious to get back once I finish with...

Leviathan Wakes (James S.A. Corey): This one I'm still reading, so I won't jump up and say: READ IT, IT'S AMAZING! But I will say this, it's long and full of twists, but it's two central characters are fun and interesting. Someone said it's like reading the best sci-fi movie there is. And it kind of is. It's full of action, suspense, some horror and fun writing. I would check it out if I were you.

Spin: I enjoyed this one. Not fanatical about it, but still enjoyable. It's a little bit too long, but the mystery around the event that occurs in the book is interesting and compelling enough to continue. The characters feel real, and the drama around it is fun.

A while ago I also read: The Forever War which I liked a lot. I like seeing humanity evolve, so this book was awesome. I hear it's a lot like Old Man's War, but I've heard better things from Forever War than Old Man's. Might be worth checking out.

Hope I was helpful!

I'll add some of my favorites that you didn't mention. They are mostly Superhero, because that's what got me into self published authors that are frequently on KU.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. Great sci fi with plenty of humor and nerdy pop culture references, but also a fare share of danger and adventure. KU has all 3 books in the Bobiverse.

Sensation: A Superhero Novel by Kevin Hardman. This is a YA Super Hero novel, and is the first of 7 along with a couple spinoffs and short stories. The author also has a sci fi series and a fantasy series, but I haven't read them yet. I'm pretty sure all of his books are on KU.

Into the Labyrinth by John Bierce. This is the Mage Errant series. The 3rd book just came out, and there is a post here by the author. This is a book centered on a magical school, and it has a very good and detailed hard magic system.

Fid's Crusade by David Reiss. This is a Super Villain novel, and is darker than a lot of superhero books out there. There are currently 3 books in the Chronicles of Fid. I've only read the first one but I really liked it, and I even bought it when it was on sale so I could go back and read it again sometime instead of relying on it being on KU forever.

Arsenal by Jeffery H. Haskell. Another Super Hero novel, this one is probably in between the other two I mentioned in terms of tone, being darker than Kid Sensasion, but lighter than Fid. The protagonist is disabled and in a wheel chair, but made an awesome suit of armor to become a hero. There are 8 books in the series, and there is another series set in the same world with the 4th book coming at the end of the month. All of them are on KU.

Thanks for the in-depth answers! Mine are surprisingly similar to yours.

>Who is your favorite author?

I love Tolkien, and George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, Cormac McCarthy, Larry Niven, Patrick Rothfuss, Douglas Adams, Diana Wynne Jones and probably a bunch I'm missing at the moment. My favorite genre is sci-fi, both space opera and hard.

I haven't been on WP long enough to have many favorite authors but I do enjoy your stuff, lalalobsters, luna_lovewell, written4reddit, and a few more.

>What is your favorite book?

My Dad introduced me to Tolkien and the sci-fi giants like Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke when I was probably 9 or 10 (I am about to be 34,) so all of their seminal works are very dear to me. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I freaking love dinosaurs and Jurassic Park is my favorite movie and because of that I have probably read JP the novel more than anything else.

I just finished reading [We are Legion (We are Bob)] (https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1485632176&sr=1-1&keywords=we+are+legion+we+are+bob) and found it highly enjoyable.

>And, most importantly, describe your level of love for cheese.

Cheese is a staple food group for me and variety is the spice of life so I am always eating new cheeses. Staples include: extra sharp cheddar, havarti, and bleu cheese. If it's stinky, it's probably delicious, too. And, my favorite snack is english muffin halves slathered in cream cheese and covered with jalepenos. I also could eat a bucket of cottage cheese plain, or my favorite, mixed with mango chutney.

And now I'm hungry.

The best "Standard" deal is the
Platinum Annual
24 Credits/Yr.
You pay $9.57 per credit
$229.50 per year

That's always available and offers the most credits at the cheapest price per credit.

If you follow the Audible sub then you'll find signup deals on there from time to time. The last I took advantage of was the
Discount Gold Annual
12 Credits/Yr.
~$8.29 per credit
$99.50 a year

You could sign up for that one until April 5th. Sometimes if you call and ask you can still sign up for one of these deals, but I haven't done/tried that so I can't say much about it. I don't know of any sign-up deals going on right now, they usually happen around holidays.

Depending on the genres you enjoy, your best bang for your buck might be a Kindle Unlimited subscription and then picking up some cheap audiobooks through whispersync. You can pick up a KU subscription for $0.99 for two months (https://www.techbargains.com/deals/amazon-kindle-unlimited-membership) and if you hunt around you can find a bunch of good books for $1.99. It's mostly Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but as a few examples:
https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MFGX5GI/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SLWQGUM/
https://www.amazon.com/Thru-Hiking-Will-Break-Your-Heart-ebook/dp/B00W4RICAM

Those aren't endorsements, just examples (I've only read the first one, which I would endorse if you like Sci-Fi)

Beyond that if you like classics you can usually find some of those cheap:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Siddhartha-Audiobook/B07HK6JZSC

On occasion, if you go to cancel your subscription you'll be offered a deal to keep it. I haven't signed up for any of those, and don't know what those deals are, but it's an option.

Last but not least, you can just buy more credits. If you've run out of credits (or if you contact Audible Support) you can usually buy 3 credits for $36 ( I think that's the correct amount). I generally wouldn't recommend this option, it's a bit more expensive to buy the Gold Plan, but you get a year's membership with that. Whereas buying credits straight out still leaves you paying a monthly subscription as well.

• We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is a hilarious trilogy that is a bit cheaper to buy the kindle and then add on audio narration. Ray Porter, the narrator, makes his series amazing.
  
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard is a great series with good humor and can be less expensive if you buy the kindle and then add on the audio narration. I liked books 1-3, with 4 and 5 being not as great. The first books is well worth the purchase though!
  
  
  
• Super Powereds Year 1. This is one of my favorite series. Kyle McCarley does an amazing job narrating this saga (4 in the main story and 1 side story that could stand alone). Probably the worst covers and really made me not want to read the series, but Drew Hayes has become my favorite author. Every series he does is pure gold.
  
  
  
• Expeditionary Force: Columbus Day. RC Bray, sci-fi and lots of hilarious dialog when Skippy shows up (about halfway through the book). The series is great, and book 6 is coming out next week. Great starter price 0.99+7.49 for the kindle and audiobook.
  
  
  There are so many more options like this, but I don’t want to overwhelm you! These may not all be your cup of tea. But they are some of my favorites for a somewhat reasonable price.

More to come, that in my opinion will be better from myself.

However, I can recommend some stuff I like.

Don't need to know anything about Mass Effect for, Transcendent Humanity. and Mass Effect end of Days. Both very HFY and Free!


---

Some other stuff I like but not quite as free, so do your research!

Seven Eves - A little depressing and somewhat long winded, characters act a little too stupidly at times in my opinion but interesting none the less.

House of Suns - An exploration of Deep Time and the segmentation / division of minds and consciousness like what I was exploring with Arik and will be a large focus of my future writing. So fun to play with the concept of 'me'.

The Bobiverse - Von Nuemann eat your heart out. This one explores similar themes of consciousness and thought with regards to AI.
Spinward Fringe - It's long if you want something that doesn't leave you hanging, and the first one is free! Jumps around and suffers from what I call the 'LitRPG' syndrome without being in the genre itself, IE characters quickly gaining power and handling it almost perfectly. This only happens once so I can tolerate the lack of exposition.

hmm, that's about all I can recommend off the top of my head. Sorry for leaving you hanging on this. I do want to come back to it, but the serial format was doing my head in. Plots were unwraveling and I was writing into corners.

If you're looking for a good series, I highly, highly recommend Bobiverse. It's a trilogy: We Are Legion (We Are Bob), For We Are Many, and All These Worlds.

It's not giving anything away to tell you that it's about a guy who's a software developer, who's kind of nerdy, but hilariously self-deprecating. He definitely doesn't take anything too seriously.

The story opens with him buying a contract with a company where, upon his death, will preserve him until he can essentially be reborn.

