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Non-Work 2010

Reading Non-Work Pre-2010

2k10/12

  • Hull Zero Three. Bear. A fairly novel take on colony ships, infused with genetic engineering and all the complexities of such a massive enterprise. It's somewhat vague on details much of the time, with gives the narrative a strange motion, but doesn't suffer for it.

2k10/8

  • Bones of Faerie. Simner. I gather that this is intended for young adults, so that goes some way to explain how fast it reads and how short it is; more novella than novel. However, it's very good. Not super deep in any direction, but enough given how light it is. The world is very well done; it starts as fairly traditional but then quietly, quickly shifts ninety degrees with just a couple startling words well placed in passing, and then is filled in later without boring exposition. The opener is also super catching. Barely half a page into it and there's a similarly dramatic but understated action that pretty much hooks you in. Definitely worth checking out.

2k10/7

  • Passage at Arms. Cook. Fantastic science fiction story. It's essentially a submarine story, with just enough opening to set up that an outside world does indeed exist. The whole book is told by a writer (and former officer) embedded in the crew of a Climber, essentially a submarine spaceship, as it conducts raids into enemy territory and undergoes a torturous, very extended escape back after one particularly notable mission. The book is claustrophobic, as it should be, and the tension and sheer unbearableness of the whole situation come through well. Action and sci-fi parts are well done, and in general it's a great read.
  • The Imperial Cruise. Bradley. Non-fiction.
  • The Vietnam War: A Graphic History. Zimmerman, Vansant. Non-fiction. Graphic novel. Definitely given from a somewhat pro-military perspective, the book is a little hard to interpret for accuracy under that light. However, it seems reasonable. It's a short, straightforward accounting of the progression of the war, with just enough recounting of the domestic situation and politics. Assuming accuracy, it does a good job of conveying the notion that the US was more militarily accepted than is generally believed, though not without heavy people and financial costs, but lost heavily in the political and image realm. For example, it makes clear that the Tet Offensive was seen as a major loss by the North Vietnamese, and objectively their army was decimated, but here it was seen as a devastating loss for the US because the government had been so adamant that the war was about to be won, and there was no way the NVA and VC could mount a major offensive like that.
  • Stardust. Gaiman. Super fast read, entertaining, though somewhat light and without any large surprises.
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Rowling. Mostly better than the first two. A little darker and characters a little more shaded, though still no one's really changing. Still a fast read, though the several long sections of exposition could have been done without. Voldemort goes from scary to cartoonish as he expends page after page outlining his entire plot to Harry before attempting to kill him...
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Rowling. Quick read, not terrible, but pretty empty. Like the first one, the plot moves along well but when you look back at the end you have to wonder where you've been, what you've been doing. Worse, it seems like there's almost no character development in either book. Maybe an argument can be made that they're growing over the course of the series, but there really doesn't seem to be much within the individual books.
  • Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Rowling. Super quick to read, entertaining in a safe adolescent way, but nothing special and filled with cliches and stock characters and ideas. My prejudice on this seems well justified.
  • The Innovator's Dilemma. Christensen. Non-fiction. A little overfilled with validating data at times for a popular read, but thatt's easily skimmed over. A great book looking at differences between and approaches to sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation. An example of the former is making a faster hard drive; an example of the latter is making a much smaller hard drive. At times this differentiation seems somewhat arbitrary, but it's generally well backed up by qualitative and quantitative analysis. Lots of interesting lessons, e.g.:
    • It's frequently not important to be the pioneer in sustainable tech.
    • It's important to be a pioneer in disruptive tech, but not critical.
    • Disruptive technology starts relatively incapable, but rapidly overcomes, consuming market from the bottom up while the establishment runs upward.
    • Interesting references to buying hierarchy: Consumers start differentiating by functionality, then reliability, then convenience (of product and supplier), then by price, moving on to each one as multiple products come to market meeting or overcoming requirements.
    • Disruptive technology must start small, and it frequently cannot exist within the huge expectations of establishing large organizations.
    • Disruptive technology must frequently go looking for a market (e.g., hard drives in medical devices), while sustaining technology is developed to meet a market (e.g., we need faster hard drives).
  • Super Crunchers. Ayres. Non-fiction. Written in an annoying, colloquial tone of voice with a lot of silly terms; most gratingly is "super crunching" itself, used as a catchall for basically anything related to data mining, statistics, and so on. However, it is a very good book, and well worth reading. It could stand to have some math and more technical discussion for readers so inclined---there is essentially none in the book---but the tradeoff is that it's a super fast read. The real takeaway and the value is the canvassing of many areas and examples of data mining and randomized experimentation in corporate and government applications, many of which even informed users will not be aware of and and many of which are fascinating and even inspiring.

2k10/5

  • Retief of the CDT. Laumer.
  • Retief Unbound. Laumer.

2k10/4

  • Rising Stars: Visitations. Graphic novel. Straczynski.
  • Rising Stars: Volume 2. Graphic novel. Straczynski.
  • Rising Stars: Volume 1. Graphic novel. Straczynski.
  • Supreme Power: Volume 2. Graphic novel.
  • Supreme Power: Volume 1. Graphic novel.
  • Watchmen. Graphic novel. Moore.

2k10/2

  • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Clarke. Just as good the second time around.

2k9/12

  • Affinity Bridge. Mann. This book should be more interesting than it is, though it could easily just be me. Consider though that I only skimmed the last 40 pages---an incredible rarity for me---and in the 3 weeks it took me to slowly trudge through this---another rarity---I finished three other novels... It has tons of good stuff---steampunk cyborgs, airships, victorian zombies, and a half robotic Queen Victoria---but just doesn't come up with a lot of oomph. My best thinking on this has come up with two possible reasons: 1) It's made fairly clear early on that the characters are safe. They suffer traumatic injuries, but are instantly patched up by the Fixer. 2) As much time is spent on appropriately Victorian dressings such as coming to and from by carriage, knocking at doors, and having tea, as is spent on the action...
  • Galaxy in Flames. Counter.
  • False Gods. McNeill.
  • Horus Rising. Abnett.

2k9/11

  • Sister Alice. Reed. An interesting book at the point where sci-fi goes so far as to push into solid fantasy. The literally god-like characters are imbued with powers so advanced that there's no distinction between their science and magic as they fly between fantasy worlds, restructure worlds wholesale, and grapple in mythic, abstract, symbolic yet physical battles. Also worth noting is a not necessarily particularly happy ending. At times the extreme distances, timespans, and fantasy-styled symbolism is a little hard to take, and it's not too clear the basic conceptions aren't contradictory---FTL doesn't exist, but how could it not given some of the powers?---but this is a very interesting read with a solid plot, interesting characters, and neat symbolism.
  • The Forever War. Haldeman. A little tough to take seriously as it's not super clear how homophobic the book is or is not; I could believe arguments on either side. The book also moves by very quickly, which is part of the point. The happy ending is also somewhat out of character and changes the message fairly dramatically. That said, this is a pretty original sci-fi military novel, and a good read. Notable is the emotionlessly brutal, automated, inhuman-in-the-purest-senses the warfare is, with little notion of glory or honor, and without many gory details typical of much sci-fi war porn. A solid characterization is made of war as a repeated sequence of brief periods of horror surrounded by lots of travel, waiting, and anxiousness. Combined with the fast pace, fleeting engagements, and somewhat limited details, the discussion about survival odds and time in combat is sobering, and probably realistic for many conflicts. The message comes through loud and clear that you're just a statistic, thrown against the wall, mitigating any potential heroic aspects. Also notable and refreshing is the limited affect any particular individual has on the galactic scene. Of course, all that aside, the book would be worthwhile if for nothing else than the central conceit and allegory of the dramatic effects of relativity on STL-based warfare, even with FTL jumps in the middle. What must it have been like to go to Iraq or Afghanistan circa late 2007, with the economy roaring away, and return about early 2009, with everything in shambles???

