16 Books Like The Escher Man

It gets better after the first half.

James SA Corey is, of course, the author of the hugely successful The Expanse Series, a galaxy spanning space opera of interplanetary war and alien threat that played out over nine books and spawned a TV series and other media. I love The Expanse. I’ve read all the books, listened to the audiobooks twice and consumed the show. So, when The Mercy of Gods was announced as kicking off a spectacular new space opera from the same author, I pre-ordered the title immediately.

But when I started reading it, I realised this was quite a different proposition from The Expanse. Firstly, marketing it as a space opera seems not altogether correct. It has space opera elements but this first volume, at least, is mainly confined to a small group of people and a single location. The second thing that hit me was how… show more.

Another brilliant read from Adrian Tchaikovsky

Adrian Tchaikovsky is the most prolific author working in today’s science fiction field. He also consistently manages to create engaging adventure stories combined with thought-provoking ideas. As a case in point, last year’s Alien Clay spun a tale of political prisoners incarcerated on a planet with a deadly – and very strange – biosphere, while also subverting and reimagining what it is to be a dissident and how the systems of power created to grind down opposition can be rendered useless with a shift in perspective. Likewise, the latest instalment in his Children’s Series – Children of Memory – has a multi-species crew (including humans and portiid spiders) trying to unravel the mystery of a human colony that shouldn’t exist while narratively dissecting what it means to be sentient, the different modes of sentience that can arise and how easy it is to ascribe… show more.

TR Napper paints a vivid picture of a cyberpunk future Vietnam in 36 Streets.

In TR Napper’s 36 Streets, part of Vietnam is again under occupation, this time by the Chinese military, but a protracted battle still rages in the south of the country, proving once again that the Vietnamese are difficult if not impossible to conquer. The 36 Streets in question is a ‘neutral area’ in downtown Han Noi ruled over by several street gangs. The Chinese government leave their operations relatively unmolested because it serves their purpose to do so.

Lin Thi Vu is a young Vietnamese woman raised – along with her twin sister Phuong – in Australia by her adoptive mother, Kylie, who took both girls in as orphaned refugees and eventually resettled with them in Vietnam because Australia’s immigration regime is even worse in the future than it is now.

Lin resents her Australian… show more.

Three worlds in one book! There’s the not-so-important world of the Ancelstierre, roughly Edwardian or early-20th-Century-ish, and there’s the Old Kingdom, basically medieval, where Charter Magic wars with Free Magic (and how well Nix thinks through the workings of his forms of magic).

But the third world is the one that takes the cake! An underworld of the dead, with its different levels, gates, and sills. Sabriel discovers her own special inheritance and powers—OK, that’s standard fantasy fare, except that Sabriel’s powers are those of an abhorsen. It’s the Abhorsen’s role to make sure that the dead stay dead, and journey on down into the deeper levels of death. Of course, the dead who keep coming back are the ones who drive the narrative!

A big complex adventure in a in a big, complex, and believable (within itself) future, but told through the points of view of very human, interesting characters. This is a gritty, workaday, human world, not some mythic galactic empire.

It became obvious to me early in this book that Nophek Gloss was written by someone who works with their hands. Not only in how the action was choreographed but also in how the world was described.

This brings a real world feel to the writing as we join Caiden helping his father with the menial tasks that keep a farming community running. Soon after, his whole world is destroyed. But as Caiden escapes and throws in with a ragtag bunch of aliens and a ship with a conscience, we can appreciate his point of view as someone who has seen so little of the universe but is suddenly exposed to multitudes of new and unusual things as he adventures into the unknown.

This book is for sci-fi fans who enjoy great worldbuilding, interesting aliens, and action throughout.

The Maltese Falcon is masterfully written (though dated in terms of certain stereotypes and attitudes to the extent that the edition I purchased contained a disclaimer from the publisher to that effect). It’s written in what has been called Third Person Cinematic point of view (POV), or Third Person Camera, or Over-the-Shoulder POV. This means that we rarely (almost never) have access to any of the characters’ thoughts or feelings, rather like watching a TV show or movie (one without narration).

I can’t recall ever having read another book from this point-of-view. It’s not one readers encounter often. We’re used to having access to the interior mental life of the characters we read about. Some people might be put off by the lack of access to the characters’ thoughts, but it didn’t bother me at all. Instead, it had the effect of drawing me deeper into the story.

Sam Spade… show more.

Hannibal Lecter’s silky smooth menace still chills me like no other villain on my shelf.

Silence of the Lambs taught me how to write a terrifying villain with more than enough charisma to start a devoted cult. Every reread of this book hooks me with that hypnotic voice. Hannibal’s character is so persuasive and razor-sharp, I catch myself sympathizing before the dread slams back in.

I love how Thomas Harris forces me to straddle the line between fascination and horror, then shoves me into Clarice Starling’s head for that heart-hammering showdown with Buffalo Bill.

Decades later, for me, no thriller matches its psychological intrigue. It’s a timeless classic that keeps my lights blazing and my imagination deliciously unsettled.

Buehlman is an excellent writer - in my opinion he's a cut above the great majority of successful writers out there. I love his prose and the way he animates his story. He's an efficient writer who leans into (wonderful) dialogue to do a lot of the heavy lifting. He can do in 10 words what many writers will waffle for a paragraph to do half as well.

This book largely takes place over a three-day battle. It showcases the stupidity of war, the cowardice, the luck, the incompetence, and yes, sometimes even the breathtaking courage.

As you’d expect from Abercrombie–the so-called Lord of Grimdark–the ‘heroes’ are no such thing, but rather, flawed and broken individuals who go to war out of obligation or ambition or because they know no other way of life.

Joe Abercrombie writes superb action scenes. Visceral, urgent, bloody. He’s also particularly cruel to his characters. I’m not sure if he’s picking on me particularly or if it’s just the dark alchemy of his literary soul that makes him such a popular author, but he’s always a bit of a bastard to the characters I like the most.