William's Book List

DA: Perhaps you can explain the books we found in the trunk of your car.

Suspect: You got somethin' against books?

DA: I have nothing against books!

--My Blue Heaven (a movie)

One of those pop culture entertainments said "The Truth is out there." Don't stop until you find it.

Some books I found helpful on the way to where I am. People who want to understand me should try reading them as a starting point.

• Neuromancer by William Gibson. Ultra-Hard cyberpunk Sci-Fi. Some sex, some drugs.
• The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner. Hard cyberpunk Sci-Fi. Attacks the foundation of the society we live in by showing what it will become.
• The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. Documentary about building a computer. "I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season." Note left on the terminal of one of the developers after a particularly hard day at the office.
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Social Sci-Fi. Attacks where the society is going, but was written long enough ago to have an entirely different set of ideas from The Shockwave Rider.
• The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff. Taoist philosophy. The lesser-known companion book to The Tao of Pooh in which we learn many things about how things should be.
• Magic's Promise, Magic's Pawn, Magic's Price by Mercedes Lackey. Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I really hope I got the titles right. These are a slightly fantastic look at the reality of magic. The fantasy is all the social structure; the magic is real.
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Anson Heinlein. Sci-Fi. Examines how our society deals with the undesirable elements who want to bring health, peace, happiness, etc by "unofficial means". May you never thirst.
• The Big Book of Mischief by David Richards (dr@ripco.com). Technical Reference. Practical information on explosive theory & assembly that everyone should be familiar with, just in case. To quote a rather old legal document: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Don't get caught unprepared.
• A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. by George Lucas. Motion pictures. Not books, but very powerful. "...You have taken your first step into a larger world."