2k9/10

  • Titanicus. Abnett. Pretty good 40k novel. Not the best, but solid. Illuminates an awful lot about the Adeptus Mechanicus. Titan-on-Titan combat is kept at a suitably minimal level as it's usually actually not all that interesting. Several of the characters are very interesting, probably most notably Gearhart and his oncoming mental withdrawal.
  • Sons of Fenris. Lightner. The worst 40k book I have read yet. There is zero mystery to the entire plot, nothing not figured out by the second chapter. Worse, the Space Wolves are beyond insipid. Their solution to every tactical problem is to charge. Similarly, their speech patterns are cliched and stilted to the extreme. Absolutely terrible novel.
  • Undaunted Courage. Ambrose. Non-fiction. It's fairly clear throughout the book that Ambrose isn't bringing much new to the table here. He has uncovered no new finds, doesn't particularly have any new insights, and is really presenting a summary and rehash of existing work combined with the expedition's journals. That said, this is a good read, and a thorough look at Meriwether Lewis' life. At times Ambrose verges on being annoyingly boosterish, but never quite pushes the boundary. The only true lapse is that he seems overly eager to set aside reasonable claims that Lewis suffered from neurosyphilis, which could explain his abrupt decline in behavior and reasoning upon returning to St Louis (or, possibly, beginning with his arguably disastrous and definitely ill-advised attempt to contact the Blackfeet). All that aside though, this is a very readable and educational account of Lewis & Clark's expedition across what would become America, and really gives a good picture of both the crew and the times they lived in.
  • Lear's Daughters. Kellogg, Rossow. Formerly The Wave and the Flame and Reign of Fire. Great book. Oddly slow---never really slows or advances, rather constantly moving at a somewhat stately pace---and long, but well worth it. It does draw you in, but never at great pace. The science fiction here is well grounded, alien and majestic but not subtle and plausible. Most importantly though, all of the fair number of characters are well done. Very few are cardboard, and even then are not annoyingly so and have their proper place. All of the primaries are properly nuanced and subtle, as realistic as the final, reasonably complex outcome. At what cost do villains die?
  • Daemon. Suarez. Excellent read. Very crredible on its tech if you grant some relatively moderate suspension of disbelief. Not even super hokey on the computer stuff. Plot is generally good; no brilliant character development, but not bad. Very interesting though thinking about the Daemon and watching it unfold.
  • Monster. Martinez. Fun, quick read. Definitely not high literature, but great modern day fantasy with a humorous bent. Characters are not super deep, but Monster himself is reasonable and the counterplay with his paper partner Chester is good. Interestingly, the finale is well up to expectations, suitably climactic and not ridiculous---at least within the parameters of this universe---so the ending does not disappoint, a flaw of oh so many books...

2k9/9

  • Flight of the Eisenstein. Swallow. Having not read any of the Horus Heresy books (this is the 4th in the series), I was worried that I would be lost with only my general knowledge of the revolt. Fortunately, this book pretty much stands on its own. General background is good to have, but you don't need details from the previous books. This is one of the best 40k books I have read so far. It really focuses a lot on character development and the world, punctuated by solid action sequences. Garro is a fairly stereotypical good literary marine---noble, introspective, badass---but he's interesting and portrayed well, particularly his doubts and religious growth. Interaction with Rogal Dorn and the Imperial Fists is also notably interesting. All in all, a good read. I'm not sure how well it could stand without some knowledge of 40k---it'd probably be tough to follow and less dramatic---but within that context it's excellent. Interestingly, this book is the most human I have seen the Space Marines portrayed. I am not sure if that is because of the specific chapters involved---which makes sense, given many of their members are on the steps of revolt---or that things changed greatly after the Heresy. It could also be simply that I just haven't read enough books about the Marines; most of the books I've read are about the Imperial Guard.
  • Land of the Dead. Harlan. Doesn't have the novel shock effect of Wastland but is an excellent story, probably slightly richer than Wasteland. Only downside is that at times the overpowering processes and mysticism becomes very hard to extract simple meaning from and figure out what is going on, but it's not too bad, and is explained at the end, though in a regrettably too-long monologue fashion. Combat remains pretty solid, though at times a bit long here. Hadeishi really comes to the front and fills out a promising character. I look forward to the next book.
  • House of Reeds. Harlan. Not quite as strong as Wasteland, but carries on the universe well. Though these Sixth Sun books are too independent to really be a trilogy, this book suffers from typical middle-story syndrome: It's both the least novel and the least dramatic. Still, the universe remains interesting, and the number of opportunities opened up here for compelling future stories is ridiculous. Most disappointing perhaps is that Maggie and Parker don't really have a place in the story. They're there, but if they were dropped nothing would really change. An unfortunate waste of developing the Heshok's great character, culture, and idiosyncracies.
  • Wasteland of Flint. Harlan. Excellent science fiction. Not incredibly deep, but very compelling. The universe constructed here is amazing, from the opening ultralight sequences to the great mixture of novel cultures and alternative history. Combining early Mexican and Japanese cultures and moving them to the fore, with traditional Western nations pushed to the renegades and side cultures, is a master stroke that works very well. Combat sequences---ship-to-ship and otherwise---are solid and do not get in the way. Almost every character is very interesting, notably including the sidekick characters such as Maggie.
  • A Secret and Unlawful Killing. Harrison. Solid detective story set in Ireland circa early Henry VIII. Characters are likable, fast read, comports some interesting knowledge on the structure of Irish life and governance at that time.
  • Mind over Ship. Marusek. The follow up to Counting Heads. The characters in the first quarter of the book are perhaps not quite as interesting, largely because Fred is imprisoned, but they are all pretty solid and things pick up as the book goes on. Fred's story continues to be excellent, particularly in his interplay with Mary. Dealings between the mentar AIs and the humans also becomes even more interesting than in the first book. Both of these novels are great reads, and work very well together to present a unique, believable, interesting take on the future.
  • Counting Heads. Marusek. This is a great read, though I was not sold in the first few pages---the opening character is probably not the most compelling, though he becomes somewhat more interesting. On a continuing trend for me, in some sense nothing very dramatic happens, though there are some good action sequences and more than a few characters killed, maimed, etc.; the final action sequence is actually fairly brutal if you really think about the details. The book holds a great interplay between clones, augmented people, normal people, AIs, and nanobots. Fred, the lead clone character, is probably the most interesting, and he is a great character.
  • Intuition. Goodman. This is an excellent novel, particularly so for anyone employed in the scientific enterprise. Dyed in the wool Sci-fi reader than I am, I had trouble throughout the first chapter and a half setting aside any assumption that something very dramatic was about to happen---despite knowing otherwise, part of me kept waiting for Cliff to prick himself and contract some horrible contagious virus, one of the mice to become a super being, etc. The book, however, remains steadfastly, unerringly, completely realistic, with no suspension of disbelief involved whatsoever.

2k9/8

  • Epic: Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks. Willis (ed.). Decent collection of mountaineering stories. Almost all revolve around deaths, though the editor notes this was not his intent---it just worked out that most of the mountaineering writing he really liked revolved around death. Some of the stories are excellent. One of the most notable is an expedition to Annapurna, which really managed to convey in the writing a vivid sense of altitude sickness and oxygen deprivation as the team struggles to make it back down. There are also good discussions on the meaning of the various expeditions. A few stories are a bit long and meandering, but on the whole a solid collection.

2k9/6

  • World War Z. Brooks. Awesome book. The vignette style makes it slightly less compelling because you don't bond with any particular characters that strongly---and at the very end with the short returns they all blend together---but the action keeps moving and the overall approach is great, so it keeps reading.

2k9/1

  • Spider Star. Brotherton. Excellent, original science fiction. The three lead characters are similar, different, all interesting, and going through solid internal progressions. The society is very reasonable and the depictions of space flight reasonably novel, particularly the dens. The main character is also fantastic---a hero, but also just a regular guy with a very authentic feel. The feeling of solitude and loneliness on his previous voyages comes across excellently, as does the slightly off kilter perspective and slight difficulties with other people that has given him. The secondary character is also surprisingly attractive, particularly once dumped out of his comfort zone and rigid, arrogant nature. Some cheap deus ex machinas in the last few pages somewhat tarnish the very end, but the ride before it is magnificent.
  • Mudbound. Jordan. An excellent story of the post-WW2 south! The characters are all compelling and largely muted by certainly not flat. Perhaps most interesting is the many characters that aren't really good people, but aren't really bad people either. And for some of them, what exactly does it mean to be a good person? Does it require getting yourself killed? The very last couple pages is a little unsatisfying and unnecessary, but this is a truly excellent novel.
  • Saturn's Children. Stross. An impressively not good story. Not awful, but just not that good, though probably totally awesome if you're into hot robot-on-robot action. It's unfortunate because the story has a lot of neat features and the first chunk of it is interesting. Most fetching is the core premise that all the humans died and society just kept chugging along---via its (by that point entrenched) robots. Also interesting is the wide mix of robots, from androids to space-adapted dwarves to specialized miners to houses... Sadly though, it all just ends in confusion. Most of the story is based around different robots assuming different identities and by the end it's near impossible to keep track of who is actually who, ruining much of it to a cheap sci-sex tale.
  • Elom. Drinkard. A reasonably interesting story, mixing a pre-historic setting with aliens. Notably, relationships make up much of the story and are done reasonably well, less flat and less forced to simply inject some sex than in many novels. There are some oddities early on were the characters speak and think notably beyond their supposed sophistication (math and science concepts they shouldn't know). The descriptions also sometimes stand out for describing things in ways well out of context. However, this goes away as the setting advances technologically.
  • Mars Life. Bova. Compelling because it's just so realistic on the political scene, and frustrating as a thinking human to realize that it's a fair portrayal of much of the religious right.
  • The Court of the Air. Hunt. Pretty interesting read, fairly novel. The world is heavily drawn from Victorian England, but twisted in both small and large ways. Small ways are things like simple renamings of buildings, towns, and objects. Large things are the infusion of magic, computers, robots, demons, etc... The action is solid, and the book is pretty family friendly throughout. I suspect it would make a good tweener movie a la the new Narnia movies. At just one or two points the story does get a bit preachy, and the symbolism is at times tiresome with its overtness. Interestingly, the main protagonists and antagonists are really not the ones that stand out the most. They're actually fairly flat and somewhat boring. The supporting cast however is excellent, most especially the steammen.

