Four Vital Works in your Field

So we have a lot of experts in a lot of different fields.

If you could pick four works for total newcomers to your field-textbooks, webseries, whatever-that would help the newcomer get a sense of where you're coming from.


1. We No Longer Pray For Rain: Drell Experience in the Illuminated Primacy (7th Edition)
The standard drell-studies textbook, essays from every point on the drell political spectrum, which does exist. Essential to my education, I have found many cool thinkers through this book. You do want the latest edition on this one, which has some essays on the Reaper War.

2. These One Reports from the Kareelan Tidal Shelf/Drell Interest/Politics (Blog)
For something that has to deal with the censorship boards, fairly decent. Of all the mainstream sources of new from Kahje, the least sucky. Rhan Dulce is brilliant.

3. This One: A Memoir by Issali Voras
Why is this memoir of a child compactee published by an Asari publishing house? Why does autocomplete in this search engine suggest "Issali Voras Liar?" as one of it's options? Argh. Nothing in this book is that out there.

4. Honest Translation Service
Why is this comedic webseries on the list? Because you should watch it. Shan is a junior linguist at a translation firm, her drell & hanar friends and coworkers have misadventures within the dome city context. Episodes are about ten minutes long each and free, the best part of the show is the credits, where Shan narrates an 'honest translation; of something in the news.

A Discussion of the Ethical Ramifications of Synthetic Life, lead author Matriarch Falinti.

Like most academic papers, this one is fairly self explanatory in its title. It's also widely used as the basis for laws regarding AI experimentation, or at least it was until that whole unpleasantness with the Reapers and the Geth. It still serves as a general overview of the implications of what you're doing, and spends a good deal of time pointing out the all important lesson that you are not God.

An Examination of Networked AI Systems; Fifth Edition, lead author Doctor Gregory Maelstrom.

I admit that, as the lead author, I am more than a bit biased on its inclusion, but it is still quite possibly the finest work in network-type AIs ever produced by humanity. The Fifth Edition is recently released and references developments made while working for Cerberus, both before and after it went rogue, with a few theories on the current state of the geth. (I have not had occasion to fully examine one, at least not yet, so I cannot say much with certainty. Regardless, that would warrant it's own book.)

The Basic Structure and Theory of the Blue Box, lead author Doctor Salen.

This one is mostly about hardware, which is a separate field from designing the actual synthetics that will inhabit them, but it is helpful to have a basic understanding of the theory behind the blue box to better predict how the AI will take to it. This book will be required reading for any course on Synthetic Lifeforms.

Collective Memoirs, Quoros.

This is one of the first and only works of literature that is widely available to the general public and written by a synthetic lifeform. It gives an incredibly unique perspective on the thought process behind these beings, and is invaluable to any would-be designer.

Everyone who want to work with electronics needs to have a basic understanding of the phsysics at work.
If you paid attention in high school it should be suffice but no one knows everything at all time (drell and synthetics excluded) which brings me to...

1. A basic trade e-book about electronics and optronics. I recommend "Handbook of Electrical Engineering" released by the Trade Chamber of the European Electric Industry or TCEEI.
It contains pictures and short explainations of every basic circuit and important schematics, an overview of the internal workings of many electric components and formulas for calculations and last but not least commonly used data exchange protocols and material constants. I recommend you read the chapter about workplace security and handling of sensitive components first.

2. "Learning K" by Dr. Daystrom of the MIT. K is a programming language widly used when programming integrated circuits and controllers. It is one step above Assembly* in terms of abstraction and if the right compiler you can program most human made ICs with it. Yes, it is by now 50+ yeas old, but remember it isn't as old as its predecessor when it got replaced yet.

3. "THE BIG WIKI OF ElECTRONIC AND OPTRONIC COMPONENTS" by too many to list. It is a database of data sheets about every integrated circuit out there. Yes, it also is online available, but in my former line of work you do not always have that luxury. The app pulls a copy of the 100k most used ones onto your omni-tool and updates it every now and then automaticly.

