Data & lakehouses
Begin with Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide, then Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse.
O'Reilly, Manning & Packt Author · 77 Books Published
Discover Books by
Alex Merced
Author of the flagship titles Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly), Apache Polaris: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly), and Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse (Manning), and Building the Software Factory (Packt). Browse the full catalog spanning AI engineering, economics, philosophy, and fiction to find your next read.
77
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4
Categories
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Choose your first book
Start with the subject you want to explore, or follow a fiction series in order.
AI for everyday work
Start with AI and Agents for Normal People; move to the practical engineering titles when you are ready to build.
Fantasy trilogy
The Worlds Between Home
A ten-book space opera. Read from the beginning:
Publisher Titles
The four flagship books published with O'Reilly Media, Manning Publications, and Packt Publishing.
Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide
A comprehensive guide to Apache Iceberg and modern lakehouse architecture, covering table format internals, schema evolution, partitioning, and integration with major query engines.
Apache Polaris: The Definitive Guide
A guide to open catalogs for Apache Iceberg lakehouses, covering Polaris catalog architecture, configuration, and governance.
Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse
Architecture patterns and best practices for building production-grade, Iceberg-based data platforms from the ground up.
Building the Software Factory
Scaling reliable AI coding practices from individual developers to teams. Co-authored with Benedikt Stemmildt, it covers context engineering, AI-TDD, harness design, and the frameworks that take teams from vibe coding to disciplined agentic engineering.
Tech
Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide
A comprehensive guide to Apache Iceberg and modern lakehouse architecture, covering table format internals, schema evolution, partitioning, and integration with major query engines.
Tech
Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse
Architecture patterns and best practices for building production-grade, Iceberg-based data platforms from the ground up.
Tech
Apache Polaris: The Definitive Guide
A guide to open catalogs for Apache Iceberg lakehouses, covering Polaris catalog architecture, configuration, and governance.
Tech
Building the Software Factory
Co-authored with Benedikt Stemmildt. How to turn AI coding agents into a dependable, team-wide software factory using context engineering, AI-TDD, harness design, and the AEMM and Elastic Loop frameworks, moving teams from vibe coding to disciplined agentic engineering.
Tech
The Book on Using Apache Iceberg with Python
A hands-on guide to working with Apache Iceberg using Python tools like PyIceberg, PySpark, and other Python-based engines.
Tech
The 2026 Guide to Lakehouses, Apache Iceberg and Agentic AI
A comprehensive guide covering the convergence of lakehouse architecture, Apache Iceberg, and the rise of agentic AI systems.
Tech
The Book on Agentic Analytics
Explores the foundations of agentic data architecture, where AI agents autonomously discover, query, and analyze data.
Tech
Enabling Agentic Analytics with Apache Iceberg and Dremio
A practical guide to building AI-ready lakehouse systems using Apache Iceberg and Dremio for agentic analytics workflows.
Tech
Using AI Agents for Data Engineering and Data Analysis
A practical guide to leveraging AI agents for automating data engineering pipelines and performing intelligent data analysis.
Tech
The AI Engineering Handbook
A full-stack reference for building AI systems, covering LLMs, embeddings, agents, RAG, and production deployment patterns.
Tech
AI-Ready Data
Designing data platforms optimized for LLMs, AI agents, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) workflows.
Tech
The 2026 Guide to AI-Assisted Development
Covers prompt engineering, AI coding assistants, and agent-driven development workflows for modern software engineers.
Tech
Apache Iceberg for Agentic AI: Connecting Structured Enterprise
Explores how to connect structured enterprise data in Apache Iceberg lakehouses to agentic AI systems.
Tech
The Agentic Enterprise: Deploying AI Agents Across the Modern Organization
A guide to deploying AI agents across enterprise functions, covering strategy, governance, and organizational adoption.
Tech
Constructing Context and Semantics for AI Agents
A practical guide to embeddings, knowledge graphs, memory systems, RAG, evaluation, and production agent architectures.