2k8/12

  • Guardian. Haldeman. Interesting tale. Again, Haldeman carries the details well. His depiction of traveling to the Yukon at the height of the Gold Rush is pretty solid and carries the right feel of cold, wood planking, mud, waiting. The more fantastic elements of the story are somewhat staid however. They're not bad, just not engrossing or particularly novel. However, things keep moving along well.
  • Marsbound. Haldeman. Ends fairly weekly in the last eighth, but is otherwise pretty solid. Haldeman seems to have an impressive handle on details. I like the portrayal of the outbound flight and life on Mars. It catches a lot of nice details, like the dog units (portable life support boxes). Much of first two thirds of the book really shines with handling just the practicalities of this new style of life between the planets, carrying the staid, slow atmosphere without becoming tiresome. Romance side story is not too bothersome, and I suppose important in a coming of age story, but not compelling. The Martians when they come are fun and interesting, but it rapidly becomes a little silly and just isn't very rewarding in the end. Some elements, such as the very altered time scales of the Others, are interesting, but it's all fairly campy. It also doesn't make much sense. If they're all so fast and presumably so intelligent, including the being on Triton, why does it tell Red of its plans? There's no reason to, and it seems fairly straightforward to work out that such revelations might only endanger them, as born out by the ending...
  • East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Ringo. Campy military sci-fi. Pretty cheesy & juvenile. Definitely best suited for the teen/young adult crowd except that it probably can't be shelved there precisely because of the sex & humor largely warranting that placement. Characters go nowhere and are very flat. Action is pretty lame and conventional. Plot is predictable, not exciting. All in all, it's an easy & quick read, but not obviously worth it.
  • Hunters in the Sky. Whelan. Non-fiction. Briefly looks at fighter combat in World War I, then homes in on fighter combat in World War II, with some relevant discussion of bombers and their relationship to fighters. Editing is sloppy in places, and the book is essentially war porn---many essentially meaningless details about kill counts, and so on. It does, however, do a good job describing changing roles and tactics throughout the war. A good look is also taken at the very different atmospheres of the European and Pacific theaters, as well as among particular nations. Europe is portrayed as still clinging to the chivalric notion of fighter combat, though that dwindles as the war goes on and less so on the American side (as opposed to the RAF & Luftwaffe). In the Pacific, however, it's all hate from day one, on both sides. Many more stories there on both sides of pilots being shot in parachutes, strafed on the ground, and so on. Russian territory is also portrayed as particularly bad territory to bail into, even for other Allied pilots. On a yet deeper level though, it calls into question what the European theater pilots were doing. How much shorter and less devastating to the world at large would the war have been if pilots were not so frequently returning to safety, suffering only the loss of their machine? On the other hand, would the Germans have rapidly overrun the limited supplies of RAF pilots in the early phases of the war if this had been the case? Even if pilots' safe return is over-exaggerated here---as it must be, otherwise fatality rates would not be so high---it is still troubling in its very nobleness and honor.

2k8/11

  • Open Source Flash Development. Allen et al. Non-fiction. Solid survey of open source tools available for creating Flash programs. Not a good resource for learning Flash or ActionScript programming, but a great resource for figuring out how to get it all compiling and so on without buying Adobe's commercial software. Note that Adobe itself is, however, a large open source contributor and has released many of its tools.

2k8/9

  • Engines of the Mind. Shurkin. Non-fiction. I'd read this a long time ago, but it's a solid history of early computer development, more or less ending just before the microcomputer phase. There is some coverage of that, but it's not particularly in depth or solid. This is really a book that focuses on chips, tubes, and big computers from the 1930s--1970s, with a large component on business tabulating machines in the 1800s. Definitely readable though slighly dry and to-the-facts for the most part but worthwhile. Best when combined with other books to hit later periods and software---programmers and underlying concepts are largely ignored here.
  • Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition and Still Can't Get a Date. Cringely. Non-fiction. Great, readable history of the microcomputer early up to the very early 1990s. I'd read it before, but it's entertaining enough to revisit every now and then. Focuses a lot on people, their management skills, and tragic failures. Very funny style, easily readable.

2k8/6

  • Prey. Crichton. The plot is bland, the buzzwords and "science" fragments annoying. I don't understand Crichton. Giving some benefit of the doubt, it seems like he's widely read and a smart guy that understands many concepts. But it all gets dumbed down and mashed into his books in ways that don't even make sense. What happens? Is he doing that on purpose? Does he just not get it? I don't know. Stay away unless you're stranded somewhere and/or forgot all your reading material at home...
  • Astonishing X-Men #24. Comic book. Sort of interesting if you're very familiar with all the characters and backstory. Kitty's sacrifice adds some pathos to the character. If you don't know all the characters though, the issue makes absolutely no sennse. It's also tough to get much out of it without having followed the whole Astonishing series...
  • Ultimate Human #4. Comic book. Totally lame, absolutely nothing going on here.
  • Eternals. Gaiman. Graphic novel. Totally crappy. Gaiman's so awesome, but no less prone to overly grandiose, typical comic book schlock mythology that's just over the top, boring, and lame. This book is no exception. Flat characters, boring story, little action. The Deviants are somewhat interesting---they're pretty much the only three-dimensional characters---but that's about it.
  • War Posters: Weapons of Mass Communication. Aulich. Non-fiction. Interesting survey of propaganda and marketing posters from WWI to the present day. Some, of course, are very striking. Others are downright ugly. Perhaps most interesting are the common icons and even direct, blatant reimagings that span decades, nations, and severely contrasting ideologies.

2k8/5

  • The Lady Tasting Tea. Salsburg. Non-fiction. Entertaining, anecdotal accounting of the development of modern statistics. Probably best appreciated by those with at least passing familiarity with statistics & mathematics. At times the book isn't very cohesive, and the rationale for including some anecdotes not clear, but it is a very solid effort. The first half especially provides a good amount of deeper understanding and familiarity with various aspects of statistics based on where and why they were developed.
  • AK-47. Kahaner. Non-fiction. Very good read on the development of the AK-47 and its rapid rise to ubiquity. The book opens solidly with early motivation for the development of assault rifles, stemming from evolving tactics in WW2 and changing Nazi experiences. Another very compelling portion is development of the M-16, its failures and successes, and blatant corruption in the Army Ordnance department. The glimpse into the arms world and the spread of the gun throughout history is also informative. Kalashnikov the man comes across mixed, and seems torn himself between legitimate belief in Soviet ideals, and bitterness at his financial poverty as a result of that system (he never made any money off his invention, the most widely used weapon in the world).
  • A Concise History of Mathematics. Struik. Non-fiction. There's simply no value in reading this book. It does survey a good amount of mathematical history, but without context, meaning, or broader implications. If you aren't passing familiar with most of the math discussed, it will have even less value. This text is perhaps useful as a catalog for further research, but there's no central thesis here. You will gain no insight, no further understanding, no feeling for the passion, people, and history.
  • 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School. Frederick. Non-fiction. Interesting book. Most of it is somewhat obvious & well known, but it makes a lot of good points and has some interesting discussions. It's also easy and quick to read, presented in a "one-a-day" type of format. Interesting binding work as well.

