If you like gritty cyberpunk settings, a page-turning, action-driven plot, and a lot of visceral explorations of violence and sexuality, this one's for you. If you're looking for deep characters, a carefully crafted plot, or philosophical ideas, this might not be your next read.

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. 

This episode is sponsored by The Pythagorean by Alexander Morpheigh, which is available in print or kindle edition here.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

Similar books we recommend: 

• Neuromancer by William Gibson
• Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway
• Permutation City by Greg Egan

Solid characters, amazing worldbuilding, and an epic plot that will keep you interested all the way through (and that's no mean feat in such a long book). If you've been thinking about trying out Peter F. Hamilton this is the right place to start.

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. 

This episode is sponsored by The Pythagorean by Alexander Morpheigh, which is available in print or kindle edition here.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

Similar books we recommend: 

• The Salvation Series, Void Trilogy, and Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
• The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks
• House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds

Ann is also the author of Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy, Translation State, Provenance (all set in her Imperial Radch universe), and the excellent stand-alone fantasy novel The Raven Tower.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

We talked with Ann about: 

• 1:12 Becoming a writer later in life
• 5:06 The inspiration for the Radch and Ancillary Justice
• 7:48 Creating a gender-less empire
• 12:43 Writing from the POV of an AI
• 16:56 Invisible exposition
• 20:26 Space opera inspired by the real world
• 26:16 Audiobooks and pronunciation
• 34:14 Will we get to see inside the Radch Dyson sphere?
• 35:49 Recent books Ann likes and her influences
• 42:22 Blurbing Murderbot
• 44:16 Ann's next book is set on a rogue planet!

We also each rank our top three first contact books at the end of the episode.

This episode is sponsored by The Pythagorean by Alexander Morpheigh, which is available in print or kindle edition here.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

All the books in the episode (with YT links to those we've got full episodes on, or search for them in your podcast app): 

• Contact by Carl Sagan
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
• The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
• Embassytown by China Miéville
• Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky Brothers
• The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
• Blindsight by Peter Watts
• The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
• Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Mote in God's Eye by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
• Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
• The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The book somehow manages to be optimistic at the same time that it realistically portrays horrific climate catastrophes - the opening chapter will stick with you forever. That said, it also suffers from some of KSR's usual writing quirks: weak characters and a pretty loosely defined plot. We talk about it all, the good, the bad, and the terrifyingly hot!

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. 

This episode is sponsored by The Pythagorean by Alexander Morpheigh, which is available in print or kindle edition here.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

Similar books we recommend: 

• The Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato
• Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson 
• The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

The book is shocking, disturbing, entertaining, and unbelievably thought provoking all at once - no wonder Stanley Kubrick decided to turn the book into a movie (which is a must-watch classic in its own right). It's also an unforgettable masterwork of language, as the narrator, Alex, and his droogs speak in slang that is somehow entirely novel and comprehensible at the same time.

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. 

This episode is sponsored by I Am Machine by Lex Van Der Ploeg, which is available in print or kindle edition here.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

Similar books we recommend: 

• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• 1984 by George Orwell

Neuromancer is an incredible science fiction classic, a page turner full of gripping action sequences, wild futuristic ideas, and a unique, techno-criminal world populated by wildly imaginative characters. 

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion. 

This episode is sponsored by Mythos: The Origin of Gods by A.A., which is available on print, audiobook, or kindle here

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

Similar books we recommend: 

• Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• The sequels to Neuromancer: Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive

 As always, no spoilers until the end when we clearly call it out before getting into the full plot explanation and discussion.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

This episode is sponsored by The Song of Immaru: Earth's Door by PJ Dudek, which you can get on print, audiobook, or kindle here.

Similar media we recommend:

• Fallout: New Vegas (game)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (game)
• The Thirteenth Floor (movie)
• Severance (TV show)

This episode is sponsored by The Dawn series by Ray N. Kuili, which you can get on print, audiobook, or kindle here.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

All the books in the episode (with YT links to those we've got full episodes on, or search for them in your podcast app): 

• The Hunger Games
• Red Rising
• Ready Player One
• The Giver
• Never Let Me Go
• The Children of Men
• The Machine Stops
• Clockwork Orange
• A Scanner Darkly
• Kallocain
• Fahrenheit 451
• The Handmaid's Tale
• Brave New World
• 1984
• We

The Mercy of Gods follows a team of research scientists trying to survive an alien invasion. The Carryx are ruthless - killing 1/8 of the population immediately as they arrive to encourage the survivors to cooperate. Our team, along with many others, are then abducted and brought to a Carryx planet, where they are set loose in an open-air prison populated by hundreds of other alien races. They’re told that if they want to survive they must be useful to the Carryx. Will they resist, or decide to serve the alien overlords? And what does service even mean to aliens who think totally differently?

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

Similar books we recommend:

• Shards of Earth - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Startide Rising - David Brin
• A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge