More Books Like Infinity

I've done books, I've done video games and now I guess I'm back to books? What's some novels you can read while waiting for further N3 info releases?

The first novel, which is only four years old as of this writing definitely seems to right up CB's Infinity's alley.  We've got a physicist as a Specialist who doesn't appear to be what he seems, a cop that just wishes to gather information with his Sniffer/Marker equipment, a combat nun whose sect is named Joan, a rogue AI named New Machine Jihad and a cluster of Japanese mafioso whose one character I could swear to be some sort of Oda Yukiro meme. Well, I guess everybody is used to the idea of the quiet samurai woman, it's that or the hot-and-cold way they write those potential love interests.

The Equations of Life is a fun first book in a trilogy that places its characters on the board for what I feel is the rest of the trilogy. The most fun was "spot the Infinity-like reference". We managed to get all the factions represented besides the aliens but that's because Equations of Life by Simon Morden isn't into a Space Opera.  Yes, but the question remains: was it good?

It's pulp brain candy that is a novel I can read in an afternoon.  There's definitely better of the sort, with Urban Fantasy Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, the military action porn of Scott Sigler or with the more science fiction bent would be John Scalzi's Old Man's War series.  Equations of Life is a solid read but nothing you should bump to the top of your reading que.

What should you bump to the top of your reading que?  Ready Player One.

In the future dystopia, everyone uses a virtual reality system that seems similar to Infinity's Maya.  In this VR program is a secret treasure hunt that is ongoing for ownership of this VR reality. What makes it great is that a lot of treasure hunts are couched in 80s pop culture nostalgia. This isn't a future where the author has to guess impossible trends, it's warping the information around because who cares about old copyright?

Hell, I recommended this before.  It's funny to see life as we know it might come down to a complicated video game.  We're seeing this more in real life, with the League of Legends championships rivaling real sports and most military drone pilots being chosen because of expertise in video games.  Forget America's Army, video games are becoming the standard medium of conflict it seems, especially with the low bar of entry once the computer is acquired.

Is It Good?  Ernest Cline's Ready Player One was one of my top five reads of 2014.  This is in part of liking 80s popular culture as I grew up watching, playing, listening and reading a previous hey day.  It was that or get used to the synth-pop or downer of 90s (I went with the Nirvana/Offspring angle).  I think that the whole premise of datamining the 80s pop culture for clues to do battle with the evil corporation depends on how old you are when you read this. It's like trying to introduce Star Wars to someone who grew up without it - it'll be a complete flop.

My last pick for more Infinity flavoured fiction is: Neal Asher's The Departure.

There's something about how Asher writes that grabs me by the short-hairs and doesn't let go. He doesn't delve into complicated choices or highlight his world building.  That's there if you want to look. He's more interested in following the progress of a genre savvy (Warning: TV Tropes) Noir hero who is too busy taking names to bother with niceties.

Along the way, he gets updated to become an incredible hacker and deals with his enemies intelligently with either a software hack or uzi. If this were a fanfiction, the protagonist could be a Marty Sue accusation, but Asher's style doesn't permit the questions at its breakneck pace.  The third book came out a few months ago and I'll be happy to read it once I get my mitts on Jupiter War.

Is It Good?  If you're interested in a fun ride through a cyberpunk noir landscape, essentially everything Cyberpunk and Neuromancer has taught you, then buckle in. It's quite a ride.

Oh yeah, not Infinity-related but I do have my first pick of best novel so far of 2015: Claire North's First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Strangest techno-thriller time travel novel I've ever read.