by ashtavakra | 2025-12-05 14:09:47+00:00
I consolidated the comments for my reference later. Someone else might also find it useful:

# Fiction Books Recommended for Programmers (HN Thread 46128404)

## Adrian Tchaikovsky - *Children of Time* — Science Fiction (Evolution, Space Opera) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25499718-children-of-tim...

## Rick Cook — Wizardry Series - *Wizard’s Bane* — Fantasy, Programming/Magic Mashup https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112616.Wizard_s_Bane - *Wizardry Series (overview)* https://www.goodreads.com/series/43084-wiz

## James P. Hogan - *Inherit the Stars* — Hard Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/743568.Inherit_the_Stars - *Code of the Lifemaker* — Sci-Fi, Artificial Life https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/296722.Code_of_the_Lifem... - *The Two Faces of Tomorrow* — AI, Hard Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218017.The_Two_Faces_of_...

## D. F. Jones — Colossus Trilogy - *Colossus* — AI, Classic Sci-Fi Thriller https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/806105.Colossus - *The Fall of Colossus* — AI, Sci-Fi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/806106.The_Fall_of_Colos... - *Colossus and the Crab* — AI, Sci-Fi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/806107.Colossus_and_the_...

## Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner) - *A Logic Named Joe* — Golden-Age Sci-Fi, AI Precursor https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16179042-a-logic-named-j...

## David Gerrold - *When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One* — AI, Classic Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/865672.When_H_A_R_L_I_E_...

## William Gibson / Bruce Sterling - *Neuromancer* — Cyberpunk https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6088007-neuromancer - *The Difference Engine* — Steampunk https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16781.The_Difference_Eng...

## Neal Stephenson - *Snow Crash* — Cyberpunk https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830.Snow_Crash - *Cryptonomicon* — Techno-thriller, Cyber-history https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/816.Cryptonomicon - *Anathem* — Philosophical Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2845024-anathem - *The Diamond Age* — Nanopunk https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/827.The_Diamond_Age

## Fred Saberhagen - *Octagon* — AI, Techno-thriller https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1891958.Octagon

## Lois McMaster Bujold — Vorkosigan Saga - *Series Overview* — Space Opera https://www.goodreads.com/series/40946-vorkosigan-saga

## Richard Powers - *Galatea 2.2* — Literary Fiction, AI https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45104.Galatea_2_2

## Scott Meyer - *Off to Be the Wizard* — Comic Fantasy with Computing Themes https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18616975-off-to-be-the-w...

## Daniel Suarez - *Daemon* — Cyber-thriller, AI https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6665844-daemon

## Thomas J. Ryan - *The Adolescence of P-1* — AI, Classic Sci-Fi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218059.The_Adolescence_o...

## Ernest Cline - *Ready Player One* — Sci-Fi, Gaming, Pop-Culture Adventure https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9969571-ready-player-one

## Dennis E. Taylor - *We Are Legion (We Are Bob)* — Humorous Sci-Fi, AI, Space Opera https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29475817-we-are-legion-w...

## Ted Chiang - *Stories of Your Life and Others* — Speculative Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223380.Stories_of_Your_L... - *Exhalation* — Speculative Fiction, Philosophy, AI https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41160292-exhalation - *The Lifecycle of Software Objects* — AI, Digital Consciousness https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9166173-the-lifecycle-of...

## Charles Stross - *Laundry Files Series* — Math-based Magic, Techno-Fantasy https://www.goodreads.com/series/50764-laundry-files

## Ken Liu - *The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories* — Speculative Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11289614-the-paper-menag... - *The Hidden Girl and Other Stories* — Speculative Fiction, AI, VR https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51008178-the-hidden-girl...

## Ellen Ullman - *The Bug* — Tech Industry Literary Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/703.The_Bug

## Cory Doctorow - *Radicalized* — Techno-sociopolitical Speculative Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40604122-radicalized

## qntm (Sam Hughes) - *Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories* — Speculative Fiction, Computing Themes https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56516939-valuable-humans...

## Roger Williams - *The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect* — AI, Post-Singularity SF https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/258140.The_Metamorphosis...

## Greg Bear - *Eon* — Hard Science Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/924843.Eon

## Vernor Vinge - *A Deepness in the Sky* — Hard Sci-Fi, Space Opera https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175303.A_Deepness_in_the...

## Terry Pratchett - *Going Postal* — Comic Fantasy, Satire of Bureaucracy & Tech https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64222.Going_Postal

## Bruce Bethke - *Headcrash* — Cyber-satire https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213465.Headcrash

## Mary Shelley - *Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus* — Classic Gothic Sci-Fi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35031085-frankenstein

## Douglas Adams - *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* — Comic Sci-Fi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11.The_Hitchhiker_s_Guid...

## Jorge Luis Borges - *The Library of Babel* — Metaphysical Fiction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7844213-the-library-of-b...

## Greg Egan - *Permutation City* — Simulation Theory, Hard Sci-Fi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156784.Permutation_City

## Cixin Liu - *The Three-Body Problem* — Hard Sci-Fi, First Contact https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-body-...