User Profile

Who doesn't appreciate the chance to use the word bildungsroman in a review? This coming of age story contains much humor and now-standard fantasy tropes. It is also a quick read and makes up a complete story, despite being the first of a five book series (with an added short story anthology).

While not part of the classic "Appendix N", it should be - the bard is well defined in these pages. The magic and characters are creative, though dour dwarf Doli is close to caricature. Perhaps his story is explored in a future volume.

I recommend it and look forward to reading more from the author and setting. I understand the fifth book contains a map, which I intend to peruse before diving into [b:The Black Cauldron|24784|The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain, #2)|Lloyd Alexander|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405377996l/24784.SY75.jpg|1122077]. Yes, the first two books inspired Disney's famed flop, which is probably also worth a rewatch.

The protagonists are robots, or robotic philosophers, or largely imaginary - hard SF this is not. A collection of stories, very loosely related, with humor and observation of the human condition - the latter frequently not favorable. Perhaps it's the robot perspective, constantly stymied by captcha.

Started reading with daughter, but robots are secondary and it wasn't resonating. Continued occasionally over nearly 4 months. Some stories I'd read before in [b:The Mind’s I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul|2081|The Mind’s I Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul|Douglas R. Hofstadter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385316419l/2081.SY75.jpg|1987525]. For an anthology review, I often share which I liked best, but those were probably 4 months ago. The last few stories weren't as good as the first - or maybe the collection was starting to wear on me.

I may come back to this - or I may not. 3 stars is the rating for now - better than just OK, but as far short of "really liked it".

Starts off as a detective novel, then expands into a larger world of nanotech, alien contact and world manipulation through quantum mechanics. Comparable to [b:The Lathe of Heaven|59924|The Lathe of Heaven|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433084322l/59924.SX50.jpg|425872], with more specifics given on the engines behind manipulation. Le Guin's book has the better story, though.

This book has a lot going on in a short count of pages. Some force that has put out solar system into a kind of "bubble", a doomsday cult reacting to that event, nanotech and brain modifications similar to smartphone "apps", potential alien contact and the aforementioned quantum mechanical manipulations. I can see how tags like "cyberpunk" landed on it, but this really is more of a "what if" story focused on quantum states.

I can't say much about the ending without spoiling the story. The author freely admits one of his interpretations is wrong, discussing it in a spoiler-filled essay on his website. Like most good science fiction, though, the exact method isn't the important factor in the examination. Discussions of the right to manipulate and which evils to choose are held between characters, with a lot of science in the mix, which could turn away more casual readers.

Quibbles aside, I liked it - a solid 3½ stars. While listed as part of a "series", the author has clearly stated they are not connected at all; this book stands alone. I plan to read other stories from Egan in the near future.

Written in the late sixties, this book envisions a space program slow to recover from the Apollo 1 fire. While Russia kept launching Sputniks, we put our effort into a science platform and later the Epsilon space station, the site of most of this novel.

After dropping you in media res (4 of the 8 crew dead), the novel flashes back to weeks earlier, when everything started. Along the way, the author introduces the multinational crew and their relationships through further flashbacks. At times this felt a little forced, a little clumsy. When the action starts, it rolls through the rest of the novel. It is favorably compared to The Andromeda Strain for a reason.

The ending happens suddenly. If you forgive the science holes, the novel makes for a nice thriller. I picked this and [b:Marooned|1368545|Marooned|Martin Caidin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1218214341l/1368545.SY75.jpg|1358375] up while looking for [b:Cyborg|1368516|Cyborg (Six Million Dollar Man #1)|Martin Caidin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1263156533l/1368516.SY75.jpg|1358346]. Based on this, I look forward to checking out Marooned soon.

Pretty scattered memoir and loose Red Sox history. Definitely doesn't live up to the hype on the back cover - sorry George V. Higgins, this book does not prove you to be a "writer of genius" or "a master".

The author was a Boston newspaper writer, covering crime and occasionally sports. His crime and trial work led to his mystery novels, the sports led indirectly to this book. I say indirectly because his upbringing had a lot to do with this also - both his father and grandfather were Red Sox fans.

This book was very scattered, and while the first chapter and last had a sort of "theme", the rest seemed to be plunked in after 20 or so pages. Stories of the authors life (often with father and/or grandfather) mixed with Red Sox history (especially the 80s, though earlier eras were also in attendance) and very rough statistical analysis. Chapters had some or all of those, with no particular order or conclusion. Jim Rice receives a fair amount of complaints. Unlabeled black and white pictures crop up occasionally - if you are lucky, you also get a uniform number.

For most people, this book would probably rate one star (did not like). The Red Sox of the 70s and 80s were the teams I followed most closely, and that aspect of this book was a good fit for this reader. There were bits of good writing also - I liked the comparison of Red Sox to Wilder's Our Town (see the subtitle), and the loving descriptions of Fenway Park. I'll probably check out one of his crime novels - it is said he inspired Elmore Leonard.

"Until it is, our policy with Mr Big is 'live and let live'. Bond looked quizzically at Captain Dexter
'In my job,' he said, 'when I come up against a man like this one, I have another motto. It's 'live and let die'."

This quote says it all, both about Bond and about the MAGA that assaulted our capitol today in an attempted coup. We can't "live and let live" with these fascists, who would just as soon see our entire government die for their precious leader.

Anyhow, to the book, Fleming's second Bond book. He works more to introduced the character and his service. This is also Bond's first visit to Jamaica, and he uses many of the characters that later saw life on Bond's big screen debut, Dr. No (the sixth Bond book).

Fleming also worked hard to portray the dialog, which may have worked in 1954, but is cringe worthy cover to cover in 2021. The story drags a bit in the middle, as Bond spends more than a week preparing for his invasion. The film, and later books, skip over this - the Bond character is "ready to go" for any situation, and that's what we the reader expect. His distraction for a fast car, when a damsel is in distress, is also painful to read.

It is a better book than the first, but Fleming hadn't found his voice yet. 3 of 5 stars.