Hugonauts: The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time

This might be the best sci-fi book out there about nanotechnology. But Stephenson has so many good ones that this one isn't his best book - some of the characters lose their way, and it drags in the middle. 
Oh, and one more good recommendation we forgot while we were recording - check out Blood Music by Greg Bear if you want a biological twist on nanotech!
Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
Or you can watch our episodes on YouTube if you prefer video
As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion.
Similar books we recommend: 
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Cory Doctorow
Prey by Michael Crichton
This episode is sponsored by Har Megiddon by Ron Bennett.
If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for the episode:   
00:00 Intro
00:47 Book setup
1:49 Sponsor - Har Megiddon
2:22 Our review 3.25/5
3:53 Great sections - and stinkers
4:47 Incredible technology
7:33 Hard to visualize?
9:38 Dances with Wolves
10:17 Labor saving devices
13:59 Neal's infodumps
19:25 Book structure
25:47 Sponsor - Har Megiddon
26:08 Similar books we recommend
28:40 Spoilers section - book summary
31:30 Spoilers section - discussion

From Sumeria, to Greece, to India, to the depths of the dark ages we explore the stories that have inspired everything that came later with a professor of mythology and medieval literature. This particular professor also happens to be Cody's mom, so this is also a great episode to explore Cody's psyche, for those brave enough to explore a dark and twisted place. 
Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video
If you want to do some reading, here are our suggestions on the best translations of these myths (and even a couple great graphic novels): 
Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. Andrew George, Penguin Classics
The Odyssey, trans. Robert Fagles
The Odyssey, Gareth Hinds graphic novel
The Iliad, Penguin Classics
The Aeneid, trans. Robert Fagles Penguin Classics
Age of Bronze Series, Eric Shanower (series of graphic novels on Trojan War)
Hercules, Fred Van Lente
Monkey, trans. Arthur Waley
Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney
The Popul Vuh, trans. Michael Bazzett, Milkweed Editions
The Nibelungenlied, trans. AT Hatto, Penguin
Chretien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler, Penguin
Le Morte D’Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory, Penguin Classics
Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, trans. N.J. Dawood, Penguin Classics
Sindbad and Other Stories from Arabian Nights, trans Husain Haddowy
Sinbad the Sailor, Penguin Classics
The Ramayana, Abridged and Translated by Arshia Sattar, Penguin Classics OR any children’s/YA book to get started. There are hundreds
If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books we talked about: 
0:00 - Intro
1:45 - The Epic of Gilgamesh
6:35 - The Odyssey
10:12 - The Iliad
12:09 - The Aeneid
14:12 - Hercules
15:53 - Monkey (Excerpts from Journey to the West)
21:00 - Beowulf
25:25 - The Popul Vuh
28:23 - The Nibelungenlied
33:21 - King Arthur Myths (Malory, De Troyes)
36:56 - Tales From the Thousand and One Nights
41:40 - Sinbad the Sailor
45:10 - The Ramayana
49:55 - Our Top 3 favorite myths

Whether you like ripping page turners, incredible characters, books that make you laugh out loud, exploring unforgettable new worlds, or literary books that will make you see the world in a new way, there's a great intro to scifi out there for everyone!
Join the Hugonauts book club on discord to tell us about your favorite time travel books
Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video
If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books we talked about: 
00:00 Intro 
00:38 Incredible Characters - Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold 
3:07 A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers 
4:04 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 
4:52 Unforgettable Worlds - The Expanse by James S.A. Corey 
6:58 Hyperion by Dan Simmons 
8:24 House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds 
9:20 Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky 
10:56 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 
12:22 Funny SF - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 
13:36 Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 
14:50 Old Man's War by John Scalzi 
16:01 Page turners - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 
17:43 Dark Matter or Recursion by Blake Crouch 
18:52 All Systems Red by Martha Wells 
20:01 Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 
21:35 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 
22:34 Literary SciFi - The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin 
24:55 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
26:26 The Road by Cormac McCarthy 
27:49 Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut 
28:40 Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

With six interconnected stories (in a narrative style that broke all kinds of new ground), it's hard not to find at least a few characters you love. And even for those you don't personally love, the voices are unforgettable - it's wild that all these characters with such distinct personalities were created by a single person.
Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video
As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion.
Similar books we recommend: 
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
This episode is sponsored by #1.1 by Allen Dean Maiora
If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for the episode:  
00:00 Intro
01:10 Book setup
2:17 Our review 4.5/5
3:56 The unique structure
7:08 The incredible voices
10:44 Power and subjugation
12:58 Our favorites of the stories
23:17 Sponsor - #1.1 by Allen Dean Maiora
23:40 Similar books we recommend
26:06 Spoilers section - book summary
34:18 Spoilers section - discussion

Really though we just wanted to do something scary for Halloween - put on a skin-tight leotard. Yes, Brent really did read this sitting next to bubbling pumpkins.