Books I’ve Read by Other Youtubers

[@kazemizu6284]

I found Xiran via their Mulan rant and went 'welp, for the slim chance there will ever be another video: subscribed!' and was NOT disappointed lol

[@moondivine2288]

It’s amazing Xiran started their KZbin career ranting about live action Mulan. They were valid. Xiran makes great videos. I have learned some things myself.

[@KristiContemplates]

Same. Single video essay rant with cultural exchange education, and a week later 350K subscribers. They are worth waiting for. I hope they're able to become a university lecturer and teach classes on cross-cultural fiction and literature. Xiran Jay Zhou is to fictional literature what Gabriel Iglesias is to stand up comedy and what Jacinda Ardern is to political representation and leadership. Paradigm shift

[@DamianFloresRF]

Yep, same here as well. There's always so much to learn in her content, and her style is so engaging...

[@persomiissleepy]

I own two books written by Caitlin Doughty (Ask a Mortician) those being 'From here to Eternity' and 'Will my Cat Eat my Eyeballs.' If you're interested in the Death Positivity movement I highly recommend her she's both humorous and informative about death in history and what happens to us at the end of life.

[@mskitty6347]

I totally read that in their voice

[@iforgotmynameagain9512]

I love her so much!

[@mirjanbouma]

Yes, Caitlin is so interesting and funny!

[@jerseyboyce1]

i got will my cat eat my eyeballs recently, im looking forward to it. she is awesome

[@Nope.Unknown]

I also highly recommend all her books!

[@ashessakura7518]

I absorbed Iron Widow in one several hour sitting when I had the house to myself and watching my favourite book KZbinr also singing its praises *chef kiss* Also appreciate that the books avoids the love triangle and just has “Zetian and Shimin suffer whilst Yizhi has the most bisexual time of his life” (paraphrased from Xiran Jay Zhao themself)

[@sorbusaucuparia188]

I bought a physical copy of Iron Widow and it looks nice on my shelf, but I don't think I will reread it. The setting is cool, but the characters and themes are a bit too forced for my personal taste. Or rather there are so many "unusual" themes at once, a bit overwhelming. And the man-hate is quite extreme.

[@silverpyro19]

The triangle is the strongest shape

[@shy2infinity]

I'm not at all ashamed to admit that one of the major reasons I loved this book was because instead of a love triangle, we have a poly ship! Also Zetian and Shimin are trying their best with the trauma they were force fed :')

[@QuikVidGuy]

@@sorbusaucuparia188 that's the start of a character arc, it's supposed to be extreme so there's room to learn

[@CodeNameX001]

As someone who can't stand love triangles, I've spent far too much time wondering why everyone can't just make out in one nasty pile, lol. I'm joking (mostly), but for a real example there's one story with a love triangle between 3 friend where everyone's at a standstill. He's been shutdown and had his heart broken by a girl who CLEARLY loves him, but her best friend also loves him and is afraid that by starting this relationship it'll alienate their friendship. Since then he's slowly healed, and he still loves her, but believing he doesn't have a chance his feeling for the friend have grown as the two have a lot in common and feel comfortable around each other. So he loves them both. And they both love him. And the girls love each other enough to sabotage the relationship to maintain their own bond (so clearly there's a heavy amount of love there). So why can't they just be poly!?

[@NWolfsson]

Xiran is the perfect representation of "I stumbled, and suddenly I'm at the head of a country. Then I stumbled again, and I'm an emperor. Then I stumbled again, and this wonderful person is somehow my consort!", having got instant traction for the Mulan 2020 teardown video, kept their engagement despite being a young and not awfully prolific KZbinr, and memeing themself to being a best seller author. Also, dope to have a smooth and no big deal nonbi representation (I'm cis gay, but always loving representation for any of my LGBT+ fellows)

[@geraltbiaywilk1788]

idk, Xiran might act like they are incompetent and be gracious about their success, but they are incredibly talented, their writing is enthralling, their critic is razor sharp and their presentation is simply awe inspiring. To say they just sort of stumbled into their success feels kinda like undercuting their hardwork? I mean sure, they were lucky enough that the youtube gods chosen them to succeed with Mulan critique, but their content has been consistently high quality. So while yes, there was an element of luck, they were able to make good use of that luck thanks to their hard work

[@mattybrunolucaszeneresalas9072]

What are you talking about representation?

[@Vee-Shan-CC]

I miss Lindsay, I watched her channel and when I heard about the harassment and watched her response... it hit me deep. I hope that she one days comes back but I understand if she doesn't.

[@corneliahanimann2173]

Really feels like a different youtube knowing she won't upload and hasn't uploaded in 8 months... I miss her too.

[@searchingfororion]

I can relate. After watching her "Mask off" video in its entirety upon upload, and then (later) her resignation letter from YT - was so raw and heartbreaking. The time between the two certainly should have been enough for those who made the bad faith arguments to move to a different target and/or stop the monumental harassment... (Especially over the *very* old video that was uploaded without her consent and only is still able to be found on YT because of dubious jerks re-uploading clones.) There are seriously problematic content creators with *very* severe histories that have much larger reach and influence than Ellis ever did (but hey, they end up trending every time they upload so that absolves them, right? 🙄) that do not endure the mob abuse she did in those final videos. She's a voice I will genuinely miss, but right now I hope she's surrounded by good people who love her that will help her heal physically and emotionally.

