Reddit mentions: The best spies & political thrillers books

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

• Kirkus Review  “A professor and parapsychology researcher discovers a key to mankind’s evolution or destruction in this debut thriller…In the Russian city of Podol’sk, a project partially based on Walker’s work has gone horribly awry, killing thousands and leaving traces of mysteries that threaten humanity’s scientific understanding. Discovering what occurred, and how to prevent it from happening again, falls on Walker and his new friends…As secrets and revelations accumulate, the team’s combined knowledge and abilities may be inadequate to stop what’s coming…Deft dialogue, crisp plotting, and a likable central figure make this multidisciplinary scientific adventure an exuberant and involving read.” 
  
• New Consciousness Review “A thrilling read” 
  
• Portland Book Review “Having the right amount of adventure and romance, this crisscrossing genre tale isn’t just a good read, but may also look great on a big screen.” 
  
• Self-Publishing Review “…the book mixes uncommon palettes and manages a masterpiece with it. It is a surprising, suspenseful, and utterly superb read from start to end.”
  
• Midwest Book Review “…highly recommended, indeed; especially for thriller and sci-fi readers who have become deluged with too much predictability and who seek cutting-edge action, believable protagonists, and action that is solidly intense throughout.” 
  
  READERS’ REVIEWS
  
  5.0 out of 5 stars I hate to see this series end! My favorites sci-fi series!!!By Montzalee Wittmannon October 10, 2017Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
  
  The Interdimensional Nexus (The SHIVA Syndrome Trilogy, Book 3) by Alan Joshua is the fast and heart stopping third book. I didn’t want to see this end. I hope he adds another set to this. So much action, thrills, things wrapped up, and so much goes wide open in this exciting finish. I loved this series. Science, the power of thoughts, the brain, corruption vs goodness, who are we vs the universe, it is a deep book. LOVED it. Sci-fi at it’s finest! Must get!
  
  5.0 out of 5 stars Great movie if done right.
  
  By Buzz on November 27, 2017Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
  
  This is the third and sadly last book in the series. Although there is room for more or a spin off. Just love the Beau character! Thrilling series that I would recommend. No spoilers but a good ending, but would like to read more. This would be a great movie – if done right.

This is an interesting idea, especially for those worldbuilders like myself who have worlds heavily grounded in realism.

I think it’s safe to say that the more “realistic” you make an aspect of your world (“realistic” here meaning closely reflecting how the concept existed in the real world), the more believable it will appear to your readers. However, the more in-depth you create it, the more it will come to resemble your influences, to the point where the two concepts are virtual copies of the other. It’s simpler to copy intricate details than recreate them. This is good in a world based in realism. Details will be ordered and logical, allowing you to accurately model real world conditions. If you accurately want your Roman-inspired army to remain supplied in the field, it’s best to copy Roman military logistics.

Of course, if you want to have every detail of your setting exactly as it appears(ed) in reality (which is technically impossible), you wouldn’t be setting it in a constructed setting. It is then equally important to determine why you are creating a fictional setting in the first place. What makes you want to create a fictional locale? Do you like not being bound by history, and the freedom to create events as you wish? Do you like creating new sciences, technologies, or ideas? Use why you wish to create a fictional world to make your setting unique, not, in your words, a “rip-off.” In other words, copy intricate details from reality (such as the process and reasons for inflation in a bullion-based currency system), but allow yourself to be influenced by multiple influences or periods when creating macro-level concepts (like religions). It is important though to construct these ideas in a manner that the society at large could logically exist. The whole must be greater than the sum of its parts.

This is only one perspective. It is perfectly fine to realistically model all major elements of a society off it’s historical or contemporary counterpart. Guy Gavriel Kay has written a number of successful novels set in historically inspired fantasy settings, like Byzantium in [The Sarantine Mosaic] (http://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Sarantium-Book-Sarantine-Mosaic/dp/045146351X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405480068&sr=8-1&keywords=sarantine+mosaic) or Muslim Spain in [The Lions of al-Rassan] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Lions-al-Rassan-Guy-Gavriel/dp/0060733497/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1405480129&sr=8-5&keywords=guy+gavriel+kay). The settings of both very closely mirror their historical counterpart, yet enough aesthetic aspects are changed to create a feeling of difference, of uniqueness. If a certain period or society truly inspires you, there is nothing inherently wrong with your setting being strongly influenced by it. After all, what constitutes a “unique rendition” of a topic from a “rip-off” is ultimately a matter of personal taste.

