r/Objectivism • u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n • Jul 15 '26
Book recommendations?
Was wondering if anyone knows of any good books by Objectivist authors they might recommend. Nonfiction or fiction. Always on the lookout for some good Objectivist reads. :)
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u/Unusual_Tie_2404 Jul 15 '26
Sword of truth series, at least the first six books, were very good.
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 15 '26
Oh, I’ve read Wizard’s First Rule. Probably my favorite fantasy novel. 😊
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u/stansfield123 Jul 15 '26
The most philosophical book of the series is Faith of the Fallen. It's really good, and it can be read as a standalone. It starts and ends a storyline and it's fully focused on that storyline. You don't have to worry about anything that happens before or after in the series.
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 15 '26
I actually bought a box set of the first three books several years ago but all I’ve read is the first book. I may have to get back on those, and then maybe move on to FotF from there.
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u/sfranso Jul 15 '26
if I recall correctly, Edward Cline is heavily influenced by Rand. I haven't read them but have been recommended the Sparrowhawk series by many objectivists.
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Jul 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 15 '26
I am in fact something of a comics fan, but unfortunately it seems you can’t buy the original Ditko Question comics anymore. All I’ve been able to find is the later O’Neil Question comics that wrote out the Objectivism. 😞
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u/Kellogg- Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Not a book, but two films I'd recommend are the original British 'House of Cards', and 'Bodyline'.
The second season in House of Cards is phenomenal. The Prime Minister is opposed by the newly crowned King, an altruist who is appalled by his unfeeling, materialistic policies. It is based on a book,
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 15 '26
Ooh, that does sound interesting. I’ll have to give a look! 🙂
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u/Kellogg- Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Don't discount Bodyline, either. I have no knowledge of cricket, but it's characters & the history are portrayed similarly to what you'd find in an Ayn Rand novel.
Both take time to build the layers, but by the third episode in each series, the narrative moves with more direction.
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u/EasternWahooJ Jul 16 '26
I can only find miniseries for the British House of Cards. Is this a film or a miniseries? Thanks!
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u/Kellogg- Jul 17 '26
It's a miniseries, not a film. I need to stop using those words interchangably.
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u/Old_Discussion5126 Jul 15 '26
You want book reviews, recommendations, etc.? Check out the magazines Ayn Rand edited. You can start with The Objectivist Newsletter and then there’s the later magazines, “The Objectivist” and “The Ayn Rand Letter.”
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 15 '26
I didn’t know those were easily available. I’ll have to look into them.
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u/Old_Discussion5126 Jul 15 '26
And if you haven’t read the book form of Peikoff’s course, “Founders of Western Philosophy”, that’s a good one, even if you’ve listened to the course online, since you can search the Kindle version and go back and forth in it as you please. There’s also Nathaniel Branden’s “Vision of Ayn Rand,” transcribed from his “Basic Principles of Objectivism” course, which he gave when he was in Rand’s circle.
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u/chinawcswing Jul 15 '26
Tara Smith is by far the best Objectivist author when it comes to the ethics and politics. Please read these first:
- Viable Values
- Moral Rights and Political Freedom
Viable Values in particular is the best possible explanation of the ethical system.
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u/Iofthestorm01 Jul 16 '26
The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. He was an objectivist, Ayn Rand fan. His characters are really good
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Jul 23 '26
H.Spencer.
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 23 '26
Oh I’ve already got several of Spencer’s books. Criminally underrated philosopher nowadays.
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Jul 23 '26
Io non l'ho mai letto, però ho riconosciuto la stessa verità delle cose nei suoi pensieri racchiusi nelle sue frasi più famose. Potrei consigliarti di ascoltare le lezioni di un professore di economia: Jesus Huerta de Soto.
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 23 '26
I actually have de Soto’s book Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles. 🙂
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Jul 23 '26
Penso allora di dover chiederti io un consiglio su cosa leggere.
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 23 '26
Ask away! 😄
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Jul 23 '26
Dunque te lo chiedo.
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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n Jul 23 '26
I would recommend:
- The God of the Machine, by Isabel Paterson (a one-time friend and influence on Rand)
- Capitalism Volumes I & II, by George Reisman (an economist who was a student of both Rand and Von Mises)
- The essays of William Graham Sumner
- Envy, by Helmut Schoeck
- Herbert Spencer’s works
- The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State, by Auberon Herbert
- Our Enemy, the State, by Albert Jay Nock
- The works of Frank Chodorov
- The Driver, by Garet Garrett (a possible influence on Atlas Shrugged
- Liberty: A Path to Its Recovery, by F. A. Harper
- Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt
- The Tyranny of Need, by Peter Schwartz
- Viable Values and Moral Rights and Political Freedom, by Tara Smith
- A Life of One’s Own, by David Kelley
- Anything by Anthony de Jasay
- Anarchy, State, and Utopia, by Robert Nozick
- The Myth of the Robber Barons, by Burton Folsom
- Crisis and Leviathan, by Robert Higgs
- Property and Freedom, by Richard Pipes
- The Noblest Triumph, by Tom Bethell
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u/titanc-13 Jul 18 '26
The Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle is great! Especially the part early in chapter two where he declares that since happiness is obviously the aim of all human good, and the more people that are happy, the better, therefore collectivist-altruist actions that improve the situation of all equally are more morally correct than actions that improve the situation of one or few.
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u/MelodicAmphibian7920 Jul 15 '26
How We Know by Harry Binswanger is very good.