Nexus (The Nexus Trilogy, Book 1)
“A book series I really like is Nexus by Ramez Naam. Be sure to check out that book.”
Why it is worth your time
Nexus is Ramez Naam's 2012 science fiction novel, the first of a trilogy, set in 2040. The title is a nano-drug that lets human minds link together, and the plot follows Kaden Lane, a graduate student who improves it and is then pulled between US government agents and other powers, with much of the story in Bangkok. Naam is a former Microsoft engineer who had earlier written a non-fiction book on human enhancement. The novel was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and tied for the 2014 Prometheus Award. Sacks brought it up on the Jul 29, 2021 episode and told listeners to check out the series. Sci-fi comes up often on the podcast, and this one is about brain-computer interfaces. It suits readers who like near-future thrillers with real science behind them. The caveat is that Publishers Weekly found the philosophizing 'sometimes painfully heavy,' and it is the first book of a trilogy.
