Mostly reading sci-fi, fantasy, and comics/graphic novels, but occasionally some other stuff too.
This link opens in a pop-up window
Some of the best writers and artists in comics team up to present stories of …
Mmmm... good. A huge number of short stories, ranging from the serious to the silly, and just as big a range of artists as well. Worth it!
Some of the best writers and artists in comics team up to present stories of …
I purchased a huge (digital) collection of Hellboy from Humble Bundle a while back. While there's a fair chunk I already owned in print, this is one of the collections I am yet to buy a physical copy of.
Spy Novel
I don't have enough experience of spy novels to know if this is, in fact, "one of the greatest spy novels of all time". It's good, and an enjoyable read. Full of plots and counter-plots.
The good thing about these novels is that they're not especially long. This one clocks in at around 240 pages, which makes it easily digestible and nothing drags on. le Carré's writing is good; he seems (to me) to reserve the right amount of space to talk about anything, knowing when to elaborate and build metaphors, and when to throw something else into sudden and sharp focus.
Anyway... Looking Glass War next!
Spy Novel
OK, George... Where were we?
"A Del Rey book."
It was bad enough when Lije Baley, a simple plainclothes cop, …
I should have anticipated this really, given that this was a novel set in Asimov's Robot universe; it's more of a murder mystery (with robots) rather than a Robot story. That being said, it still plays with themes of ballooning populations, limited resources, fear of superior technology that could replace you, and interplanetary civilisation; which are all very Asimovian themes, and definitely make me keen to see where he takes this series in the next book. So I guess I'll need to get that next book now.
"A Del Rey book."
It was bad enough when Lije Baley, a simple plainclothes cop, …
Was going to continue with George Smiley, but after reading Asimov I thought I might continue for a bit.
What Is This Thing Called Love? Strikebreaker Sally Nightfall Segregationist Eyes Do More Than See …
A great collection of Asimov's short stories. And his prefaces to each story are quite interesting insights to his writing and thought processes.
What Is This Thing Called Love? Strikebreaker Sally Nightfall Segregationist Eyes Do More Than See …
Great collection
What Is This Thing Called Love? Strikebreaker Sally Nightfall Segregationist Eyes Do More Than See …
Going to read this collection to cleanse my SF palette before going back to continue the George Smiley novels.
This is more about the entire trilogy, rather than this one book.
I wanted to read this series because I wanted a story about how the thinking machine rose up and took over, and how the human race dealt with that and the subsequent aftermath. Instead the series begins centuries after the thinking machines have conquered everything, and little exposition is given to explain how it all occured. What this series actually is is nothing more than a fan service crawl through the origin of everything and anything that the authors could think of from the original book. The real icing on the cake though is how dull and, honestly, rubbish most of the origin stories are, and they get worse the further through the series you get. (seriously, by the end it would have been just as convincing to say "a wizard did it")
If you want a story …
This is more about the entire trilogy, rather than this one book.
I wanted to read this series because I wanted a story about how the thinking machine rose up and took over, and how the human race dealt with that and the subsequent aftermath. Instead the series begins centuries after the thinking machines have conquered everything, and little exposition is given to explain how it all occured. What this series actually is is nothing more than a fan service crawl through the origin of everything and anything that the authors could think of from the original book. The real icing on the cake though is how dull and, honestly, rubbish most of the origin stories are, and they get worse the further through the series you get. (seriously, by the end it would have been just as convincing to say "a wizard did it")
If you want a story about the rise and fall of the thinking machines: don't read this series. If you want a story about the origins of everything you can think of from the original book: also don't read this series, just use your imagination, it'll probably be better.
Thank goodness that's over and done with...
A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to …
vii, 192 pages ; 25 cm
I appreciate the irony of stating that a sub-200-page book is long, but what I mean by that is that it felt a bit like there was a page number that was required to be reached; there is a lot of unnecessary repetition, or drawing out of a point that could have been achieved with half as many paragraphs.
That being said, I did enjoy reading the book. I remember listening about the original challenge in the author's podcast, and thinking it was interesting then. What was good about the book, however, is the interviews she made with academics and researchers about what technology is doing to us on a social and (more interestingly) neurological level. It was far more interesting to me to read about the quantifiable evidence gathered from research and experimentation, rather than the anecdotal stories.
Ultimately, the book gets you to think about your relationship with …
I appreciate the irony of stating that a sub-200-page book is long, but what I mean by that is that it felt a bit like there was a page number that was required to be reached; there is a lot of unnecessary repetition, or drawing out of a point that could have been achieved with half as many paragraphs.
That being said, I did enjoy reading the book. I remember listening about the original challenge in the author's podcast, and thinking it was interesting then. What was good about the book, however, is the interviews she made with academics and researchers about what technology is doing to us on a social and (more interestingly) neurological level. It was far more interesting to me to read about the quantifiable evidence gathered from research and experimentation, rather than the anecdotal stories.
Ultimately, the book gets you to think about your relationship with technology, not in a negative or positive way, but in a critical way. What relationship do you want to have with technology, and how does that compare with the relationship you actually have? I've been thinking about this a lot lately, due to the fact I have young kids right now, and the book really gives pause for thought about how and when phones should be used, not just within the home, but more broadly as well.
Basically, business as usual is sending us off a cliff to extinction, and the neoliberal capitalist elites are telling us everything is fine. The solution? Overthrow the government.
This very short book is heavy on its suggestions and implications, but nothing said in it is wrong... at all.
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License: www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/
One of the most …
It's incredible, and not, how little has changed in 175 years...