Ha! Thanks for creating a subreddit dedicated to my very own series, PF. That's gotta count as a life achievement, right? (Nevermind that the subreddit is empty.) Seriously, though, thanks for the kind words.

I'm a Dresden fan myself but brand new to this subreddit, so looking forward to discussions. (Although, BLASPHEMY, I have yet to read the last 2 books of that series. I'm scared to go too far here for fear of spoilers.) On the flip side, I have a Dresden cooperative card game kickstarter reward coming my way soon, so I can pretend I still belong.

Oh, I'll actually be in an anthology with Jim Butcher releasing later this year too, so that's cool.

About my Black Magic Outlaw series, if anyone's interested: Cisco's a shadow charmer fighting on the streets of Miami. I like to keep things dark and kick my protagonist when he's down. Each novel stands alone as far as having a satisfying story, but the opening story arc was conceived to span 5 books. 4 of those books are out now and the last will be available in about a month, so there's a lot of good story for readers to plow through.

Also, for the first time ever, Book 1 (DEAD MAN) is available for free! (on Amazon and other sites)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019ROIX8U

I'll keep an eye out for discussion on /r/BlackMagicOutlaw and respond if readers want to interact, but I'm just happy someone thought to create the sub. If anyone wants more info on me, the best first stop is DominoFinn.com. Cheers!

Most of these are just (free) audiobooks at this point in time, but are excellent Sci Fi stories IMO.

Nathan Lowell

The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper: A Trader's Tale details the story of a young man who is orphaned and kicked off his home planet, into the arms of the trader ship Lois McKendrick. I'd say it's a wonderful start for someone who normally doesn't read Sci Fi, because it focuses so much on his life. You'll be hard-pressed to believe that there aren't people who spend months at a time hauling goods between the stars.

• Quarter Share (print)
  
• Half Share
  
• Full Share
  
• Double Share
  
• Captain's Share
  
  Christiana Ellis
  
  Space Casey is the comedy of this whole bunch. More along the lines of a radio program, it's set in space, with the wily young Casey, her stolen ship Al, and their pet, uh.. thing. A very enjoyable story, and a good laugh!
  
  
• Space Casey
  
  Jon Armstrong
  
  Grey is set in about the strangest world you can imagine, where fashion, celebrity culture, and gore are commonplace. The pull of society on Michael Rivers sends him on an impossible quest to win the hand of his beloved Nora and find out the secret of his birth.
  
  
• Grey (print)
  
  Bill DeSmedt
  
  Here we're getting into the heavier stuff, and trust me when I say you're going to learn a lot. Singularity surrounds the mystery of the Tunguska event of 1908, and the implications aren't pretty. One of the few time travel stories I find plausible.
  
  
• Singularity (print)
  
• Doctor Jack's Soapbox Seminars (not a sci fi story, but a series of lectures on the science behind Singularity)
  
  J.C. Hutchins
  
  7th Son is getting more into the horror/thriller genre, but I'd say it's no less Sci Fi. Cloning, mind copying, secret DARPA projects, conspiracies, the list goes on and on.
  
  
• 7th Son: Descent (print)
  
• 7th Son: Deceit
  
• 7th Son: Destruction
  
  
  
  Edit: found some print copies

The sad truth of it is, there are a lot of stories that are similar in some way to Farscape, but I don't know that any (of any medium) are truly like Farscape.

What aspect of Farscape were you seeking? The character relationships, the human-alone-in-space (or just among strangers) aspect, the lawless band of semi-heroes, the genuine creativity of it (strange aliens and customs), the military aspect, or something else entirely? You'll probably get better results if you can narrow down your request. :)

If you like the variety of races and societies in space, a really wonderful book (and possibly the closest I've found in feel to Farscape) is Hellspark, by the late Janet Kagan. It's incredibly creative and culturally diverse, plus it takes place on a newly-explored planet, so you have all the neat technologies and wildlife that go along with it. It's also full of clever humor and a variety of colorful characters, much like Farscape. There is no military presence, however, or really much physical conflict outside of exploration and discovery, so if that's what you were looking for I'd look elsewhere.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Ride From Two Directions August 6, 2012
By Randall Masteller
http://www.amazon.com/Stinger-Nick-Daley-Series-ebook/dp/B008SF6VF2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1344883445&sr=1-4

