Yaky's

Reads

Books that I have read, in reverse chronological order. Updated periodically.

Ratings:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fantastic: Exceeded all expectations.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Good: New, unusual, or thoroughly enjoyable.
⭐⭐⭐
OK: Worth a read, but nothing groundbreaking.
⭐⭐
Meh: Some good ideas, but did not meet expectations.
⭐
No: Severe flaws, and little of interest or value.

2024


Остання Війна Імперій (Last War of the Empires)

Ірина Грабовська (Iryna Hrabovska)

⭐⭐⭐
Sequel to The Rebel's Last Resort, which this time, takes place almost entirely in Leoburh. Danylo brings Fedia and Jackie into the alternate dimension, too. There is civil unrest, police brutality, and invasion by the Russian Empire. Most of the events are very reminiscent of Ukraine in 2014: Euromaidan and subsequent Russian invasion of Crimea, Luhansk, and Donbas. However, to me, the second book was not as enjoyable as the first. Many of the problems the main characters encounter are due to their own foolishness or jealousy, and heroic feats to fix those mistakes all end with "I did this for you!" trope. There are now even more love-and-jealousy subplots. Leila, whose storyline, for some reason, overtakes the latter part of the book, is insufferable, and might, quite literally, be insane. The ending makes no sense and turns some of the ideas upside-down. Many of the questions are still left unanswered, and there is a huge cliffhanger involving one of the world's powers. (As far as I know, there is no third book)

Spoilers follow. Some of the things that were left unexplained (from both books) or are just baffling:
What happened to the original Edward Jablonski is never explained. There is only a guess that he "disappeared" when Danylo appeared in Leoburh, but that still leaves many questions, especially why everyone just accepted Danylo to be Edward.
Some of the characters' decisions are incredibly stupid. Going into the woods at night during a war to have a private conversation? Not killing the big bad when given the chance? Or the other way around, going rogue during a well-planned heist? Hollywood-level.
Leila. I understand that she is driven by revenge and for good reasons, but her desire for male attention via sex or other methods, sowing jealousy, and personal hatred towards Jackie does not seem to be founded on anything. Also, she somehow avoids any consequences for her actions.
Which brings me to the ending. Not sure if it was rushed or intentionally ironic. The city government proclaims free and fair elections to the city council... but give Agnessa an automatic seat (so much for fair elections). The court decides that Leila should not be executed, but, instead, exiled from the city. Doing the exact same thing that was done to them by the previous government. And what do our heroes do after nearly dying to save Leoburh? They decide to leave. What.

The Worm Ouroboros

E. R. Eddison

⭐⭐
To describe this book, I will quote the book itself:
Tis writ somewhat crabbedly, and most damnably long.
Just guys being dudes, plotting and murdering each other over... something. Parts of it feels like playing a D&D campaign, with action, absurd deaths, and not much else. Parts are discussing military maneuvering and politics, which I could not get into. Characters appear, die, and then re-appear again.
The plot starts with Gorice, King of Witchland, claiming that Demonland is his. Demons challenge him, and Gorice agrees to a wrestling match. He cheats, but gets brutally killed anyway. Being a manly man of honor, Gorice's successor (also Gorice) uses magic to destroy Demons' fleet. But the main Demon characters survive and are rescued by deus ex machina in a form of a friendly Goblin lord. Then Demons and Goblins immediately try to attack one of Witchland's castles, and get taken prisoner. But suddenly, a lord from some other land (friendly to Demonland) arrives, and forces Witches to release the prisoners. Then Lord Juss (of Demonland) has a dream about a mountain, so him and his forces set off on an adventure to search for it (reason: "trust me, bro"). Most of them die, but the few that live do find the magic mountain. After a stupid move by a not-important third wheel character, Demons are then told to return home. Then the story shifts back to Witchland, their plots, maneuvers and politics. More castle sieges. Characters somehow come back to life. At this point, about halfway, I lost track of everything.
The book is written in old-timey language, has long descriptions of everything, and is very slow (and at times, difficult) to read. You really have to be in the right mood to get through it. Everything that happens is so over-the-top, the speeches have so much pathos, and some of the descriptions are so absurd it is pretty entertaining. Some of the ridiculous or funny passages:
Corund leaned on the parapet and shaded his eyes with his hand that was broad as a smoked haddock
His cloak was woven of the skins of black cobras stitched together with gold wire
Art not thou and I finger and thumb?
I hold this burg of Eshgrar Ogo as a nut betwixt the crackers.
why, there's a proper man indeed: weareth a shaven lip too, which, as experienced opinion shall tell thee, far exceedeth your nasty mustachios.
As the fool thinketh, so the bell blinketh.
...had our army smashed like an egg that is dropped from a watch-tower on pavement of hard granite.
"Filth, unhand me," said Spitfire, "else shall I presently thrust thee through with my sword, and send thee to the Tartarus of hell, where I doubt not the devils there too long await thee."
Fifteen ships, and every ship as full of men as there be eggs in a herring's roe

