After finding the first Expanse book mildly interesting, I was badgered into reading the sequel. It isn't good. The first book made for some interesting "engineering" sci-if. What would it take to travel at excess g-force? What are the practical implications of living on a low-gravity moon? That kind of thing. But it was let down by being a mish-mash of recycled plots - big evil corporations, vomit zombies, hard-bitten alcoholic detectives. Yawn. The sequel is, basically, Mass Effect without …
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Yes, that Mae West wrote a novel. And it is a corker. Unabashedly sexy, druggy, provocative, and daringly modern. You can read the whole thing in West's voice: “It’s all right, Charlie,” she said. “I won’t hurt him. I only want to feel his muscles.” Every line just sizzles off the page. As with any 90 year old book, you might have to translate some of the slang: “the true story dope I’m commencin’ in the World. You’ll be gettin’ your sheets in Dutch if you spill that line of apple mush.”…
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Much like Tom Phillips' last book this is a fun and well-written look at a peculiar facet of humanity. How conspiracy theories work, and why so many people are attracted to them. The book is very now - and I do wonder how it will date. But there's something invigorating about reading a book which tracks the route of a two-hundred year old hoax to the present day. It accurately describes just how fun it is to "research" a conspiracy theory. There's a ready made community of people who will…
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This is an anthology of modern Chinese science fiction, loosely grouped into three main themes. I'm sad to say that some of the stories are a lot of hard work. One is barely sci-fi - more like a spiritual paean to the souls of people caught in a disaster which, bizarrely, has a throwaway line about aliens in it. One is an interminable description of domesticity which, if I've understood correctly ends in a manic sequence where an elderly author travels back in time to fuck someone who may or…
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This is a difficult and disturbing book. It is a great read for any hacker - it's all about the way technology abuses people and how it radicalises people into fighting back. The dialogue is Socratic and the stories are a set of parables. The first asks us to consider what are the limits of protecting people? When we try to restrict technology "for your own good" it often has a degrading and dehumanising effect on people. The second story is a re-hash of a recent episode of Super Girl. Is a…
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A superb book! It traces the origins of 26 facets of modern life so that you can understand the code which underpins them. There's only a smattering of actual code you need to read - most of it is constrained to gorgeous hand-drawn illustrations. Although I got a bit of a shock in the 2nd essay when I was confronted by ξ3 < exp(ΔE/τ)! Thankfully the rest of the chapter does a good job of explaining it and why it is important. There are some amazing confessionals from people who, arguably, ma…
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Wow! What a stunning book. It's a series of short stories - all taking place in a world where gene-editing isn't just legal; it's a sacrament. Each chapter jumps us further into the future. What starts off as an uncertain way to improve the human species gradually becomes more beautiful and more terrifying. Do you lose your virginity if you do it with a reconstructed girl? What life is there for a baby with a genetically enhanced brain? Which of your principles will you sacrifice for the…
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This is a short but interesting look at the way Shakespeare's comedy was understood by his contemporaries - and how his legacy still influences modern comedians. There's a good deal of discussion about the role comedy played in society, and the interplay between actors and playwright would have worked. But, sadly, it never quite makes the leap to demonstrate the way that. At best, we get fairly generic sketches like: most of Shakespeare’s witty characters are women. Their legacy is r…
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I'm really late to the party on this one! After people singing the praises of the TV show, and my brother recommending them, I finally cracked and read the first book. It's pretty good! You probably don't need me to tell you that. But, for a book published in 2011, I was surprised at how old-fashioned it felt. It's a bog-standard police procedural. The cop's a drunk with a failed marriage and an obsession with a victim - how many times have we seen that played out? It's also pretty…
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Who "owns" the English language? Do you cringe when you see "centre" spelled (or spelt) "center" (or vice-versa)? Which Americanisms do you think are super awesome? This book asks us a simple question: What if, instead of worrying about the “ruination” of English by young people, jargonistas, or Americans, we celebrated English for being robust enough to allow such growth and variety? Without evolution, languages stagnate and die. Without a vast corpus of work, which responds to changing c…
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I adored Qntm's previous book "There Is No Antimemetics Division". This collection of short stories is just as inventive, and just as thought-provoking. What are the social, moral, and technical implications of uploading a human brain into a computer? Some of the stories are hilariously terrifying - could "you" lose the rights to "your" brain? Others are far too short and could easily be spun out into a series of novels. The writing has a friendlier and more accessible style than…
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It's only part-way through the first chapter that you realise that this is all true! There really was a Premonitions Bureau running in the UK (albeit under the auspices of sensationalist reporters). People gave serious study to the idea that some people could foretell specific tragedies before they occurred. Books were written, television interviews were given, national campaigns were run. And in the end... Nothing. This is the story of mental health failings across the board. Not just in…
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