Tech
The Open Source Lakehouse: Architecting the Decoupled Analytical Foundation
Covers building a fully decoupled lakehouse using open source technologies, emphasizing modularity and vendor independence.
Tech
Evaluating AI Systems: Testing LLMs, RAG, and Agents
A guide to properly testing and evaluating AI systems, including benchmarking strategies for LLMs, RAG pipelines, and agents.
Tech
The Economics of Labor in the AI Era
Examines how the AI era is disrupting the labor market and explores paths for adaptation and the future of work.
Tech
Governing AI Systems
A guide to AI governance frameworks, covering risk management, compliance, ethics, and organizational oversight of AI systems.
Tech
Shipping AI: From Prototype to Production Systems
Covers the full lifecycle of taking AI systems from prototype to production, including deployment, scaling, and monitoring.
Tech
Building Knowledge Systems for AI: Graphs, RAG, Memory, and Context
A deep dive into building robust knowledge systems for AI using knowledge graphs, RAG, memory architectures, and context management.
Tech
The AI Lakehouse: Architecting Data Platforms for AI
Explores how to architect data lakehouse platforms specifically designed to serve AI and machine learning workloads.
Tech
AI Application Architecture: Patterns for Building Intelligent Systems
Covers architectural patterns for building intelligent applications, from inference pipelines to multi-agent orchestration.
Tech
The Economics of AI: Cost, Latency, and Infrastructure Tradeoffs
Analyzes the cost structures of AI systems and how to optimize spending across compute, latency, and infrastructure.
Tech
Alex Merced's Field Guide to Developer Relations
A practical guide to developer relations, community building, and technical evangelism for practitioners entering or growing in the DevRel field.
Tech
AI and Agents for Normal People
A practical guide to using AI tools for everyday tasks, covering Gemini, NotebookLM, ChatGPT, Claude, and local agent workflows without technical jargon.
Tech
The No Lock-in Apache Iceberg Lakehouse with Agentic Analytics
A practical guide to building a portable Apache Iceberg lakehouse with open catalogs, agentic analytics, and AI-ready data platforms while avoiding vendor lock-in.
Tech
Being Productive with Google AI
A practical guide to using Google's AI ecosystem including Gemini, NotebookLM, Veo, Gemini Spark, and Jules.
Tech
Being Productive with Open Models
A practical guide to using open models with Opencode, PI, and Hermes for AI-assisted development.
Tech
Being Productive with Claude
A practical guide to Claude.ai, Claude Code, and Claude Dispatch for AI-powered development.
Tech
Being Productive with OpenAI Codex
A practical guide to building documents, images, video, websites, and apps with an AI agent using OpenAI Codex.
Tech
Being Productive with Grok and Cursor
A practical guide to the xAI and Cursor coding ecosystem covering Grok Chat, Grok Build, DeepSearch, Cursor Composer, Agent Mode, MCP servers, and local model runtimes for agentic development workflows.
Tech
Being Productive with Microsoft Copilot
A practical guide to the Microsoft Copilot ecosystem covering Copilot Chat, M365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot Agent Mode, Copilot Studio, Copilot Cowork, and Copilot Plus PC features.
Tech
The Book on Data, Data Engineering, Data Analytics, and Agentic AI - Volume 2
A complete guide to SQL analytics, BI, and agentic AI for modern data platforms.
Tech
The Book on Data, Data Engineering, Data Analytics, and Agentic AI - Volume 1
A complete guide to modern data systems, data engineering, analytics, and AI.
Tech
Dremio and the Semantic Layer
The journey to providing meaning and context for AI with Dremio's semantic layer.
Tech
Hands-On Agentic Engineering: A Practical Guide to Building Multi-Agent Systems
A practical guide to building multi-agent systems with Apache Iceberg.
Tech
The Lakehouse Built for Everyone
From laptop prototypes to enterprise-scale agentic AI with Apache Iceberg and Dremio.
Tech
The Book on Apache Polaris
Building the open data lakehouse with the industry standard Iceberg REST catalog.