The first book in the Nick Daley series is a captivating and thrilling excursion and it takes you to its conclusion via two separate routes. Taking place in the mid 80's when the Soviet Union was fighting in Afghanistan, that plot revolves around the pursuit of a notorious mujahadeen leader. Daley wants to find him to provide weapons on behalf of the CIA. A beautiful American female reporter who was once that leader's lover and friend at Berkeley seeks an interview with him. The book follows both parties as their paths meet, diverge, and meet again. One thing that keeps you glued to the pages is that both threads are extremely interesting. Daley must play politics with the Pakistanis and his own bosses while playing cloak and dagger with everyone else. The reporter must deal with the fact that she is an independently minded woman in a land that does not appreciate such a thing and usually refuses to acknowledge it. When you throw in a KGB agent ordered to eliminate the warrior and all who support him, you have that great ride I mentioned.

When I put the book down at the end, I had to say "Wow". Then I went in search of the next book.

Well done, Ms. Chambers. You have a fan in me and a promise to buy all the Nick Daley's you decide to write.

For some more ancap fiction threads and posts I have assembled

I listend to a talk David D. Freidman gave at Duke on Stateless and Semi-Stateless Societies in Fiction and Semi-Fiction. (Blog post) (Audio)

I was curious about the pieces he mentioned, so I decided to make a list of them.

*****

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein

The Ungoverned - Vernor Vinge

True Names - Vernor Vinge

Oath of Fealty - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

The Syndic - C.M. Kornbluth

The Domination of Draka (series) - S.M. Stirling

Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin

The Probability Broach – L. Neil Smith

The Great Explosion – Eric Frank Russell

The Cassini Division (Fall Revolution Series) - Ken MacLeod (I don’t believe the books by this author are mentioned but I believe this is the one concerning the “Einstein” in the capitalist enclave.)

Harald - David D. Friedman

Salamander - David D. Friedman

**
Here are also some links to other threads on the subject that have been posted in this sub:

I need some help on compiling a reading list on Anarcho-Capitalist, Libertarian and techno-commercialist novels, plays, etc.

Any An-cap friendly novels out there?

A permanent catalog of fiction with AnCap themes (please feel free to contribute)

Any representations of a stateless society that is positive in fiction?

Agorist fiction?

Anarch Capitalist Fiction List?

I have provided Amazon links. Most of these pieces can be found online, but I will leave that to the reader.

Thanks for the questions!

Under the Heel of the Aether Imperium by J.P. Medved ( /u/aducknamedjoe ) is definitely uplifting. My Doubleplusunhate might be, too, a little.

This anthology is more about defiance and fighting hard battles than about feel-good tho if you enjoy winning, there is a lot of that in here.

As to suggesting other scifi that is uplifting, I'm stumped. I frankly found Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead to be uplifting but I know others do not.

I'm not sure why they stopped making libertarian science fiction anthologies. There are definitely people writing libertarian sci-fi tho, like Vernor Vinge, Michael Z. Williamson, Sarah Hoyt and the authors of this anthology.

I was feeling really empowered after I published my first novel, Lando Cruz and the Coup Conspiracy (agorist dystopian thriller) and I was recently connected with some of my fellow authors, so I proposed this idea and the drafts started coming in.

I lost faith a few times but kept on pushing. L. Neil Smith was going to join us but then fell ill. Several stories came in last-minute when I thought we wouldn't have enough to do a proper anthology, and then step by step it has finally happened. We worked on this for about 4-5 months I think.

Thanks again for your questions! -- George Donnelly

The Tourist/Milo Weaver series, by Olen Steinhauer -- It's a well regarded literary spy novel. Pretty much each of these books made the NY Times Best Books list when it came out.

The Faithful Spy/John Wells series, by Alex Berenson -- It's more pulp-ey, but still well done. An American spy who's also Islamic infiltrating Islamic terrorist outfits.

The Expats, by Chris Pavone -- This is less globe trotting, but inherently involves travel. It's about an American couple living abroad in Luxembourg. I can't reveal too much without spoilers, but ... I guess it's safe to say that spying is involved somehow. Otherwise, I wouldn't be recommending it here. Another one that made a lot of "best books of the year" lists, including the NY Times.

