Kozmos
Jew Detective
I find it difficult to read non-history non-fiction because most writers like to repeat their points. Over and over.
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Which book are you reading now? Volume X
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Moff Jerjerrod
Deity
Horus Rising by Dan Abnett.
Almost finished with it then it's on to book 2 of the 15 book+ series.
Almost finished with it then it's on to book 2 of the 15 book+ series.
Out of curiosity, I read the original "Washington novel" Democracy by Henry Adams (first published in 1880) a few months ago. It was the second written fiction I had read in probably a decade (the other being a re-read of Animal Farm).
Terxpahseyton
Nobody
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I am currently reading "Limit" by Frank Schätzing. The story is centered around the extraction of Helium-3 from the moon in the year of 2026 and a thriller-like plot is starting to develop right now (am on page 360 from 1300).
I love it. Everything about it. The characters are interesting, the amount and quality of interesting information, thoughts and insights fascinating (be it technical stuff like a space elevator, be it psychological stuff like how it may feel to be on the moon or be it geo-political stuff like how the moon as an important source of resources my lead to international conflict). As with his former novel The Swarm, Schätzing is not just writing a story, he is presenting a little universe of well-done research and now in this case additionally future prognosis, by which I feel enriched. And last but not least, he has a nice style of writing, illustrative and entertaining.
Good read and IMO a must for any fan of "true" sci-fi.
I love it. Everything about it. The characters are interesting, the amount and quality of interesting information, thoughts and insights fascinating (be it technical stuff like a space elevator, be it psychological stuff like how it may feel to be on the moon or be it geo-political stuff like how the moon as an important source of resources my lead to international conflict). As with his former novel The Swarm, Schätzing is not just writing a story, he is presenting a little universe of well-done research and now in this case additionally future prognosis, by which I feel enriched. And last but not least, he has a nice style of writing, illustrative and entertaining.
Good read and IMO a must for any fan of "true" sci-fi.
Narz
keeping it real
I really enjoyed that one. It spurned me to read a bunch of Vonnegut's other work but S5 remained my favorite (perhaps tied with Mother Night).
Just looked it up on Amazon - it's in Italian. The Swarm looks good though, I think I'll try it.
Terxpahseyton
Nobody
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I guess it may take some more time until it is translated. It has only been published in German last year after all. Yes Swarm is good, probably as a novel a level above Limit, because Limit seems to have one considerable weakness I should have mentioned in my last post: Schätzing (I suppose motivated by the success of Swarm) seems to have fallen in love with his writing a little too much, which leads to Limit being too encompassing / detailed for its own good (1300 pages in German after all). Still love it though.
Murky
Deity
Accelerando by Charles Stross
It's a free online book about the Singularity
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html
I find the idea of expanding human intelligence or creating a super artificial intelligence scary but fascinating at the same time. At present, I can only process about 5 sources of information in a given time period (and it gives me a bit of a headache to do it) and do my work at the same time. If I had an augmented brain doing co-processing for me (designing algorithms, solving math problem, etc.) then I could easily process a lot more information without straining.
It's a free online book about the Singularity
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html
I find the idea of expanding human intelligence or creating a super artificial intelligence scary but fascinating at the same time. At present, I can only process about 5 sources of information in a given time period (and it gives me a bit of a headache to do it) and do my work at the same time. If I had an augmented brain doing co-processing for me (designing algorithms, solving math problem, etc.) then I could easily process a lot more information without straining.
Verarde
Pondering Wearing A Hat
I picked up Dune today from the school library. Looks like they had all the other books as well.
I've heard good things, so here goes.
I've heard good things, so here goes.
Took you long enough.
Smellincoffee
Trekkie At Large
Just finished Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell. A solid addition to his fantastic Saxon Stories series. Ankle-deep into Jane Jacobs' Death and Life of Great American Cities.
WHSmith was having a book sale, so I bought Conn Iggulden's new book Wolf of the Plains, about Ghenghis Khan, James Aitcheson's Sworn Sword, about the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, and Robyn Young's Brethren, about a young would-be Templar in the Holy Land of the mid-13th Century.
Integral
Can't you hear it?
Daron Acemoglu, Why Nations Fail
One-sentence version so far (ch2): Acemoglu provides a political foundation on which to rest The Mystery of Capital.
One-sentence version so far (ch2): Acemoglu provides a political foundation on which to rest The Mystery of Capital.
Kozmos
Jew Detective
Done with the Singularity is Near. Moving onto Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.
Smellincoffee
Trekkie At Large
He was interviewed on EconTalk about that last week. I haven't listened to the interview in full yet, though.
He was interviewed on NPR as well. With an exerpt.
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/03/21/why-nations-fail
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