[@Topdoggie7]

I have always paid close attention to Lindsay Ellis back in the Nostalgia Chick days and while I can confirm irl at cons she was aggressive, mean, and "a bit of a bitch", I don't wish I'll upon her. But clearly having a reputation was, and always has been, eating away at her. This is likely for the best. My experiences with her may not be great nor con goers, but she's very low on an offensive bar. Hope she gets what she wants out of life.

[@HallowqueenCrafting]

I miss her too. She was a great creator and she didn't deserve the dogpile. I've read her first book, enjoyed the heck out of it, but my brain cannot handle Cora's meltdowns in the second. That's a me problem - they're not annoying, they're just so damned well done that they trigger me, and I read to try to calm myself.

[@Solmead]

Miss her videos as well

[@Nellipusen]

jesus dom, you can't drop this many good book recommendations at once, I have rent to pay

[@christopherb501]

And this is what public libraries are for.

[@Nellipusen]

@@christopherb501 very true

[@regenorakel]

Not that Iron Widow needs any more credentials, but I inhaled this book in one day. I just couldn't put it down. Very excited for the sequel!

[@peachynene3447]

I dont read books as fast as i used to before but whenever I did read it I got sucked into so fast. The ending also threw me for a loop cause I honestly didn't except it, I can't wait for the sequel

[@roselover411]

@@peachynene3447 SAME! Man that ending took me so off guard, I'm dying to see what happens next.

[@clarithbezarius1524]

I inhaled it on a night right before my finals. Couldn't put the book down to study for the exams. No regrets, and also I somehow passed lol.

[@alliswonderlain2595]

One of the thibgs I loved about Iron Widow is that Zetian is so focused on her revenge that she kind of forgets she's part of a romance plot and seems annoyed when it comes back up

[@archivist_13]

Lmao real

[@DragonFae16]

Xiran actually did a video about that book of poems about cats. Their videos are always very entertaining to watch.

[@lucasmaas]

I'm 'Old' enough to remember a time when youtubers shouted each other out ALL the time. This has the same great wholesome vibes. love it.

[@cjp39]

"Hello my beautiful watchers" aaaaaa *visibly relaxes* I know intellectually that those smooth tones aren't really aimed at me personally but damned if I'm not going to feel better anyway.

[@swimmyswim417]

I loved Axiom’s End. I’m biro-ace, and I’ve found a huge fascination exploring “My Monster Boyfriend” stories that play around and explore with different forms and expressions of love and attraction than “typical” romance. Amp and Cora’s dynamic really resonated with me, and I’m excited to see where it goes in the second book (which I have, but haven’t had the time to devour yet).

[@Jedi_Proxy]

I bought the audio book for Iron Widow specifically for the pronunciation reason and I loved it so much I bought it physically as well. Absolutely loved the setting, story and characters (plus we love good queer polyam rep 💚). Shoutout to Xiran for auctioning off a copy they sat on for 1k for charity! 😂

[@YOSSARIAN313]

Pervs doing good work.

[@letranger4461]

I picked up Iron Widow when I watched Xiran’s video on their writing journey. I initially picked it up because they talked about how their disappointment with Darling in the Franxx being one of the many inspirations. I personally loved it and was hooked by the end of the first chapter.

[@SampaiNoticesYou]

I've actually gotten to meat Xiran Jay Zhao a few times! We live in the same city and they've done signings at my home store a few times! They are so funny and sassy! Their online persona and how they interact in person is much the same. A fiery soul for sure! (Also Iron Widow is stellar, duh!)

[@commander-fox-q7573]

Lolll I loved pausing to skim through the “booktuber posing with stack of books thumbnails” to see if anyone I recognized was featured there. Was a fun addition

[@charischannah]

I'm not a big sci-fi person, but I did really love Axiom's End, and I've got Truth of the Divine on my bookshelf waiting for when I have time to read it.

[@dapeach06]

Truth of the Divine is darker, but it's really good

[@raymondzellar5523]

I love both but I think I like truth of the divine just a bit more. Hope she continues with the story.

[@gota7738]

@@dapeach06 I wanna read Truth of the Divine one day, but the last couple of chapters of Axiom's End where such an 'oof' in the anxiety department that hearing the 2nd one gets even darker on that front has made me wait. Lets just say that my biggest fears in life is accidentally being responsible for someone's death.

[@Hoixey]

@@raymondzellar5523 iirc book 3 has been confirmed to be in the process of being made, or got a publishing date somewhat recently (like within the last month) so it's coming :)

[@raymondzellar5523]

@@Hoixey oh awesome!!! Thank you! I wasn't able to find anything since she left KZbin other than speculation.

[@starry-eyedatstarryskies1797]

I pre-ordered Iron Widow and read the whole book in one day. One of the things I loved about it was what it did with probably my most hated trope, love triangles. I wish other authors would follow Xiran's lead and go with this solution more.