Остання Обитель Бунтарства (The Rebel's Last Resort)

Ірина Грабовська (Iryna Hrabovska)

⭐⭐⭐⭐
I don't remember last time I have read Ukrainian sci-fi, if ever. Ironically, I found out about this duology on an American website, but was able to get the books in print.
The story starts with Danylo, who inherits a castle in a remote Ukrainian village from his missing and presumed dead uncle. The castle, as odd as it already is, holds an entrance to an alternate dimension, into a bustling steampunk city called Leoburh. After accidentally entering this portal, Danylo is dragged into the politics of the city and his alternate-reality family drama, all while trying to find his uncle there. Meanwhile, in our world, Danylo's best friend Fedia, and castle's only remaining resident, Jackie, are searching uncle's documents, dealing with angry locals and sabotage from a stranger.
I enjoyed the slow reveal of the history of Leoburh, from the optimistic founding of the city, to a multitude of conflicting political interests, to its slow descent into authoritarianism and oppression. Uncle's backstory and conspiracies are interesting as well.
The romance plot between Fedia and Jackie was quite irritating, honestly. It's two adults acting as insecure teenagers. While Jackie had a rough childhood and and has difficulty trusting people, Fedia just has his head up his ass.
Overall, some parts are really cheesy, there's plenty of action, Danylo solves the murder "mystery", becomes a hero, and exposes the villians, although that starts a whole other chain of events for the sequel.

Something Wickes This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The book is a story of two teenage boys, best friends Will and Jim, and their misadventures when a suspicious fair shows up in their town late in October. What immediately stands out is the dream-like narration, which vividly describes the chilly, dark mood of October, as well as characters' mental states, thoughts and feelings.
Will's father, just a side character at first, plays an increasingly important role throughout the story, and ultimately saves the boys. Conversations between Will and his dad turn rather philosophical - what it means to be a good person, what it means to be happy, and whether to fear death.
Some of dad's wisdoms:
Too late, I found out you can't wait to become perfect, you got to go out and fall down and get up with everybody else.
Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know, is bad, or amoral, at least. You can't act if you don't know. Acting without knowing takes you right off the cliff.
The Illustrated Man is a very classic villain - intimidating, with no known past, and vague goals outside of inflicting suffering. His implied immortality and animated bright tattoos add to the otherworldliness of his character. If he and people like him are powered by human misery and fear, they sure would enjoy the modern hyper-connected world.
Although this is not a horror story, some moments stood out as rather disturbing: resurrecting Mr. Electrico, house of wax, and old man reflections in the labyrinth.

How To

Randall Munroe

⭐⭐⭐⭐
One of the descriptions on the back cover calls the book "delightfully demented", and that is very accurate. The book takes rather simple questions (e.g: how to jump high, how to take a selfie) and goes off on a crazy tangent towards an extreme (thermals and flight suits, telescopes and atmospheric distortion). I particularly enjoyed Randall's "interview" with Chris Hadfield, with progressively more absurd questions on how to safely land various planes (and other vehicles) in various scenarios.

Good Omens

Terry Pratchett

Neil Gaiman

⭐⭐
I heard that Good Omens is a classic of British humor and a fantasy equivalent to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The TV show had good reviews, too. Well, Hitchhiker's Guide it is not.
The book got an occasional chuckle out of me, but many jokes did not land, and felt awkward or forced, like a dad trying to use slang. Just like the dad jokes, there are some bad stereotypes. A man from Papua New Guinea must be a headhunter. Tibetans say omm, wear red robes, and drink coffee with... rancid yak butter? Seriously? This is just stupid. And yes, shitty stereotypes are my pet peeve.
Some paragraphs I did find oddly humorous, like how Newt never believed in anything, or how having nice weather is an anomaly. Some paragraphs I skimmed or skipped since they did not matter.
The plot consists of a multitude of converging storylines: Azaraphale, Crowley, Anathema Device, a group of kids called the Them, Newt Pulsifer and his witch-hunting commander, riders of the apocalypse; and the book switches between them very quickly, a lot, and sometimes skips time, and leaves things unexplained. The action picks up and the plotlines converge in the Saturday chapter, but then, there is a sudden and an anticlimactic end to all of the buildup. If a red herring fell out of the sky at that point, that would be very appropriate.

