New York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow returns to the world of Red Team Blues …
Let’s see if Doctorow can top his first novel in this 3rd book in the Martin Hench series. The second was fine but I honestly can’t even remember it. The first however, fabulous. More about navigating the realities of the world we have then the fantasy of the one we could..
Walkaway is a 2017 science fiction novel by Cory Doctorow, published by Head of Zeus …
A lot of fun, and nice exploration of solving the future
4 stars
A fun, Fascinating, Idealistic, Horny, “saved by technology”, “saved by community” story about the future.
A wonderful inditement of “down and out in the magic kingdom“ which was a post scarcity future where karma was the currency. The only character that wants that in this story is a complete idiot. However, it shares a lot of the same ideas and explores them in significantly greater depth. It’s also better written, with the advantage of about 20 years of practice between the two releases.
My only complaint while reading was that it was about a third too horny for my tastes. It was tasteful more or less and respectful. But Doctorow obviously enjoys writing sex scenes.
However Doctorow always shines when showing us how technology impacts society, and how when people take control of their technology communities can take advantage and flourish. I honestly think his vision what might be possible …
A fun, Fascinating, Idealistic, Horny, “saved by technology”, “saved by community” story about the future.
A wonderful inditement of “down and out in the magic kingdom“ which was a post scarcity future where karma was the currency. The only character that wants that in this story is a complete idiot. However, it shares a lot of the same ideas and explores them in significantly greater depth. It’s also better written, with the advantage of about 20 years of practice between the two releases.
My only complaint while reading was that it was about a third too horny for my tastes. It was tasteful more or less and respectful. But Doctorow obviously enjoys writing sex scenes.
However Doctorow always shines when showing us how technology impacts society, and how when people take control of their technology communities can take advantage and flourish. I honestly think his vision what might be possible is more interesting than replicators and transporters. Significantly more possible in the very least.
You learn what the term walkaway means early on, and I honestly think that’s the biggest stretch in the book (besides the far future technology in the end of the book). There is barely a corner of the earth that isn’t own or patrolled. I’m a city kid so maybe that’s not true and the expanse of the undiscovered country is still vast. But 50 years into the future when this takes place, it will be less likely than today.
And the action scenes were plentiful and exciting while not being unplausable. Drone warfare is already here and this doesn’t ignore that in the least.
Overall, a lot of fun, a great book and Cory Doctorow particular genre.
"The Soul of a New Machine" is a non-fiction book written by Tracy Kidder and …
Cautionary tale of the tech industry told as an adventure story
4 stars
Still a wild tale, I’m no longer in awe of it and it’s obvious everyone involved got screwed and feels good about it (though that might be the authors bias). The love of the work “I’d take a pay cut to be involved in a project like this again” when already underpaid. It’s wild.
"West" one of the project leaders goes into “business development” answering the question “what happens to engineers over 40” writes Kidder. Fuck that. He doesn’t want to be exploited any longer, that’s what happens when you get over 40. Seems he’s still in engineering anyway consulting with other teams.
Overall this is a Wild take on a time in engineering that is not dissimilar to some companies today. I’ve worked at Data General clones, it sucks and isn’t worth it. Don’t get romanced. This is a cautionary tale told as an adventure story. I’m glad to …
Still a wild tale, I’m no longer in awe of it and it’s obvious everyone involved got screwed and feels good about it (though that might be the authors bias). The love of the work “I’d take a pay cut to be involved in a project like this again” when already underpaid. It’s wild.
"West" one of the project leaders goes into “business development” answering the question “what happens to engineers over 40” writes Kidder. Fuck that. He doesn’t want to be exploited any longer, that’s what happens when you get over 40. Seems he’s still in engineering anyway consulting with other teams.
Overall this is a Wild take on a time in engineering that is not dissimilar to some companies today. I’ve worked at Data General clones, it sucks and isn’t worth it. Don’t get romanced. This is a cautionary tale told as an adventure story. I’m glad to revisit it after 20 odd years and I'm glad to see how my perspective has shifted.
2057 Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They …
I read this a long time ago and I loved the hell out of it.
It's about an ice hauler that gets suddenly sent out of the solar system at relativistic speeds on the back of something that apparently isn't a comet, it starts as a survival story and then turns really interesting and weird.