Books by David Buch
Four books across three areas of work — a science fiction saga, one programming text, and two on neurodivergence. Each links through to its own dedicated site for sample chapters, full retailer lists, errata, and companion material.
The Stars That Ruled Us
An empire. A dying star. A future worth fighting for.
Across a thousand worlds, the Helion Empire stood beneath immortal suns. But the stars are dying. Long-buried gates awaken; ancient powers stir; loyalty fractures and empires fall. One man, one truth, one chance to save what remains. The age of light is ending. A new age will rise.
The Stars That Ruled Us opens the seven-book Helion Empire Saga — a generational science fiction sequence spanning centuries, bloodlines, and the slow patient consequence of an empire that has been quietly killing the stars it depends on. Book One introduces the bearers of the Hearts of Asterion, the small handful of officers and scientists who first understand the crisis, and the events at Vandra's Crown that will reshape human civilisation for the next four hundred years.
The Quiet Mind
Finding peace amidst sensory overload.
A practical book for adults living with neurodivergence, sensory overload, and the long quiet bill of pretending otherwise. Practical language for the days that lack it. Honest mechanism for what is actually happening in the nervous system. Quiet permission to design a life that fits.
Written for the neurodivergent adult who has spent decades feeling like the wrong specification of human, and for the partner, parent, clinician, or colleague who lives alongside that person and would like a working translation. The aim is not perfect calm; the aim is less unnecessary war.
The Delphi Way
Object Pascal, FireMonkey, pas2js, and PostgreSQL — from first program to production.
A complete teaching book on modern Delphi. Eighty-one chapters across twelve parts, plus five appendices. Twelve hundred pages, professionally typeset, with a runnable Delphi 13 project for every code-bearing chapter.
Written for working Delphi developers who want a structured reference for the full stack, software developers from other languages looking at Delphi for cross-platform work, and new developers who want to learn a strongly-typed language with rules, structure, and runnable examples.
An Atypical Life
A hauntingly honest autobiography of a life far from the ordinary.
In An Atypical Life, David takes the reader on a captivating journey with his hauntingly honest autobiography, exposing a life far from the ordinary. Born to abusive alcoholic parents, and late in life diagnosed with ADHD and high-functioning autism, his story commences in early childhood as he sails across the wild Atlantic Ocean with his family — experiencing a multitude of adventures, from ferocious hurricanes to being saved from shipwreck by dolphins.
The journey continues into late childhood and culminates in the present day. Throughout the saga we witness the destructive forces around him — physical, mental, and sexual abuse — and his fight with his inner demons. He takes us across continents, countries, and cities, always wandering, trying to find his happiness. Ironically he struggles with imposter syndrome despite having an IQ of 147. His skills, creativity, and intelligence opened opportunities around the world, from creating complex computer programs for Chernobyl in the Ukraine to building top-secret systems in Australia and Europe.
Delving into his psyche, he shows how he attempted to make sense of the spectrum of emotions and difficulties he experiences — from joy to despair, triumph to heartache — that fill his atypical days.