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by velavar 928 days ago
This was the year I got my attention under enough control to be able to read voraciously again like I used to in my childhood :)

* I'll always bring up The Three-body problem because I re-read it every year

* Piranesi because of it's fantastical story-telling

* The Covenant of Water - because it's a fantastic medical drama and a sweeping story spanning generations

* Victory City - Salamn Rushdie's latest novel which is surprisingly readable

* The Enchanted Forest/Kaikeyi/Palace of Illusions - because they cover the major Indian epics from the lens of the women characters (think Circe with an Indian background)

* Trust - The same story told from different viewpoints with a setting in the early NY financial world, which makes it extra interesting

I notice that I do tend to favour books with an Indian background because of my nostalgia for it as I live in a foreign land. Maybe I'll branch out more next year!

1 comments

What is it that draws you so much to the threebody problem? I honestly thought it was pretty much crap, but maybe i am missing something.
That's okay, different people can like different things :)

As for myself, I liked reading about some bits of Chinese history that I was not very familiar with, and it also provides a really good foundation for the reason behind the lead character's far-reaching actions. I also do think the best parts of the story do come later in books 2 and 3 - I like the larger-than-life ideas and the imperfect characters.

I did like the tid its about Chinese history as well, and the ending quote about whos winning was very memorable:)
It felt similar to Foundation series, and I liked the focus on the overall ideas being presented and not any individual characters. I think I’ve heard this called philosophical science fiction but am not sure that’s the most accurate subgenre. Anyway, as OP says adjacent to this answer, I agree that books two and three are far better than book one. Like 30 plot twists per book; real page turners.