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Great start, and enjoyed most of the first 566 pages. The last 300 were another book, with a different style. Together they don't work as well as they would separately. The current ending works, but could also leave room for a third book. Overall rating - liked it.

The first long book is mostly about solving technological problems, and works. A lot of interesting characters, including a Neil deGrasse Tyson role. The pace was good, the challenges realistic, and I really enjoyed the swarming robots. It was refreshing to see humanity reacting to a disaster in a mostly positive way - quite different from most disaster stories.

I enjoyed most of the characters, but didn't really like the added politics towards the end. Reminds me of Battlestar Galactica (and others). In hindsight, a lot of this felt forced - these characters led directly to the "Eves" of the final part of the book. Some of it felt realistic, but a lot just felt rushed. The final section was its own story, and interesting - I've read plenty of SF like it. It just seems like a different audience than the problem solving of the first 500 pages. If this were a separate book, more could have been brought in about the mythology, and perhaps less infodump about this new world. Finally, Stephenson seems to get a little sloppy on the point of view in the end, jumping mid-paragraph at times.

I understand the first two thirds in an audiobook format are ready by [a:Mary Robinette Kowal|2868678|Mary Robinette Kowal|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1365253716p2/2868678.jpg]. I have listened to her reading, and she does a great job. Unfortunately, she doesn't read all of this one, and I'm not sure I'm ready to invest more than 30 hours in an audiobook anyways. I enjoyed this, but it wasn't better than any of the other Neal Stephenson I have read, and the highest I could go is a little over 3 stars - not enough to round to 4.

A shuttle is stranded, and the occupants tell of their experiences with the "no-win" scenario. After being mentioned in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, this test has shown up in seven novels, with this being the first.

Reading the academy experiences of the various participants was a lot of fun, and of the four stories, I enjoyed Montgomery Scott's the most. There is an audio version of this book, coincidentally read by James Doohan, but I suspect it is abridged - the run time is under two hours. While I did read this in a single day, it must have been closer to 3½ hours.

The "framing story" of the shuttle incident was weak, but really wasn't the point of the book. Some of the later scenes did harken back to the test itself, which was nice. Of the 90 some-odd Star Trek paperbacks, this story is definitely in the top 20.

I really enjoyed this biography of General Washington's artillery commander and right hand man, and found it to deserve the high ratings it has received. It contains a good bibliography and index, though a few maps or illustrations would have been nice. Recommended!

Knox was a bookseller in Boston, and this 19 year old was present at the Boston Massacre (later giving direct witness testimony) and the Boston Tea Party. After the opening shots of the revolution were fired, he led a group to drag 59 cannon more than 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge. When these guns were used to liberate Boston, George Washington claimed his first victory of the war. He was at Valley Forge, crossing the Delaware with cannons on that fateful Christmas night. He was in direct command of the artillery at Yorktown during the battle that led to the surrender of Cornwallis and the end of the war.

He was nearly as influential in peacetime, acting as Secretary of War, drawing up plans for West Point and dealing with Shay's rebellion. He and Washington used their influence to make sure the veterans were paid. He called for a new constitution, and provided a plan for bicameral government to Washington who quoted from it extensively in correspondence to Madison.

Most reviewers laud praise on this book; only a few would recommend a biography published in 1960 instead. If based on the paragraphs above you want to know more about the Forrest Gump of the American Revolution, I found this book to be comprehensive and readable.

The fifth published Dirk Pitt novel was pretty good, and may be a tough standard for the other novels to live up to. Underwater action, adventure, seduction, and of course classic cars - but this novel adds history to the mix quite effectively. I just wish it were more electronically available...

I have read that this is one of the best early Dirk Pitt novels - apparently [b:Treasure|85737|Treasure (Dirk Pitt, #9)|Clive Cussler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1314486012l/85737.SY75.jpg|3041094] is the dividing point. I did enjoy it quite a bit, especially the underwater scenes. I also read that Brian Shaw was essentially James Bond, but I didn't get that vibe. Well, okay, full marks in the seduction game, but otherwise no. Gly is a suitable villain, though a bit mad. I understand he returns in a later novel.

So what didn't I like? I remember 1981, and the threat of a separatist Quebec was as much in the news as the Cold war. The ending felt very a-historical. This is only the 2nd Dirk Pitt I've read, so maybe this is always a thing, but I'm not sure how this world continues. Also, the action at the end was a little hard to follow. Minor quibbles, indeed. Will be interesting to see how the others match up to this.

This third and final book of a series completes a large narrative, tells its own stories, and leaves one big mystery open at the end (Joald was hinted at in the first book). It could probably be read on its own, but that would seem unlikely - the title doesn't exactly jump off the shelf by itself. A really good book and series.