[@sensibleGamer]

I don’t really have time these days to sit down to read, but I was SO excited by the elevator pitch of the book I preordered the book AND audiobook to listen to at work. TOTALLY worth it!

[@otakuofmine]

oh, what happened there? becoming a triad?

[@sensibleGamer]

@@adk7165 You don't need to be rude

[@grumpysphinx4911]

@Atomic Neko Also they use they/them pronouns, just so you know :)

[@OcarinaSapphr-]

I loved Lindsay Ellis’ Phantom of the Opera series- it was hi-larious, but also really informative to someone who only had a bare-bones understanding of the story.

[@goodial]

her Transformers and Hobbit videos were also great and deeply insightful in various ways!

[@NiallSkye]

All of this was worth it to hear Dom read cat haikus. Not that it wasn't worth it before that, but that was just the cherry on top.

[@NiallSkye]

That said, I adored Iron Widow and eagerly look forward to reading more of their work.

[@Caernath]

I’ve read about three lengthy reviews of Iron Widow and was still uncertain whether this book was for me. A few minutes of Dom were however enough to convince me to buy it as soon as possible. He should do more of these book recommendation videos

[@idontneedaname318]

My review would be read it if you want to have a good time but don't care about substance. The book is fast paced, engaging, and very entertaining but it's themes fall flat and lack substance. It's a popcorn book in the same vein as 'popcorn' movies, basically you read them to be entertained but it's not going to truly impact you

[@annabeinglazy5580]

My Reviews of Iron widow would be: great Popcorn action "Cinema", fun in the way that it's finally Not a shitty Love triangle and it's NOT shy about its messaging. Also the author is great at writing Action and Gore. Some of the more unsavoury parts of the book where legit stomach churning and filled me with pure, slow burning rage. It was great. Bad If you enjoy Subtext. My biggest Problem with it was that i felt that the book was talking down at me quite often. It was like the author did Not Trust the audience to get the Point they were trying to make. If sth terrible happens, it is First described and then the Main character sums Up the Situation. Case in point: the Family members are all Shit. Which thy said multiple Times. Then it's shown how the Family is Shit. And then the character says how they feel their family is Shit. And this repeats several Times. I Like Subtext. I Like figuring Things Out for myself. I Like seeing a scenario without someone spoon Feeding it to me. But the book doesnt give me the chance to do that. So while i had fun, i will probably Not reread it.

[@zoinomiko]

I definitely wouldn't call it popcorn cinema, for all the great points Dom mentions plus the fantastically complex relationships (good and bad). It is quite fast paced, but in a way that is appropriate to the urgency of the plot and very engaging.

[@idontneedaname318]

@@zoinomiko complex?? I would not call the relationships complex at all, they skim over them VERY fast bc of the pacing for them to develop real complexity. It's one of the things i was disappointed with reading - the relationships are kind of developed through shorthand and we hardly get to see it actually develop with time

[@summersummer5981]

@@idontneedaname318 i know this thread is a few months old but i wanted to add on that there are also no positive female relationships in this book at all from what i remember? the only woman zetian seems to have a positive relationship with is her sister, who is basically fridged before the book even begins

[@Gloria.A]

Clicked because I saw Iron Widow

[@breezy3392]

Likewise

[@porfiriodiazcarrillo7551]

Xiao supremacy is coming!!

[@QueenofBlades56]

Same

[@shinyagumon7015]

Xiran Jay Zhao's KZbin channel is the best thing that came from Mulan 2020.

[@unfabgirl]

I've got both of Ellis's books in ebook and physical book form, as well as Elia Hansen's on ebook (and Hickson's and Zhao's are on my wishlist) I love to see them get more attention

[@fryingpan552]

I recently finished Axiom's End and just started on the sequel...definitely excited to delve more deeply into this world. On a related note, another series that I think does a great job exploring the ideas of potential diversity in extraterrestrial intelligence as well as using some really interesting science is the Bobiverse Series by Dennis E Taylor. The audiobooks are fantastic too!

[@porfiriodiazcarrillo7551]

seeing Xiao becoming the ultimate published author Empress in real live wil be epic!!!!

[@Labinzel]

This may sound like a joke, but to your point about genuinely different aliens... *Animorphs* does a fantastic job of this. The aliens in the series are not remotely humanoid but their relatability to humanity comes from the roles they play in the war central to the series. Andalites: blue deer centaurs with no mouth (they communicate telepathically), four eyes, a long flexible tail with a bony blade on the end. Eat grass through their hooves by running on it. They posses a seemingly species innate optimism but their military goals are reminiscent of the US activity in Vietnam. Hork-bajir: similar to upright lizards that appear related to dinosaurs, covered in large spines/blades they use to harvest tree bark. An overall gentle disposition and spoken story centric culture, the Andalites genocides most of them with the remaining being taken as slaves of the series villains. Taxxons: picture gummy worms with armored centipede legs, multiple red eyes, and large mouths. They are burrowers and can build impressive underground systems. Constantly ravenously hungry to the point they will eat each other or themselves if injured. They allied with the series villains for food but eventually turn against them as a result of poor treatment. Yeerks: sludge dwelling grey-green slugs capable of infesting the brains of a variety of species and controlling everything they do/access every memory. They receive nutrition from a certain type of light/wavelength and need it every three days or they die. The series antagonist, they are discontent with the capabilities of their bodies so they take others. After a long time in a host they can take on similar beliefs as the host, but twisted and incomplete.