2k8/4

  • Fables: Vol 9, Sons of Empire. Willingham. Graphic novel. Some characters have changed in the several volumes since March of the Wooden Soldiers but this remains an excellent series.
  • Fables: Vol 3, Storybook Love. Willingham. Graphic novel. Ditto.
  • Fables: Vol 1, Legends in Exile. Willingham. Graphic novel. Characters not fully formed yet, but still interesting. A little graphic for my taste as well.
  • Fables: Vol 5, The Mean Season. Willingham. Graphic novel.
  • Fables: Vol 4, March of the Wooden Soldiers. Willingham. Graphic novel. Pretty solid, just need more of it! Euro-traditional fairy tales have escaped a relatively faceless nemesis in their own lands by migrating to New York City. Good characters, solid and clear artwork, some intriguing background and plot twists.
  • 30 Days of Night. Niles. Graphic novel. Ok, fast read, not compelling enough to keep up with the series.
  • A People's History of American Empire. Zinn. Non-fiction (well, theoretically and mostly...). Graphic novel. A history of American Imperialism throughout the nation's history. The book is good, and a quick read, but sometimes hard to stomach in its very one-sided viewpoint. Some leeway can be given for over-bias in an attempt to counter the status quo, but it's still troublesome. In particular, there are definitely "facts" in here which distort the truth a bit. The book's narrative itself also seems contradictory at times as it tries to force simple interpretations on complex events, as in the chapter on Iran. It's not obvious how much of this is simply a product of the comic medium and its relative lack of words, Zinn himself, or the objective of the book. Inclusion of Zinn's minor involvement in various affairs was also unnecessary. Some stories of personal insight, e.g. the bombardier chapter, are interesting, but others just come across as self-aggrandizement.

2k8/3

  • In Plane View / Abstractions of Flight. Russo. Art book. An interesting book and very pretty, but generally I think the vehicles in question are more beautiful and compelling than the mostly abstract images created here by zooming in on particular details.

2k8/2

  • Savage Inequalities. Kozol. Non-fiction. This book is hard to judge without real context on its publication, or a feel for the larger point of view. Sixteen years after its publication, it's hard to gauge how shocking the book's revelations were in 1992. More troubling, it's hard to gauge how shocking they are today. I just can't tell if the general public realizes the kinds of educational shortcomings described within have existed and still do exist. It's also hard to gauge how much these issues still exist, and where. As a book, this text is sometimes repetitive and dry. It's also noticeably lacking in counter viewpoints, or solutions other than increased funding.
  • Ex Machina: March to War (volume 4). Vaughan, Harris. Graphic novel. Pretty good, though not amazingly compelling.
  • Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days (volume 1). Vaughan, Harris. Graphic novel. Decent story, though the serial killer is a big let down and somewhat unbelievable.
  • Is America Falling Off the Flat Earth? Augustine. Non-fiction. An editorial summary from the chair of the national academies' Gathering Storm committee. Very readable and entertaining, even as it paints a troublesome picture of American competitiveness. The early sections are filled with catching factoids, slowly drifting to more discussion and even some reasonably concrete suggestions toward the end.

2k8/1

  • Ex Machina: Tag (volume 2). Vaughan, Harris. Graphic novel. Seems pretty good, although you probably need the whole collection to get a full story. This volume is mostly focused on gay rights, an interesting topic for a superhero comic based on what is essentially a half man/half machine character.
  • The Man Who Made Wall Street: Anthony J. Drexel and the Rise of Modern Finance. Rottenberg. Non-fiction. An interesting read, possibly more for what it reveals of the times and the rapid development of America than for revelations about its central protagonist. The book is fairly dry, but that's perhaps not unexpected about a man who incurred no major scandals, was shockingly mild and forgiving in temper, and extremely reclusive and private. Drexel comes across as near perfect, and it's worth keeping in mind that the author was heavily supported by the university that bears Drexel's name. His one central failing is portrayed as an inability to judge his own relatives, and to have great difficulty raising them as independent, responsible adults. However, the argument is well and convincingly made that Drexel was a central shaper of modern America, all out of proportion with his lack of modern day recognition.

2k7/12

  • Endless Blue. Spencer. I came into this with low expectations, and I think that paid off as I came out mildly, pleasantly surprised. The sex scenes are largely unnecessary, but they're not overly obtrusive after the first one. The "world" on which everyone's stranded is fairly interesting & cogent despite having no explanation by the end (not a bad thing---it seems much more realistic that only bits and pieces of the mystery are determined). The characters are likable and reasonably complex, the species relatively novel, and the Reds and Blues interesting. Very readable. Spencer also does a good job splitting characters; you're never left thinking you've just gotten stuck w/ the boring one at any given moment.
  • Star Wars: Allegiance. Zahn. Zahn does indeed have a way with the Star Wars setting, and this is a nice little addition. There's a lot of focus here on Imperial troops, structure, and mindset. Particularly nice is that the stormtroopers portrayed here are indeed the lethal, highly competent, fearsome forces which they're always projected to be, despite continually getting brushed aside like fleas by the Skywalker/Solo clan. Hell, their armor even works. Better, the book capitalizes on that competence---being kickass always boost sympathy---and features a band of heroic, honorable stormtroopers not quite sure of the direction the Empire's taking. The other main characters are Han and Mara Jade, so it works out quite nicely. The plot is both followable, reasonable, and fairly intricate as well. Notably, the book does a good job of keeping things moving and despite the many perspective splits, never leaves you thinking "Damn, why am I reading about this character now when those guys are about to do something cool???"
  • Opening Atlantis. Turtledove. Pretty stock fare of an alternate timeline from the ~1400s to 1700s. More focus on combat than characters, and increasingly so as the book goes on, which is probably why the first part (initial colonization of Atlantis) is the best part.
  • Black Sun. Twining. Good modern-setting Nazi fiction, with neo-Nazis, Swiss banks, art thiefs, international police, and tons of treasure. The action keeps up, the mystery unfolds nicely, the characters are good, and there's just enough real history here. A good read in the vein of Indiana Jones, and a nice twist in the ending making the intense interest from the Nazi parties slightly more reasonable.
  • Helix. Brown. Ok genre fiction, but it takes some serious determination to get through the first few chapters of sermonizing about how humans are terrible planet killers. Some of it also just doesn't make sense, in particular it's hard to even visualize the helix as described. Interesting aliens though.
  • The Pentagon. Vogel. Non-fiction. Great book on the construction of the Pentagon in the early days of WWII, development in the Cold War, and reconstruction after 9/11. The majority of the book focuses on the WWII era, and it is the most compelling. The remainder is very interesting, though the 9/11 portion is sappy at times. Of course, the real draw here are the very colorful personalities involved, and the context/history in which the story unfolds. Rather mundane issues like construction and logistics are ultimately what enabled the Allies to win WWII, and this is the story of the guys who made that happen. With it comes a lot of background on the growth of the US into a superpower, national policy and structure, the Manhattan Project, etc. Very recommended.
  • Beyond the Gap. Turtledove. More than I expected from Turtledove. If anything, there's just slightly less action than there could be, but certainly not the usual overload. Characters are largely good, though predictable, as is the bulk of the plot. More troubling perhaps is that the rampant similarities with the Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm not sure which one gets the nod however...
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation---The Space Between. Tischman, Maloney. Graphic novel. Empty and incoherent.
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Dick. A very good read, but possibly a case where the movie is actually better than the novel. Some of the interesting ambiguities in the movie aren't as strong here, and there are some serious inconsistencies (what happens w/ Resch and why doesn't he get one of the bounties?). However, it is a pretty original story, even after the basic thematic question has been plumbed again and again over the years. The world is interesting (who would have thought half of it would be about raising animals?), and the questions are pretty solid to this day.

2k7/11

  • The Outback Stars. McDonald. Good, very naval look at colonization and space travel. Several novel elements here, including the heavy focus on Australian aboriginal culture. Some elements of the ending, i.e. the government's acceptance of their decision, don't seem terribly realistic, but it remains an interesting book.
  • The Third Lynx. Zahn. Wraps up Night Train to Rigel. Not bad genre sci-fi.
  • Slaves of the Shinar. Allen. Interesting take on the rise of the modern world in Africa. A number of interesting cultures & people in here and a pretty good read.
  • Empire of Blue Water. Talty. Non-fiction. Accounts the life and times of Captain Morgan and 17th century piracy on the Spanish Main. It highlights several interesting aspects of the typical Caribbean pirates, most notably their emphasis on land rather than naval combat. It also discusses the extreme dependence of the Spanish economy on shipments from the West. Several interesting interpretations of the pirates' lifestyle & relative success are also given, for example their reliance on advanced technology (better guns), and employment of modern corporate management techniques such as significant healthcare plans (substantial support for those injured), personal incentives (rewards for first over the side, etc), and employee ownership (voting on targets).

