As an example, I love the Martian, and I think a lot of older books from authors like Asimov are heavily into engineering / competence porn. Other favs in this category include the standalone novel Rendezvous with Rama to leave you wishing for more, most of the Culture series for happy utopian vibes, Schlock Mercenary for humor, Dahak series for fun mindless popcorn.

Edit: I’m so happy to have found a replacement for r/books and the rest of them.

  • AwesomeLowlanderOP
    2·
    2 days ago

    Stephenson is the kind of author you start a book and after a bit you’re like… ok… I don’t think this is for me… wait… what? And then you’re hooked.

    Yeah, I liked the books but they really do need a bit of determination to get started.

    Alcatraz is definitely for a much younger crowd, but Reckoners might be worth a shot. The worldbuilding is great, classic Sanderson. The YA part comes through as a teenage MC and easier language, but it’s still plenty interesting. A lot of parallels to Mistborn.