3 book recommendations from Eliot Peper
So I've got a story for you. Andrew Chamberlain is a dear friend and longtime subscriber to this newsletter. He also happens to be the Chief Economist at Glassdoor. He's one of the smartest people I know and his thoughts have influenced many of my books, especially the exploration of systemic inequality in Cumulus.
For years, Andrew's been encouraging me to expand some of the ideas embedded in my novels beyond the borders of the books themselves. After finishing a long hike together, he connected me to an editor at Harvard Business Review who spurred me to finally get my act together and publish an oped.
You can now read the result: Why Business Leaders Need to Read More Science Fiction. I've read science fiction ever since I was a kid. We often think of the genre as an escape, but true leadership requires the ability to think outside the box. Reading science fiction makes our minds more flexible by expanding our conception of what's possible. Like international travel, it challenges our assumptions and forces us to ask hard questions. I'm really proud of how the article came together but it was a big surprise to see it spread so quickly and get quoted in major newspapers as far away as Brazil, Korea, and Italy.
One obvious lesson here is that I should probably do whatever Andrew tells me to do. But the biggest take away for me was that although writing can often feel like a solitary endeavor, creativity is always a group effort. As my closest friends, readers, collaborators, and fans, you are my brain trust as well as the books' biggest champions.
Immediately after the column published, I heard from another subscriber (Haje Jan Kamps) who correctly pointed out that it mirrors a conversation Mara has with her mentor David in a pivotal scene of Uncommon Stock: Exit Strategy. Both the dialogue and the column were inspired by talks with legendary tech investor Brad Feld, who was the very first person to read the first few chapters of my very first book and whose support gave me the confidence I needed to persevere.
I owe Brad, Haje, Andrew, and every single one of you a great deal. As true fans and muses, you've convened a community around these stories, characters, and ideas. I will do my very best to pay it forward by working to tell the best stories I possibly can. Art can bring dreams to life, but only people can bring art to life.
And now, books I love that you might too:
Null States by Malka Older is a riveting science fiction thriller that maps out the future of democracy. Older conjures divisive geopolitical crises as deftly as the aroma of Darfuri street food, which makes for fast, fun, and thought-provoking reading. The story puts our institutions under the microscope, and reveals a fractal network of spreading cracks. Masterfully channeling tech geekery and policy wonkery, Null States is the second entry in Older’s Centenal Cycle, continuing the story Older started with her critically acclaimed debut, Infomocracy (which I recommended in a previous edition of this newsletter). I reviewed Null States for the Chicago Review of Books and just found out that it was their most popular review last month. 🤓
Change Agent by Daniel Suarez is a near future thriller that illustrates how CRISPR will shape every aspect of our lives over the coming decades. The novel contains a veritable cornucopia of speculative insights into the second and third order effects of advances in synthetic biology. Each detail shines with the warm glow of rigorous polishing. This is science fiction for scientists. Suarez did an enormous amount of research to inform the future he presents, reading countless books and scientific papers, interviewing experts, visiting cutting edge research facilities, and vetting his creations with leaders in the field. The result is a pulse-pounding thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton.
Woolly by Ben Mezrich tells the incredible true story of the race currently underway among leading scientists around the world to revive the woolly mammoth. To track this de-extinction movement, Mezrich takes us on a fast-paced, highly readable tour through South Korean cloning facilities, bustling Harvard genetics labs, and desolate Siberian tundra. Mezrich's distinctive style of narrative nonfiction brings the characters to life, from legendary biologist George Church to iconoclastic thinker Stewart Brand. It's a fascinating peek into the sausage factory of cutting edge scientific research and the personalities that drive it forward.
Bonus recommendation: If you've ever wanted to write a book yourself, bestselling author Hugh Howey published a series of blog posts that contains some of the best writing advice I've ever come across. Reading Howey's blog has been a big inspiration to me over the years and his candid insights into the world of writing and publishing helped convince me to write my first book. This series is an invaluable resource for experienced or aspiring writers.
In other news, I just approved the publisher's copyedits for my next novel, Bandwidth (coming May 2018). We attended Burning Man again this year and it was incredible to meet so many fans of Neon Fever Dream, a few of whom decided to participate after having read the book. I met up with author and activist Cory Doctorow out on the playa, who I interviewed recently about the nature of dystopia for Scout's Incoming Transmission. The first twenty-six episodes of Bound's adaptation of Cumulus are now available, complete with art and extras. The app is available for free in the iOS App Store and you can download it and start reading right here. Oh, and thank you for the moving emails about True Blue. It's been extremely powerful to hear about what the story made you think and feel.
Finally, a big congrats to Ken Davenport, another friend and longtime subscriber, on the release of his first novel, The Two Gates, an alternative history thriller that grapples with political intrigue during the Vietnam War. We've been talking about the book since he first started thinking about writing it and I'm lucky enough to have a signed copy on my nightstand!
If you enjoy this newsletter and want to support it, forward this email to a friend. I love sharing amazing stories that explore the intersection of technology and culture. The goal of this newsletter is to recommend books, both fiction and nonfiction, that crackle and fizz with big ideas, keep us turning pages deep into the night, challenge our assumptions, help us find meaning in a changing world, and make us think, feel, and ask hard questions. In an age of digital abundance, quality is the new scarcity. The right book at the right time can change your life.
I also pull back the curtain on my creative process. When I'm not reading books, I'm writing them. If you're interested, you can find my books right here. They've been praised by Businessweek, Popular Science, TechCrunch, io9, and Ars Technica. I'd love to hear what you think if you give them a read.
Cheers, Eliot
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