Tech
Reputation as Code
The companion book to branding.alexmerced.com, covering personal branding, reputation engineering, and career sovereignty for developers and tech professionals.
Economics & Philosophy
Economic Ideas: From Beginning to Early 2026
A survey of the history of economic thought, tracing ideas from ancient civilizations through the modern AI era.
Economics & Philosophy
The Field Guide to Libertarianism
An accessible introduction to libertarian ideas, key debates, and the spectrum of thought within the libertarian tradition.
Economics & Philosophy
The Field Guide to Political Thought and Debates in the United States
Maps the terrain of American political thought (conservative, progressive, and libertarian) so you can understand why people across the table believe what they believe and how to talk about it.
Economics & Philosophy
The Libertarian Heart
A philosophical exploration of consent, individual peace, and the moral foundations of a free society.
Economics & Philosophy
Profits are Generosity, Entrepreneurship is Philanthropy
An economic philosophy book arguing that voluntary exchange and entrepreneurship are the most generous forms of social contribution.
Fiction
The Semantic Rebellion
A sci-fi novel following a data engineer's journey through a rapidly changing world shaped by AI and shifting power dynamics.
Fiction
The Emperors of A.I. Valley
A near-future thriller exploring power struggles, corporate intrigue, and moral dilemmas in an AI-dominated Silicon Valley.
Fiction
The Federation of Tides
An epic fantasy adventure following a narwhal on a journey seeking knowledge across oceanic civilizations.
Fiction
Plastic Punk
A genre-bending novel exploring economic systems, societal structures, and individual agency in a stylized world.
Fiction
Embers of Claim
The first book in an epic fantasy trilogy, introducing a world of competing kingdoms, ancient magic, and rising conflict.
Fiction
Crowns and Wings
The second book in the epic fantasy trilogy, deepening the political intrigue and expanding the world's mythology.
Fiction
Thrones of Ash and Sky
The concluding volume of the trilogy, bringing the saga of kingdoms, magic, and destiny to its climax.
Fiction
Tales of Fur and Sky: Echoes of the Ages
A companion volume to the fantasy trilogy, expanding the lore with standalone tales set in the same world.
Fiction
Signal and Noise
A literary novel tracing a twelve-year long-distance connection between a documentary producer in Manila and a logistics manager in Indiana, and the single hour that finally tests it.
Fiction
Celestial Fragments: The Duel of Souls
A contemporary fantasy in which two political rivals discover they carry the fragments of ancient beings of love and hate, continuing a conflict twelve thousand years old.
Fiction
Adventures in Love and Flooding
A romantic action thriller about disaster capitalism, artificial intelligence, and ordinary competence. He crossed an ocean for a woman he had only ever met on a screen, and landed four days before the water came.
Fiction
The Last Continue
A novel about finishing things, and about what a finished life turns out to be for. A clockmaker in Manchester, Connecticut spends fifty-six years noticing that the world does not always keep time.
Fiction
The Children of Damaris
The Worlds Between Home, Book 1 of 10. A ship mechanic, a surgical assistant, and their two children steal a damaged survey courier to escape a fascist world that has begun taking every child into state custody, with a whispering stuffed animal hidden aboard.
Fiction
A Crown of Cliffs
The Worlds Between Home, Book 2 of 10. The Oleds land on Cyradon, a canyon kingdom where every load-bearing part carries a household's name, and survive on a queen's revocable guest-oath while their asylum claim waits in court.
Fiction
The Price of High Ground
The Worlds Between Home, Book 3 of 10. On Vanthel, where arrival is an invoice and every charge is published, the family learns that each honest offer made to them comes with a claim on their ship.
Fiction
The Common Sun
The Worlds Between Home, Book 4 of 10. Solvara's generous public system heals the family and repairs their ship for free, yet every entitlement costs them something they did not know they were holding.
Fiction
What the Models Cannot See
The Worlds Between Home, Book 5 of 10. The best-run world the Oleds have seen places them under a formal hold, and ten-year-old Xia's refusals become the only thing standing between careful assessors and the voice she talks to.