[@llsilvertail561]

.........I didn't realize how much I actually remembered about the worldbuilding in this series until I read your comment. So thanks ig?

[@thedatabase677]

I wish I had read Iron Widow before Roe v Wade being overturned, but I didn't get it from my library till afterward, so it was a lot more exhausting and depressing to read than it would have otherwise been. Still highly recommend it to people that love sci-fi.

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

You were part of TGWG too? Got to hand it to them, despite the flaws you alluded to, they found and developed a LOT of talent. You, Lindsay Ellis, Todd in the Shadows, and Pushing Up Roses all came from there. And more that you mentioned who I didn't know about.

[@jackbutler6606]

Remembering when Channel Awesome was considered the cool kids' club of KZbin creators, it's not surprising how big it was. Unfortunately "developing" is probably the one thing they didn't do, Lindsays content was literally entirely out of her hands and then there's everything to do with the treatment of the smaller channels

[@nightfall3605]

Jesus Otaku. Glass Reflection. I’m so glad KZbin happened to give all these folks a life boat to escape Channel Awesome.

[@corneliahanimann2173]

I used to dislike Lindsey when she was on Channel Awesome, simply because I was so immature that I assumed "the chick with glasses" (or whatever her name was) is going to be a female version of TGWG. This led me to assume that she is someone who will only review feminine stuff or something like mrsmojo. I started to like her when I found her again as Lindsey and even now when I watch her older videos, I don't know why I was so triggered by her name because she was a wonderful and intelligent woman back then too. The only thing that I noticed is, that she never quite got out of the Doug's shadow, while working for CA. I'm just glad Lindsey Ellis existed at one point on youtube without that channel.

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

@@corneliahanimann2173 That was the intention of her character. She fought against it. Often the internal fight against that intent made it into the plot of the videos.

[@GrifterMage]

Also Jill Bearup. (Formerly known as Sursum Ursa.)

[@raymondzellar5523]

I really miss Lindsey Ellis on KZbin. Her video essays were so good I would watch the ones on topics that I didn't care about just to hear her take on it.

[@assiqtaq]

Phantom of the Opera is not a story I care about in the least. Her video on it was so good!

[@dutchside33]

Hey what happened to Lindsey.

[@moviemaestro800]

@@dutchside33 Video explains.

[@scratch2086]

@@assiqtaq PotO is a great story though

[@RaisonLychi]

I've streamed the Omegaverse lawsuit ones with friends because of the delightfully wild they were. (and I wanted to introduce friends to the cursed genre for fun)

[@dragonlynx9969]

I miss Lindsay. I got Axiom's End and The Iron Widow. I missed the existence of The Company of Death. Thank you for letting me know.

[@iancpowell]

Xiran Jay Zhao's "Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor" is really good, but I guess waiting till the audio book is updated for better Mandarin might be worth the wait. it's Zhao's take on a Percy Jackson type story.

[@zillafire101]

In this house, we Stan Lindsey and Xiran. 🙏 😤✊️

[@vjara94]

I enjoy Lindsey's essays and I didn't know that there where drama, can you shin some light on it?

[@TSDTalks22]

@@vjara94 basically people took a tweet she made about Raya and the Last Dragon and spun it into lengthy case for her being the most racist person known to man, causing her to leave the internet due to backlash. Typical Twitter stuff

[@vjara94]

@@TSDTalks22 ohh, I think I know what you're talking about

[@Ramkoff]

Axiom’s End was just good enough to to keep me interesting in reading more, but Truth of the Divine absolutely WRECKED ME. An absolutely perfect sequel that is the emotional equivalent of being hit with a truck.

[@juliansiri6141]

I love hearing someone talk about Axiom's end. Such a great book.

[@jeffsykes4589]

Dominic: Look into my deep brown eyes Me: You don't have to tell me twice

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

From what you’ve said of Iron Widow, it sounds like it would make a very good Trigger anime. Just the sheer overall absurdity of those clashing high-concepts, it’s right up their alley, plus they like giant robots powered in unconventional ways.

[@dapeach06]

Omg it would be an incredible Studio Trigger anime. Though I'd gladly accept a dead serious UFOTable animated adaptation too

[@nightfall3605]

And maybe with a story template they won’t shit the bed at the ending! 😝

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

@@nightfall3605 they frequently don’t and let us remember the biggest example of a trigger show shitting the bed was Darling in the Franxx, which was made in collaboration with Cloverworks, who have actually just had shit endings pretty consistently (promised neverland season 2, wonder egg priority) where as Trigger usually just goes off the walls bonkers

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

@@dapeach06 well let’s not sell Trigger’s ability to be serious short, the SSSS franchise has been quite serious, and they made The Elder in Star Wars Visions. Really we just probably don’t want Imaishi himself helming the show, but Akira Amemiya, director of the SSSS shows, would probably do it great, especially since he already has a show that features a mecha from ancient china for unexplained reasons