The Stone Sky

N. K. Jemisin

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Stone Sky goes 40,000 years back to the previous civilization, providing the complete backstory of Stone Eaters and Guardians, as well as the conclusion of Essun's and Nassun's journeys.
Memorable quote:
But there are none so frightened, or so strange in their fear, as conquerors. They conjure phantoms endlessly, terrified that their victims will someday do back what was done to them - even if, in truth, their victims couldn't care less about such pettiness and have moved on. Conquerors live in dread of the day when they are shown to be, not superior, but simply lucky.

Review of the entire Broken Earth trilogy

Venomous Lumpsucker

Ned Beauman

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Heavy-handed satire and commentary of the environmental decline, free-market solutions attempting to address it, government incompetence, corporate greed, technology, and many other things. Very similar to The Circle and The Every in style and substance.
The plot revolves around the venomous lumpsucker, a fish, and one of the most intelligent remaining species on the planet. But even its intelligence cannot save it from the mining company. Trying to find the last surviving lumpsuckers are the two main characters: Resaint, a researcher, who never cared for conservation, but is fascinated by animal intelligence, and Halyard, a middle-level corporate manager who embezzled a lot of money and fumbled a get-rich-quick scheme, so he needs to prove that lumpsuckers are not extinct to cover his ass. Their quest takes them to the for-profit preserve, a camp in Finland filled with refugees from the "hermit kingdom" of Europe (i'll let you guess what country that is), a floating independent city-state with rebellious geneticists, and a grand finale on the last preserved wilderness owned by an insane billionaire. The ending is not happy... but realistic.
Memorable quote:
In the course of her job, Resaint had met people like Megrimson, executives who went into work and sat down at their desks and made decisions that ravaged the world. They didn't seem evil to her. They seemed more like fungal colonies or AI subroutines, mechanical components of a self-perpetuating super-organism, with no real subjectivity of their own. That said, she would have happily watched any of them die.

Sustainable Design: A Critical Guide

David Bergman

⭐⭐⭐
A short summary of sustainable approaches to architecture and construction. Interesting designs for natural ventilation. Lots of information about recycling, such as putting fly ash into concrete, or using denim scraps as blown-in insulation.

The Obelisk Gate

N. K. Jemisin

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Obelisk Gate is a bit slower than the Fifth Season, but also follows Nassun who does not appear in the first book, and reveals more about the Seasons, Stone Eaters, and orogeny itself.
Review of the entire Broken Earth trilogy

Life, The Universe, And Everything

Douglas Adams

⭐⭐⭐⭐
More absurdity, murderous aliens, gastromath, and lots of virtual reality.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson

⭐⭐⭐
Just like the title says, this book covers a bit of everything when it comes to history of science.
First few chapters about scientists themself are dry, and often provide facts about their personal lives, instead of how they advanced science. If history of science is your thing, Leonard Mlodinow's The Upright Thinkers is great, and provides a more connected picture.
Once the book gets to the actual science instead of history, it gets much more interesting. Some things I remembered from school and other popular science books, but there were still many interesting facts and stories.

