Ask HN: What fiction books would you recommend for programmers?
What are some fiction books that you think programmers especially would enjoy?
Doesn't have to be but I'm interested as well if there are any that are written by programmers or engineers
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
Most terrifying book I've ever read, and it is very much fit for a programmer to read. I can't recommend it enough. Especially if you are into AI and / or systems programming. I know those two seem very far apart and have no correlation, but you'll get it once you read it.
These are all entertaining:
Definitely the Wizardry series by Rick Cook
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/rick-cook/wizardry/
Programming meets magical realms
James Hogan
Inherit the Stars - Has supercomputers but not main characters
Code of the Lifemaker Has Ancient Tech evolving into a robotic society
Two Faces of Tomorrow - humans trying to get along with AI
D.F.Jones
Colossus, the Fall of Colossus, and Colossus and the Crab
Humans creating machines to protect humanity (computers have different idea) and the rebellion, and a new threat.
A Logic Names Joe - radioplay of short story.
https://archive.org/details/OTRR_X_Minus_One_Singles/XMinusO...
The internet and AI long before the internet and AI.
David Gerrold - When H.A.R.L.I.E. was One - and other tales involving Artificial Super Intelligence
William Gibson - Neuromancer and related - Cyberpunk series, the Difference Engine - a Steampunk technology tale.
Fred Saberhagen
Octagon - an AI backdoor created by the early inventors of computers is inadvertently "activated" by a youth.
Definitely recommends the Wizardry series. It has a FORTH vibe.
The Vorkosigan Series, by Louise McMasters Bujold. She’s won six (!!!) Hugo awards for her writing, and as Anne McCaffery says, “Boy, can she write”.
Space opera with warfare, intrigue, politics, drama, and world building.
"Galatea 2.2" by (my all-time favorite author) Richard Powers
"Off to Be the Wizard" by Scott Meyer
"Daemon" by Daniel Suarez
"The Adolescence of P1" (vintage) by Thomas Ryan
"Snow Crash" by William Gibson
"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline
"We are Legion [We are Bob]" by Dennis Taylor
Snow Crash was written by Neal Stephenson
Excellent catch, thanks! Clearly this old boy needs a bit o' sleep.
'Stories of your Life and Others' and 'Exhalation' - by Ted Chiang. In his short stories, he introduces advanced concepts from mathematics, philosophy, and computer science in a way that’s subtly woven into captivating narratives.
Strongly second Exhalation by Ted Chiang. "The Life Cycle of Software Objects" is especially compelling.
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu
The Bug by Ellen Ullman
Radicalized by Corey Doctrow
Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm
> The Bug by Ellen Ullman
The best answer.
Laundry Files Series by Charles Stross Written by a ex-programmer, features a world where magic is a branch of mathematics, so you can for example write an app to summon demons, or accidentally turn yourself into a vampire by implementing a particularly extravagant algorithm.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/50764-laundry-files
Eon by Greg Bear.
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.
I'm finding A Deepness in the Sky pretty drudging to be honest.
It gets slow after the merging of the two competing factions at the beginning and then builds momentum after the anti-hero's back story half way through. It just might be my most favorite book. I found the building dominance of the anti-hero to be similar but less epic than that of Raistlin Majere from DragonLance.
"Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley. The themes in this book are more relevant now than at any time since publication in 1818, and to nobody more than ML coders.
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal seems particularly apropos these days as we have Reacher Gilts aplenty in tech news headlines.
Obscure and a bit dated but Bruce Betkhe's Head Crash is hilarious if you've been deeply immersed in the software industry.
Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
Anathem and The Diamond Age too
Permutation City by Greg Egan.
Library of Babel, Borges
Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu, himself a programmer.
absolutely