The George Smiley novels, by John Le Carre -- Genre defining classics. They're cold war espionage books. And they're wonderful. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and Tinker Tailor are probably the most well regarded. But they're all great.

Code Name Echo is an assassin romance/thriller novel where the main character has poisoned lips and her partner has X-ray vision. She's sent to kill a target but ends up getting drawn into a larger conspiracy that involves a lot of romance, action, and unexpected twists.

Here's a short blurb:

> Eliza has known three things ever since she was a child. One: her partner August will be always there for her. Two: the Executive will retire her if she refuses to assassinate her targets. Three: anyone she kisses on the lips will die.

>Until now.


You can get it as an ebook for $2.99 or in Kindle Unlimited for free. Also, if you're a reviewer and would like a free copy in exchange for a review on Amazon, please send me a PM! Thanks :)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078JNGG34

While I don’t specialize in only this genre, I did recently finish a copyedit for a highly technical military thriller for a major US publisher. Here: https://www.amazon.com/Presence-Evil-Force-Orange-Novel-ebook/dp/B07KVN11ZX/

The author was pleased with my work and left a nice review on my Facebook page, if you’d like to verify that he was happy. http://ww.facebook.com/LisaGilliamEditor

You can also take a look at my website to see if you think we’d be a good fit. http://ww.lisagilliam.com

Chris Ruz's phenomenal deserts-and-demons epic Century of Sand 2: The Ragged Lord came out Dec 1. This dude is currently my favorite indie author; I buy nearly everything he produces the day it comes out.

The third volume of my gunslinger series Ten Thousand Devils came out Nov 30 and won an /r/Fantasy Best of 2014 Stabby. It's good if you like King's stuff, especially his Dark Tower series. I've heard the style is similar to Sanderson.

The first installment of John Oakes' alt history assassin thriller Death Pope came out Jan 16. It reads stylistically sort of like an Assassin's Creed cover of Romeo & Juliet directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Assuming his love of war books isn't limited to historically-set pieces, I've got a somewhat obscure author to suggest on his behalf: Eric L. Harry. He has three war novels, the first about a limited nuclear war between Russia and the US, and subsequent efforts to prevent an escalating conflict, called Arc Light. The second is about an anarchist revolution in Russia which leads to a power vacuum in Asia, resulting in a war between the US and China, called Protect and Defend. The last is about a dominant China essentially taking over the world and invading the United States, with enthralling subplots ranging from a plot to overthrow the president regarding his handling of the war and guerrilla tactics being used against the Chinese invaders in the Deep South. That one is appropriately titled Invasion.

I've read all of them and found each of them more enthralling than the last (in the order I listed). They are techno-thrillers, so there are occasional bits of very specific description, but I find this both interesting and informative and enjoy it in fiction if it is done right (see: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child). And with those technical descriptions, Harry tends to avoid the overly dry descriptive style that Clancy can sometimes descend into, so I sometimes consider him a step up from good ol' Tom. Overall, I'd say Eric L. Harry is great at weaving together his understanding of political and military workings, quite original (and eerily prescient) plots, and very well-rounded characters into novels that really keep the pages turning. I'd say they are some of the best war novels I've read, and I've made my way through quite a few, thus I suggest them to you on behalf of your father.

I've read something similar by a well known submitter on /r/WritingPrompts.
Here's a link! Your idea seems sufficiently different, just thought i'd show you for inspiration if you need it :) good luck

I agree with this completely, down to the Sandman Slim rec.

The closest to Dresden I've found is Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus books. Like the Druid series, they're very derivative of Butcher in terms of setup, but they're way better executed than Hearne's books.

I also really liked Harry Connolly's first book, Child of Fire, although the other books in the series don't quite hold up.

Both of the above-mentioned books come with Jim Butcher's cover endorsement, fwiw.

If you're looking for something really dark I'd suggest Harry Connolly's Twenty Palaces series. The first one is Child of Fire. I really enjoyed it and Jim Butcher has also recommend it. Keep in mind there are only 3 books and 1 prequel that Harry self published due to his publisher dropping him.

If you're looking for something stupid and funny I recommend John Dies at the End and it's sequel This Books is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It. I have to admit I'm a bit biased on those though, I won a free signed copy of TBiFoS by participating in an alternate reality game around the time of its release.

> Have you ever commissioned illustrations for any of your pieces?