Babel

R. F. Kuang

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Harry Potter goes to racist Hogwarts. (My wife tells me that Hogwarts is racist anyway).
Young boy is kidnapped from China by a British professor, and raised to become a translator for Babel, one of the departments at Oxford, in order to improve the magic-industrial complex of Great Britain. In this world, magic is powered by language and silver. In this position of relative privilege, he attemps to fight the system that uses and abuses people like him, both here and back home. As an immigrant, some of Robin's experiences are relatable, especially coming back to the hometown and seeing it as "just a city" because it has changed so much. The professor's attitude of "stop complaining, start appreciating how good you have it" is familiar as well (which, generally, is the "yet you participate in society" type of argument). Anti-colonialist and revolutionary views are communicated through a single person, Griffin, Robin's contact within the secret society. Which, at first, seem manipulative or misleading, but, on the other hand, outside of his trip to China, Robin's worldview does not go beyond Oxford.
Some things in the novel are a bit odd: Robin talks about forgetting his native language, but I have never heard of a person who emigrated as late as a teenager, to forget or lose their language. Although it is implied that the silver magic that Britain uses is critical and all-permeating, the actual effects are described as simple +1 to a stat, such as a carriage with a specific affixed silver bar can go a little bit faster, or a boat can somehow catch a bit more fish. Yet at the same time, there are inscriptions that spawn and fire bullets at the robbers. The Chekhov's nuclear bomb is announced front and center around the first quarter of the book.

The Fifth Season

N. K. Jemisin

Review of the entire Broken Earth trilogy

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Douglas Adams

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Surprisingly, I haven't read this earlier. Very British humor and plenty of absurdity, constantly going off on tangents yet keeping with the underlying story.
Some of my favorite parts: (SPOILERS)

The Design of Everyday Things

Donald Norman

⭐⭐
I have heard praise towards this book and how it is a must-read for a designer, or even a technical person (such as a software developer). There are some interesting examples and ideas about (what we would call) user interface, but they are buried in paragraphs of wordy, overly-philosophical text.

Acceptance

Jeff Vandermeer

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Prequel and a sequel to Annihillation and Authority, which follows the two main characters after the events of Authority, as well as the Director and the lighthouse keeper. Perhaps, nothing was resolved, and some questions were still left unanswered, but it is a well-concluded story.

Mediocre

Ijeoma Oluo

⭐⭐⭐
A look at white supremacy and how privileges that women and people of color have to fight and work for are automatically given to an average white man. There are some historical accounts of "good" men, who were assholes, such as Buffalo Bill, Woodrow Wilson, and Teddy Roosevelt. Author has strong opinions on the popularity of Bernie Sanders, and his appeal to an average young white guy. There is an intersting chapter on Shirley Chisholm, who was campaigning for President in the 70s. And the ridiculous history of American football, the "manly" game.
The author herself occasionally slides into bottom-grade insults (the stereotype of an antisocial white guy living in mom's basement was brought up at least twice, amongst others). And Stalin was not "another white man" by any measure (Stalin was Georgian, and, at least in modern Russia, there is plenty of racism toward people from the Caucasus, including Georgians).

Phantastes

MacDonald

⭐
A very arrogant man travels around the fey realm.
The man walks into some lady's cottage, is told not to open the door, opens the door, gets a shadow demon attached to himself.
The man asks a girl to see her crystal sphere, is told to be gentle, breaks the sphere and releases some shadows that pursue the girl.
The man visits an old lady's house with inter-dimensional doors, is told not to open the last door, opens the door (AGAIN?! You have a shadow demon already), nearly dies, gets rescued by the old lady.
The man walks into the fey palace, lives in quarters furnished specifically for him, and is being served by fey. There is no explanation about why. (Is this some weird old-timey/racist notion of being served by "others"?)
The man lusts after a marble woman and her feet (explicitly metioned multiple times).
The man tries to disrupt a KKK rally (literally described as knights and wizards in white robes), and dies at the hands of a... werewolf???
I realize this is one of the first books that can be called "fantasy", but the insolence of the main character is astonishing, and the plot is non-existent.

A City On Mars

Kelly and Zach Weinersmith

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Very cynical, realistic, and humorous look at space settlement. Earth, even with climate change and billions of people, is still a pretty nice place to live. Space will kill you. Moon will grind you down with its regolith. Mars will poison you with its soil. Sorry, Mark Watney, you gonna die. There is interesting history of space exploration and settlement experiments. The book also delves into law and discusses how international, antarctic, and space agreements work now and how they could in the future. Definitely a good read to keep yourself grounded (heh).