2k7/10

  • Right Livelihoods: 3 Novellas. Moody. Moody's books are almost always interesting, though frequently uncomfortable to read. This is no exception, opening with a great take on senility in the opening novella. The middle story is fairly plain, but the closer is a good, trippy sci-fi story. The end isn't super clear, but it's a good tale & interesting to see Moody do some science fiction.
  • The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Selznick. A multimedia book, with both text & graphic novel segments, roughly revolving around stage magic & early early cinema. Ultimately a children's story, but fun nonetheless.
  • Digital Fantasy Painting. Burns. Not super enlightening.
  • 3D Game Textures. Ahearn. Non-fiction. Pretty good, except a lot of the recipes don't seem to work, at least for my version of Photoshop.
  • Core Memory. Richards. Non-fiction. Great art book documenting the development of computers and their hardware. Each page is an awesome photo of esoteric computer hardware. The colors and details are really vibrant, and the artistry present in some of the designs amazing.

2k7/9

  • Wiring Vietnam. Tambini. Non-fiction. Interesting, but dry and somewhat underwhelming story of early deployed sensor networks/fields. Lots of dry facts about operations with a number of sometimes oddly fitting anecdotes mixed in. An interesting look at operations life though, and the applications and structure of sensor networks, and lots of interesting points about the Vietnam war. Almost nothing on development of the sensors and their detailed workings however.

2k7/8

  • The Last Town on Earth. Mullen. Ok novel set in 1918, in the middle of the Spanish Flu epidemic in Washington State. Very readable but not overly compelling tale of a progressive community trying to deal with the flu outbreak and the consequences of their decisions. Kind of fuzzy and soft around the edges, feels like a high school novel and probably appropriate and accessible even for young teens.
  • Blindsight. Watts. Pretty interesting sci-fi novel. Somewhat of an anti-climactic ending, but perfectly reasonable. The premise of vampires resurrected for their extraordinary analytical abilities takes some suspension of disbelief, but is manageable. Space mechanics are done fairly well, and Rorshach is certainly an interesting entity, along with the main character. Interestingly, it's available online in its entirety.
  • 300. Miller. Graphic novel. Ok, but done in really broad strokes---really only a story outline, without much detail or attachment to the characters.
  • The Armies of Memory. Barnes. To its credit, I had no idea this was the end of a series until I finished the book and really looked at the cover. Very solid, maybe excellent genre-ish science fiction novel with a number of unique elements. Just enough important undertones to make it more interesting than most.
  • Only Revolutions. Danielewski. Abandoned. Way too much work to read, let alone follow. A shame, because it's somewhat intriguing and the fast, loose style almost appealing.
  • Bizzarro. Piraro. Comics. Mostly ok. Pretty bland, but occasional clever bits.
  • The Packaging and Design Templates Sourcebook. Herriott, editor. Art book. Some pretty cool examples in here of both practical and artistic packaging. Many include clever use of cutouts and folds to create thematic three dimensional effects and styling. Standouts include lotus folding planetary map, tower built of interlocking business cards, houses, egg carton DVD case, glueless cartons, postcards folding up into model cars.
  • A Separate War and other Stories. Joe Haldeman. A collection of short stories from throughout Haldeman's career. It's about fifty/fifty---some are empty, cliched, or dated, and several are very good. A Separate War, Diminished Chord, Giza,Civil Disobedience, and Out of Phase/Power Complex are all interesting. For White Hill is a very good, fairly original tale of the end of the world. Not so much for the way the world ends, but the characters, their setting, and their take on it. Good emotions and attachment here. The author's notes at the end are also interesting, for example pointing out that For White Hill is structured around one of Shakespeare's Sonnets.
  • Flight: Volume One. Graphic novel. Like the other Flight books, most of the art is pretty good but they need to get some storywriters involved. Most of it is just empty fluff.
  • Halo Graphic Novel. Compilation. Graphic novel. Amazingly sucky. Artwork is mostly blurred, boring, or uninteresting. Action sequences are too long, confusing, and muddied. Stories are non-existent. Maybe you'd get more out of it if you're more familiar with the Halo universe, but I don't think so. Case in point: The Johnson story is a total flop. Despite the huge buildup, nothing happens except a running shootout with the Flood. Most of the art in the Gallery at the end is better than the stories, and one or two even has a better story than the actual stories. Pretty clear Bungie & Microsoft just grabbed whoever was available and pushed out four stories to make this happen in time for some deadline or budget, despite all the protestations that that's exactly what didn't happen. Very disappointing, this could have been awesome.
  • The House in the High Wood. Barlough. Pretty decent, though at times a bit wordy and longwinded. The mood is solid, the people interesting, and the setting fairly unique, but the end comes through as pretty anti-climactic. Imparts a solid traditional gothic feel created by the language and pacing but that's a double edged sword & the relatively tame result also fits right into that category.
  • The Black Swan. Taleb. Non-fiction. Abandoned. Another stupid "Chaos is everything!!!" book from an author full of himself, lacking the discipline to stick to the point, and possessed of a definite tendency to hype the goods rather than show them.
  • The Surrogates. Venditti, Weidele. Graphic novel. Pretty good. The story's interesting, not totally obvious, and the art is used to good effect. It's a little unbelievable---surrogates as employed here just don't seem realistically practical, wouldn't everyone just waste away and die?---but the story's good enough to put that aside. Detective Greer is likable and there's a pretty good action sequence in the middle (assault on the CDV Labs). Artwork is pretty good & has a definite style of its own that's very appropriate to the story.

2k7/7

  • The Quest for Aberzen: Book 1, To the Death. N'Guessan. Graphic novel. There's nothing here really, and the text is very confusing and hard to follow. Characters (unintentionally) don't speak the same way from page to page, their moods are hard to follow, etc. Something lost in translation?
  • Monk: Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants. Goldberg. Ok, but without the faces and voices it's not quite as funny as the show. Monk also comes across as being way more ridiculous here, annoyingly so, probably just because the suspension of disbelief isn't as good. Natalie as narrator is also fairly grating. It's like listening to a valley girl prattling on and whining for a few hundred pages. The book also never overcomes the feeling that it's a man writing a woman's part (which is true).
  • Ocean. Ellis. Graphic novel. Par for a mini-series, there's not a lot here. Art's ok, story's ho-hum but pretty stereotypical, characters mundane. The "Doors Company" gag would be cute as an easter egg in the art, but its prominent placing is just grating.
  • A Grey Moon Over China. Day. Really different, thoughtful novel. The book has a very dreamlike, flashback-style to it, especially through the first half. You don't have much background knowlege, there's not a lot of exposition, not much detail, and time moves rapidly. It's all blurry and grey around the edges, and tags just important scenes and telling vignettes here and there. The effect fits well with the book and gives a hard, claustrophobic feel to what is essentially a very depressing novel. The violence, brutality, and deception just doesn't let up here, but not in an action book fashion. It's much more staid, political, and yet coldly personal. It also has some fairly different approaches to what colonization will look like, even among other similarly bleak outlooks. Good, realistic seeming space combat as well.
  • Kop. Hammond. A vaguely sci-fi detective novel. The sci-fi is there---the book's set on a colony planet, everyone has crazy implants, etc---but it's not over the top or particularly integral to the story. Much more about people and the mystery than the spaceships, lasers, and whatnot. A fast read, very quick to get into, and keeps moving, but the characters are generally pretty interesting. Recommended.
  • Olympos. Simmons. Not quite as strong as Ilium, but that's not surprising given that most of the mysteries have been revealed by this point so it's not as inventive. There seems to be more humor here, for example when the moravecs (robots) come across a wildly copulating Odysseus and the blind one exclaims "What's going on, my infrared indicates a desperate struggle to the death!!!" In general I think the lesson here is that even Simmons struggles to make alternate realities work. The many many references also start to wear thin---we get it, Simmons knows a lot of things. A good bit too much pseudo-science as well. More troubling, there also seems to be a bothersome anti-Islam vein, with (the long since dead) Muslim population of Earth portrayed as being solely out to destroy the Jews at all costs, even that of the Earth itself. I'm not sure quite what to make of this. However, definitely worth a read after Illium, and inevitable at that point.

