The same question lurks at the end of every great book: What should I read next?
Algorithms and book recommendation lists can help us answer this question, but they still can’t top getting personal advice from other smart, like-minded readers. More often than not, this is exactly how our favorite stories find a permanent home in our hearts.
Today, Tor.com content director Chris Lough wants to know: “I discovered Warren Ellis’ comic book series Transmetropolitan during my college years and it felt like being struck by lightning. Here was a hilarious, filthy blueprint for using my own wallowing cynicism not to snipe uselessly from the sidelines, but to put real work into crafting a better world for people who weren’t me. What should I read next?”
What do you think, readers?
Our Mission
Chris Wants More Of:
- Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson
- Stories that show the struggle of actually working to create a better world(s).
- Stories that plumb the complexities of compassion.
He’s Already Read:
- Several works by Cory Doctorow
- Other works by Warren Ellis
What He Likes Most About Transmetropolitan Is:
It is honest about how terrible a person its main character Spider Jerusalem is and uncompromising about how awful the sacrifice and vigilance to create a better world can be. (Spider loses everything, several times, in ways that are traumatic and intimate.) He is a judgmental hedonist, but nonetheless learns to be inclusive, and he never wavers from promoting an attitude that eschews hypocrisy and demands that everyone, especially those in the highest office, act with integrity towards their fellows. He works constantly.
Post Your Recommendations in the Comments!
Ask for Recommendations!
Would you like recommendations on what to read next? Post a comment below that states:
- The book or story you just read.
- What you’ve already read that’s similar.
- One paragraph on what aspects you loved about what you just read.
We’ll choose your comment for further installments of “What Should I Read Next?”