Fiction
The Memory Garden
The Worlds Between Home, Book 6 of 10. On Varduun nothing is withheld and nothing is billed, the memory gardens keep what people say for nine hundred years, and Xia carries something that took an entire hillside without asking.
Fiction
No One Commands the Tunnels
The Worlds Between Home, Book 7 of 10. Caldris runs on syndicates, chambers, and signed findings instead of offices, and a family nobody refuses finds that nobody is able to accept them either.
Fiction
Terms of Protection
The Worlds Between Home, Book 8 of 10. On the Orison Exchange, air is the currency and protection is bought from competing houses, so the Oleds end up covered on three separate books by people who all deal with them honestly.
Fiction
The Light at the Lava Sea
The Worlds Between Home, Book 9 of 10. Three of the Oleds are taken aboard an occupation carrier that writes everything down, while Xia climbs alone through a dark recovery trunk with a pencil and her mother's rules.
Fiction
The Voice at the End of Everything
The Worlds Between Home, Book 10 of 10. The concluding volume: the Directorate has broken, Aldex rebuilds authority with paper and signatures, and Xia keeps a case open against the voice that has watched eight worlds decide what to do with her family.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: The Core Rulebook
The complete fiction-first tabletop roleplaying engine, with character creation, dice mechanics, a Storyteller's guide, and ten ready-to-play starter worlds spanning fantasy, sci-fi, horror, noir, superheroes, and post-apocalyptic genres.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: High & Mythic Fantasy Companion
Ten complete high-fantasy settings for the D6 engine, each with a unique genre mechanic, ready-to-play archetypes, condition palettes, and a starter scenario.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Sci-Fi & Cosmic Frontiers Companion
Ten sci-fi settings spanning generation ships, Dyson spheres, cyberpunk megacities, and transhuman frontiers, each with its own genre mechanic and archetypes.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Weird West, Piracy & Swashbuckling Companion
Ten gunpowder-and-salt-air settings covering demon-haunted frontier towns, cursed pirate seas, and swashbuckling royal courts.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Horror, Occult & Supernatural Companion
Ten horror settings ranging from 1930s cosmic cults and slasher camps to vampire dynasties and nightmare realms.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Cybernetics, Speculative & Alternate Tech Companion
Ten settings exploring the relationship between technology and humanity, from dieselpunk war machines and genome splicing to clockwork worlds and nanotech frontiers.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Superheroes, Kaiju & Anime Tropes Companion
Ten settings for caped vigilantes, mech academies, kaiju defense forces, magical guardians, and anime-inspired heroics.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Historical & Alternate History Companion
Ten settings grounded in real history with speculative twists, from Roman legions and Sengoku Japan to WWII occult warfare and wuxia dynasties.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Quirky, Experimental & Micro-Scale Companion
Ten playful experimental settings, from tiny borrowers and living toys to arcade cabinet adventures and time-travel patrols.
Tabletop RPG
D6 Storyteller: Post-Apocalyptic & Speculative Worlds Companion
Ten end-of-the-world settings, from ice-age survival and sound-hunting alien horrors to the final fortress city at the end of time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which Alex Merced book should I start with?
If you work with data, start with Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly) — it's the foundational book on modern lakehouse architecture. If you're building a full Iceberg-based platform, follow up with Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse (Manning). For open catalogs and governance, read Apache Polaris: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly). Non-technical readers can start with AI and Agents for Normal People.
What is the difference between the Apache Iceberg books?
Apache Iceberg: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly) teaches the Iceberg table format itself — internals, schema evolution, partitioning, and query engine integration. Architecting an Apache Iceberg Lakehouse (Manning) focuses on end-to-end architecture patterns for building production Iceberg-based data platforms. The other Iceberg titles are shorter, self-published practical guides covering specific angles like Python tooling, agentic AI, Dremio, and avoiding vendor lock-in.
Where can I buy the books?
All 77 books by Alex Merced are available on Amazon in Kindle and (where offered) print editions. Every book page on this site links directly to its Amazon listing.