Radiance

Cathrynne M. Valente

⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is the most unusual book I have read this year. It is set in an Art-Deco, black-and-white movie future of a fully habitable Solar system, with cities on the moon, jungles and oceans on Venus, and flowering fields on Pluto. The space era started in 1860s by firing a person out of the cannon at the moon. Of course, all of these are a play on early science fiction tropes (A Trip To the Moon, Out Of A Silent Planet, Barsoom series, etc), but somehow, it all fits together. There are some interesting aspects to this world: callowhales, creatures whose callowmilk is a necessity on colonized worlds; humans who live on the moon have their skin slowly turn blue (which is impossible to tell on black-and-white film); free-floating ship in the Europa's ocean that is going out of direct line of sight with the Earth for 70 years.
The story is about a famous producer's daughter who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while filming her own documentary. Throughout the book, the style changes between a documentary, a detective mystery, and a drama. In a way, the events of the book are stages of father's grief.

The End of Everything

Katie Mack

⭐⭐⭐⭐
You know how, around the age of 8-10, you have an existential crisis because you learn that the Sun and the Earth will disappear in a few billion years? Well... This book is about how the entire universe (as we know it) might end, many many years into the future. The possibilities range from slow, sad, and depressing heat death, to the turbulent and more exciting "big crunch", to a bizarre collapse on the subatomic level. Short, fun to read, and has a bit of humor in it too.

2023


The Gunslinger

Stephen King

⭐⭐
The world, slowly revealed as a post-apocalyptic western-fantasy, was interesting and believable to an extent. Since this was originally 5 short stories, the story goes all over the place. Some descriptions seemed forced (there are noticeable excessive "X was like Y"), many did not make sense (Gunslinger did WHAT to the priest woman?), and some were hilariously bad ("teeth felt like white tombstones in pink fleshy hills"). With so much buildup, the ending was the villain drawing Tarot cards, lecturing the Gunslinger, and then self-destructing. After last chapters also throw zombies and a multi-verse into the already dense mix of fantasy + western + apocalypse, it feels like a desperate pitch for the sequels (look how much I have here) or just laziness (I don't know what to stick with). I know The Dark Tower series is supposed to be King's magnum opus, but, to be honest, this book does not make me want to read the sequels.
Overall, I have a similar feeling as I did with Cryptonomicon. It was fun to read, but looking back, there was no point or reason to much of the story. If Cryptonomicon was a teenage hacker fantasy, The Gunslinger is a teenage cowboy and knight fantasy.

Death's End

Cixin Liu

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The grand finale. Some events take place during the events of the second book, with more desperate projects of the Crisis era. After the events of the second book, the humans have established a mutually assured destruction situation, and therefore, a relative peace and collaboration between Earth and the aliens. But aliens had several technological breakthroughs of their own.
(Mild spoilers ahead)
The difficult peace results in a dramatic betrayal and a turn of events where first, the entire population of Earth is forced into a concentration camp, and later, the entire Solar system is threatened with destruction. Faced with another crisis, the humans start planning how to save themselves, this time, their only options being grand space projects and altering the laws of physics.
The only things I did not like about the story are the cringey "unrequited love" plot between two main characters, and more recurrences of the boomer-y "future men are too feminine and weak".
Overall, the proper conclusion to the series. Despite multiple hints at the opposite, being compassionate does pay off.

The Dreaming Stars

Tim Pratt

⭐⭐⭐
That's a mighty nice pirate base you captured, but Ancient Aliens still want to kill you all. At least one Liar stopped lying. More exploration of strange relics in space, now complete with nanotech weapons and virtual reality games. There is more inter-person interaction, and backstories to several of the characters.

Authority

Jeff VanderMeer

⭐⭐⭐
On the other side of the border into Area X, a man who goes by Control is hired into the Southern Reach as a temporary replacement for the missing director. The entire project looks nearly abandoned - the offices have not been touched for 30 years, and there are only a few people still working. Pressured by his mother, a former government operative, and having to report to the Voice, his handler, Control investigates previous expeditions into Area X, spies on his coworkers, and interviews those who somehow returned from Area X. Just like Annihilation, there is a constant air of tension and uneasiness, and a sense of being without direction.

Annihilation

Jeff VanderMeer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Started reading this book expecting Roadside Picnic, but in addition, got Lovecraftian nightmares and government conspiracies. The main character, a nameless biologist, is sent to an anomalous Area X to gather data. The entire mission is rather vague, and there are more and more sinister details being uncovered. At the same time, the biologist is tortured by the difficult relationship with her late husband. Arguably, her coming to terms with her own feelings amidst having no answers to anything else is the key point of the plot. Although I am usually more interested in the plot, in this case, I was captivated by the style, main character's emotions, and the feeling of being lost.