2k7/6

  • Model Shipbuilding Handbook, The. Price. Non-fiction. Mostly pretty generic discussion. However, there are good sections on hull building, casting, and vacuum forming.
  • 50 Model Rocket Projects for the Evil Genius. Harper. Non-fiction. A solid rocketry book, but like most is slightly disappointing. There isn't much here that you can't get off the back of an Estes parts box. A few good circuits toward the back though.
  • Code to Zero. Follett. Another mainstream science thriller, albeit one set in the late '50s. The women are mostly male-fantasy types, the men not very compelling, and everybody very gullible and straight good/bad. It's ok, but it should have been cut by about a quarter.
  • Ilium. Simmons. Through the first 3/4 I was convinced this was shaping up to be one of the best books/stories ever. It's wildly imaginative. Mahnmut and Orphu are definitely among the most likable and interesting robot characters---they spend all their time discussing Shakespeare's sonnets! The other characters are all pretty solid as well. There are a number of really neat innovations here as well, such as the chlorophyll men and the way they communicate with Mahnmut. The only reason this suffers a bit near the end is because nobody, not even Simmons, can start dishing out alternate realities without it getting kind of silly and being a turnoff. However, the quality remains mostly intact and the alternate realities certainly serves to bring a wide swath of elements together---Caliban on an abandoned space station? Whoa. -2 points for not really concluding by the end of the book; there's a sequel, Olympos.
  • Tyrannosaur Canyon. Preston. Typical mainstream science thriller. My favorite part is when the heroes encounter a series of eight digit (decimal) numbers and conclude that it must be some sort of data because it's grouped into bytes... I can't stand these dumbass science thriller authors like Preston & Crichton, they're so full of it and sure they know what's up. The story here is pretty mundane; it's pretty clear from the start what's going on and almost everything is entirely predictable. Similarly, the characters are pretty much cardboard as well. Not painful reading, but pointless.
  • Angelmass. Zahn. So-so story about a mysterious potential life form, spies, and cost-driven imperial conquest. The story moves, everything wraps up nicely, it's an ok read. Not challenging, but not much here either. One of the battles is fairly decent though.
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Clarke. Excellent story about the return of magic to England around the time of Napoleon. A long book, and even a good bit longer than the page count due to the small-type footnotes, but engrossing throughout. The footnotes add a great deal of extra, tangential stories, and contribute a good deal to building up a perception of depth, a history of English magic. That is perhaps the book's best component, a real sense of background. You'll almost belief that there is such a thing, that all of the referenced books were published, and so on. It's even more impressive when you realize this is a first effort, and the background has not been built up over several volumes. The characters are almost all interesting and deep in direct proportion to their time spent on page, except for one or two pure foils. Much of it is also very novel and interesting, with many subtle spells and interesting discourses on magic and government. The historical bits and funny touches such as archaic spelling (e.g. "chuse") all also work to create the context, rather than force the setting to the fore. One of the best fantastical novels I've read, and definitely somewhat different than "fantasy" fare.

2k7/5

  • Beckoning Silence, The. Simpson. Non-fiction. A pretty good read, would be excellent if it didn't tend to be a bit wordy and overly philosophical in places. There are also slight down points when he takes serious shots at a few fellow climbers, critiquing the morality of their actions (perhaps justifiably). From a book point of few the early focus on hang gliding is oddly non-existent later on, wasting the early buildup. However it's probably necessary to work in Tat. It could also be a commentary on no true adventure being safe, but that is not made explicit. Many of the action sequences are excellent, especially if you've done any climbing at all. A few scenes put my heart rate way up thinking about what it would be like to be in that position. An interesting look at someone who's been in a lot of bad situations, had a lot of friends fall off mountains or otherwise get hurt/dead, and starts to wonder why he's there and if he wants to be there.
  • Naked Sun, The. Asimov. It's tough to beat a sci-fi murder myster, but this one's unsatisfying. Typical Asimov robotica, way too much bludgeoning about the head with obtuse, literal semantics of the three laws. The multi-flip ending is pretty stupid as well, several parts of it are just not believable (why is Minnim the only one that asks Baley the obvious question? I was...).
  • Catch 22. Heller. Still debating about this: Is the book or the movie the better version? Unfortunately I saw the movie fairly young and it left a big impression. I think a fair bit of the humor carries better spoken, with faces and voices to go with it. Both are excellent however. The only real problem is that it's so madcap that a lot of important things have a weird, understated effect, e.g. when Aarfy murders a prostitute.

2k7/4

Bike racing happened.

2k7/3

  • Rex Mundi: The Guardian of the Temple. Nelson, EricJ. Graphic novel. Good stuff in an alternate history earth circa the French revolution. Doesn't really go anywhere in this volume, but a good story arc is set up. Good art, good combo of the occult, politics, the church, and basic murder mystery.
  • John Law, Detective: Dead Man Walking. Chaloner, Eisner. Graphic novel. Includes originals by Eisner, modern retelling by Chaloner. Ok stuff, but definitely shows its age, e.g. Nubbin the goofy shoeshine kid has almost as big a role as John Law, and there's a lot of comic book slapstick.
  • Apparat: The Singles Collection. Graphic novel. Almost skipped this, the opening comic was so crappy. The Frank, Emma, and Simon stories are ok though---a hardboiled, ultra calm detective, an abused aviator in an age of air pirates, and a Batman-type crime fighter.
  • Hellboy: Wake the Devil. Graphic novel. The Hellboy movie seems to have taken a lot from this collection. Not the most amazing stuff ever, but a fun read.
  • To the Edge of the World. Thompson. Great fictionalized read about the voyage of the Beagle, and the adventures of the crew, Darwin, and captain FitzRoy. Really good characterization, very interesting take on Darwin and especially FitzRoy, more or less the protagonist. A long book, but it stays interesting throughout and covers a long period of time.

2k7/2

  • Nausicaa 3. Miyazaki. Graphic novel. Issue 2 was clearly the highpoint so far, but this series remains good. Everyone continues to be interesting, with Kushana (initially put forward as simply an evil princess), the Torumekian army (Nausicaa's initial enemies), and the Doroks (the enemy of the Torumekians; less aligned w/ Nausicaa than the Torumekians) all showing increasing depth.
  • From Hell. Moore. Graphic novel. Builds on the "royal conspiracy" theories of Jack the Ripper. Constructs a powerful story in which the Royal Doctor is the Ripper, charged with silencing a royal scandal and employing this as sanction to conduct a complex, savage ritual as part of the continuing battle of men over women. The overall story is fairly reasonable and Moore makes very clear in the lengthy appendix what exactly is fact, what's pure fiction, what's drawn from other theories, and what's outright not true. Extremely graphic, in terms of both violence and sex, all the more so because of the dark, scratched, black & white style. Very long, especially when the two appendices are included. One recounts Moore's notes, the other a survey of the development of the Ripper legend. Chapter four is extremely slow and a burden, as the doctor goes on a lengthy tour of London, expounding on his theories. It's fascinating and epic as he constructs London itself as his ritual altar, but definitely goes on a bit long. Otherwise the story moves well. The climactic chapters, including the final act of the ritual and later the Doctor's death, are very powerful. This is occult and conspiracy storytelling at it's best.
  • Plot, The: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Eisner. Graphic novel. It's hard to say what effect this would have on stopping the spread of The Protocols. It does not seem to be the sort of thing that would be picked up by most casual readers, and clearly anti-semites won't be swayed by a rational argument, no matter the form. This is an interesting read though to get a feel for the true scope of this horrible deceit, and how eagerly bigots around the world and throughout modern times have looked for any sort of justification.
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Miller. Graphic novel. Very good tale of the Dark Knight as truly a Dark Knight, back & kicking ass without hesitation and few pulled punches after a ten year self-enforced retirement. An aging Batman is done very well, as well as his obsessive compulsiveness. How else did you think he survived that long? Sometimes requires filling in a lot of details on your own, but it's a good story. Even the ubiquitous series-tie ins with the Green Arrow and Superman are done well. Normally these make me grind me teeth, but it's reasonable and interesting here.
  • Ministry of Space: Omnibus. Ellis. Graphic novel. Very interesting alternate history, wherein the British claim most of the Nazi scientists taken in actuality by the US at the end of WWII. These are used to propel the English space program, eventually leading in this volume to a regular launch program and space station, as well as the colonization of the moon and Mars. A key piece here, and perhaps critical commentary on true Operation Paperclip (the US effort to at least keep Nazi science away from the Russions and at best bring it home), is the funding of this effort. Although not revealed in this volume, it's clearly not appetizing. Interesting commentary as well on goals and motives in the Cold War space program. As one character points out, the Americans would have made ugly rockets just to beat the Russions. The English do it for glory.
  • Flight: Volume 2. Graphic novel. Arguably has better stories than Flight 3, but still not a lot of substance here. There's a few good ones, but most are just vague, artsy, fluffy or emo things.
  • Planetary. Graphic novel. Ellis. Brings you in with mystery & fun references to all sorts of comics and sci-fi elements (giant dead Godzillas!), but doesn't go anywhere at all (at least in this volume). There's a number of interesting elements, like the dimension ship, interesting backstories (the Charnel Ship, Murder Colonels, etc), and regular theme of quantum manipulation, but not enough plot to hang it all on. Kind of a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen effect, but without a complete narrative.
  • Tiger Force. Sallah and Weiss. Non-fiction. True, apparently carefully researched account of a US platoon in Vietnam that basically were a real version of Apocalypse Now. Their atrocities are generally individually smaller than well known incidents such as My Lai, but went on for months on end, arguably with command consent or even encouragement. Tiger Force was designed to ferret out tough enemy installations & call in air strikes, deep in enemy territory. They were relieved from most oversight, given the best equipment & support, learned guerilla tactics & the jungle, and sent to go find the enemy on missions that might last weeks. Eventually though they were basically turned against civilians and spent much of 1967 slaughtering, torturing, and mutilating helpless peasants. After the war the Army conducted a significant investigation into the unit, but this was covered up when it started to implicate higher ranking officers. This book's a great piece of investigation, and a good read on all of the things that went wrong in Vietnam and could go wrong elsewhere. It's very difficult to read this and believe that commanding officers could actually believe their policies and strategies would accomplish anything.
  • Variable Star. Heinlein, Robinson. It both shows that this is a Heinlein story, and that he did not finish it (or write most of it). The cliched, Heinlein staple of increased sexual freedom are present but more understated than usual. Ditto moral staples such as family values. Both the love stories & engine systems are pretty hokey though. The ending's somewhat of an anticlimax, and there's some big, random curveballs thrown in there. Not awful though.
  • Star Trek: Captain's Glory. Shatner, Reeves-Stevens, Reeves-Stevens. Reasonable Star Trek involving Kirk, Picard, Janeway, and most of the TNG & Voyager staples as they attempt to solve an invasion from another plane of existence.

