# My Favorite Books of 2023

*January 1, 2024* | #book-reviews, #opinions

Social media died for me in 2023. Twitter and Reddit both shut down their third-party
APIs, making accessing them a pain, and the quality of Twitter decreased
significantly with its sale to Elon Musk. I realized how much time I had
wasted on social media and decided to spend it more wisely by reading books. I
bought a Kindle in October and finished 20 books between then and the end of
the year.

I [review all the books I read][book_reviews], here is a selection of my
favorites that I read in 2023:

[book_reviews]: /books/

## _Blindsight_ by Peter Watts

_Blindsight_ does a great job of exploring the
nature of consciousness and intelligence. Watts keeps the tension high and the
plot moving quickly in this thought-provoking sci-fi novel. My favorite book
of the year!

<div class="card-grid">
  - [_Blindsight_](/books/blindsight/) by Peter Watts --- ★★★★★: Blindsight is a hard sci-fi novel about first contact with aliens in the near future. A crew of four transhumans and a vampire are sent on a spaceship to investigate an anomaly in the solar system after a swarm of alien probes scan Earth.
</div>

## The Chronicle of the Fallers by Peter F. Hamilton

Hamilton is known for his space opera, but _The Abyss
Beyond Dreams_ is more urban fantasy set during the Russian Revolution
(in space) and _Night Without Stars_ is a
thriller set during the Cold War (again, in space). Both feature Commonwealth
citizens with special knowledge as _"Outside Context Problems"_, pulling the
stories into science fiction territory.

<div class="card-grid">
  - [_The Abyss Beyond Dreams_](/books/the_abyss_beyond_dreams/) by Peter F. Hamilton --- ★★★☆☆: The Abyss Beyond Dreams starts off The Chronicle of the Fallers, another series in Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth universe. Though billed as space opera, it often reads more as urban fantasy since most of the story occurs on the planet Bienvenido inside the Void where steam engines are their most advanced technology.
  - [_Night Without Stars_](/books/night_without_stars/) by Peter F. Hamilton --- ★★★☆☆: Night Without Stars is the second book in The Chronicle of the Fallers. It is action packed, with great pacing, and complex characters. It is my new favorite Peter F. Hamilton book.
</div>

## _The Fall of Hyperion_ by Dan Simmons

I enjoyed the sequel to [_Hyperion_](/books/hyperion/) the most of the two books
because it tied the personal story of the pilgrims to a much broader galactic
conflict. Interestingly, you can see a lot of ideas in the Hyperion Cantos
that Hamilton later adopted in his Commonwealth Saga including wormholes, a
breakaway-but-helpful AI, and different factions of scheming AI who either
want to eradicate the humans or uplift them.

<div class="card-grid">
  - [_The Fall of Hyperion_](/books/the_fall_of_hyperion/review-2023-10-27/) by Dan Simmons --- ★★★★★: The Fall of Hyperion is a sequel that outshines its predecessor. It is everything I was expecting from Hyperion and more! A true masterpiece.
</div>

## The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton

Epic space opera with a massive cast of characters and incredible pacing.

<div class="card-grid">
  - [_Pandora's Star_](/books/pandoras_star/) by Peter F. Hamilton --- ★★★★☆: I couldn’t put Pandora’s Star down! It is a sci-fi book that reads more like a thriller. There were always new mysteries that just a few more pages promised the answers to.
  - [_Judas Unchained_](/books/judas_unchained/) by Peter F. Hamilton --- ★★★★☆: The sequel to Pandora’s Star, Judas Unchained continues right where the last one left off, but with the action ramped up to 11. The various storylines and loose threads come together one by one until it’s the good guys racing against the bad guys for the fate of the universe.
</div>

## _Serpent Valley_ by Scott Warren

1980s mech sci-fi re-imagined for the 21st century. Warren's self-published
series takes a few books to really find its feet, but once it does, it's a
quick, fun, nostalgic read. The third book, _Serpent
Valley_, exemplifies the series.

<div class="card-grid">
  - [_Serpent Valley_](/books/serpent_valley/) by Scott Warren --- ★★★★☆: Serpent Valley, the third book in the War Horses series, is another quick, action-packed read—but without the flaws holding back its predecessors. Easily my favorite of the series so far!
</div>

## Related Posts
- [My Favorite Books of 2025](/blog/favorite-books-of-2025/)
- [A Letter to my Alma Mater](/blog/a-letter-to-my-alma-mater/)
- [My Favorite Books of 2024](/blog/favorite-books-of-2024/)