Yes, I commissioned the cover art for both of my books: [Prompt Me], and Rex Electi.

But I do wish that I got more fan art from people.

> In a similar vein, are you a visual-type of person, say, imagining what the characters actually look like when you write about them?

Yes, very much. I picture everything happening in my mind, and its often a question of how much I want to go into detail; I can't go off onto a tangent that isn't relevant to the story.

One of the best series I've read where women are the same as men is the Steerswoman Saga by Rosemary Kirstein. It's a recognizable world, but one in which misogyny seems to just not exist, and is incredibly refreshing to read. (Also: people solving their problems by using intelligence, creativity, and diplomacy instead of with force!)

In more of a science-fiction vein, Hellspark by Janet Kagan has a similar humanist feel to it. The novel thinks a lot about how culture affects communication, and how our language shapes our roles.

Nicola Griffith's Ammonite is sci-fi but takes place on a low-tech world populated only by women. It's kind of cool how quickly this comes to seem normal. Griffith's books are all amazing, but some of her others do deal with sexual violence (though never minimized as scene-setters).

You should check out our Ancap/libertarian short story anthology but also:

• Lando Cruz by /u/georgedonnelly
  
• Everything on this list of 83 libertarian novels
  
• Granite Republic by me (an AnCap) about NH seceding from the country.
  
  Also check out Withur We (mentioned by another poster), Alongside Night, Minerva by Bob Murphy (yes, that Bob Murphy) and #agora a novel (all on the list linked to above).

I am a big, big fan of the Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly. Pretty highly gritty IMO, but if that's what you like you should be fine. If you like Dresden Files, you may note that the first published book has a pull quote from Jim Butcher right up there on the front.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

Hi, my book is my take on a modern dystopian in the vein of 1984, only with today's technology those ideas are completely plausible. It's called Stronger than Blood on Amazon.

I've heard about Goodreads during my research on how to market my book but I'll be honest, I don't know much about it. Can you share any insights you may have?

If he likes action movies, he may like the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn. Very quick reads, suspenseful page-turners. The first one is about a hostage situation in the White House, Transfer of Power. It is 426 pages, but it really goes quickly.

(edit: to note- amazon link above says that is Mitch Rapp #3. This was the first one published in this series, and then 2 other books about the younger Rapp came out later. I think Transfer of Power is the better place to start.)

http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-TM-Daemon-Book-2-ebook/dp/B002VUFKDY

as well as the original Daemon (http://www.amazon.com/Daemon-Daniel-Suarez-ebook/dp/B003QP4NPE/) Both are great reads.

You won't be disappointed.

Also, if you're looking for something a little different, and you're interested in Byzantium, Guy Gavriel Kay's Sarantine Mosaic series is set in a fictionalized version of 6th Century Byzantium, and it is flat-out great.

Check out the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn, starting with Transfer of Power. It's good fun and Mitch Rapp is a badass. In my mind, he is the American James Bond. Long running series too, so there's plenty of content to keep you busy. Another great author to check out would be David Morrell, in particular, the Mortalis trilogy, though those three are more about assassins than spies, but you can't go wrong with Morrell.

The function of money itself is a variable.

What is money? I've heard it as "An agreement within a community to establish a system for the distribution of resources."

Everything about how it works: inflation, interest, scale, who issues it. . . is all arbitrary.

Markets, as they currently function, are set up to drive unsustainable recurring growth. . . and they've shaped global human behavior toward a kind of destructiveness, greed and unchecked ambition that is SINGLE HANDEDLY the source of, I will go so far as to say "most" of the human suffering in the world. But those that benefit from them the most are almost Pavlovianly conditioned to have a hard time seeing this. This is a big problem.

If YOU would like to open your eyes, here's some resources:

Barnard Lietaer was a world class economist (who was one of the architects of the Euro. . .which he warned was going to cause and run into a lot of the same problems as it has, but it had POLITICAL requirements that HAD to be met that had those problems baked in) who focused his work on helping communities reimagine the idea of what currency even is. When you realize it doesn't have to work the way it does, the whole way that markets even work starts to look. . . well downright evil and unnecessary. . . sorry Libertarians.

This book and it's sequel are interesting techno-thriller sci-fi. But the second book imagines a system by which a market economy could be managed by democratized opensource AI to produce MUCH better social outcomes. This kind of a system is MUCH more in reach than people reflexively think. It also takes a look at how one MIGHT use gamification to help people rethink their preconceived notions of how economies MUST work.

