Suggest me a book that you have never seen suggested before on this subreddit.

I’ll start with mine.

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor. The first part of an Indian Godfather saga.

The Boys of ‘67.

_Waystation_ is a largely-forgotten Hugo Award winner by largely-forgotten sci-fi legend Clifford Simak. Simak has a writing style that was unique to the genre at the time he was writing, and tends to blend science fictional with pastoral Americana. The best adjective I can think of for his writing is “kind.” He often writes weird, melancholy, or even horrific stories, but always with a clear love for every character on the page. He reminds me of writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald in his ability to write about misguided or failing characters without ever seeming to ridicule or belittle them. His stuff feels like if Mr. Rogers wrote sci-fi instead of making the show.

This book in particular is about a guy who made a pact with aliens decades ago, in the 1800s. The aliens need a stopover station for their teleporter network somewhere in our solar system, and that station will need someone to tend it. The protagonist accepts the job, and in return he’s granted immortality, provided he doesn’t leave his house. By the time the book begins, he’s been settled into the exact same routine for decades, his friends and family are all long-dead, and his only social contact is with the aliens who briefly pass through his house on their way to somewhere more interesting. This situation is obviously unpleasant, and as the book progresses he has to confront how untenable it is.

I could write about this book for hours. Truly a shame that Simak’s work isn’t read much these days — he’s one of many authors who did really well in the heyday of the short story magazine but didn’t write enough novels to be remembered by most modern readers.

*Walking My Second Path in Life Volume 1* by Otaku de Neet