The company upholds its end of the bargain, but the future world doesn't quite turn out the way anyone would have expected. Robert wakes up to something, well, a bit different than he was expecting too; i.e., a sentient A.I. program that manages to maintain his personality, memories, and his smart-ass demeanor. This is how the story begins.

The series is lol-hilarious and totally relevant to the times in which we live.

If you're into audiobooks you can also get it really cheap through Amazon and Audible. It's actually even more entertaining as an audio book. Never have I ever had as much fun listening to anything as I have the Bobiverse.

Right now Amazon is also having a special with Kindle Unlimited for 99 cents - three months. If you do that, you can rent the entire series for free and then add the audio books for $1.99 each.

It's totally worth it.

So if you do the Kindle Unlimited thing, when you go to rent the book on Amazon, just scroll down and look under the "buy it now button" and select the "Add Audible book to your purchase for just $1.99." Then scroll back up and click the read for free button.

After you cancel the Unlimited plan you still get to keep the audio book. I do that all the time to get audio books for dirt cheap.

Here's a link for the Kindle Unlimited deal:

https://www.techbargains.com/jump/deal/433133?page_location=EC_NormalDeal&link_type=Buy+button&link_text=see+deal

And here's the link to the first book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LWAESYQ/ref=series_dp_aw_ca_1

The series is just so damn amazing. Written well and narrated perfectly.

What kind of books do you generally go for?

I just recently finished We Are Legion, (We Are Bob), and it's first squeal. They were both thoroughly enjoyable, and right up the alley of what you are looking for.

Bob is a smart guy who makes millions in Silicon Valley, and subscribes to a service which will freeze him upon death, so that he can be woken up again when technology is able to fix whatever is wrong.

Only, he wakes up some years later to find he hasn't been 'fixed', but rather has been selected as a candidate to be the artificial intelligence for a Von Neumann probe, a probe that is able to fly out to a star system, then find, collect, and process resources to build copies of itself (and/or whatever else it needs), to be sent out for further exploration. Bob's primary mission is to find habitable worlds for Humanity, so they can escape the dying Earth (though Bob does still have free-will, and undertakes many missions of his own choosing). Each new probe includes a new unique copy of Bob, so as time goes on, we end up with many Bob's exploring the Galaxy, each making their own discoveries. Over the course of both books, the Bob's encounter all kinds of stuff, including primitive intelligence, as well as hostiles, both from Earth, and from elsewhere. The Bob's stay in contact with one another, and with Humanity as the colonization of new worlds begins.

In terms of story telling, I found these somewhat similar to The Martian. The entire story is told form the perspective of the Bob's, which should be noted have a pretty good sense of humor. These are pretty light, fun reads, and I highly recommend.

David Brin and Gregory Benford - Heart of the Comet

>Gregory Benford and David Brin come together again to issue a new edition of their bold collaboration about our near human future in space, planting our boots . . . and staking our destiny . . . on becoming the People of the Comet. Prescient and scientifically accurate, Heart of the Comet is known as one of the great "hard sf" novels of the 1980s. First published in 1986, it tells the story of an ambitious manned mission to visit Halley's Comet and alter its orbit, to mine it for resources. But all too soon, native cells— that might once have brought life to Earth—begin colonizing the colonists. As factions battle over the comet's future . . . and that of Earth

Given its original date of publication right before the last pass of Halley's comet the computational and biotechnological plot devices within "Heart of the Comet" hold up very well. The movements of characters in and around space and how vacuum/radiation are handled well. It has rock solid classical mechanics descriptions of electromagnetic phenomenon.

But it also has a story. Apparently it is a good and emotionally compelling one if you like that kind of thing. The realistic science was enough for me. Also see the Amazon reviews if you're worried it is too hard scifi oriented.

One of my favorite series is Super Powereds by Drew Hayes. It's about Supers if you couldn't guess. The last book isn't in KU, but it is available to read free on Drew Hayes's website.

I just finished the Bobiverse series by Dennis Taylor and was enthralled! It's sci-fi/space exploration.

Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron is about a magic, spirits, and a nice dragon thrown into trouble by his viperous family.

Silvertongue by Casey White was fantastic (and it came from a reddit writing prompt!), but the series is not finished yet, if that matters to you.

Scott Meyer writes many hilarious books, nearly all in KU.

Lindsay Buroker writes sci-fi/fantasy, and she has a decent amount of KU books (and frequently has 1st book/boxsets for free for series not in KU).

K. M. Shea if you like fairy-tale retellings.

Cassandra or Elizabeth Gannon (sisters) for kind of odd, over-the-top, funny romance adventures (both write explicit sex scenes, fyi). Also while bad/crude language can be found in both sisters' books, Elizabeth has some absolutely magnificent crude expressions in hers. Like, if I ever want to be fired with extreme prejudice, I know how to go out with style now.

And that seems like a decently long list of possibilities to leave you with, so I'll stop here.

It's an enjoyable speculative fiction by a good author, but it's by no means an action-driven story. The main plot is about someone trying to prevent physical books from being digitized. So if you're ok with a more dialog-driven story it has some interesting ideas.

Honestly, if you want a story focused solely on augmented reality, check out Veneer. It's a self-published book on the Kindle store but it's about a society that has AR fully integrated to the point where people don't even know what the real world looks like anymore. It's much better than The Digital Sea, which I also found as part of my search for good augmented reality stories.

> I wasn't able, however, to find any plans, schematics, measurements, etc. online.

Wow. I'm sort of shocked, actually. I just assumed those plans would be all over the internet.

I'm pretty sure there are technical blue prints in this publication. https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Fleet-Technical-Manual/dp/0345340744

Which has these two pages. http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/sftm/01-08-53.jpg

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/sftm/01-08-52.jpg


Here's some other stuff from the book. (Its a great book BTW.)
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/sftm.php


Here it is as a 3D .stl file for 3D printing and whatever else.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:120544/apps/


EDIT: Maybe my google-fu is better than yours? Didn't take much effort to find those... Although, admittedly, I knew about the technical manual because I own it. And I took a guess and searched for Type-II phaser TOS 3D printing and searched images. BAM. There it was on thingiverse... just like I figured it would be.

I think you could use the .stl from thingiverse in a video game if you needed to.

Anyway, I am happy to help and good luck with your project.

Just out of curiosity, how are you going to make your model? What are you going to do with it?

First contact is a whole subgenre of scifi, and it is one of my favorites!

​

In regards to your request. I have, but haven't read Artemis because it doesn't look that interesting. Rendezvous with Rama, is good, albeit kinda boring. If you like it, but wish it had more action, read Ringworld by Larry Niven.

​

Here are some of my favorite first contact books (with oversimplified plot summaries):

​

The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - Humans discover an alien spaceship and set out to find the source.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu - Chinese centric first book in a trilogy of aliens invading. One of the best I have read in recent years. Don't want to give away too much. Features alien aliens, like in The Gods Themselves!

​

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge - Humans discover an alien race and race to be the first to make contact with them.

​

Damocles by S.G. Redling - Humans discover alien life and launch an expedition to make first contact. Follows the story from the point of the humans and the aliens. Very good hard scifi, but easy to read. The language barrier is a major plot piece.

​

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Humans are looking for a new home and stumble across a planet with alien life. Trouble ensues. No spoilers here. The sequel comes out in only a couple of weeks!

Don't feel lame. I went on a really long kick where I was reading a lot of franchise books - Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, Stargate, etc etc. Sometimes they're terribly written, but sometimes there are really good stories with some great character development.

I'm not really familiar with the other two books but from what I looked up of them (especially considering the Halo + Ben Bova) I think you'd like Ender's Game.

It's technically YA fiction, but it's good enough that you'll often find it in with the regular science fiction. It's also a series so if you like the first one that'll give you a few more to read.

In the classic Science fiction category The Foundation Series is worth looking into as well.

Let's see. Maybe The Sky People too. It's not exactly classic literature, but it's a fun romp in space - a what if there was life on Venus & Mars and it was dinosaurs and prehistoric humans sort of thing. Although not classic science fiction it has that same feel because it takes a stab at what type of life might exist on our neighboring planets.

I haven't read Edgar Rice Burroughs, but he might be up your alley too.