Why not five stars? Some of the scenes of army and battle went by very rapidly - I could mentally picture a map with moving arrows. The clever maneuvering of the second book was replaced by brute force. I got the feeling that the Troicinet navy was a major thing, but unfortunately none of the books describe the naval point of view. Very minor quibbles, though.

I really liked Madouc's story and her maneuvers around the Fey. This copper haired maiden and part rebel is a strong character in many ways. She smoothly handled both a the three-headed ogre AND her headstrong companion in the same scene. If there's one quote I could use to sum up the entire venture, it would be from her other companion in that scene. "We are vagabonds, and each of us follows a dream."

This is a collection of observations about baseball, a style also used by Bill James as far back as 1977. Unlike James, these are not all stats, and run the gamut from why first basemen and good hitters are more frequently left-handed to describing baseball to a Martian. I found it from a collection of the best baseball books that are also freely available.

Nearly everybody who reads baseball has heard of Bill James - but who is Eric Walker? When this book was published, he was a sports writer in California, and also an electrical engineer. Good combination. After being hired by Sandy Alderson, he was the guy who wrote a somewhat technical report describing his analytical approach for new assistant GM Billy Beane - who later remarked that in reading that report it was "as if the scales fell from his eyes.". So ultimately, without Eric Walker there would have been no [b:Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game|1301|Moneyball The Art of Winning an Unfair Game|Michael Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388176510l/1301.SY75.jpg|416305]. This resume was all after publishing this book.

The articles vary. The stats aren't always that plain to follow, and I'm a math guy who likes baseball. The observations sometimes ramble. It is possible he picked some of this up from Bill James, but some of his observations are quite unique, and overall the book is very approachable. Oh, yeah, and free. I found it at archive.org/details/sinisterfirstbas0000walk - if you like baseball, you should probably give it a try.

The author connects discussions of Tambora and the aftermath to both [a:Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|11139|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1386351586p2/11139.jpg] and various epidemics in this mostly social history. Science is mostly neglected by G.D. Wood, an English professor. The bibliography is extensive; the rest of the book rambles considerably.

I did find the connection to both Shelleys, Byron and Keats interesting, and can see how it influenced their poetry and prose - especially [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1381512375l/18490.SY75.jpg|4836639]. It seems clear that Wood has published on this subject before, and he knows it well. Another interesting point was the search for the Northwest Passage, spurred by higher melt rate in the Arctic during the immediate aftermath - though the expeditions themselves happened a few years later, when weather had reasserted to a relative norm. The hopelessness of those expeditions also makes an appearance in Shelley's work, framing the story. Illustrations of paintings and excerpts of poems round out these contributions nicely.

Unfortunately, the author seeks to connect several things to this eruption, and not all fit. The cholera epidemic in Bengal was more about poor sanitary conditions than weather changes, and while the weather killed a season of crops in Ireland and the East coast of the US, both societies were poised to suffer at the next disturbance. This book connects a lot of events due to proximity in time, and rarely convincingly. He also ignores science, and proudly acknowledges that in the epilogue. He discusses none of the impact on species, little of the impact on crops and weather, and then only when convenient. Perhaps the worst offense was to shoot down the idea of using particulate matter to reduce global warming as bad because, well, Tambora. Duh!

It is a readable book, and does have a good bibliography. If the subtitle were "The social implications of the Tambora eruption", I might have rated it 3 stars. As it is, the 2 star rating of "It was Okay" is just about perfect.

Examines choices that driving algorithms have to make in a thriller plot with a strong female character and an emergent AI. Unfortunately, the male characters are 2D caricatures, and the author lectures on a few points.

The prologue is a thought provoking accident/murder, setting the tone for the story. The first two main characters are believable enough - a hardware guy and a software guy - but the story really gets going when two female characters join them. By the end of the novel, one has been edged out in favor of the AI, and the two of them carry the rest of the story. In the author's notes, he states that the main female character was based on his daughter, and in hind sight, the book shows his adoration.

Perhaps if he had a son, the male characters would have been less stereotypical? Their exposition (to the girls, the media, the lawyers) is trying at times, even given this technical subject. The choices of both are more convenient to the plot than to their motivations, and one of them is just cartoon ridiculous by the end.

The plot was pretty good, and I finished this thriller in about a day and a half. Walton was clever with the chapters from the perspective of the AI. With better male characters (and more show, less tell) this could easily be a five star book. I read and enjoyed Superposition (though it had character problems also - hmmm), and plan to read its sequel soon.

Excellent story; the author shows a real feel for the setting. Told entirely from the main characters perspective, the other characters are also well written, with clear personalities and motivations. A hard book to put down, especially at the action filled climax. Recommended!