4. "FaBrix Programmable Blocks and Robots Deluxe Kit" I know, this isn't a book or a database. In my experience the best method of getting into tinkering is by doing it and this kit allows you to do it without having to blow your money on failed projects. Yes it is aimed at children, but it allows for "rapid prototyping" i.e. putting together a proof-of-concept of whatever gizmo you want to make without having to commit.

Highly recommended but not necessary: "A brief history of programming languages" by Prof. Dr. Swanson of Cambridge University. I know this is an odd one, but it gives you a little general knowledge about the many programming languages out there. You don't necessarily need that one, but I think a little theoretical knowledge goes a long way. It will be great aid if you want to learn one or more of the abstract languages used in software and VI programming.

Also I recommend this, ElectroHawk Slim. It is a software that lets your design your own printed circuits and components. It is compatible with most omni-tool fabricators. The Slim version lacks some professional user stuff, but the free variant will suffice for most hobby applications.

*Assembly isn't as much as a language as it is a hard-wired instruction set. Every programmable IC differs, within its family less so but between companies. Hence the BIG BOOK is your best friend if you want to get right down to each individual gear.

Sorry for making that a wall of text.

Well, okay, I'll try to keep this tasteful.

[Natheea's Quite Ordinary Exotic Escapades] is a video blog, that's kind of like what our From Illium vidcast would have been had we stuck to the point and not kept going off on tangents about everything. Natheea's a Citadel escort, and talks about basically her entire professional experience, from health to safety to sexual technique to conversation to paperwork to colleagues - if you don't know what goes on behind the gauzy curtain, it's a great introduction to all the ups and downs and in-betweens. The animation is great too (she uses a virtual image so as to preserve her anonymity and thus by extension the privacy of her clients, who only get referred to by nicknames of course), very characterful, and she's a really engaging and funny casual speaker; doesn't skip the serious side of things from time to time, but keeps the overall tone light and chatty.

[With A Smile] by Sun Senetris - one of my favourite memoirs, detailing her first twenty years as a stripper/stage performer. There's not a lot of 'drama' to the story, but the description is wonderful, it makes all the little triumphs and missteps really moving. I won't say it convinced me to give professional stripping a try (I'd done a bunch of racy amateur shows back at the academy anyway, it was inevitable I'd see what the paying scene was like), but having read this solidified my intentions when I went travelling, and even though I never lived on Emerald Shore specifically it was also a very helpful guide to getting accustomed to the business.

[Galaxy of Fantasy XXX: The Lost Epic] by (who else) ExtranetPlayground is a real gem, and I'm not just saying that because I'm in it - take my word for it, even the less sensational 'making of' features massage reality into a form the studio's top executives feel best reflects their public image. Whereas this one, since the war was on, wasn't really the subject of a lot of that sort of thing, since everyone had more on their minds - it's a well-presented documentary, I'm not trying to sell the efforts of the doc team short (the 'follow content' mode is really great for pursuing anything that catches your interest along the way), but nobody was obsessing over corporate image, so it's very honest. (A content warning, I suppose, there are two explicit sex scenes - all we got finished at the time - but they can be skipped over from the main menu if you're not interested. Although that, too, is a look the public rarely gets into how a sex scene is actually produced on a high-end professional shoot - it's neither as hedonistic as the fantasy image suggests, nor as joylessly mechanical as the cynics suppose.)

...so that covers prostitution, stage work, and film, can I suggest my own book for melding for pleasure? What the heck, I will - [Mindf**k] by Daia T'Nara, available from IE Publishing for a very reasonable price (or you can just check out the two sample chapters), everything you could possibly want to know about melding for sexual pleasure, and I hear the author's cute too. :) Alright, being honest, maybe I wouldn't call it a 'vital work' for anyone to read - [Kaleidoscope] by Matriarch Sophara bears recommending there - it'll take anyone from knowing nothing about melding to being able to hold a very interesting and detailed conversation with a lifelong meld enthusiast - but if anyone wants to understand where I'm coming from, that'd do the trick, right?

