New York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow returns to the world of Red Team Blues …
I've highlighted several things in @pluralistic@mamot.fr 's Picks and Shovels, but one short sentence fragment I especially like is:
using a ream of his virginal fanfold printer paper
which alludes to the protagonist's earlier dumpster diving activity to find discarded tractor feed paper that had only been used on one side.
Although I never actually dived a dumpster for half used printer paper, I do remember scavenging long sections of such paper from computer room garbage cans, back in the day.
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, there …
Fun wild ride
5 stars
Starter villain is one of those books where I had to tell every body around me the latest funny or outrageous quote as I encountered it. I read it in record time, have over 27 passages quoted in my reader, and saved it to my favorites list.
The story premise seems preposterous, but John Scalzi managed to produce a story that makes sense... an outrageous, funny, twisted sort of sense. It's also surprisingly insightful and pragmatic, and turns the tropes on end, points out the ridiculousness of comic book villains, but also comes up with a reasonable business plan for a Billionaire Super Villain. I'm not going to say it's entirely plausible, but it is a fun, wild ride that's worth the effort. It definitely put a smile on my face!
Investigator Mossa and Scholar Pleiti reunite to solve a brand-new mystery in the follow-up to …
"The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles", was a pleasant read and a bit more refined than "The Mimicking of Known Successes". I didn't find myself cheating on it with other books 😉. I also found myself with an extensive list of new words that I hadn't encountered before. Review pending?
Investigator Mossa and Scholar Pleiti reunite to solve a brand-new mystery in the follow-up to …
Less of a slow start than it's predecessor, "The Mimicking of Known Successes", but I'm still reading it in fits and starts, though definitely with enjoyment. 🙂
I had so much fun reading Service Model that I had trouble resisting the temptation to highlight something on every page and pester my neighbors (I usually read in restaurants at the bar) with funny, tragic, or astonishing quotes from the book every few minutes.
Cory Doctorow's Attack Surface is a standalone novel set in the world of New York …
A real page turner from @pluralistic@mamot.fr that tops Little Brother. It's a little painful to read if you're in technology, but only because it is damning. Not for the faint-of-heart.
Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in …
"The Spare Man" an unexpectedly fun read
No rating
"The Spare Man" started like a light murder mystery with a science fiction backdrop and somewhat unlikely characters, but slowly builds to a really interesting conundrum that I found surprisingly engaging.
The plot is engaging and the reason for the title is a brilliantly novel twist that I found delightful.
The main characters Tesla Crane and her husband Shal are not especially relatable characters. Typically, the the investigator is an outsider who provides a way for the reader to peek into the extravagant world of the wealthy. So casting one of these privileged, wealthy, celebrities as the protagonist and investigator does make the reading a little less pleasant as we have to deal with annoying elitist opinions and lapdogs... though the former are probably just to show her sheltered life, and the latter becomes a plot point. As the story evolves, this becomes less annoying and Tesla has access that …
"The Spare Man" started like a light murder mystery with a science fiction backdrop and somewhat unlikely characters, but slowly builds to a really interesting conundrum that I found surprisingly engaging.
The plot is engaging and the reason for the title is a brilliantly novel twist that I found delightful.
The main characters Tesla Crane and her husband Shal are not especially relatable characters. Typically, the the investigator is an outsider who provides a way for the reader to peek into the extravagant world of the wealthy. So casting one of these privileged, wealthy, celebrities as the protagonist and investigator does make the reading a little less pleasant as we have to deal with annoying elitist opinions and lapdogs... though the former are probably just to show her sheltered life, and the latter becomes a plot point. As the story evolves, this becomes less annoying and Tesla has access that Columbo could never dream of, thus providing the reader with insights that might otherwise be hard to get.
The quirk of naming each chapter after a cocktail was delightful. I don't even drink, but found it interesting, especially since the author managed to make (most of) the drinks relevant to the content of the chapter. Also, I learned a few things from this unlikely devices and found my self looking up the history of some of these drinks and that was before I read the interesting "About the Cocktails" addendum.
The Hard science fiction genre demands a lot from a novel, and this is clearly not aimed at that genre, but Mary Robinette Kowal @maryrobinette@wandering.shop, does not cut scientific corners and did a great job of keeping the story somewhat plausible, even if the economics of space cruise ships never works out. I really love that there's a schematic of the ship right front and that both the layout of the ship and the physics of the coriolis effect are important to the story. I can count the number of novels I've read over 50 years of reading sci-fi that have a diagram of the ship on one hand. So great job Mary Robinette Kowal! The "About the Science" addendum to the book is also appreciated.
One correlation that I didn't expect was that Hulu's Death and Other Details had a similar feel. The Spare Man wasn't as intense and Tesla Crane drove the story more, rather than being mentored like Imogene Scott was in Death and Other Details, but it did have that murder on a ship with a modern setting and really smart female lead.
Note: This book is DRM free, which I really appreciate, as I don't buy anything else these days.
The year is 2006. Martin Hench is at the top of his game as a …
Bezzle comment
3 stars
I found The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr somewhat disappointing, especially compared to Red Team Blues. While it was an interesting read, it was enough of a grind, that I put it down part way through and only finished it months later when I finished my other, more entertaining books.
Sure, some of my disappointment is because Cory set the bar so high. Also, since I already knew about the abuses of the private prison system and have been reading other authors who rant on about the abuses of oligarchs. So there was very little in here that was entirely new to me. For people who aren't familiar with these topics, I could see how it would be a big mind opener. For me it was a long litany of horrors.
On the other hand The Bezzle did expand my knowledge of the extent or particulars of the abuses and …
I found The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr somewhat disappointing, especially compared to Red Team Blues. While it was an interesting read, it was enough of a grind, that I put it down part way through and only finished it months later when I finished my other, more entertaining books.
Sure, some of my disappointment is because Cory set the bar so high. Also, since I already knew about the abuses of the private prison system and have been reading other authors who rant on about the abuses of oligarchs. So there was very little in here that was entirely new to me. For people who aren't familiar with these topics, I could see how it would be a big mind opener. For me it was a long litany of horrors.
On the other hand The Bezzle did expand my knowledge of the extent or particulars of the abuses and personalities involved. It was engaging, but not entertaining. However, I don't put entertainment at the top of my priorities for good reading because I'd rather be engaged with interesting topics than pandered to.
Overall, The Bezzle was worth reading, but vaguely disappointing.