I recommend the author Jeff Noon.

Vurt is probably one of the best cross between sci-fi and fantasy. It reads like a cyberpunk Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters that takes place in a dream.

I wholly recommend reading it while listening to some dub or IDM music. I played Plaid's song "ManyMe" during the final chapters, and it fit perfectly to the tone of the book. Multimedia mind melding at it's finest.

Becoming Alien by Rebecca Ore

The Skinner by Neil Asher. Don't know if that's "obscure", but I have not seen reference to it here before.

The First Immortal by James Halperin

Count Geiger's Blues by Michael Bishop. Again, don't know if this is "obscure", but it's really fantastic, as is everything by Mr Bishop.

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde. Hilarious fantasy kind-of like Wicked in genre.

DragonWorld By Byron Preiss and Michael Reeves. Like The Hobbit, but a larger scaled world, more characters, a bit more complex story-line. 12-15 year olds would love it. I've never met anyone who has read this book.

Robin Mckinley - anything by her though specifically Sunshine. If you haven't read Mercades Lackey than you would probably like her since you like Tamora Pierce. Start with Arrows for the Queen or Magic's Pawn. Raymond E Feist writes another good fantasy series that has tons of books in it. You might even like the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books since you like the Game of Thrones. If you haven't read the Ender's Game books by Orson Scott Card they are very good. Some classical sci-fi - Foundation series by Issac Asimov.

edit: also because it looks like you like some historical romance The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and Peony in Love.

Honestly I made most of it up on the spot. But I do have an extensive collection of Star Trek technical manuals many of which discuss the in-universe technical issues. The most popular being: TOS Tech Manual, TNG Tech Manual, Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, and Enterprise Owner's Manual

The big flaws are that canon Star Trek tends to over-rely on manual human action instead of automation. The classic example being hand delivering a stack of PADDs to your superior officer, one for each document, instead of just emailing all your reports from a single PADD.

Good or non-android robots are nearly unheard of as well. But maybe more in use off screen in construction or industrial scenarios.

Really, it's just the idea of how easy large projects would be if you have reliable and cheap access to vacuum, zero-g, force fields, tractor beams, and transporters. Plan ahead and make everything modular and large construction projects become easy.

It isn't exactly what you asked for but the Bobiverse trilogy by Dennis Taylor might be of interest to you since it is sci-fi and the MC is a hard worker who improves himself through technology although a bit different than you are requesting.

The main character is turned into an AI and placed into an interstellar probe that can self replicate and make copies. He continues to research new technologies while spreading through various star systems. He and his copies are effectively immortal except if they are destroyed by unnatural means and they try to save the human species over the course of generations. Pretty cool read.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

My favorite post-singularity fiction is the Golden Age trilogy by John C. Wright. Superintelligent AI, virtual reality, and mind uploading, and he still manages a deeply human tale of epic heroism. It's a little hard to get into for the first three or four chapters, but then it really takes off. I've read it three times.

Greg Egan's work is pretty interesting, eg. Permutation City, which is mainly about uploading etc.

For more of the near-future speculation side of Accelerando, Cory Doctorow writes a lot of good stuff. And there's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom which is post-singularity.

Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age is pretty much a classic, covering nanotech, AI-based education, and all sorts of craziness. One of my favorites.

Give the Bobiverse series a try.

The premise: An engineer signs up for cryogenically freezing his brain when he dies on a whim. A bus runs him over. He wakes up hundreds of years in the future except it has been determined that these frozen brains are now the property of the state. They couldn't unfreeze him and bring him back to life, but they COULD use his brain as a template to be mapped into a computer system. He is now effectively an AI, given control over a Von Neuman probe that is to be sent out to colonize space.

There's lots of fun world building and an interesting look at the human condition. They're pretty clever with Bob too. For example, there's no such thing as Faster Than Light travel, so Bob just turns his clock speed down. In this way he experiences time slower than is actually happening and doesn't go insane on the long journey between planets. The books really start to pick up as he constructs other Bobs, each with their own slightly different personalities.

David Brin's Earth was published in 1990, and overpopulation is definitely one of the running themes. I wouldn't say that it's the central theme, but it certainly underlies the entire book. Things like the Sea State being created because there is nowhere else for certain populations to go, 'silence preserves', which prohibit aeroplanes, trucks, radios etc.

Heart of the Comet (1987) by David Brin and Gregory Benford also takes place primarily because they need new resources for an over-populated planet. I wouldn't say that it's the main theme of the book, but it is the reason for their journey, and all of the characters have grown up in a very over-populated world.

Legacy of Heorot (1987) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Stephen Barnes takes place because Earth is so over-populated that they start sending out colonists in hopes of finding new land to expand into. Overpopulation isn't the worst thing that can happen :-)

Most of these are very early cyberpunk, the progenitors of the genre if you will. As such I'm not sure if they can be described as necessarily obscure but I don't see many of them mentioned that often (admittedly I'm somewhat new to /r/cyberpunk so you guys might talk about them all the time, in which case please disregard). As a final note not all of these are available on the Kindle market. Nevertheless here's a few that leap to mind -

1. When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger which has two sequels if you enjoy it, the third being better than the second imo.
   
   
2. The Ware Tetrology by Rudy Rucker
   
   
3. Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling. He also edited the early cyberpunk anthology Mirrorshades which is worth checking out along with a several of his other works.
   
   
4. Mindplayers by Pat Cadigan who also wrote a few others worth looking at.
   
   
5. Frontera by Lewis Shiner.
   
   
6. I hesitate to mention this one as it's hardly obscure but if all you have seen is the film which is based off it, it is definitely worth getting Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick.
   
   
7. Vurt by Jeff Noon.
   
   
8. Farewell Horizontal by K W Jeter along with his other novels Glass Hammer and Dr. Adder.
   
   
9. Someone else mentioned Walter Jon Williams novels which I would also highly recommend.
   
   
   
   
   
   

I enjoyed theArcheologist warlord by E.M. Hardy (technically I suppose you would say it is sci-fi, but it feels more like fantasy). The main character gets transformed into a sentient space pyramid thing. At first I thought it would be more of a dungeon building thing, but he ends up sending workers out to gather resources, build pylons to extend his range, construct different units, ect.

It's not litRPG but the Bobiverse books by Dennis Taylor are fantastic and definitely get some of the 4x, spanning across the galaxy vibe as the bobs spread throughout space.

Are you interested in settlement/city building?

I just read a 2 novel series called "The Bobiverse". It's sort of sci-fi pulp but it's fun and I really enjoyed it. It captured the things I like about Star Trek, a little action/adventure/exploration with a few smart jokes.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ/ref=pd_sim_351_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZPJFXB9C798XNAT6WP51

Youtube it is - Video will be up tonight now, had a late night at work.

That's fine, but I would split your reading between 50% pleasure, 25% contemporary and 25% classics.

So for sci/fantasy, I'd say the 50% pleasure should be James Smythe's The Testimony, and try to reread an old favourite - First is a storker of a book, second is a practice that many writers feel helps.

Your 25% contemporary is Daniel O'Malley's The Rook. This is the Sci Fi genre of what I like to call an Amazon creeper - Low priced, indie published or self-published, that just gets stellar reviews. Find out why.

Finally for your 25% classics - Isaac Asimov's Foundations I can't stress how awesome this book is. It's to Sci Fi as Tolkien is to Fantasy (very arguably). All sci fi writers would do well to aspire to Asimov.

I'm quite a fan of the Origin series by Randolph Lalonde.
The first book is free on Amazon, and I promise you won't have a problem investing in the rest of the series.
(Do you see the irony in the plot?)


About the book

"It is the distant future and one man, Jonas Valent, is letting his life slip by. He is employed by Freeground station as a port traffic controller, a job he took after completing a tour in the military. His only real joy in life is his participation in true-to-life military simulations with a cadre of friends who come together regularly to defeat challenges made to test the brightest military cadets and officers alike. These restricted scenarios stand as an addictive preoccupation that is so enticing that they ignore the potential repercussions of breaking in to participate.

When someone betrays their identities to the Freeground Fleet Admiralty, Jonas and his friends are faced with a far greater challenge: to venture out into the more populated regions of the galaxy to acquire technology and knowledge. They are tasked with laying the groundwork for the Freeground Nation in their efforts to reconnect with the rest of humanity, and to secure the armaments they might need to defend themselves from encroaching enemies."

http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Spinward-Fringe-Randolph-Lalonde-ebook/dp/B004EPYUXA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394982530&sr=8-4&keywords=Origins+Space

Have you read (or listened to the audiobook) We Are Legion (We Are Bob)? If not, you need to! It's $3.99 as a Kindle eBook or free if you're a member of Kindle Unlimited, and the audiobook is only $1.99. It's the first in a series of three books, and it's both amazing and hilarious, narrated from the perspective of a snarky geek. Your mention of Epsilon Eridani is what reminded me of it. I definitely recommend the audiobook as the narrator, Ray Porter, delivers the snark perfectly.

I'll try to list one or two things from each of the main genres and hopefully there will be something in there that you'll enjoy. You're lucky that you're going to get a chance to read some of these great books you've been recommended for the first time.

Sci-fi

Neuromancer by William Gibson

The Foundation Series by Issac Asimov

Dystopian

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

1984 by George Orwell

Romance

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Berniers

Satire

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Fantasy

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Magical Realism

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Horror

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Classics

Don Quixote by Cervantes

Madame Bovary by Flaubert

Cult

Choke by Chuck Palahnuik

American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

General Fiction

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell

Weathercock by Glen Duncan

Several books by Charlie Stross, including TOAST (a short story collection), two of his novels, Accelerando, and Scratch Monkey, and several other short stories are available at his website in multiple formats.

Spinward Fringe: Origins by Randolph Lalonde is available from Amazon for free and is the beginning of a great sci-fi series that I couldn't stop reading until I made my way all the way through the entire published series. I can't wait for the next one!

Cory Doctorow I believe has a couple of free ebooks for download on his website, craphound.com - including Little Brother.

I'm sure there are others I've missed but those are all good and off the top of my head. Enjoy!

I kind of find myself wondering what makes you want to write if you don't actually read to begin with. I mean... what's the point?

Anyway.

First off, read Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It's not on Kindle, because someone apparently hates money. Either way, buy the physical book and fucking read it. In fact, read the whole trilogy. All the books are brilliant, and are a really easy read. Written in the 1950s, it's set about 20,000 years in the future, charting key moments in the fall of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the "Foundation", a nation set up to shorten the chaotic interregnum and bring about a Second Empire.

In terms of that kind of price range... there's a metric shit-tonne of absolute wank on the Kindle Store, and all for free. Like, more than you could ever read in a human lifetime. It's incredibly over-saturated. The challenge, then, is cutting through that and finding good stuff. Here's some stuff I found:

The Time Machine. A classic, and a must-read as part of your cultural education, never mind a desire to write. Free.

The War of the Worlds. A classic, and a must-read as part of your cultural education, never mind a desire to write. £0.80

This is a selection of Philip K. Dick's short stories. Free.

Consider Phlebas. The first book of the fantastic Culture series. £1.59 (don't know what that is in US dollars)
Don't start there unless money is a really big issue. It might be the first one in the series, but it's also the worst by a significant margin. Fork out a bit more money and read The Player of Games or Use of Weapons. All the books in the series are standalone stories with no major connection other than the universe. So you're not missing out by starting on one of those. It's set in a civilisation at the absolute peak of technological advancement, where most things are run by machines.

*

Now, here are a few other books outside your stated price range, but which are worth reading:

Dune. A classic and a must-read. £7.59

The Martian. A very modern book and different from the others I've posted. Fun and engaging, even when its roots as a web serial stand out jarringly in places. £4.99

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Do you hate laughter? Then you'd better not read this. Seriously though, it's the funniest set of books I've ever read, and that's not hyperbole or exaggeration. £4.99**

The Bobiverse Trilogy was pretty good. I have Kindle Unlimited, and it was included, so I tried it out. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. It reminded me of an easier to read Greg Egan. But, instead of physics like Egan does, it's based on tech. There's even realistic scenarios about project management that are humorous.

The bobiverse is a good, fun, new one... Martin Kloos is great if he likes military scifi. Vernor Vinge is great with little or no bodily fluids, just spiders and dying civilisations...

So many choices!

I am half way through "Infinite by Jeremy Robinson" and it is fab. I would highly recommend. Also Bobiverse is a great book by Dennis Taylor (3 in the series). Finally, I would add "Expeditionary Force" by Craig Alanson.

They all good sci-fi shouts in my opinion. In fact, I would say get all 3!! :)

I like any and all of these! I sadly do not have an iphone, so the case would be no use to me.
The other day I added quite a few wallets to my wishlist, my current wallet is torn to shreds! One of these would be absolutely perfect!
Best thing I've ever purchased on Amazon? This book. It's my absolute favorite. I found it the summer after high school in the local library. It was one of those books that really caught my eye. I didn't think I would get sucked in so fast. It's pretty brilliant.

The Spinward Fringe series is good. I recommend it if you have an e-reader, because the first book (actually it's more like a prequel but whatever) is completely free. The rest of the books are nice and cheap as well. (again, if you have an e-reader)

Thank you!

I highly recommend it. I know people are really hit or miss with audiobooks, but I love listening to it while playing Aurora.

Here's the first (it's a pretty short series of 3 books): https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

Dr. Max Tegmark, cosmologist and physics professor at MIT

• Permutation City, by Greg Egan (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Jane Goodall, Primatologist
  
  
• The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Miracle of Life (not listed)
  
  Dr. Sean Carroll, Theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology
  
  
• Dragon's Egg, by Robert Forward (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Temple Grandin, Animal scientist
  
  
• "I’m a Star trek fan..."
  
  Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior astronomer and director at the Center for SETI Research
  
  
• Golem XIV, by Stanislaw Lem (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Chris Stringer, Anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London
  
  
• Brazil, the movie (YouTube)
  
  Dr. Jack Horner, Paleontologist at Montana State University
  
  
• Jurassic Park, the movie) (IMDB)
  
  Dr. Adam Riess, astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University
  
  
• Contact, by Carl Sagan (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Foundation series, by Isaac Asimov (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Silo saga, by Hugh Howey (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Stand, by Stephen King (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Watership Down, by Richard Adams (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Steven Strogatz, professor of mathematics at Cornell University
  
  
• The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Chriton (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Colossus: The Forbin Project, the movie (IMDB)
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Ainissa Ramirez, materials scientist
  
  
• Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler (Powells) (Amazon)
  
  Dr. Mario Livio, astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute
  
  
• Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne (Powells) (Amazon)
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie (IMDB)
  
• Dr. Strangelove, the movie (IMDB)
  
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the movie (IMDB)
  
  Olympia LePoint, rocket scientist
  
  
• Gravity, 2013 (IMDB)
  
• Back to The Future, 1985 (IMDB)
  
  Dr. Danielle Lee, biologist
  
  
• Dune, 1984 (IMDB)
  
  Dr. Michael Shermer, historian of science
  
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951 (IMDB)
  
  Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
  
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951 (IMDB)
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968 (IMDB)
  
• Planet of the Apes, 1968 (IMDB)
  
• The Terminator, 1984 (IMDB)
  
• The Quiet Earth, 1985 (IMDB)
  
• Contact, 1997 (IMDB)
  
• Deep Impact, 1998 (IMDB)
  
• The Matrix, 1999 (IMDB)
  
• The Island, 2005 (IMDB)
  
• Watchmen, 2009 (IMDB)
  

I've read the book a few times also. I wrote down every city/place the book goes to one time through and looked a bunch of them up, just to see where the book takes place. That was pretty interesting.

I haven't listened to the book yet. I listen to about a quarter of the books I 'read', so I will definitely pick this one up. Another book I thought was better to listen to than to read was The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. The voice acting was great in that one (along with the story, of course).

Yes! Bobiverse was great (maybe more coming!) Thanks for the suggestion!

Ive been enjoying Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Some of the story is told from the perspective of genetically modified spiders, has to do with AIs and humans being digitized too.