2k7/1

  • Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry. Nelson. Non-fiction. Pretty interesting, though ultimately too long book about the factual origins of the legend of John Henry and the legend's development as a core American myth. Long story short, John Henry was most likely a real person but he didn't die in the tunnel commonly assumed. Pretty interesting material on reconstruction, post-Civil War South, development of the national railroads, and civil rights in that era.
  • The Deep Range. Clarke. An entertaining but somewhat unsatisfying story of a space pilot's conversion to one of the wardens responsible for protecting and caring for the herds of whales that form an important component of the Earth's food supply. Part of the dissatisfaction here might come from the lack of a real climax. It essentially follows one man's life, in which he accomplishes some things and doesn't others. The unknown creature is never discovered, his background isn't hugely dramatic, etc. A fun read though.
  • Red Lightning. Varley. A story about an enormous terrorist attack on Earth, and some consequences for the Mars colony which winds up possessing the only functional remaining power sources. This is an easy enough read that it moves quickly enough to overcome obstactles, but there are a lot of those. It's cliched, heavy handed, and annoying with its "fascist America" and "unprepared America" critiques. Even given reasonable suspension of disbelief, a lot of it just doesn't make sense---and I don't mean the bubbles (a perfect power source), but rather how some people act and such. There's also an awful lot of deus ex machina here (including this time the various bubble types). The handful of sex scenes are unnecessary and out of tune. The combat is interesting at times, but there's not much content to it. The story also flips wildly, almost like 2 novels, with the pretty lame & irrelevant explanation for the first half tacked on to the end of the second. Stay away.
  • Dreaming: Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory. Kiernan, Hogan, Nicholson. Graphic novel. Focuses on some of the secondary characters of The Sandman. In particular, Mervyn, Matthew, and the Corinthian. Matthew is the common thread through two thirds of the volume. Most of the stories are good, though the first two of the last three raise many more questions than they answer about Matthew and Eve. The story of Bob (featuring Mervyn) is one of my two favorite and most memorable in the Sandman universe however.
  • Sandman: Game of You. Gaiman. Graphic novel. A tale of Barbie & Martin Tenbones that roughly follows either The Lord of the Rings or The Wizard of Oz depending on how you look at the plot and the characters. A number of the characters here are interesting, e.g. all of Barbie's helpers, but ultimately not one of the more memorable Sandman volumes.
  • Legacy of Masks. Bissell. Reasonable story of a sex offender and murderer being tracked down in a small town. Moves along just well enough to maintain interest.
  • Pride of Baghdad. Vaughan, Henrichon. Graphic novel. Follows a pride of lions as they are "freed" from the Baghdad zoo when it was bombed in 2003; based on a true story. Very pretty, very engaging, and some real stuff here about being free. Very critical of America's involvement in Iraq in a very direct, very powerful way without being in your face or explicit. This is the kind of socio/political commentary that V for Vendetta strives for and utterly fails at, for being so explicit and boring. The ending in Pride is also pretty blunt & was a real shock to me---I didn't realize I was running out of pages, so from my perspective it all of a sudden came to a screaming halt. Worth reading.
  • Vampire Loves. Sfar. Graphic novel. Detailing the life and loves of Frederick the vampire, who's so shy he crashes into things all the time because he flys looking at his shoes and only bites with one tooth so people think it's a mosquito bite and don't get scared. The "love sucks" theme gets old after a while, but this is a genuinely interesting book. Lots of funky characters and odd storytelling (e.g. the "character notes" sheets in some chapters) that should be too random to be interesting, but somehow works, and fun artwork. Part of it's the fun little details, e.g. pg 155, the ghost & dog person that can't reach the bar. Everything from tree people, goth night clubs, castles, and golems to mad zombie hunters rampaging through Victorian era cruiseliners.
  • Sandman: Season of Mists. Gaiman. Graphic novel. This is probably my favorite collection in the series. I think this is one of the stronger, deeper stories, between Lucifer cutting off his wings, and the angels taking control of the fell. It also has a wide range of interesting characters, notably Order (a cardboard box!), Bast, and Susano O-No-Mikoto. Notably, this book also has one of the best/most clever author bios sections I've seen.
  • Sandman: Dream Country. Gaiman. Graphic novel. The Shakespeare tale in this one (playing A Midsummer Night's Dream for the fairies) is one of the most enjoyable in the series, especially for Shakespeare afficionados. But where is Robin Goodfellow today?!
  • Fray. Whedon, Moline, Owens. Graphic novel. Buffy, 200 years from now. Fairly pretty, sort of interesting, but ultimately kind of empty and unsatisfying.
  • Sandman: The Doll's House. Gaiman. Graphic novel. Starts off a little weaker than some volumes, perhaps, and is surrounded by a lot of funky "We're so artsy & emotionally pained" non-traditional art, but contains a number of good stories. The issue w/ Hobs in particular is entertaining, and the Cereal Fans Convention is also interesting in a morbid way. The Corinthian is one of the more notable nightmares throughout the series, I find. Rose is also a good character, and it closes well with Dream's commentary on dolls to Desire.
  • War Law. Byers. Non-fiction. A very readable and reasonable introduction to the international laws and customs of war and humanitarian treatment. You can learn a lot about the UN, foreign relations, and late 20th/opening 21st century history reading this. It's fairly condemning of US policy and practices, but comes across as rational and substantiated. Notably though, it does miss some salient points on the other side. For example, there are reasonable reasons for uni-lateral, non-Security Council mandated actions. Even I easily believe some of the allegations and implications of state security leaks there, and problems with vetting plans before some of the members. Still though, a recommended read.
  • Crystal Rain. Buckell. Pretty interesting, non-standard science fiction. An unusual almagation of post-apocalypse, space travel, aliens, gods, Aztecs, super humans, old school naval combat, ice expeditions, airships, organic submarines, and reggae. I'm not kidding. Good stuff. If you can buy into some of the basic assumptions the story's pretty reasonable; there aren't overt plot holes here once you suspend disbelief. The tank/ship pushed it a bit, but not too much. A fast read, definitely recommended.