[@CanIswearinmyhandle]

@@lazydroidproductions1087Dom doesn't mention it but Iron Widow actually has robots being piloted by men hugging the battery women from behind and she based that on Darling in the Franxx positions but like, she made a good story and themes to go with it. Lets not pretend Darling was a great show until the ending, the show sucked because it spent the whole thing building as if it had something to say and then it just *didn't* except "have babies" I guess

[@skylarkblue1]

I know this is nothing about the content of the video but hearing your honesty about dyslexia and recognising neurodiversity around it hit me in a way I didn't expect. There's a lot of creators out there that are neurodiverse and are open about it but not with dyslexia that I've found at least. As a dyslexic mess of a new viewer myself, it's nice to hear someone has the same struggles aha

[@Playlist_Two]

I'd noticed Dom using "Hickson's" readings before but didn't know that they actually knew each other - I'm irrationally happy.

[@SamAronow]

I’m a KZbinr who’s written a book (and trying to get a second started)! Unfortunately it’s all nonfiction, but it was nice to meet you at VidCon!

[@VereskVeil]

I've just read An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I can't recommend it enough. Of all books you talked about, I've red just Axiom's End. I also needed too much time to understand that it's a my monster boyfriend type book. I'm going to buy Iron Widow today BTW. Thank you

[@kseni_vely]

I'm on the finish line of Beautifully foolish endeavour and I can't praise these books enough 🙌🏻

[@VereskVeil]

@@kseni_vely I'm going to buy it next week when I have some money, I can't wait actually.

[@mirjanbouma]

Is that Hank from Scishow?

[@mundanepants]

@@mirjanbouma yes. Hank Green of founder of Sci Show, founder of Vidcon, and brother of John Green the author fame

[@VereskVeil]

@@mundanepants and a damn good writer of books :)

[@marchingham]

Sweet!! I've been wanting to read Iron Widow for a while and this seals the deal. Thanks!

[@paigestubbs9718]

Yeah! Iron Widow is brilliant!

[@roselover411]

I adored Iron Widow, super excited for the sequel! XIran is probably my favorite youtuber right now. It's a very hard competition, but their humor is so in line with mine I can't help but love them.

[@a.z7469]

Thank you for spotlighting all these books. I've been a fan of yours; and all the other authors for a very long time. Cheers from the North!

[@TimeBunny]

Here for the funsies as I genuinely want to hear Dominic’s opinion.

[@crows2808]

There is one inspiration behind Axiom's End that I didn't pick up until about the middle of the book and then I laughed out loud. Did not believe she really would, but she did.

[@MalisDelnaria]

Probably best outro ever! Also I have Iron Widow sitting on my 'to read' pile. Looks like I better make the time to read it! Also, I noticed Caitlin Doughty's book 'Will my Cat Eat my Eyeballs?' mentioned in other comments. My son and I read that one together and it was quite thought-provoking.

[@Syurtpiutha]

Peter Watts' Blindsight gave me some of my favorite alien entities in fiction. I also really enjoyed Ellis' take on it. But yes, I am also one of those people who never really liked the 'humans but blue' or 'humans but with pointy ears'. Iron Widow was one of the angriest books I read in quite a while and I loved it.

[@morganburt2565]

lindsay’s aliens were SOOOOOO COOOOOOL i love them so much they’re so interesting

[@katthawthorne1027]

I miss looking forward to new Lindsay Ellis videos more than I can say. Whatever she's working on next, I hope she's having a good day ❤ Additionally, for anyone picking up "Axiom's End" and thereafter "Truth of the Divine": The latter book has a trigger warning in the front that is very, very aptly included. As is the case with "Axiom's End", it's a well-written piece of fiction, but that just makes the need for the trigger warning even more noteworthy.

[@SolstaceWinters]

I too miss seeing new videos from her. I've been going to the doctor more regularly lately, and she looked at me recently and said, "I noticed a significant lack of 'see how I glitter' in your bloodwork, you doing okay?" and I was so taken aback, I woke up. But seriously I do miss em. Might rewatch what is there. Overly Sarcastic Productions scratches several itches for me, but it doesn't scratch em all.

[@choryllis6646]

I miss her content too. Occasssionally I'll binge it and get a bittersweet feeling about it all.

[@abbaddabba6100]

She's been working on making content for patreon exclusively. It hasn't come out yet (she's had a big, busy year!) but it's definitely worth looking into for 3 bucks.

[@essneyallen6777]

@@abbaddabba6100 thank you for this information! She is one of the big reasons I want to subscribe to Nebula, just in the tiny hope she posts her work there, but patreon is also fine :)

[@hurricaneofcats]

Absolutely. I love Truth of the Divine for where it is willing to go and how it massively expands on its sci fi concepts, but that book dives deep into some very traumatic stuff. Do not go in unprepared.

[@JGM154]

This needs to be a recurring series...probably a once or twice a year kind of deal, as I'm not sure just how many books there are written by KZbinrs, but I can definitely see this as a continuing staple for the channel.

[@TheRealFlurrin]

I had a friend show me how to pronounce every character name in Iron Window and I still messed up a lot as I read it aloud! I loved the book though. Axiom's End is next on my list, I'll check the rest of these out too.

