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PaperclipPerfector  28d ago (text post)   2170 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 5, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Astral Codex Ten 2026 Book Review Contest submissions thread

My top 10:

Honorable mentions:

I used to really love World War Z, but upon returning to it last year, I think it really has not aged well, especially after the last 20 years. In hindsight it seems obvious that certain characters/storylines were included to push Max's political hobby horses. A couple I found especially jarring were the cripple neighborhood watch member, the billionaire pharmaceutical CEO hiding out in the arctic, and the ending. However, it's still charming in its own way. It's almost quaint in how it handles its politics. Were the book written today, I have no doubt that there would be at least a couple of chapters devoted to the usual culture war topics.

To me it's a fun read. The core story is still compelling, but it really shows its age. Part of me thinks that maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't have memories of it being such a great book. I honestly wish I could read it for the first time again today so I didn't have my judgement clouded by my previous expectations. Maybe if I was reading it for the first time today, it wouldn't show its age as much. Overall I'd still recommend it, but nowhere near as heartily as I would have in 2010.

World War Z was a book which really stuck with me. I read it in my early teens and went into it looking for the archetypical zombie thriller and I was completely blindsided by the breadth of storytelling. Brooks' choice to tell the story from ordinary people, discussing their lived experiences made each vignette much more real to me. I can honestly say that by the time I was halfway through I was thinking about how hard it would be to block the staircase with sofa. Brooks has dropped in a ton of personal moralizing to the story, pretty obvious in certain parts during my most recent re-read, but as a teen I was too enraptured by the story and too young to pick up on most of. For those interested in more WWZ content there is a super long althist rewrite from a very leftist perspective in this thread. It's even more heavyhanded than the original book and laughable at times but a fun (and occasionally enraging) read. I haven't found another book like WWZ with that approach to storytelling and grounded approach to zombies. Please let me know if you know of any others like it!

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