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Another Stack of Books
May. 10th, 2007 11:43 pmHere's what I've read since my last big books post:
Crystal Fire - This book was a gift from Xave some time ago. Fairly solid nonfiction, although slow in parts. Definitely focuses on the science perspective, so it's a bit weaker on the business side of the story.
Freakonomics - Astoundingly brisk and interesting nonfiction. Not sure if it will be a classic, but I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading popular nonfiction, or anyone interested in economics or sociology.
The Siege of Eternity - I bought this one because I like the author. Good science-fiction / suspense. This book was in the middle of a trilogy, so I feel like I'm not getting the whole picture, but I want to read the rest of the series now.
Hominids - I've been wanting to read this series for a while. This book met my expectations. Like most of Robert Sawyer's fiction, it's decent, pulpy, touches on some interesting ideas, and is fun despite some lingering sense of wasted potential (i.e. it's good, but it feels like it's shooting for great and consequently misses the mark). Still want to read the rest of the series, though.
Air - Reads sort of like a cyberpunk version of Things Fall Apart. Overall, the book was brilliantly executed, but one feature of the plot breaks so strongly and suddenly with plausibility that it rather marred my enjoyment of the entire book. Still, I won't explain further so that I don't spoil the plot... I think the book is certainly worth a chance, and I don't want to mar that for other people who might not be so bothered.
Just and Unjust Wars - A book on the ethics of war. Ultimately, this is just "one man's argument", but I found it to be an interesting exploration of military ethics. I bought this book on a whim (i.e. I noticed it and then bought it on the rationale that I'd probably never read if I didn't buy it then), and I'm glad I did.
Newton's Wake - Brilliant, pulpy, post-singularity science-fiction. The world of this story is extremely interesting, the story is fast-paced, and the author does a good job of dropping the reader in the middle of the action and revealing the story's world through showing, not telling. I also like that (some of) the characters struggle more with the philosophical issues created by post-singularity technology (immortality by backup, for example), compared to other novels I've read with similar settings (Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, for example).
Crystal Fire - This book was a gift from Xave some time ago. Fairly solid nonfiction, although slow in parts. Definitely focuses on the science perspective, so it's a bit weaker on the business side of the story.
Freakonomics - Astoundingly brisk and interesting nonfiction. Not sure if it will be a classic, but I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading popular nonfiction, or anyone interested in economics or sociology.
The Siege of Eternity - I bought this one because I like the author. Good science-fiction / suspense. This book was in the middle of a trilogy, so I feel like I'm not getting the whole picture, but I want to read the rest of the series now.
Hominids - I've been wanting to read this series for a while. This book met my expectations. Like most of Robert Sawyer's fiction, it's decent, pulpy, touches on some interesting ideas, and is fun despite some lingering sense of wasted potential (i.e. it's good, but it feels like it's shooting for great and consequently misses the mark). Still want to read the rest of the series, though.
Air - Reads sort of like a cyberpunk version of Things Fall Apart. Overall, the book was brilliantly executed, but one feature of the plot breaks so strongly and suddenly with plausibility that it rather marred my enjoyment of the entire book. Still, I won't explain further so that I don't spoil the plot... I think the book is certainly worth a chance, and I don't want to mar that for other people who might not be so bothered.
Just and Unjust Wars - A book on the ethics of war. Ultimately, this is just "one man's argument", but I found it to be an interesting exploration of military ethics. I bought this book on a whim (i.e. I noticed it and then bought it on the rationale that I'd probably never read if I didn't buy it then), and I'm glad I did.
Newton's Wake - Brilliant, pulpy, post-singularity science-fiction. The world of this story is extremely interesting, the story is fast-paced, and the author does a good job of dropping the reader in the middle of the action and revealing the story's world through showing, not telling. I also like that (some of) the characters struggle more with the philosophical issues created by post-singularity technology (immortality by backup, for example), compared to other novels I've read with similar settings (Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, for example).