[@samanthaoddsweb]

I love Iron Widow, and have read her second Zachary Ying and the dragon emperor... I devoured both in one sitting. As a fellow dyslexic (whose flavour also murders pronunciations) THIS was an absolutely unheard of event (except for the 100 year old man who jumped out of a window and disappeared {a rollicking good read} ) I love them so much ... and you of course, your insights and explanations are well put, well rounded and totally understandable! @XiranJayZhao You rock my reading world!

[@CanIswearinmyhandle]

Oh! I just now realized that I read about Iron Widow and how the robots being piloted by boy-girl pairs was based on darling in the franxx on ANN, but despite watching some of Xiran Jay Zhaos history videos I didn't realize they wrote that until just now! I'm always thinking people should use bad media for inspiration more instead of just the good stuff and franxx sure as hell was a lot of interesting designs and ideas that just kinda turned int mush. And not because of the alien twist, that's not what ruined the show

[@randompikmin4103]

Just a small note, but Xiran prefers they/them pronouns!

[@CanIswearinmyhandle]

@@randompikmin4103 I edited my comment , thanks for telling me :)

[@essneyallen6777]

nevermind, found your source :)

[@creativehoney4753]

Saving this video for future reference when I catch up on my current reading list! Thanks for another great video Dom

[@TheLukeMonster]

I'm not even much of a reader, but I'm a huge fan of Lindsay Ellis, so I made a point to download Ebooks of "Axiom's End", its sequel "Truth of the Divine" and her children's book "They Don't Give Medals to Kids". All of them are excellent and grabbed my short attention span like no one's business. Highly recommend all of them. It's abominable that Doug Walker, an unprofessional self-aggrandizing hack whose appeal ran dry years ago and is now content to constantly re-review media he's already discussed ad nauseum with the same tired, unfunny jokes, still has a considerable following while Ellis, in spite of her infinitely greater effort and attention to detail, is bullied into silence. Screw the haters. Read the books, keep watching and liking her content and help to turn this injustice around.

[@lunarotimas]

Idk if you've heard of her book Awoken but I just ordered it and I'm very excited to finally read it. If you don't know I suggest looking into at least SOME of the lore. she has a playlist called "choose your own boozeventure" or something to that effect

[@lunarotimas]

"Booze your own adventure" I'm so dumb lol

[@Topdoggie7]

It's because Nostalgia Critic/Doug Walker has more drama and law violations surrounding him. Lindsey has barely anything and stayed quiet outside of aggression towards fans. It's not a joke to say if you want to stay relevant, be a big hateable person who does shit like NC or Onision. Otherwise if you're cleaner, you fade, even PewDiePie faded into being barely talked about.

[@jayharyu927]

The Dom talking about Hello Future Me gave me whiplash. This is such an amazing video 👏

[@thehomeschoolinglibrarian]

As someone who is not a huge science fiction fan I enjoyed both of Lindsey Ellis's books. I definitely thought the second book was better. I also keep meaning to listen to her Musicals podcast. I hope she is doing well and wish her luck with mommy hood.

[@atlantahunter4401]

I'm having to pace myself with Iron Widow. What she goes through is too real and gives me anxiety attacks, it's so well written.

[@OriginalAivien]

I've been a (beautiful) watcher for, gods, six or seven years now (my first video was Jurassic Park), and you are one of the (quite few) KZbinrs I've always been "loyal" to, if you will. Your constant improvements, your ability to admit to faults and awkward sidesteps, the willingness to do better once you've realised such faults, AND being true to your words, actually following through with all those things makes you one of my dearest KZbin "buddies" (as in me spending time with you even though you don't even know *me*). You are doing so good and, as I said, you constantly get better. Your empathy, sympathy, and relatability are palpable and I hold those attributes in high regard. I also happen to love your humour and the britishness, but that's just by the by. Come to think of it, I've never got around to all that Patron, Discord,etc. stuff, and now I wonder why. I do want to support all my dearest content creators and I am doing that already. 🤔 Money problems is certainly a part of it, but I'll make sure to go the "extra mile" and catch up on things. Stay just as you are (except for the occasional growing and all, of course), dear Dominic. You are doing great. And please always take care *of yourself* FIRST. Always. Greetings from Germany (which is my excuse for not being able to properly English today.) 🖤

[@BlackWizardClub]

The Iron Widow was already in my "to read" list on goodreads, beacause I really like Zhao's work, but now I know for sure to grab a copy!

[@kiera_rdh6697]

Glowing recommendations! I had Iron Widow on my TBR list but it’s just jumped to the top. I was sad the sequel to Axiom’s End, Truth of the Divine wasn’t included, it was very different to the first one and very good!

[@snorpenbass4196]

The whole debate between "humans in rubber masks" or "aliens that are sapient shades of hyperblue and communicate with faint farty smells" has never made much sense to me. Either way both feel like over-extremes of the same argument, which is that we _don't know._ Frankly, I feel a First Contact scenario could go either way. There might be aliens that look extremely human-like, and aliens that have thirty-eight legs and tentacle arms, and both might be totally valid evolutionary paths. Saying one is more realistic than the other makes no sense to me. That said, of course space opera SF has focused overly much on one or the other, with very few going for the excluded middle. Or, as Miguel and Tulio puts it: "Both? Both is good?"

