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> If any of you out there have similar books you'd recommend I'd love to hear about them. I don't know how similar they are, but someone recommended "Noor" by

> If any of you out there have similar books you'd recommend I'd love to hear about them. I don't know how similar they are, but someone recommended "Noor" by Nnedi Okorafor recently when I asked this same question and I really enjoyed it. It's less hopeful of a world, and less calming, but also has a lot of similarities in terms of being accepting of technology and how it can improve our lives while also being critical of its impacts on people and not just blindly using/creating it for the sake of "progress".

disgruntledphd2 3y ago
The Nine Worlds series by Victoria Goddard is pretty different, but similar in prose styling (at least to my untutored ear). Start here I suppose: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897
- astrospective 3y ago
  I adore these, I’d agree there’s something of a similar vibe going on between them. Lots of optimism, but not in a saccharine way.
- PhasmaFelis 3y ago
  I was about to say the same thing! Hands of the Emperor is a 950-page fantasy doorstopper with no action, no romance, not a whole lot of throughline plot, and it's the most gripping thing I've read in years. You just want to keep watching these people live out their lives, whether or not something objectively exciting is happening. It's genuinely changed what I want out of fantasy and sci-fi. It has a utopian vibe, like Monk and Robot. The world of Zunidh isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good and getting better, mostly because of the determined, lifelong work of the protagonist and his friends. Kip is the most delightful bureaucrat I can recall seeing in fiction. Goddard's other books don't always follow the same formula, though they're rarely truly grim. There's more adventure, sometimes violence but not usually large-scale violence. Some are better than others, but they're all very charming IMO.
  - disgruntledphd2 3y ago
    The rest of them (particularly the Return of Fitzroy Aungersell) are also phenomenal. I started with Return (which is apparently a bad choice), and it was marvellous, even without the context of Hands.

disgruntledphd2 3y ago

The Nine Worlds series by Victoria Goddard is pretty different, but similar in prose styling (at least to my untutored ear). Start here I suppose: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/43525897

astrospective 3y ago
I adore these, I’d agree there’s something of a similar vibe going on between them. Lots of optimism, but not in a saccharine way.
PhasmaFelis 3y ago
I was about to say the same thing! Hands of the Emperor is a 950-page fantasy doorstopper with no action, no romance, not a whole lot of throughline plot, and it's the most gripping thing I've read in years. You just want to keep watching these people live out their lives, whether or not something objectively exciting is happening. It's genuinely changed what I want out of fantasy and sci-fi. It has a utopian vibe, like Monk and Robot. The world of Zunidh isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good and getting better, mostly because of the determined, lifelong work of the protagonist and his friends. Kip is the most delightful bureaucrat I can recall seeing in fiction. Goddard's other books don't always follow the same formula, though they're rarely truly grim. There's more adventure, sometimes violence but not usually large-scale violence. Some are better than others, but they're all very charming IMO.
- disgruntledphd2 3y ago
  The rest of them (particularly the Return of Fitzroy Aungersell) are also phenomenal. I started with Return (which is apparently a bad choice), and it was marvellous, even without the context of Hands.