If it's any consolation, that just made me want to read it now.

I remember reading that when I was quite young (my mother's in the field, that sort of thing was lying around the house database just waiting for an inquisitive little thing) - most of it flew right over my scalp at that age naturally, but I enjoyed the more straight-forward introductory bits I could get a handle on. Came back to it later on when I was doing synergistic philosophy and net sci, a good read.

1. An Number Theory Based Introduction to Cryptographic System Analysis
Bedel Mor, Vorinel, et. al.
A widely-used textbook detailing methods of analyzing simple cryptographic data systems using basic number theory principals as well as a guide to writing cryptographic proofs.

2. A History of Mathematics in Pre-Spaceflight Palaven
Villus Aronus
A look at the impact of mathematics in turian society (more than you might think). This is not necessarily an essential work, but is a rare peek into an oft overlooked aspect of the turians.

3. Citadel Space Standard of Data Encryption
Citadel Council Committee of Computer Science
CSSDE (sometimes pronounced "Cassidie") is not only one of the most widely deployed ciphers in the galaxy, but has had a profound impact on the development of cryptography.

4. A Treatise on Probabilistic Encryption
Seran Esal
The definitive work on probabilistic encryption, written by a founding member of the STG.

1. The Decency Guide, Edition 63H

The Office Of Doctrine's guide to what is and is not acceptable for the Censors. Updated largely on the whim of various Synods, in accord with public opinion. One interesting fact is that this edition has been the longest used in living (hanar) memory. Although Edition 640 should be coming soon, with advice on how the Reapers should be mentioned (at the moment, we have to use discretion).

2. (Jelly)Fish Out Of Water, Doctor Pavri Suresh

The latest in a long line of books on how to interact with hanar, this time from a human perspective. Like those before it, all of them using a similar phrase suggesting we are in a situation we are unsuitable for, it is a comprehensive guide on how to interact with us on a professional level. Much may seem common sense but it also goes into why we do certain things.

3. That Certainly Happened, Primacy Broadcasting

Perhaps the most accessible of hanar comedy, most likely because of the multitude of alien guests that have been on, especially in recent years. In a very broad sense, it is a topical news quiz, but it prides itself on being somewhat randomised, with different rounds being played each week. They are usually to do with something that has happened in the week before transmission, but may include games, which the permanent team captains always complain about. There is no deeper meaning to it, it is just a lot of fun to watch. Even the repeats.

4. From The Enkindlers, Shattered Reef Productions

So begins one of the oldest and most respected holy texts in the Primacy. And it is the title of this historical epic, detailing the history of the species from the ascendency of the Enkindlers (this made was long before the Reapers arrived) up until first contact with the asari. For some it is a bit too long and can drift into speculation, especially when there is no record of what happened. But anyone who wants a primer on hanar history as we see it could not go far wrong by watching this.

My boss is making me read this....thing for work, because of course we have to deal with it.

...Let's just retitle it "Defending the Status Quo by Controlling Language: A Users Guide"



Yes! So worth watching at least in galaxytube highlight form.

Only four? It will be a tight fit but I think I could manage...

1. D’Larsas’ Guide to Council Space and Beyond - 1540th edition
D’Larsas was an asari explorer who was active around the 400 AD. While she did not make any major discoveries, she did a fantastic job analysing and compiling data for others to use. Her guide and the foundation that publish still hold true to D’Larsas vision. The result is a book that has a comprehensive overview of the known galaxy, its major planets, its inhabitants and their habits.

Obviously better books exist with greater detail, but if you are just starting out there is no better book to have. I and I know many other diplomats always have a copy handy, just in case we forget what way we need to bend our head when we meet a batarian.


