Warbreaker

Fiction - I started reading the Cosmere universe by Brandon Sanderson. Mistborn Trilogy, Stormlight Archives, and Warbreaker. Pick 1 - Start with Warbreaker or Mistborn. I'm new to fantasy fiction and his writing totally hooked me. I think of "hard" fantasy as a puzzle. The world has a unique physics and the plot of the story is based around characters figuring out how to operate inside of those physics... what are the bounds, how can it be manipulated, etc? What I've loved about Sanderson is the plot turns are never Ex Machina. Every new development fits inside the rules of the world and deepens your understanding of what can be.

I started reading sci-fi(mostly hard-sf) after I read the commonwealth saga, 'Pandora's star' and 'Judas unchained'. It was just really entertaining and unlike anything I've read. Also really recommend 'Snow crash'. Also adding a couple fantasy recommendations: Lies of Locke lamora, and any basically any novel by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn: the final empire, Warbreaker, The way of kings etc.)

Was light year for me: Confessions of a D-List Supervillain - Jim Bernheimer Origins of a D-List Supervillain - Jim Bernheimer The second is a prequel of the first. I haven't read the third in the series. Light reading about a guy's descent into villainy. Yes Please - Amy Poehler: I love memoirs. I just didn't love this one. It read a lot like Leslie Knope was the author, but there was an obscene amount of name dropping that kept interrupting the flow of the book for me. Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir - Eddie Huang: Like I said, I'm a sucker for these things. Picked it up, because the series reminded me of a 90s Asian version of Everybody Hates Chris. The absurdity and random profanity was a little off-putting at first. Remembering how I felt as a black boy doing some of the same dumb things in the 90s really put it into perspective though. The Serpent of Venice: A Novel - Christopher Moore: The follow up to Fool. It's a different take on Shakespearian story-telling. I can't recommend his novels enough.…

Oh, I love some good world-building, and especially when there is a set of rules that's followed to their consequences. [Ayuc sums it up nicely in this comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9056594 ] If you look at it this way, it CAN be done in fantasy. Check out Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker (a great one-off), or the Mistborn series. (There are quite a few similarities between them.) Or Max Brooks' World War Z was great in this way, I think. Although it's been quite a while since I read that. (I know this is an older thread, so I hope you'll find this comment. Made a HN account for this. :D )

You won't be disappointed. The WoKings was a bit odd at the start. He dumps you right into the middle, and I was somewhat confused by everything changing so fast, but you quickly realise this is in a way intentional, and works well in the long run. Also, if you haven't read the Mistborn trilogy, I highly suggest it. It's a great, unique setting, and I had a great time with it. Finally, his other books are great as well. Elantris and Warbreaker, each different, and great for single novel stories. I'm a big fan of the long arcs of great epics, but these one-off's were well worth the time invested. Basically, he's an author that will require me to buy everything he writes for as long as he's writing.