And also. . .this is dope!

If you enjoy this story, the first full length novel in its accompanying series launched today on Kindle Unlimited!


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RT7P87Z

Daemon and it's sequel Freedom by Daniel Suarez would probably be a good recommendation if you like those two books you mentioned in the title.

Child of Fire by Harry J. Connolly

Great book in the Urban Fantasy genre!

So then we can have what's in the book Freedom: http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-TM-Daniel-Suarez-ebook/dp/B002VUFKDY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1417827999&sr=8-3&keywords=freedom

This sounds very similar to the plot on Daniel Suarez's book Kill Decision: Link
Which I HIGHLY recommend.

Along with his other books Daemon and Freedom.

They are AMAZING on audible...

Try Harry Connolly's "Twenty Palaces" series. I'd suggest starting with Child of Fire and Game of Cages. Neat magic system and world building. Fair warning, the series is incomplete, but I think the existing books work well as is.

Here's the book I've been talking about. It's Vince Flynn's Transfer of Power, staring his character Mitch Rapp. One of my all time favorite book series.

Just to inform you and all german redditors:

Amazon DE has your physical copy IN STOCK: https://www.amazon.de/dp/1540338371/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1479481605&sr=8-2&keywords=rex+electi

Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.de/Rex-Electi-English-W-P-Kimball-ebook/dp/B01N03B1AJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479481605&sr=8-1&keywords=rex+electi

Your book will be on my wishlist for xmas ;)

Have you read Freedom (TM)?

It's a sequel to Daemon, but paints a vision of the world close to yours.

Rex Electi is a book she wrote based on a prompt here on reddit. There's also Prompt Me which is a collection of short stories from writing prompts. Here's her author page on Amazon.

It made me think of the sustainability of the global food industry, especially here in the USA. I recently re-read the book Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez, and it raised some interesting concepts about so-called thousand mile supply chains. Excellent read.

EDIT: You're right - she does look PISSED. Plus the German stack of food seems to be way more orderly than anyone else's.

Wha?

• Daemon
  
• Freedom
  
  That's how I read them both...

• Ready Player One
  
• All Systems Down
  
• Cryptonomicon
  
• Freedom (TM)
  
• Snow Crash
  
• The Forever War

Daemon and its sequel Freedom, by Daniel Suarez

Suarez is one of us.

Rex Electi

Springing off your preference for Roman history, you should take a look at the first 4 books of The Videssos series starting with The Misplaced Legion, by Harry Turtledove. A pre-Empire Roman legion is transported magically to an alternate world, and find themselves in a world very similar to what we would later call the Byzantine Empire.

Similarly, the Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay, starting with Sailing to Sarantium takes place in a world similar to the Byzantine Empire.

Indents are not necessary and I've read a lot of novels with no indenting whatsoever. For example Harry Potter: No indents and good enough to sell millions.

http://www2.sdfi.edu.cn/netclass/jiaoan/englit/download/Harry%20Potter%20and%20the%20Sorcerer's%20Stone.pdf

In other writing every paragraph is indented, regardless of dialogue or not, including the first paragraph. For example see the 'look inside' of Tom Sawyer

https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Tom-Sawyer-Biographical-Introduction-ebook/dp/B000FC1C46/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542811211&sr=8-4&keywords=where+the+red+fern+grows+kindle

Final example/final edit: Dresden files indents every paragraph except the first paragraph of each chapter. Again you can refer to the 'look inside'.

https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Black-Magic-Outlaw-Book-ebook/dp/B019ROIX8U/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1542811463&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=dresden+files&psc=1

Just pick a convention and be consistent.

The Twenty Palaces series got me through those extra months between Changes and Ghost Story; and seeing as how I found out about the series from Jim's website that ought to say something.

http://www.amazon.com/Child-Fire-Twenty-Palaces-Novel/dp/0345508890/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1318576688&sr=8-4

i liked the idea of the haptic suit in Freedom. I use my phone for everything but having different tones for various events isn't the best way to be alerted. Imagine, your left butt check twitches, there's a thai restaurant near by with a 5 star rating, your right forearm throbs, your cousin has posted another asinine political facebook rant that you can safely ignore, middle of your back itches, there's an open wifi sport nearby...