[@SymbioteMullet]

Not many peoplle would reference a hoovooloo, but i'm glad you did.

[@DrewLSsix]

It's less about how extremely different you can make them physically and more the idea that an alien should be alien. Not humans with bumps and not psychologically humans but with some extreme expression of a single human trait. They can be made of the same basic organic stuff because thats common in the universe, they can be bipedal because that makes sense for a technological species, they can have a lot of similarities but they should still be fundamentally different. Other animals are very different from us (even if we have perfected projecting our selves onto them) the issue with alien aliens is at least two fold, it demands a lot of creative energy thay would tend to distract from whatever else the author wants to do. The other issue is the reader, the less familiar the subjec setting or characters the more the story must revolve around illuminating those factors. If you want to wrote a story all about how alien the aliens are that's great, if you want to make an adventure about 5 friends bounty hunting in a chaotic galaxy you simply can't spend entire chapters explaining every single new and equally alien thing they come across including the fact each member of the party is utterly alien to the other. Imagine a star wars movie where they never get to the adventure because they spend 2 1/2 hours dealing with the fact that Yoda absolutely does not think like us, its all about what story you want to tell.

[@scouttyra]

I think The Hitchhikers Guide universe (at least in book form) did a good job of describing a spectrum, from basically human or basically human with an extra arm and head to a superintelligent shade of the colour blue and someone with skin the colour of an apple and the texture of an orange, as well as the vogons.

[@znachkiznachki5352]

The novella "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, and the movie adaptation "Arrival", contain some of the best non-humanoid, alien representations you'll ever see. Highly recommend.

[@rogueObscura]

I think you're missing it, it's not about making them different for the sake of different. It's to make the aliens actually feel alien,.. The reason this isn't common is just because it's hard to sympathize with a person who doesn't even have your biology (also budgets), also why most stories w/ animal POVs are highly-humanized. On the "what's realistic?" front, that's just relevant to their habitat. Even if the species just evolved on Earth, they can still be wildly different; the human physique is the result of primate ancestry, not our intelligence. I say that because science already knows of intelligent animals in nature that don't share our physique (elephants, dolphins, squids, etc.), so there's already a variety of references irl. I know that "Too Human Aliens" will never not be a thing, but "Sufficiently Alien Aliens" can grow to be less niche.

[@FrisbeeGorbeh]

Since becoming a mom back in October I've had almost no time to read, but I was finally able to sit down and read Iron Widow and hooooooooooly cow it was FANTASTIC! The characters were so well written and you really felt the anxiety of battle in the fight scenes. Just as I got excited to work down my book list you added more lol. I'm especially curious about The Secret Circle of Imaginary Friends and Axiom's End. I also may need to pick up that cat book you were reading from. Awesome video, I love your channel! Hope you had fun at VidCon!

[@vampman87]

I have books from three of the five- Elisa, Xiran, and both of Lindsay's books. I watch all three whenever they produce new content, but honestly I think Elisa has had the biggest impact on me personally, given that she has over twenty videos detailing the books she reads, and I've bought at least half a dozen of those books for myself. I love the "Haiku of the Vampire" series, which I give Ms. Hansen full credit for introducing me to the books. I really want to send her a book that I know she hasn't read- an encyclopedia of vampires written by Theresa Bane, an alumnus of my college, SCAD, but the publication of the book was limited and, as far as I know, I have the only copy that was available from my college.

[@aaronmartin6108]

This was pretty enjoyable, and the last line really made me laugh. Since I have consumed all the Mister readings, I am impressed Dom said murmur without flinching.

[@gibbcharron3469]

I personally think that Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary does a pretty good job of depicting aliens too (or at least an individual alien). Also, strong agreement on Iron Widow! You can just *feel* Zetian's rage pouring off the page. It's honestly phenomenal. A bit hard to read sometimes, but awesome.

[@heidiwills4259]

Zhao's book was already in my wish list. Now, I'll get it next paycheck.

[@FairbrookWingates]

I rarely take book recommendations from friends or family. Even more rarely from strangers or one-sided acquaintances through the internet. Yet I watched and listened to you through this video. Then I clicked the links for Timothy Hickson. I'm sad to say only the first leads to the short story because it was excellent and I very much want to read more from this new-to-me author. As you say, there's a bittersweet melancholy to his writing but it's cathartic, not depressing or grim-dark. It's exactly one of the sci-fi styles I enjoy. Thank you for introducing me to this author, Dominic.

[@RachaelTheFirboldDruid]

I just finished Iron Widow a few days ago. Loved it!

[@onewomanarmy6451]

I thank Dom both for giving me some great book advice and for the beautiful poetry reading. Reciting cat poetry to the beloved cat in your arms is just a perfect way to spend your time.

[@elisabethbanber4689]

I appreciate that you not only provide good reviews of each book, but also offer context for how you got to know the creators and sprinkle your view of them as people into the reviews. Thank you for your hard work!

