Only forward
by Michael Marshall Smith · first published 1994
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Cyberpunk-flavoured sci-fi with a strange, memorable premise; readers who loved Neuromancer, Snow Crash or Vurt say it stays with them, and it suits fans of inventive, offbeat speculative fiction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
tark lives in Colour, a neighbourhood whose inhabitants like to be co-ordinated with their surroundings – a neighbourhood where spangly purple trousers are admired by the walls of buildings as you pass them. Close by is Sound, where you mustn’t make any, apart from one designated hour a day when you can scream your lungs raw. Then there’s Red – get off at Fuck Station Zero if you want to see a tactical nuclear battle recreated as a sales demonstration. Stark has friends in Red, which is just as well because Something is about to happen. And when a Something happens it’s no good chanting ‘Du
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You should read "Only Forward" by Michael Marshall Smith. He seems to be fairly unknown, but I love his work. Based on your descriptions I think you would too.
on “Paranoid Android: The Divine Madness of Philip K Dick” ↗I’ve read Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith. It stuck in my mind the same way that Vurt did. I still think about the man with no head sometimes, and the idea of a road being different when you’re going the other way on…
on “I Want to Fix Goodreads” ↗"Only Forward" by Michael Marshall Smith. Unexpected.
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗I've read Neuromancer and Snow Crash about once a year for nearly 20 years. Michael Marshall Smith's early sci-fi books, Only Forward and Spares, have also had many re-reads.
on “Ask HN: Which book have you re-read the most times? how many times?” ↗A few favourites, in no particular order: - Iain M. Bank's Culture series, particularly Player of Games - Vernor Vinge's Rainbow's End - Michael Marshall Smith's Only Forward
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