3 book recommendations from Eliot Peper
My new novel, Borderless, came out two weeks ago and it's been such a joy to hear what the story means to you.
So far, it's earned praise from brilliant thinkers like Open Technology Institute director Kevin Bankston, futurist Glen Hiemstra, tech policy expert Peter Cowhey, and Google Maps creator John Hanke as well as publications like Ars Technica, Factor Daily, and Publishers Weekly. Amazon selected it as a Best Book of the Month and the East Bay Express ran a lovely feature on it, calling the novel "a sharply rendered, wildly entertaining thriller speaking to the dangerous realities of our present: climate change, the changing shape of power, the very American values that defined Peper's grandparents' post-war lives—themes that are now fraught within our real world as it becomes increasingly globalized and divided."
Press and blurbs are wonderful, but books take flight only when readers tell other readers about them. Every Amazon review, every recommendation to a friend, every share on social media makes an enormous difference. Speaking of, my previous novel, Bandwidth just hit 700 reviews on Amazon. 700!!! You are the best readers ever and my books owe any success they achieve to you. Nothing is more important than word of mouth. If you haven't yet, grab yourself a copy of Borderless and share it with the world.
And now, books I love that you might too:
The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant packs more insight into 100 pages than most books manage in 600. The Durants are Pulitzer Prize-winning historians and this slim volume distills two lifetimes of research into human nature, the fate of nations, and the meaning of progress. This is a book that everyone should read, and re-read. It will challenge your assumptions, put the present in context, and empower you to see the future through fresh eyes.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is a taut, compelling novel about two girls coming of age amid the poverty and casual violence of post-World War II Naples. The amount of visceral tension packed into every scene is extraordinary, resulting in a story that is far, far more gripping than any crime thriller I've ever read. To me, this novel proves that what makes a story truly irresistible is not scale (i.e. superheroes saving the universe) but stakes (i.e. the people/things characters personally care about). I couldn't tear myself away and can't wait to dive into the sequel.
Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson is an epic science fiction novel that extrapolates the crisis of representation—that growing suspicion that our leaders are failing to represent us. The story follows the rebellious daughter of a Chinese powerbroker, a neuroatypical quantum engineer, an aging documentarian, an AI designer, and a frustrated Secret Service agent who all get drawn into a maelstrom of geopolitical intrigue that escalates toward all-out war. As they race between Earth and newly established bases on the moon, the protagonists debate political philosophy while they conduct espionage, foment revolution, flee conspirators, and grapple with a collapsing financial system. Red Moon is champagne for the imagination—a sparkling speculative adventure that will suck you in and make you think.
Bonus recommendation: Ars Technica ran a wonderful review of Borderless, saying that it "shows us the tech-fueled nightmare that we’ve all created. A matryoshka of a story... Where do you draw the line between who you are and what you want to be?" The review's author, Cyrus Farivar, is a veteran technology journalist whose critically-acclaimed nonfiction book Habeas Data digs deep into the strange history of surveillance law and reveals the hidden rules, questions, and contradictions that define our digital lives. Reading his review reminds me that all literature is one extended conversation about the meaning of life, and that my fiction exists in dialogue with Cyrus's reporting.
In other news, some of you may remember that earlier this year I co-designed a political simulation game with Berit Anderson, Randy Lubin, Brett Horvath, and Mike Masnick that went viral when the New Yorker reported that right-wing billionaire Rebekah Mercer somehow got her hands on it. As a result, Peter Sagal, host of NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!", and Max Tempkin, creator of Cards Against Humanity, hosted us to run the game at Cards Against Humanity headquarters in Chicago for a group of 40 public officials and activists. Polygon has the full story. I went on the New Books in Science Fiction podcast to discuss how I wrote Borderless, Factor Daily interviewed me about the future extrapolated in the book, and VICE ran an exclusive excerpt if you want to take the story for a test drive. Oh, and in my latest column for Techdirt, I interviewed Robert Jackson Bennett about how he uses magic to illustrate the ways in which technology shapes our lives in his excellent new novel, Foundryside.
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 the New York Times, Businessweek, Popular Science, Boing Boing, 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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