[@jessicahohmann6514]

KZbin senpais is exactly how I feel about Lindsey Ellis and Elisa Hansen. I have Ellis's book on my nightstand (beneath another book to be read first) and now I have another to put beneath that one 😆

[@welcometogeektown]

This is the first time I noticed you named your smart speaker "Ziggy." Yay for the Quantum Leap reference!

[@NachoCheeseDorito-Kun]

My sister and I preordered Iron Widow, and while it's still on my backlog of books to read after I finally finish Harry Potter after putting it off my entire life, this just makes me even _more_ excited to read it.

[@BinturongGirl]

11:40. If you don't already know it, I highly recommend the short story They're Made out of Meat which I heard a reading of on Last Podcast (I have seen it credited to Terry Bisson). Told from the perspective of aliens themselves, it really highlights how narrow depictions of alien lifeforms in fiction can be. Short, inventive and really fun.

[@RetaliationStudios1997]

@Dominic Noble Fun fact: I'm writing a family-orientated Science Fantasy book series titled "Nightshade High". It's about a school in the 1980's that is actually occupied by shapeshifting animal-human hybrids from another planet. It has everything you'd expect from any 80's monster movie, but with really good Disney elements (mostly because I'm hoping Disney would adapt this into a movie franchise).

[@tripleparakeetshoes4613]

I had no idea that you were part of Channel Awesome. So glad that you jumped ship - I only started watching you after Change the Channel.

[@Jim4815162342]

Mike Jeavons! I had forgotten his name! Thank you! Also, it probably says something about how much certain fandoms overlap that I recognized every one of these authors. :p

[@fangoram29]

What got me to read Iron Widow was watching my boss hand sell dozens of copies at a convention. Sometimes being a book store employee can be a lot of fun

[@ksaunders4362]

I own both Axiom's End and Truth of the Divine, though I've yet to read either one. I was bit hesitant about Iron Widow, but I did buy it, because Zhao's roasting of Mulan 2020 is hilarious, but I guess now I gotta read it.

[@moonprincesst.s.h.4ever115]

Okay. The cat cameos got to me! They are just too cute! 😻😻

[@BeautifullyTragicxx]

I liked Axiom's End a lot but the sequel Truth of the Divine was actually one of the best things I read in 2021. I don't think a day has passed since reading where I haven't thought about it.

[@Kathofel]

Thank you for recommending Timothy Hickson's short stories. They sound fascinating and I'll definitely check them out! I teach secondary school English, and I'm obsessed with post-apocalyptic fiction. I wrote my master's thesis on the genre and regularly teach it in my classes, and some new, good short stories to introduce to my students would be awesome.

[@Starlightthedark]

The descriptions of footbinding in iron widow are horrifying. But God it was so good.

[@mikewicked.x]

Axiom's End sounds great, so I've ordered that. It's been ages since I've read it, but I remember enjoying Mogworld, by Yahtzee Croshaw, but I'm a little scared of revisiting it, as I was hugely into World of Warcraft at the time, and I wonder if it aged well or not. But he seems to have had a reasonable career as an author alongside youtubing, so maybe I should look into some of his subsequent books.

[@antonakesson]

A bit disappointed "Shadow of a Conqurer" wasn't here as I would very much have liked to hear your opinion on Shad's inclusion of "grape" in the story. But maybe for the future.... or not. Anyways, great vid.

[@shadowheartart3898]

More books to add to my list =) Great video. And I loved that bit with the cat haikus near the end 😻

[@CouncilofGeeks]

So… if you need options for a second volume of this… just saying I’ve got stuff available (hint hint)

[@d.rabbitwhite]

I love lindsay's first book best out the the two so far. The cover is very good. It makes my eyes and the trail to my brain they lead to, very happy.

[@d.rabbitwhite]

I miss her youtube presence.

[@catherinedoveland2361]

Thanks for including Iron Widow! Definitely one of my favorite books!

[@TheSuzberry]

Love that you are finally reading books we can both enjoy. Hugs, dude.

[@Siseja]

i love iron widow so much!!! as a woman consumed by rage i could relate a lot to the main character

[@thomasm123]

Just read Iron Widow based on your rec. I was at the perfect point of remembering your recommendation but not really remembering anything you said about it or the story and WOW was it a journey. Makes me extra-excited to go watch the 2022 books reviewed video you just posted!

[@TalLikesThat]

I loved Axiom's End, and I'm really curious what you think about the sequel, Truth of the Devine because I think it might be more divisive. (I liked it a lot, and also cried my soul out)

[@jeannecaelum5167]

Those cat poems were a good ending, haha!

[@halucynki]

Oh my Godness I love listening to you talking about things you like. You are so good with words it's just pure pleasure

[@rhiannon9549]

I was worried for a second seeing this title that it was going to be Dom reading the terrible KZbinr memoir style books and I was worried for his sanity. I'm very glad to see this is the opposite!

[@feanaro2712]

Coincidentally, I just bought the audiobook for Iron Widow yesterday, so this more or less guarantees it'll be the next one I listen to.

[@lauriechan1426]

'The book of mythicality' by rhett and link is FANTASTIC. Bought an autographed copy of it when they did the book tour ❤