2k6/12

  • 9/11 Report, The: A Graphic Adaptation. Jacobson, Colon. Non-fiction. Everybody should read this. As far as I can tell, a masterful, approachable, readable, and educational telling of the events surrounding 9/11. One of the most gripping comic books I've ever read, which is all the more impressive as it has an odd non-linear, frequently non-narrative form as it addresses the different areas of the report. You can learn a lot about the background, events, and responses to 9/11 very quickly by reading this. It comes across as very unbiased and rational from the "who failed" perspective and relates several sides, e.g. from the perspectives of both the Clinton and Bush administrations.
  • Beautiful Mind, A. Nasar. Non-fiction. A very interesting book. Sometimes overly detailed, but it moves pretty quickly. It's impressive how far the movie diverges, but it's not necessarily a bad thing, a lot of compression had to happen. And most of the early part would be very uncomfortable to watch. The extensive sexuality issues on Nash's part (he's bi, but doesn't know it) and excessive violence at times were a surprise, even knowing that he had not been the most pleasant of fellows. Interesting watching the change though---the increasing humanity coming out of his illness---and all turns out about as well as could be hoped. Even ignoring Nash, it's also a pretty good read just on the mathematics side of the military and academic scenes in the last half of the century.

2k6/11

  • Just Another Soldier. Hartley. Non-fiction. Pretty interesting read. As with most things of this sort (autobiographies/personal accounts), my pessimism always wonder what's truly true and what's not. At least to me he also has a fairly smug attitude through much of the book. It's also very clear that at some point in the writing, rather than it being just a blog, he realized it had the makings of being turned into a book. Maybe it's just because the actual blog was shut down and that encouraged his writings to be longer or he had more downtime once deployed, but the writing definitely changes. It's also not clear what's left out. For example, at one point he takes a long break and talks a lot about how on edge his service time had made him. But he also mentions in passing that his ex-girlfriend, whom had not previously been mentioned throughout the book, was there (and not by coincidence). A key detail overlooked.
  • Macbeth. Graphic novel adapted by Cover, with dinosaurs and spaceships! Interesting, hard to tell the characters apart (needs color, larger format print). Has basic problem of Macbeth though---the ending sucks. Come on, Macduff was not born of women?! Maybe this worked in Shakespeare's time, but it's weak today given modern births. Definitely should have been a woman (Macbeth's wife!), or tripped off a cliff, or something.
  • Originals, The. Gibbons. Graphic novel. Short, not super heavy, but pretty cool. Good art, interesting setting. The book's a good read, just come into it looking for the meaning of life or even a read taking more than a few minutes.
  • Sin City: The Hard Goodbye. Miller. Graphic novel. A longish comic book by pages, but a very fast read. The art's pretty interesting in the sense of the whole package---layout, scenes, perspectives, key details, use of black and white blocking. Not as depressing as I remember the movie being, though it seems fairly faithful for this segment.
  • Sandman: The Wake. Gaiman. Graphic novel.
  • Steamboy #1. Otomo. Graphic novel. Straight copy of the first half of the movie. And just like the movie, looks pretty but doesn't really go anywhere.
  • Batman: Hush. Loeb. Graphic novel. Absolute edition. Pretty good for a standard comic book. Good art. Typical comic book sillyness though---e.g. the inclusion of Superman. A lot of deus ex machina moments.
  • Watchmen. Moore. Absolute edition. Graphic novel. Awesome. The art's typical 80s/early 90s comic book stuff (as opposed to flashier, more colored & shaded modern work), but the story's pretty great. Not real cheasy given that it's about costumed adventurers---I wasn't even bothered by the ending. Not overly political either. This is the Moore I was looking for, none of the crappy V for Vendetta stuff. Great characters all around. I probably feel the most for Rorschach. The extra absolute edition material, notes on its creation, etc, are interesting but not vital. I was fully prepared to turn right around and read this again and would not have been bored.
  • Devil's Game, The. Holland. Abandoned. Boring.
  • Get Down. Solomon. Ok, but fairly bland short stories focusing on black teenagers in Philadelphia, particularly ones placed into preppy white culture (i.e. Bryn Mawr schools). Not always clear to follow. Characters not particularly sympathetic.
  • Planets. Sobel. Non-fiction. Abandoned. Drippy, stupid prose.
  • Star Wars: Outbound flight. Zahn. Set just after Episode I. Not bad, not great. Some interesting new characters. Puts a different perspective on the Jedi & why people may not like them, and how they fall into the dark side.
  • Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction. Karpyshyn. Set way back in the Old Republic period. Bane is the Dark Lord that reshaps the Sith into the form we come to know it in the movies. His development is pretty interesting, he has a good amount of depth (I wrote death here first, which is also true) and it's fun to read about the otherwise relatively undepicted Sith and their ways.
  • To Hold Infinity. Meaney. The first couple chapters are rough---there's just too much silly technobabble, and the programming in particular is a stumbling block. But eventually the story picks up and it becomes fairly engrossing. Things wrap up a bit too conveniently and the defeat of the main bad guy is just anti-climactic, but the world is interesting. The programming even becomes fairly interesting as you realize more of what it is.

2k6/10

  • Hellblazer: All His Engines. Graphic novel. Good, typical Hellblazer.
  • Nausicaa 2. Graphic novel. Still really good. Really feel an affinity for many characters/things. Poor Ohmu! (they're my favorite---eat those cities!!!)
  • V for Vendetta. Moore. Graphic novel. Interesting, but everything you learn about V is given away pretty early, and that's the real draw. Fairly preachy and political as well.
  • Marvel 1602. Gaiman. Graphic novel. Cheesy near the end, but pretty interesting when not trying to tie in to classical Marvel timeline. Gotta love Captain A as a native, and Dr Strange, Nick Fury, and Dr Doom are all pretty cool.
  • Sandman: Brief Lives. Gaiman. Graphic novel.
  • Grease Monkey. Eldred. Graphic novel. Really excellent---non-glitzy, straightforward, fun sci-fi, with just enough substance.
  • Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre. Carey. Graphic novel.
  • Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes. Gaiman. Graphic novel.
  • Flight. Vol. 3. Comics collection. Good art, not much in the way of stories.
  • Last Temptation, The. Gaiman. Graphic novel. Light but interesting.
  • Fallen Angel. David. Graphic novel. Good.
  • Nausicaa 1. Miyazaki. Graphic novel. Good, friendly.
  • Battle Hymn. Moore (not the usual Moore!). Graphic novel. Interesting but unfulfilling.
  • Courtyard, The. Moore. Graphic novel. Decent.
  • Robota. Pretty, interesting, but anti-climactic.

2k6/summer

Notables I remember:

  • Century Rain. Pretty good detective tale of nano-technology and fascists, mostly set just before WW2. It works & it is pretty reasonable as far as sci-fi goes. Some interesting things, e.g. the slightly altered landscape of major cities and the bubble colonies.
  • Book That Nobody Read, The. Non-fiction. Not perfectly written---too many tangents about the author's travels---but great story documenting the spread of Copernicus' ideas by surveying existing original copies of his De Revolutionibus and examining the marginalia, ownership, etc.
  • Sandman: Season of Mists. Gaiman. Graphic novel.

2k6/4

  • Serenity. DeCandido. Novelization of the movie. Doesn't stray far at all, pretty good to read but very short. Written from several characters' perspectives. Jayne's my favorite. Good use of language in the text, carries the feel of the characters/spoken dialog throughout the book.
  • Icarus Hunt, The. Zahn. Pretty decent read. Starting to get annoyed at Zahn's habit of springing some surprise at the end of the novel. Pretty cool aliens (notably the Kalixiri and their ferret outriders).
  • Star Colonies. Greenberg. Anthology. Couple good stories in here,
  • House of Thieves. Hemmings. Abandoned. Not interesting.
  • Tamburlaine Must Die. Welsh. Great little book if you can handle the gay sex. Short, but a good story. Interesting fictionalized look into the people & characters of that era (Elizabethan England). Wish Raleigh had a bigger part. No mention of Shakespeare! (the book is based around Marlowe, right before his "death")
  • Night Train to Rigel. Zahn. Ok sci-fi mystery.
  • Hero of a Thousand Faces. Non-fiction. Abandoned. Writing too full of itself, too many meaningless psycho-analysis anecdotes, points very simple but annoyingly not made clearly.
  • Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town. Doctorow. Great book about some very unusual people (the main character's father is mountain & his mom's a laundry machine) and their efforts to build a mesh network.
  • Anansi Boys. Gaiman. Pretty good.
  • Lance Armstrong's War. Non-fiction. Great book, good look into the pro racing scene. Chapters about Tyler Hamilton were particulalrly good. I'd just broken a few bones in a crash, so the discussion of his frustration at having his season cut short was particularly interesting.
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