Fear's Opposite
What is fear’s opposite?
Not courage. Courage is what it takes to overcome fear, and cannot exist without it. The fearless have no courage, and no need for it.
The opposite of fear is love. Love welcomes the world with open arms. Love inspires us to do things for others instead of constantly, desperately defending ourselves.
And hate? Hate is nothing more than a form of cowardice felt by those so blinded by fear that they cannot summon the courage to see past it.
Be brave: choose love.
And now, a book I love that you might too:
The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks is about a champion board-game player who gets roped into an espionage operation infiltrating an alien culture where political power is determined by the outcome of a uniquely complex strategy game. Set in a far-future human civilization run by a constellation of (mostly) benevolent and inscrutable AIs, Banks’s science fiction is more relevant than ever.
Things worth sharing:
I finished the first round of edits on my new novel, and Peter Nowell is working on preliminary designs for the cover and interior. Can’t wait to get it into your hands. Details to come.
Brad Feld, a dear friend and mentor of mine whose support inspired me to take writing fiction seriously, just published a new book about the power of mentorship. Brad’s dedication to paying it forward stokes my dedication to paying it forward.
Ben Wiener, a talented subscriber of this humble newsletter, just published a novel about starting a startup, which—small world!—Brad reviewed on his blog.
“This is how I wish the world was different” is one of my least favorite genres of discourse. On the other hand, “here is a concrete plan for making this particular aspect of the world better” is one of my favorites.
I went on the Orthogonal Bet podcast to talk about engineering AI characters.
Conclave is a super compelling and impeccably timed political thriller about the machinations of selecting a new pope. Highly recommend.
James Somers: “When I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It's like a thematic gravity well, a magnet for what would otherwise be a mess of iron filings. I'll read books differently and listen differently in conversations. In particular I'll remember everything better; everything will mean more to me. That's because everything I perceive will unconsciously engage on its way in with the substance of my preoccupation. A preoccupation, in that sense, is a hell of a useful thing for a mind.”
Last week, Anthropocene Magazine produced another performance featuring my short story Victory Condition at the Aspen Ideas Festival: “Featuring original short stories by Kim Stanley Robinson, Eliot Peper, and Mark Alpert—brought to life by master performers, stunning animations, and a live string quartet—Climate Parables invites us to imagine the futures we still have time to shape.”
If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll get a kick out of these hilarious parody videos about of a pair of low-level stormtroopers getting into various sorts of trouble.
Thanks for reading. We all find our next favorite book because someone we trust recommends it. So when you fall in love with a story, tell your friends. Culture is a collective project in which we all have a stake and a voice.
Best, Eliot
Eliot Peper is the author of Foundry, Reap3r, Veil, Breach, Borderless, Bandwidth, Neon Fever Dream, Cumulus, Exit Strategy, Power Play, and Version 1.0. He also works on special projects.
“Science fiction that grapples with power, consent, manipulation, equity, duty, and friendship, where no one is entirely irredeemable and even the heroes need redemption.”
-Cory Doctorow on Bandwidth