In a far distant future when the Sun is dying + the Earth along with it, a journeyman torturer disgraces his guild and is banished to a distant town to serve as a headsman. The text is ostensibly a translation of his recovered memoir in which he recounts his travels.
It’s a masterful puzzle box that rewards an attentive reader. The protagonist is an annoying liar (I personally found this a challenging and engaging thing about the text). I highly recommend Ada Palmer’s introduction, if you can find that particular edition.
This is the book that got me back into sci-fi but it’s not a particularly casual read.
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The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress flips the usual robot-takeover trope on its head with Mike, a supercomputer who becomes sentient and decides, instead of ruling humanity, to join the fight for lunar independence. Born from Earth’s practice of shipping prisoners to the Moon with barely enough to survive, the colony has grown into a tight-knit, self-sufficient society. When Earth’s exploitation pushes them too far, Mike and the colonists band together in a daring revolution full of political intrigue, clever strategy, and high-stakes rebellion.
It’s a visionary story that’s as thrilling as it is thought-provoking.
Dec 2, 2024
Scifi where the alien can be read through the lens of OCD, cosmic horror *and* kink shame?… ur speaking to my soul Stani… in a dreadfully engrossing way… 5 stars
Jan 31, 2024
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The Seinfeld of sci-fis. A chaotic tome. A cult classic. A rearranging of the mind and the emotions. Self-serious pulp detritus interspersed within a sea of stirring philosophical musings. A pleasant plunge. A thought provoking fever dream. The most memory-holed best book of the 20th century.
Is it a novel about nothing or everything? Poetic and soul punchingly beautiful at times, gratuitously sexual and grotesque at others. Period piece or borderline problematic - or perhaps just a dose of progressive realism? Genre defying or defining? A journey, a morass, or a deluge?
All of the above.
As a sci-fi head, Dune used to be one of my go to answers when people would ask what my favorite book was (War and Peace or The Name of the Rose are others). But [*puts on asshole hat*] after everyone and their mother became dune-pilled from the movies, I needed a new answer. Dhalgren has now taken Dune's spot. And I think it's safe to say that there will never be a Dhalgren.
Jan 3, 2025
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recommending this to God
Feb 28, 2025
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Air out Ur home! Enjoy the sounds of the street! Spring is coming!
3d ago
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I too want to contribute to banana discourse
Feb 11, 2025