This book is really a book (Emerald Sea) and a novella (In a Time of Darkness) both of which follow on from There Will Be Dragons. Emerald Sea is more self-indulgent than the previous book, and isn’t as strong as the first. It is still quite readable. In a Time of Darkness has a very…
Category: Book
Being Geek
This book by long time Apple engineering manager, as well as startup employee, Michael Lopp is a guide to how to manage geeks. That wasn’t really what I was expecting — which is sort of the inverse. I was hoping for a book about how to be a geek who has to deal with management….
There Will Be Dragons
I bought this book randomly when I saw it at a charity book sale. While the title is kid of odd, its actually quite a good read. The book is sort of a science fiction fantasy novel, set in the far future with a reasonably plausible plot line. There are a few elements that I…
Rendezvous With Rama
This is a classic book, so I expected a lot from it. I was a little disappointed to be honest. The book is slow, although interesting. There chapters are all very short as well (around four or five pages), which is a little odd. There is a lot of potential with this concept, and I…
Books read in January 2011
Starbound Days of Air and Darkness Bad Science Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency The Apocalypse Troll
The Apocalypse Troll
This is an interesting combination of a first contact story, a combat science fiction story, and a love story. It is very different from the other science fiction I’ve read recently, and I enjoyed it a lot. The book has a good beginning and ending, but is slow in the middle. I’m glad I kept…
Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency
This book took me a little while to get into. although I am glad I kept at it. Not as good as The Hitchhiker’s Guide, but still worth the time to read. Title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Author: Douglas Adams Genre: Fiction Publisher: Pan Macmillan Release Date: 1988 Pages: 247 A mixture of science…
Bad Science
I’ve been trying to read one non-fiction book a month recently, and this is the one for January. This book is simply excellent and I’m glad I read it. It is clearly written, entertaining, and easy to understand. Yet it covers complex issues about how mis-reporting of medicine result in people dying. It covers statistical…
Days of Air and Darkness
Rori and friends are attempting to lift the siege started in Days of Blood and Fire. This book is mostly action without much discussion or character development, which makes it fun to read. The big battle at the end is a bit unusual, because so many die, but I wont say any more because I…
Starbound
This is the newly released sequel for Marsbound which I really liked, so I was excited when this arrived the other day. This book is much like the previous one stylistically, being written as a set of mostly first person diary entries. However, the people writing these entries are older now, and this feels less…