By @edent · Book Review · 1 comment · 200 words
The novelisation of the TV series! OK, OK, the book was written nearly 40 years before the Netflix miniseries. But it is uncanny how close the two are. Most adaptation are really "creative reimaginings" of the source material. Taking liberties with the source material, introducing new, relatable characters, and monkeying around with the plot. But […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review time travel · 2 comments · 300 words
This is either the greatest time-travel novel ever - or a load of monkeyshine. And I'm not sure which! What if Quantum Leap was an Agatha Christie novel? That's the basic plot - but, in this, Sam is only leaping between characters in the same story. The whodunnit plot is brilliantly worked out - and […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review · 250 words
Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. Achilles, “best of all the Greeks,” is everything Patroclus is not—strong, beautiful, the child of a […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review · 250 words
I don't understand this book. I enjoy Robin Ince's stand-up comedy, and have marvelled at his incredible free-association at numerous events. But I'm not so sure that it works well as a book. What makes us funny? What drives us to entertain others? The first half of the book takes a high level view of […]
Continue reading →By @edent · bitcoin Book Review · 150 words
Everything that BitCoin and BlockChain touches is poisoned. Except for this fun wee book. It's a near-future sci-fi cyber-heist with a great cast of characters and some delicious predictions about how the Internet of Things could go disastrously wrong. Thankfully, there's very little technobabble. I nodded along with most of the technology - only pausing […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review · 450 words
How should we live: how should we care for one another; grow our capabilities to work, to learn, to love and fully realise our potential? This exciting and ambitious book shows how we can re-design the welfare state for this century. A challenging read for civil servants and policy makers. When old institutions and systems […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review · 1 comment · 350 words
A literary fantasy about love, music and sorcery, set against the background of Mexico City, finalist for the British Fantasy, Locus, Sunburst and Aurora awards. The only way I can describe this book is that it's the movie "The Craft" crossed with Nick Hornby's novel "High Fidelity". At times it gets bogged down in the […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review · 250 words
What makes a bridge wobble when it's not meant to? Billions of dollars mysteriously vanish into thin air? A building rock when its resonant frequency matches a gym class leaping to Snap's 1990 hit I've Got The Power? The answer is maths. Or, to be precise, what happens when maths goes wrong in the real […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review MSc · 700 words
This is a terribly written book - albeit one with an important message. Eat That Frog is about how to avoid procrastinating. But rather than approach it from a scientific or methodological point of view, Tracy just gives some basic tools for arranging your work day. There are no citations in this book - something […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review feminism · 1 comment · 300 words
For the past decade, Richard Herring has been answering sexist trolls on International Women’s Day when they ask ‘when is International Men’s Day?’ in the mistaken belief there isn’t one. If only the trolls had learned to use Google they would realise that there is an International Men’s Day – it’s on November 19th. In […]
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