I have a book recommendation that you may enjoy (based on what you just described above) Singularity Sky, By Charles Stross

Basically the book starts with an orbiting hivemind raining Cellphone like devices from the sky onto the surface of a planet which has intentionally eschewed technology, and when people pick them up, a voice says "Tell us a story, and we'll give you anything"

Here's a snip from it's wiki entry:
>
> "The novel follows the ill-fated military campaign by a repressive state, the New Republic, to retaliate for a perceived invasion of one of its colony worlds. In actuality, the planet has been visited by the Festival, a technologically advanced alien race that rewards its hosts for "entertaining" them by granting whatever the entertainer wishes, including the Festival's own technology. This causes extensive social, economic and political disruption to the colony, which was generally limited by the New Republic to technology equivalent to that found on Earth during the Industrial Revolution. "

You might enjoy checking out The First Immortal, by James L. Halperin [https://www.amazon.com/First-Immortal-Novel-Future/dp/0345421825] - he does an incredible job of exploring this kind of thing while telling an engaging story. His other major book, The Truth Machine, runs in the same universe and interweaves well.

On audible and possibly kindle there is the Bobiverse
Also the 'Gateway' series is an OLD hfy, dating back before the internet [the first three books are by far the best] but prep yourself for alternating perspectives as Pohl seems to enjoy them and uses them to great effect.
I know that my 'Back to human' is on kindle unlimited and paperback,

Transcripts has as well [book one] and book 0 will come out soon according to squiggles as will book 2

Read 1984 for the dystopian aspect, for sci-fi pick up Isaac Asimov as mentioned by the_thinker.. And if you want a good, fun and captivating read, pick up Chuck Palahniuk's works, I'm a big fan of those. Try Survivor, Lullaby, Choke, any of those are amazing

It's not game lit, but if you want something similar and REALLY good, read "We Are Legion (We Are Bob)." It's great.

https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=sr\_1\_1?keywords=we+are+bob&qid=1574690939&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Tammy Salyer's Spectras Arise series (military/heist sci fi) and G.S. Jennsen's Aurora Rising series (alien invasion/military/space opera) both star excellent female characters. Joel Shepherd's Spiral Wars series (military sci fi ) also features a really awesome female character -- she's not technically the protagonist, but she splits "screen time" about 50/50 with the male lead. All three of these series also feature great minor female characters too.

My Ziva Payvan series revolves around a female lead as well.

A couple of lesser-known favorites: [A Door Into Ocean] (http://www.amazon.com/Door-Into-Ocean-Elysium-Cycle/dp/0312876521) - often referred to as feminist sci-fi, but don't let that fool you - it's really a damn good read. Or, if you're in a contemplative mood, [A Month in the Country] (http://www.amazon.com/Country-Penguin-Modern-Classics-ebook/dp/B0093UMLC8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370173899&sr=1-1&keywords=a+month+in+the+country). Or [Embers] (http://www.amazon.com/Embers-Vintage-International-ebook/dp/B000FBJF64/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370174671&sr=1-1&keywords=embers), for a beautifully-written story of love, friendship, betrayal, and more.
I suppose you've already read Marilynne Robinson and Anita Diamant? Tim Powers and Nevil Shute? I love Nevil Shute, and I promise there's no cannibalism. [Lost Horizon] (http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Horizon-Novel-Shangri--ebook/dp/B007JCZGOC/ref=la_B000APAVWC_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370175497&sr=1-1)?
Sorry, I'll stop now...

Have you read We are Legion; We are Bob? If not and you (OP only) are willing to pm me with your preferred format and an email. There's a lot of laughable/horribly pessimistic assumptions in the story, but it's a good mix of passages in the void and humorous sci-fi illustrating a counter-argument.

I think you are assuming a sub-sapient probe, and that only makes sense if you don't pursue a K type reproductive strategy (i.e. quality over quantity) for your probe. We are K type reproducers ourselves; and I would hope our first von-neuman probes are, at least, as strongly trans-human as the Bobs are.

Highly recommend the following series:
https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

It’s fun, it’s an easy read, but it’s not simplistic.

Also huge recommendation for these two books:
https://www.amazon.com/14-Peter-Clines/dp/1618680528

https://www.amazon.com/Fold-Novel-Peter-Clines-ebook/dp/B00NDTS7NC

Again, fun, easy to read and a blast to re-read.

Vurt by Jeff Noon. Possibly my favorite book. A cyberpunk story based around a drug taken by shoving a feather down your throat, and a search for a lost sister in some form of reality or another. From amazon:
> Vurt is a feather--a drug, a dimension, a dream state, a virtual reality. It comes in many colors: legal Blues for lullaby dreams. Blacks, filled with tenderness and pain, just beyond the law. Pink Pornovurts, doorways to bliss. Silver feathers for techies who know how to remix colors and open new dimensions. And Yellows--the feathers from which there is no escape. The beautiful young Desdemona is trapped in Curious Yellow, the ultimate Metavurt, a feather few have ever seen and fewer still have dared ingest. Her brother Scribble will risk everything to rescue his beloved sister. Helped by his gang, the Stash Riders, hindered by shadowcops, robos, rock and roll dogmen, and his own dread, Scribble searches along the edges of civilization for a feather that, if it exists at all, must be bought with the one thing no sane person would willingly give.

I'm only 2/3's through the 1st book but I'm enjoying it. It's slow to build but the story is really starting to develop. If you enjoy a game like Stellaris I doubt you'd struggle to enjoy the book

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Renegade-Spiral-Wars-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0138YJ3WA

While not a LitRPG I feel like the Bobiverse scratches the same itch very well.

It's about a guy who's consciousness is put into a robot and shot off into space. He has 3D printers that can create anything he can think of, including copies of himself. While not living "in a game" he still creates his own VR world that he shares with his copies and can control his perception of time by speeding up/slowing down his processor.

He explores, invents, creates and discovers tons of amazing stuff.

Great story. I would love to see a sequel series for the Terrans. (gotta go back through and make sure all chapters have an upvote)

Also, this series reminds me of a book series I started reading midway through your first chapter and the last one. If you are interested in reading about what you wrote about.

The series is called "We are Legion; We are Bob" it also involves a human becoming a von Neumann spaceship. No alie...no spacefaring aliens in that series yet, though.

So, I read and finished Cyberpunk: Stories of Hardware, Software, Wetware, Evolution, and Revolution, which I referenced in last month's thread. It was a really great collection of stories from a variety of authors.

After that, I continued my cyberpunk trend with Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. It was recommended on a list of cyberpunk books, most of which I compulsively bought. I really liked it, especially the character development. There are two more books in the series, which I'll have to get.

Instead, though, I started Limit, 1200 page epic translated from German. It received a bunch of awards and I read that lots of the technical details are on point, which is something that typically takes me out of the story a lot. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of July, but it's a lot to read and I'm easily distracKitty!!!

If they ever come up with true machine uploading / true brain-computer interfaces, I'll be one of the first to sign up. Assuming it actually preserves consciousness and the sense of I, and isn't just a memory transfer and someone else wakes up inside.

Something like the tech in Old Man's War would be perfect.

Or for a more future scifi feel, Bobiverse.

I enjoyed Spinward Fringe by Randolph Lalonde. It's not high literature but I thought it was overall well written, a bit pulpy in the best possible way. It takes the Star Trek large spaceship model and dives a bit more into the leadership, tactics, day to day life of running a large spaceship, etc. At least the first one did.

The last book I read for the first time was The Valhalla Call by Evan Currie. Great end to a fun military sci-fi. I would say it was a well rounded story for sure.

Otherwise right now I am re-reading the Spinward Fringe series by Randolph Lalonde. Now that is a very hard military sci-fi universe. But a very compelling story that drags you on.

1. Foundation - Isaac Asimov
   
2. 9/10
   
3. Science Fiction
   
4. The first book in the series properly known as the cornerstone of all science fiction. Absolutely incredible as are the next 3 (that's as far as I am). Great characters, writing, twists, fascinating plot, little bit of philosoophy, just incredible all around.
   