Robin Wayne Bailey was at one-time president of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He wrote this in four months at the request of TSR, who were trying to revamp their Greyhawk product line. This book came out the same year as R.A. Salvatore's first Drizzt book, and ultimately Forgotten Realms ended up the winner on the fiction shelves. Bailey was known for Thieves World stories before this, but this was his first bestseller.

Greyhawk is the fantasy world that I have used for nearly all of my D&D games, and I am very familiar with the history and setting. Bailey got a few minor things wrong, and his story doesn't fit in the canon timeline - but we are talking about a universe much less defined than say, Star Trek. The minor discrepancies are more than made up for in plot and storytelling - this is a ripping good yarn. Descriptions of combat are exciting, putting the reader in the scene, and the bad guys are suitably evil. Finally, the humor - mostly between members of the Nightwatch - really adds to the story.

When asked if he would write another Greyhawk novel, the author stated he would consider it. He would like to revisit Garret Starlyn and his team, and I think that would make for another great tale.

The first book in a series set in a time very early in Kirk's captaincy of the Enterprise. The action is mostly set in a star base near the Klingon and Tholian border, and this is before the Organian treaty. While I enjoyed many aspects, it didn't all hang together.

The description of a major space battle was excellent. There are a lot of characters, and some of them fairly well drawn. It has a broader gender and species mix than a 60s television show. In fact this book reads like a television pilot - there is also a LOT of intrigue, and the station gangster seems a bit much. There is also a mystery here - and not enough said about that. Later books, I guess.

DS9 was visited by the Enterprise, so it makes sense to kick this one off with a visit by the Enterprise. This was early in Kirk's captaincy, and the references to "Pike's ship" were a nice fit. That said, the old series cast were a little... off. Kirk doesn't get his way. Scotty is outside his element, and quite off balance. Spock wasn't. Each loses out, in their way, to the new station personnel - and that doesn't feel right to me.

I have been writing a Star Trek role playing adventure set in this time period, so this is research, and I will read the other books. This series has several authors, and one goal was to "add geopolitical and cultural context" to the events of the series. I am hoping that means more than just cameos (such as Scotty's "green" beverage).

Originally ahead of its time, this multimedia machine didn't grow with the market. This book focuses on the software far more than the hardware, including a chapter on the cracker and demo "scene". I wanted more about the customer chips that defined and ultimately limited this PC.

That hardware and some of the software was pretty amazing for the time. This book also details how Commodore did next to nothing for the platform, which eventually couldn't compete with CD-ROM, 3D graphics and an open architecture. The machine was far more popular in Europe than the US. Of the many software chapters, I was glad to see the OS and then Cinemaware and Psygnosis highlighted.

The amount of time spent on the first demo (the juggler) was also good, but the book really bogged down talking about deluxe paint and other demos. Some editing would have helped, along with a few color plates - this was a multimedia PC! The author has a website with visuals and downloadable options for the UAE emulator, but the moving visuals mostly require Flash animation, disabled by default on modern browsers. Those images and movies are all in the Amiga resolution also - quite small on a modern laptop.

Recommended if you were an Amiga fan or if you want completeness - there are chapters worth reading here.

While many young adult style novels exist in the Star Wars genre, this is the first labeled as such. It is also the second in the new Disney franchise, a Romeo & Juliet style tale at many levels, and touches on the events of episode IV through VI. Ms. Gray tackled a lot with this story - and succeeds on all levels.

Both the main characters are strong, growing throughout the story. Ciena Ree is a strong female character, resourceful and insightful. Appearances by a few well-known characters from the franchise feel accurate, and add to the story - these are not just cameos. The settings also feel very Star Wars, and the moral questions raised are equal to those from the movies, leading right up to the appearance of a thoroughly evil emperor Palpatine.

This author wrote another Star Wars novel the following year, which I read shortly after it came out. I commented there that I liked her writing style, and that shines through in this book as well. While the ending to that book felt rushed, this one feels just about right. All-in-all, a five star performance. I plan to visit another of her books soon.

Written 60 years ago, this novel of escorting convoys in the Atlantic during WWII is two or three books at once. Weather is as much a villain as the U-boat. Classic nautical fiction, apparently made into a classic film that is now on my to-watch list. Recommended!

The author served in the war, and his career closely matches Lieutenant Lockhart in the book. The broad cast of characters were distinct and well written, likely drawn from shipmates. The changes in technology over the span of the war are shown clearly. Not a lot is said about the other escorts or the ships in convoy, but then the work was somewhat solitary.

A few times the novel dragged a little, and it did take a month to read over 500 pages. For that matter an illustration of the corvette would have been nice, or maybe a map. Minor quibbles - this is a solid 4.5 star book, rounding up to 5 on this site. I plan to watch the movie soon, but you should go find the book now.