Re:Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same ...
by breakattn on Tuesday May 12, 2020 @12:06PM
(#23155590)
I concur with Ancillary Justice. I love the way that you have to work out what is happening through successive detail. Plenty of surprises. A genderless society is very hard to get one's mind around.
Re:Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same ...
by gjstein on Tuesday May 12, 2020 @11:42AM
(#23155202)
Can second both Ann Leckie (her new book "The Raven Tower" is also a great page-turner) and N.K. Jemisin (who did totally blow my mind with her Broken Earth Trilogy).
Ursula K. Le Guin also appears down below; The Left Hand of Darkness was a profound read.
Re:Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same ...
by some-username on Tuesday May 12, 2020 @12:13PM
(#23155690)
Also from Ursula K. Le Guin: The Dispossessed.
Not mind bending for someone who spent some time trying to imagine a anarchist society (but still quite enriching), but maybe for others.
Re:Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same ...
by aerovistae on Tuesday May 12, 2020 @11:49AM
(#23155323)
Hated Ancillary Justice. Just found it boring. Well-trodden ground.
A common thread with these books seems to be exploring consciousness and definitions of self.
As a bonus it does stuff I find more from women authors, like quietly question gender roles without making a scene about it, question slavery, ownership, etc.
Similar a bit to the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells but on a whole other level.
Its a wonderful trilogy of three books. Strongly recommend it.
I can also recommend N.K. Jemisin, not really mind bending, but very odd
Generally I dislike it when authors patronise me, banging my head against their genius, and I find women authors tend to do that less (Disclaimer to sensitive people : this is my personal opinion)