2. Value and Worth - 18 revision, 73rd edition by Han For Oran
Want to trade? Want to start a business? Want to be just a little better informed? Get this book, read this book, live this book. Han For Oran is a name few know but he and his colleges were responsible for the creation of the Galactic Credit. This is the bible when it comes to both the theory and practice of economics, trading, negotiating and even some psychology.


3. The Adversary, My Best Friend. 6th edition by Lanoo and Penrose
The psychology of diplomatic negotiations laid bare. This the base guide all Alliance diplomats are expected to read. Once more there are better, more detailed guides out there, the subject of each chapter of this book has a whole shelve of books dedicated to them (or more.) But reading this book will give you the needed tools to understand all those other tools, and get working. It covers the basics of negotiation, and has a ‘strategy guide’ complete with ‘cheat sheets’ for each of the major powers.


4. The Complete Fornax Archive - The Latest Edition
You know those jokes about reading Fornax only for the articles? It is not a joke. Fornax has some of the best writing staff around, and actually has its journalists do real journalism and its reporters do real reporting. Not to mention the great calibre of freelancers and guest writers.

The reason you want to read as many Fornax as you can is that between pictures of turians uncovering their waist and krogan showing their quads you will find some of the most gripping, humorous, informative articles out there. And besides there is something to be said in knowing what other species generally find attractive and what they find repulsive.

Numero Uno! Declaration of the Anticipated Desolation of Your Enemies, Part II: Essential Brutality (Illustrated), Gatatog Oda

The definitive guide to war, conquest, savagery and all the good stuff. It was written by a 1,400 year old veteran of the Rebellions in a dialect solely spoken and apparently invented by himself. But you can follow the pictures easy enough - 'Claiming the Right of Conquest over the Womanhood' is particularly delightful. Oh, there is one catch: the 'book' is twenty by twenty five feet, and is entirely crafted from the hull of a wrecked starship. Each page weighs about 50 tons, so you have to just, like...leverage it. Cost me a day and three men just to read one chapter. Totally worth it.

Just a heads up for completests: there is no Part I (chronology confused the author, along with baths and EU-OSHA compliance) and sadly, Oda was crushed to death by Chapter 9 before he could finish. But still, a riveting read if you can bear the carpal tunnel syndrome (and the smell, since it may or may not have been scribed in the author's own faecal matter). If you're desperate to get a glimpse, you can find it [here] on a tiny, barely-habitable moon where its kept by the monastery of the Poor Brothers of the Great Thrusting. Mind the gift shop, tho: I wandered in there lookin for a bathroom, and left minus 600 credits with half a dozen krogan fertility idols under my arm. Fuckin persuasive priests...

Numero Dos! How to Take a Mass Accelerator Round without Crying, and Other Observations, Qain Sa'Farel

Pure fuckin bluster - that's, like, half of contracting. And nobody does it better than this guy. What a fuckin rig. He takes a round, alright - and more! He also mudwrestles a thresher maw, cures the genophage (this was six years ago, mind) and beats a Dalatress at chess before fuckin her froggy brains out. And if the front cover is anything to go by, he has abs the size of the Citadel.

I cannot begin to count how many people must've died because of this book. His advice is absolute dogshit: there is no good reason to wear shades in a space station, particularly when you're a batarian; I've yet to encounter a book thick enough (excepting Numero Uno) that will stop a round; and while I wouldn't say you should bask in the warm afterglow of an M-920, you probably wanna check the explosion's not creepin up on you instead of sauntering away like a catwalk model.

And that's why it's so brilliant. No one in their right mind believes a word of it (and anyone who did is already probably dead), but no one'll call the guy out because he's just such a freakin badass. I met him at a merc singles night and he just about tore my arm off. I still can't use chopsticks with that one. Marry me.

Numero, uh..Treze? A Cyborg Manifesto, Donna Haraway
Right, this is barely comprehensible and possibly quite racist against the bucketheads (never read it, truth be told) but I feel I have to give it a shout out as it got me through college. I don't know what kinda shit people were inhaling back in the 20th century, but any book that features the line "I'd rather be a cyborg than a goddess" can't be too bad. Plus if you namedrop some of this shit in a bar, you can pretty much fill a basket with all the ladies falling into your lap.

