Nexus
by Ramez Naam · first published 2012
89% recommend11% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Near-future transhuman thriller about a drug that lets nanobots link minds and overlay an OS on the brain. Valued for plausible, prescient ideas about mind tech and ethics; suits fans of Stephenson and Stross.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…book in the Maddaddam trilogy) - "The Fifth Season" by N. K. Jemisin (the first book in the Broken Earth trilogy) - "The Mechanical" by Ian Tregillis (the first book in the Alchemy Wars trilogy) - "Nexus" by Ramez Naam (the first book in the Nexus trilogy) - "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson - "Pandora's Star" by Peter F. Hamilton (part of the Commonwealth Saga) - "Hyperion" and "Fall of Hyperion" by…
on “How Isaac Asimov shaped robotics and space exploration and predicted the Internet” ↗…the intersection of computers and consciousness. Authors like Neal Stephenson, Charles Stross, and Vernor Vinge are well known in this area. A great novel that came out recently about transhumanism is Nexus: transhumanism: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0857662937/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...
on “Star Trek feels like 1960s scifi. I want to see 2010s scifi” ↗…rival the first part of Accelerando in number of prescient ideas about how the near future, pre singularity might look? My own list is: Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon Counting Heads by David Marusek Nexus by Ramez Naam Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge But I'm always on the look out for more! The more predictive the better!
on “Accelerando (2005)” ↗…by the Strugatsky brothers. The very thematic Soviet sci-fi behind STALKER. — The Cyberiad, by Stanislaw Lem. A brilliant collection of short stories on language, philosophy, futurism. Currently: — Nexus, by Ramez Naam (book 1 of 3). Nanobots meet augmented reality, transhumanism. Good. — Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut. Hilarious stuff. — Poe's collected works. Next: — The Three-Body Problem,…
on “Ask HN: What books are you reading?” ↗A book series that's, at least to me, frighteningly close to home while also being entertaining and totally interesting in it's premise is the Nexus trilogy by Ramez Naam. You could easily read only the first book, but the trilogy was a good read for me. You can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Arc-Book-1/dp/0857662937
on “Net Neutrality Day of Action: Help Preserve the Open Internet” ↗Not retrofuture, but I can’t stop thinking about the drug described in Nexus by Ramez Naam (and I read the book years ago). The drug binds to individual neurons allowing an external system to manipulate the brain and e.g. overlay an OS GUI on your vision, enhance sensory input,…
on “Ask HN: Favorite technology predictions in science fiction?” ↗…ahead and create it. Peter Watt's Blindsight and Echopraxia are also good (currently still reading the latter). It has scientifically plausible zombies and vampires, so that's something. Ramez Naam's Nexus has very interesting ideas on what happens to the world with very good brain-computer interfaces. It's set in the near-future, but I do think the tech is implausible here for so soon. William Hertling's…
on “How Magic Leap Is Creating an Alternate Reality” ↗While not based on much real science/technology, Ramez Naam wrote a cool sci-fi book (trilogy actually) on this topic called Nexus.
on “What Would Real Brain-To-Brain Communication Look Like?” ↗…really well written" when reading George R R Martin, I spent most of RP1 thinking, "I will get through this for the concept but this is not a good book." Instead of Ready Player One, I recommend the Nexus trilogy by Ramez Naam. The action is a little overdone, but it's so much better than Ready Player One and it does a really good job of exploring very interesting technology questions!
on “YC’s Summer Reading” ↗The Nexus Trilogy, by Ramez Naam. Rereading it at the moment, my favourite modern sci-fi series by far.
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗For an example of this in science fiction, check out the Nexus series by Ramez Naam.
on “BrainNet: A Multi-Person Brain-To-Brain Interface for Direct Collaboration” ↗I'm not sure if it counts as recent, but you should absolutely read The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I also really enjoyed The Nexus Trilogy by Ramez Naam.
on “Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations” ↗Reamde - Neal Stephenson - Really enjoyed this one, though I’m a sucker for Neal Stephenson books. Nexus (1, 2 and 3) - Ramez Naam - Great scifi exploring human -> cyborg transformations across the world. An OS for the mind had me very excited and scared for the future of computing. The City & the city…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Three Body Problem and Ready Player One should be considered. Daemon by Suarez is better than Ready Player One. Oh, what about Ramez Naam and the Nexus books?
on “Hard comp-fi reading list” ↗…- This excellent tome makes behavioural economics digestible outside of economics. It's enlightening, though provoking, and turns several accepted truths on its head, purely by being written at all. Nexus (Ramez Naam) - This science fiction book explores transhumanism and would it could mean in the near future. It's both light and pulpy, but at the same time makes you think about the outcomes of technological…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