5. Amazon also on nook/kindle with good formatting.

Veneer is a pretty good one. I got it when it was free on amazon, if you want I can do the loan a book thing, I would just need your email, in a pm of course.

Post Human is my #1 favorite story on RR. It’s complete too!

It feels like a hybrid between the Bobiverse series with its main character self replication and r/HFY’s Chrysalis with the way its AI main character manages things. I reccomend both of those as well.

Bobiverse (paid): https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ/ref=nodl_

Chrysalis (free) (The most similar to Post Human and said to be a major inspiration for it.) https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/55v9e1/comment/d8e0t50?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=comment_vote

Super common, actually.


The Black Wolves of Boston by Wen Spencer features a protagonist who becomes a werewolf. Misfit Pack does the same thing.

One Woke Up by Lee Gaiteri features a protagonist wrestling with coming to terms with his time as a zombie


Into The Abyss by J. Langland features a protagonist turned into a horned demon.

The Tome of Bill features a protagonist who becomes a vampire. (Characters turned into vampires is super common, actually)

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) features a protagonist who becomes a space probe.

Chrysalis and Queen in the Mud on Royal Road feature protagonists who are turned into an ant and a salamander respectively.

The First Immortal by James Halperein is a novel all about the ramifications of cryonics. It's been years since I read it, but I remember finding it enjoyable and thought-provoking. However, it is not available as an audiobook, or even an ebook.

It's not exactly what you are looking for, but The Dead Zone by Stephen King is about someone who wakes up after several years in a coma. Also quite good.

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of The Dinosaur Four

I highly suggest Vurt by Jeff Noon. When anyone ever asks me for a book to read I start them out with this, and for one reason. The book Nymphomation is my favorite novel of all time. But to truly understand all parts of it you need to read Vurt first. I'm not trying to say that Vurt isn't worth reading, I've read it at least 5 times, but Nymphomation is pure pleasure.

May not be exactly what you're looking for but book 1 is free on Amazon so easy to read and check out if you like it. Spinward Fringe.

Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins: A Collected Trilogy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EPYUXA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_D4E0CbQ2CTC3N

If "Science Fiction, Ecological Thriller, Melted Arctic Icecap, New Wil Frontier" is a pretty hefty book, I'd wager it's Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Brilliant book, huge narrative, first in a trilogy.

Possibly of interest, an older book by James Halperin, The First Immortal.

It's somewhere between speculative fiction and an ad for Alcor, but it does touch on a number of interesting ideas around cryo, both around the logistics of maintenance in perpetuity and what revival might be like.

He supposedly wrote it while considering the option himself, so it's pretty well-researched albeit now probably a little quaint as pre-smartphone futurism tends to be.

I'm assuming that you're looking for stories set in a recognisable, modern or near-future setting, in that case:

• I enjoyed Gibsons other books; the remaining 2 in the Sprawl trilogy are great, there's also the Bridge trilogy and the Bigend trilogy (the last being in more or less modern times).
  
  
• You could try Halting State and Rule 34 by Charles Stross (we're reading Rule 34 in r/SF_Book_Club this month).
  
  
• Fairyland by Paul J. McAuley
  
  
• The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.
  
  
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
  
  
• The Dervish House by Ian McDonald

I really enjoyed Daffyd ab Hugh's doom books. They are pretty old and maybe for a young adult audience but they are the best video game books I've read.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0671525557

We have the same taste man ... trust me and read We are Legion. It was honestly my favorite out of all of them ....

1. We are legion (We are Bob) and the sequels are
   
   
2. For We Are Many: Bobiverse and the newest addition that just came out,
   
   
3. All These Worlds: Bobiverse
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

FYI, the first book of this series (Kindle version) is FREE for prime members right now if your interested. I don't know how long. I just got it.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

Pretty much all correct, but you should really read the official novels, the first 2 are awesome!

http://www.amazon.com/Knee-Deep-Dead-Doom-Book-1/dp/0671525557

Btw, my city name is from an awesome book called "Permutation City" by Greg Egan. If you like hard SCI-FI I highly recommend It https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FDWCPV2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dfJCzb6GT5D20

One thing that I've learned is that some books that you buy on Amazon will let you add the narration for really cheap if you buy the book. So instead of paying $30 for a book (or $15 a month for a credit), you can buy a kindle book on sale and 'add' the audio book.

I'm currently listening to a series called the Bobiverse thanks to this. The first book (We are Legion, We are Bob) was only $4 for the book and then another $2 to add the audiobook. If you like sci-fi/adventure books, I'd recommend it, it's dumb fun.

Also don't forget that your local library probably offers audiobooks on OverDrive.

The First Immortal: cryonics, with a great undercurrent of cultural and psychological changes.

Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn is a space opera with a well constructed history, but A Second Chance at Eden is the real reason I'm mentioning him in /r/futurology. It felt like a realistic look at the future.

If you like Sci-Fi stuff, make sure to read the Spinward Fringe series. The first book is free from Amazon (ebook version). I am at the 4th book in the series now, and it's a really captivating read.

http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Spinward-Fringe-ebook/dp/B004EPYUXA

I’ve been listening we are bob in my free time. It a good book just a bit different. Would recommend. https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=we+are+bob&qid=1573307969&sprefix=we+are+bo&sr=8-2

OMG YES THERE IS A BOOK FOR ALL OF THIS

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Fleet-Technical-Manual/dp/0345340744

If you havent picked this up you will love it

If you're at all interested in Science Fiction, I'd try picking up "Foundation" by Issac Asimov. It's a series, but the first book is a good stand-alone as well. I find Asimov is easy to read and really sucks you into the story - probably due to the fact that almost all of his narrative occurs through dialogue.

That would seem like the most logical way to pull it off. but then again if you never show yourself you can let the beings just make it up so you never get found out.

I was referring to Bob from We Are Legion

Great book, it is actually about this subject.

If you want some space opera antics, you might want to try Singularity Sky by Charles Stross. A humanoid species known as The Festival descends on a backwater repressive pseudo-medieval world and complicates everyone's lives by giving away high technology to anyone that entertains them.

Since you got the obvious one out of the way, I'll add Diana Wynne Jones, most known for the original Howl's Moving castle book series. For the older, witchiest readers I'd highlight "A Sudden Wild Magic" a less child-friendly story about a coven of new age practicioners facing off an attack on their dimension.

For the sci-fi fan, A Door into Ocean written by science witch Joan Slonczewsky

and most stories by Vonda mcIntyre many of which can be found online (in googling this I just learned she passed this spring :( )

She writes about biology, aliens, sex, centaurs, alien sex, genetic manipulation and marvelous winged sapients. There is a peculiar wistful melancholy to her stories. A good starting point is the short story "Of Mist and Grass and Sand" that segues into the novel Dream Snake, a story about a wandering healer and her three snakes with various "medicinal" bites.

do yourself a favor and read this asap! it's quick and wonderful!

We slowly but surely approach The Diamond Age:
https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Age-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0553573314

> But could we ask scifi writers to get off the whole machine AI takes over the Universe thing?

Here's a book that has a different take on this type of story and it is a great read. I highly recommend it if you haven't read it.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

You convinced me to add permutation city to my kindle wish list but then i saw it was on sale for $2.99 and went ahead and bought it. I hope you didn't hype it up too much!

My other novels Veneer and Xronixle are also free until Dec 5. Enjoy!

Foundation - Isaac Asimov

I've never been more immersed, surprised, and blown away by a book. The whole series is good and Foundation starts it off with a bang. When I read Foundation I literally take breaks to take in the awesomeness of what I just read. It is the bar for sci-fi novels and it is written by one of the smartest men to ever live. Seriously. Read about Isaac Asimov.

I can't praise this book enough.

These are great recommendations. Here are some other futuristic scifi books that explore the concept of identity like Altered Carbon does.

• Any of Greg Egan's books (Quarantine, Permutation City)
  
• Icon-Violet
  
• The Demolished Man
  
• Blindsight
  
• Recursion

For the love of what ever deity you worship, do NOT read any product descriptions for second foundation since some publishers(http://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Novels-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553382578/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345604106&sr=8-3&keywords=Foundation as in this publisher of this version) put a major spoiler for Foundation and Empire in it.