Numero Four! Farewell to my Freelancin' Days, Roparev Klax

Okay, this is technically a cheat, since I never finished it - my fucking omni-tool exploded for no good reason somewhere round the middle, and fuck me if I can find another copy - but seriously, this is the Confessions of the Asari Matriach for mercs. I'm almost certain bout 99% of it is pure bullshit (particularly that bit where he gets sucked into a singularity and escapes using trigonometry or something), but the 1% is worth saving. No one tells it how it is like Klax: the bureaucracy, jostling for contracts, keeping yourself in the Citadel's good books, the unspeakable venereal diseases...

Basically, any college drop-out balancing a shotgun on his erection in eager anticipation is in for a bucket of cold piss when he realises that nine-tenths of freelancing is sitting on your ass waiting for a contract while dodging paternity suits. Sure, people'll recommend Soul Survivor or Land of the Cold Sun and a never-ending parade of pandering mediocrity, but pitching those pieces of pseudo-neo-postmodern shit to seasoned RISCs is like handing out copies of the Communist Manifesto at a White Eagles rally.

1. I Paint My Face Every Morning

Not related to my work duties, but this book details experiences from one individual's point of view as an immigrated client citizen of the Hierarchy. However it mostly covers tiers 1 through 3 and no further, plus a hefty amount of the Reaper war. Also I authored it, expect a new edition by the time I reach 4th tier.

2. Army Engineering Master Manual 2175 edition

Anything from digging trenches and building bunkers to running basic sanitary systems and infrastructure is covered in this handy manual issued by the Hierarchy for her engineering corps. In my current construction occupation, its been a spirits-sent help as I didn't really get a comprehensive training as an signal corps man before being relegated to building housing and laying down water and power lines. This colony would have lot less reliable infrastructure if it wasn't for this.

3. Aventen's Call to Command

Every Hierarchy turian has to read this book in school, and us clients get it as mandatory reading in boot. Aventen was a legendary tactician-philosopher from ancient Palaven who also has a planet named after himself in Trebia system. Why that? He wrote the definitive book on military leadership that every Primarch from Magellus of the Unification Wars to Victus of today keep at their desks. It is akin to Earth's Art of War by Sun-Tzu, except Call to Command, like the Hierarchy Armed Forces, handles the whole society from military viewpoint.

4. Palaven Standard - English dictionary 2180

I've only known the language for few years now. Used it a lot, but still there are some words I simply don't know or they keep eluding me. This is where the dictionary comes to my aid. "But Juhani, doesn't your omni-tool translate for you?" you might ask. Yes, it does, but what if the software isn't updated anymore, or I can't get updates for it due to being assigned to distant locales, or the omni-tool itself breaks due to accident? I need to know the language, not just let the translator save my ass every time. It's required from me as a citizen to know the lingua franca of the state.

Hm, it is not so much a field of expertise as an important factor in my life lately, my matriarchy. It's hard to stick to four works but here's my attempt.

The winding road - T'Semeta
In the vast abundance of literature about Matriarchy this one stood out for me. It's a recollection of paths taken and not taken and their effect of the community and T'Semeta's life. It comes in 56 volumes complete with poetry addendum. The sutras are handy abstracts for each chapter, easy to recall.

Matriarchy - So this is it? - Elera
If you wake up one morning totally unprepared and realize, that's it now, you should go get this book. It is such a fun read till the last page. It was written during her first century into matriarchy.

Sisterhoods of blood and greed - Kron Edat
You should be aware how others suddenly start to view you, this is an example I use as reference sometimes. I hear there's a reworked edition to be released.

Dating for Matriarchs - Unja Kederis
That's the newest in the list. A fulfilling love life is essential for the emotional well-being but there are things a matriarch should be aware of.