This is a thread full of those who loved SOMA, so I definitely need to recommend Permutation City by Greg Egan to people as many times as I can

I've enjoyed both of those authors, so I guess I'll recommend some books I've liked.

In no particular order (links to the first book in the series, on amazon):

The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell

Spinward Fringe by Randolph Lalonde

Star Force by B.V. Larson

Honor Harrington series by David Weber

Valor series by Tanya Huff

Like this free kindle book here Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0. So much in this book I would love to model. Because of the long coats involved I picture a Todd McFarlane/Captain Harlock Space Pirate style thing going on. Plus there is an astroid space station in there I want to attempt but that is a long way away. Ok I'm just rambling now.

The First Immortal by James Halperin changed my beliefs on "the afterlife" and cryogenic freezing. Really fucking awesome book.

http://www.amazon.com/First-Immortal-Novel-Future/dp/0345421825/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346266183&sr=1-1&keywords=the+first+immortal

One of my top faves atm. Another is the bobiverse series. It's been pretty entertaining and has a similar humor, but not quite as over the top.

I'd add that the article is well structured and consistently provides a non-scientist point of view that seems approachable by the general audience of Time Magazine (e.g. my parents).

While not directly Kurzweil, I'd note that my favorite fiction book on the subject is The First Immortal by James Halperin (link to Amazon)

Yes and I believe even the Star Trek The Next Generation: Technical Manual references it as well.

VOY - "The 37's".... Skip to 1:50. Janeway points to her combadge when she refers to the UT.

The in-universe explanation for why civilians can speak with others might be implants but and like I said inconsistency of writers is a thing. They go back and fourth because why would Starfleet personnel have a UT which can be taken off while civilians have the more practical option?

You should join the Bobiverse. Not really LitRPG, but the main character isn't human. I think anyone in this sub would enjoy it alot.


https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

One authors (science fiction) view of the possibilities...
https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

And the Audiobook is amazing as well.

My apologies if this is way too far off topic.

Malcolm F. Cross, Dog Country.

One of those crazy good but underappreciated ones.


Joel Shepherd, Renegade (Spiral Wars)

Has a lot of fleet stuff, but plenty of fun with the marine crew.

Limit (amazon)
>In 2025, entrepreneur Julian Orley opens the first-ever hotel on the moon. But Orley Enterprises deals in more than space tourism--it also operates the world's only space elevator, which in addition to allowing the very wealthy to play tennis on the lunar surface connects Earth with the moon and enables the transportation of helium-3, the fuel of the future, back to the planet. Julian has invited twenty-one of the world's richest and most powerful individuals to sample his brand-new lunar accommodation, hoping to secure the finances for a second elevator.

Was a nice read. Naturally space colonization has not evolved as far as in The Expanse but you get the evil master plan, James Bond like terrorist/assassins and mercenaries and a lot of suspense. It has 960 pages and I made it through in 3 days.

It has more a James Bond: Moonraker feel to it.

There's actually quite a bit of good post-singularity literature. You should check some of it out. Here's a quick list of a few of my favorites:

• Ventus by Karl Schroeder
  
• Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder
  
• Singularity Sky by Charles Stross
  
• Accelerando by Charles Stross
  
• Excession by Iain M. Banks
  
• Hyperion by Dan Simmons
  
• A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

You should read The First Immortal. The timeline is off, but the science is pretty sound, especially in the corrected edition.

Entire and the Rose - The first book in the series is free on Kindle, this is an excellent example of world building. I wanted to continue reading this series, well beyond the time it ended. I wanted to know so much more about these worlds.

Spinward Fringe - First book in the series is also free on the Kindle, I'm only up to book 4 but it reminds me of a book version of Eve Online. If you enjoy epic space battles, fighting against corporate overlords and crazy science (very intelligent AI, cloning, etc) this is a great series to get into.

If you're into this, The Bobiverse series is great. Same concept.

Book #1 in the current series of 3:

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

Great book on this subject : We Are Legion

You might check out We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor. It's a great exercise into Von Neumann probes, post biological life and interstellar colonization. Book 2 is supposed to be out in the spring.

There's a great book series about von Neumann probes: Bobiverse: We Are Legion (We Are Bob).

If you like that, you'll like Permutation City by Greg Egan.

Oooo Brazilian Empire! There's a really good book I just read with you in it! https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

Check out the Spinward Fringe series by Randolph Lalonde. The original prequel (Origins) story is good space opera with an upbeat feel and the later broadcasts are are a little more dark and thought provoking as parts of the galaxy devolve into wars and power plays. Good stuff all around.

Spinward fringe by Randolph Lalonde, first book is free.
There's also a handful from Evan Currie, cheap, inventive science fiction.

The Doom series!

The first two are pretty great and dovetail quite nicely with the games. I like the last two as well, but they get...rather odd.

back to the beginning

---

Current Selection#####

• Echopraxia by Peter Watts [Echopraxia]. Began September 3rd.
  
  
  ---
  

  Past Selections#####
  

  
  

  2014######
  

  
  

• The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke [Songs]. Began August 6th.
  
  
• 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson [2312]. Began July 7th.
  
  
• The Crystal World by J. G. Ballard [crystal]. Began June 4th.
  
  
• The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon [Lot49]. Began May 7th.
  
  
• The Lilith's Brood Trilogy by Octavia Butler [lilith]. Began April 7th.
  
  
• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie [Justice]. Began March 6th.
  
  
• [Invisible Cities] (http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Cities-Italo-Calvino/dp/0156453800) by Italo Calvino [Invisible]. Began February 5th.
  
  
• Machine Man by Max Barry [Machine]. Began January 1st.
  
  

  2013######
  

  
  

• House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds [suns]. Began December 5th.
  
  
• Singularity Sky by Charles Stross [singularity]. Began November 4th.
  
  
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood [Oryx and Crake]. Began October 7th.
  
  
• The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway [gone-away]. Began September 3rd.
  
  
• The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin [dispossessed]. Began August 2nd.
  
  
• The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks [sonata]. Began July 3rd.
  
  
• Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark [rama]. Began June 3rd.
  
  
• Jack Glass by Adam Roberts [glass]. Began May 3rd.
  
  
• Of Men and Monsters by William Tenn [monsters]. Began April 3rd.
  
  
• Solaris by Stanisław Lem [solaris]. Began March 3rd.
  
  
• Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan [carbon]. Began February 1.
  
  
• The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson [diamond]. Began January 4th.
  
  

  2012######
  

  
  

• Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke [childhood]. Began December 1st.
  
  
• Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo (aka Unto Leviathan) [fools]. Began November 3rd.
  
  
• Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg [dying]. Began October 4th.
  
  
• China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh [china]. Began September 4th.
  
  
• Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges [labyrinths]. Began August 4th.
  
  
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury [martian]. Began July 2nd.
  
  
• The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle [mote]. Began June 1st.
  
  
• Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky [picnic]. Began May 2nd.
  
  
• The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester [Destination]. Began April 2nd.
  
  
• Diaspora by Greg Egan [diaspora]. Began March 5th.
  
  
• Stories by Ted Chiang [Chiang]. Began February 3rd.
  
  
• Grass by Sheri S. Tepper [grass]. Began January 2nd.
  
  

  2011######
  

  
  

• Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny [lord]. Began December 5th.
  
  
• Zones of Thought Trilogy by Vernor Vinge [zones], [fire], [deepness], [children]. Began October 28th.
  
  
• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami [Wonderland]. Began October 3rd.
  
  
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline [rp1]. Began September 1st.
  
  
• Rule 34 by Charles Stross [Rule 34]. Began August 2nd.
  
  
• The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi [quantum]. Began July 1st.
  
  
• Embassytown by China Miéville [Embassytown]. Began June 1st.
  
  
• The Dervish House by Ian McDonald [dervish]. Began May 2nd.
  
  
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin [LHoD]. Began April 5th.
  
  
• A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. [canticle]. Began March 1st.
  
  
• Inverted World by Christopher Priest [inverted world]. Began February 1st.
  
  
• The City & the City by China Miéville [the city]. Began January 1st.
  
  

  2010######
  

  
  

• Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks [surface]. Began December 3rd.
  
  
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell [cloud atlas]. Began November 3rd.
  
  
• Anathem by Neal Stephenson [anathem]. Began October 1st.
  
  
• Blindsight by Peter Watts [blindsight]. Began September 1st.
  
  
• The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi [windup]. Began August 1st.
  
  
• The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams [MoPI]. Began July 15th.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Fleet-Technical-Manual/dp/0345340744

I had a copy when I was a kid, it's fun to flip through.

The first trilogy is £5.59 from Amazon. come up with a total order of £25 and it ships free.

It would cost me around $10 just to ship that one collection from the US.

Spinward Fringe: Origins Also, It's free if you have a kindle(or the kindle app).

Kindle light SF/Space Opera-y and free, [Spinward Fringe: Origins][http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Spinward-Fringe-ebook/dp/B004EPYUXA].

A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski. There's a tiny bit of space in it, as the ocean world is the moon of another planet. The author is a Quaker and a microbiologist and she creates a very compelling ocean world and a unique nonviolent society.

Anyone ever read the book?

Brings back some good memories.

While not a podcast, there is an book series (in audiobook form) that I think you'll enjoy; We Are Legion (We Are Bob).

http://www.amazon.com/Knee-Deep-Dead-Doom-Book-1/dp/0671525557


This book series is pretty cool. Until it goes all batshit crazy in books 3 and 4.

Spinwards Fringe, the first three books are free on Amazon Kindle.

Self published but good page turning spaceship battles. Every contact matters. Think Star Trek Kirk v Khan tactics.

UK clicky

I recently read this. It seems relevant to your interest.
Children of Time https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DN8BQMD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CVU1DbYSV5EWT

reminds me of this book I read... It came out last year and also describes a space elevator built with carbonfiber nanotubes. A very interesting read, though maybe 2025 was a bit too early.

We are Legion might be up your alley. Book two has just been released so it looks like the Kindle version of book one is on sale.

I highly recommend the bobiverse series to you as a second point of reference.

Can’t believe we haven’t mentioned Bob

The Bobiverse series. Basically follows Bob, a man who signed up to by cryogenically frozen in modern times, then 100 years or so later is recreated as an AI against his will to be placed in control of a Von Neumann space probe, going on to replicate and explore the galaxy.

Highly recommend the audiobooks.

The Truth Machine by James L. Halperin.
(I'd suggest The First Immortal by the same author, but it doesn't look like there is a Kindle version.)

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy gets into some interesting political philospohy about why and how humans organise themselves into political groups. (I've only read the first of the three books)

Could also look at just keeping an eye on whispersync sales. For example
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWAESYQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JSy5Cb6VQWR2M
Kindle book and audio for $7... this is cheaper than any credit I can get from audible.

To no segundo livro do We are bob (Bobiverse). Começa nesse aqui. Pra quem gosta de ficção científica muito recomendo.

Outro livro muito bom é o "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman". É um apanhado de histórias do físico Richard Feynman, tem a passagem dele pelos Los Alamos e também a vinda pro Brasil. Bem entretenedor.

Looking at the Amazon reviews this seems like an excellent hard science fiction book. I may considering buying it even if it doesn't win.

Well, I watched the release trailer and the extended reveal with Bryan Ekman expounding on his ideas. Interesting takeaway.

We've got this idea that humans are effectively immortal, with our consciousness, centrally stored, but able to be sent to synthetic bodies, at the least. When you leave a body to go to another in a different location, it's not completely wiped and remnants get left behind... making these machines crazy dangerous.

Serious design flaw there. Hell, may I be so bold as to say... That's not even a design flaw, the things would have to be engineered that way. Got some serious nefarious business all up in this crap.

Well, OK. I like my science fiction. I am seeing cyberpunk influences. I see Eve:Online and there's a few things a bit Spinward Fringe (Randolph Lalonde), Descent:Freespace, Freelancer, etc. The idea of consciousness transfer is not new to Sci-fi, but the remnants is. Probably because the idea is pants-on-head crazy.

What do I like? Inertia based flight. Art style.

What don't I like? The concept. More than just the Sci-fi plot hole so big you could fly Babylon 5 station through it. The idea that there won't be NPC quest givers or shopkeepers. I don't thing that's a tenable position.

I want to like it. No matter who was making it, I'd have these issues.

This one? Ha.

Ha that's random, I'm reading that book right now

The Bob, not exactly what you asked for, but worth the read

Ellon's just a big fan of Kim Stanley Robinson.

Charles Stross. His latest novel, Rule 34, even mentions lolcats and 3D printing.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

And spoiler alert, /r/bobiverse

Pollen - Jeff Noon

Masterfully written but extremely unusual / fucked up.

Vurt by Noon is better IMO but not quite as fucked up. A completely different reading experience though.

Both highly recommended!

It seems that your comment contains 1 or more links that are hard to tap for mobile users.
I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!


Here is link number 1 - Previous text "Bob"



----
^Please ^PM ^/u/eganwall ^with ^issues ^or ^feedback! ^| ^Delete

The TNG guide, Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, The Franz Joseph TOS technical manual, Worlds of the Federation, and the Klingon dictionary (original and revised), and Klingon Hamlet. Probably a couple others I can't remember off the top of my head.
Someone mentioned the Space Shuttle Operator's guide, just found that one in a box recently, too.

The First Immortal: https://www.amazon.com/First-Immortal-Novel-Future/dp/0345421825

Alright let’s get the Bob’s involved. Bobiverse Series

Yes, the bob in the computer is an entirely different kind of spirit.

An interesting start, but not enough to warrant £4.45 to read the rest of it as an e-book. It's a bit pricey given that I can pick up a real (as in paper) 280-page book by an established author and have it delivered for the same price. To pick one at random...

This series might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it just came to mind...

The Bobiverse series

It's about a guy who is killed in an accident, and later has his brain used (in the far future) to man an AI probe to explore the universe. Bob begins to replicate himself, and many Bobs are born.

At one point one of the bobs discovers an indigenous race on a far planet and become EXTREMELY invested in their future. It's only one of the several aspects to the main story, but it was my favorite part.

​

It's a very entertaining series, lots of comedy and philosophical dilemmas.

vurt

I wasn't aware of that rule until recently, but the meme is bursting forth.

1. Relevent
   
2. Relevent or here

Rule 34 — just got my copy.

Asimov - Foundation

Essential Asimov to get into the right mentality.

Burnout dawg.

Foundation.

http://www.amazon.com/Knee-Deep-Dead-Doom-Book-1/dp/0671525557

Maybe check the first two books in this series

http://www.amazon.com/Knee-Deep-Dead-Doom-Book-1/dp/0671525557

It's about as deep as you'd expect fanfiction to be.

There is a book about the game.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0671525557?pc_redir=1397581943&robot_redir=1

Origins (Spinward Fringe)

We are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor, especially the Audiobook!

The Perry Rhodan series, longest running Sci-Fi series that I know of with basically everything sci-fi related in it at some point.

Does the Boboverse count? https://smile.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=bobiverse&qid=1570471603&sr=8-2

The Martian

https://www.amazon.com/Unknown-The-Martian/dp/B00B5HO5XA/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

The Bobiverse

https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse/dp/B01L082SCI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K2B44GA8IOY0&keywords=i+am+bob+i+am+legion&qid=1556504645&s=gateway&sprefix=I+am+Bob%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1

Oh, then you need to read Bobiverse. Amazon link

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

Bob

If you havent read the Bobiverse series, you should.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

That book reminds of another book that I have heard of, but not read called We Are Legion (We Are Bob). https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ

[Adrian Tchaikovsky] (Author)
[Children of Time]
[Children of Ruin]
[Bobiverse]

The Bobiverse needs a movie

Ping

Wonder where your dm got that idea

https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky-ebook/dp/B07DN8BQMD/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536503326&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=children+of+time&dpPl=1&dpID=51sR5hLQZIL&ref=plSrch


is that the book?