Power Struggles

Michael Brian Schiffer

⭐⭐⭐
Fascinating history of electricity and invention of electrical devices before electricity was mainstream. Batteries, motors, generators (dynamos), telegraph. Neat details: Earlier scientists worked with static electricity, and Leyden jars stored static charge. Only Galvani discovered conventional current. Insulation was made from silk. Many scientists were against monetizing or patenting their inventions. Morse was an artist and later, a photographer. Very many things were done unscientifically. Laying the first trans-atlantic telegraph cable took 3 tries. Although the book got rather boring in the latter parts, which were more about business than science, the history was interesting nonetheless.

The Midwich Cuckoos

John Wyndham

⭐
Bleh. This book is, perhaps, the best argument for reproductive rights that I've read.
Alien ship visits a town and impregnates all the women. The born Children (or Cuckoos) grow up to be a hive-mind of 58 fast-growing, smug, overreacting, sociopathic, mind-controlling megalomaniacs who outright say “we will dominate you” to humans, yet don't really do anything for 8 years. Meanwhile, humans, being the idiots that they are, keep the whole thing quiet and put the Cuckoos in a special school. Then, an accident gets quickly escalated to an attempted murder and then a riot, leading to several deaths. It ends quite anticlimactically with a suicide bomber killing all of the Cuckoos. So much for being all-powerful and dominating the world.
The story could be engaging, but most of the book reads as a dull government report. Most characters are just background. Men speak with many words and little substance. There are some attempts of discussing interesting topics, such as how to prepare for an alien invasion and how the law should apply to non-humans, but they quickly get overshadowed by bad stereotypes, racism, denial of evolution, and political strawmanning. Not a word on abortion, which would have solved this problem in the first place.

Emotional

Leonard Mlodinow

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great research on emotions, and how tightly they are intergrated with the rest of our minds and bodies (as opposed to a common notion that emotions are something separate). The book covers many topics. Animals, even fruit flies (!), have emotions. Core affect, something like a proto-emotion, that has a positive/negative quality and strength. Paul Dirac was emotionally stunted well into adulthood. Motivation, the difference between liking and wanting. Determination, emotional profiles, psychogenic illnesses, and synchronization.

Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula LeGuin

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Originally, the only thing I knew about Left Hand of Darkness is that it involves ambisexual humans in one way or another. It is, however, so much more than that. It still is a hero's journey, but from ignorance into understanding, and with themes of duality, tradition, and cultural conflict throughout. Someone in my book club compared it to Dune, but IMO, Left Hand of Darkness is better in many ways.

The Tangled Web We Weave

James Ball

⭐⭐⭐⭐
History of the early Internet, the key players that built it, and how much of it is still held together with duct tape in a form of quick fixes, unreliable protocols, and algorithms never intended for the scale it grew to today. None of the Internet is magic, it was built by real people to solve problems of their time.

House on the Borderland

William Hope Hodgson

⭐⭐⭐
Presented as a manuscript found completely intact in the ruins of a house in a remote area of Ireland, it follows the events and misfortunes that happened to a recluse who lived at that house with his sister and his dog. The man is haunted by memories of his late wife, survives an invasion of pig-faced humanoids, nearly drowns in a cave during a downpour, and then accelerates through time and witnesses the death of Earth and the Solar system. Although the plot is rather nonsensical and does not resolve, I enjoyed the writing style and the accelerated-time sequence. The remaining question is whether the recluse is telling the truth and his sister is somehow ignorant of everything, or the recluse is insane and his sister simply tolerates his behavior, including nearly setting the house on fire and shooting at doors.

The Dark Forest

Cixin Liu

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fantastic. The sequel that, in my opinion, surpassed the original. The premise is simple: The alien spaceship armada will reach Earth in 400 years. At the same time, the Earth is under constant surveillance by the aliens, and all particle research is disrupted. Unlike the first book, there are very few aliens, and The Dark Forest is an exploration of humanity in crisis.
There are desperate global projects, such as giving unlimited power and resources to several people, hoping that they can mislead and outsmart the omnipresent alien surveillance and the cult. There are debates about which direction the technology and humanity should go, conflict, and sabotage. Further in the future, there is environmental collapse, a technological breakthrough, an encounter with the alien probe, and spaceships escaping the Solar system. There are also several elements that resemble time-travel stories.
It all ends with a rather depressing realization about the humans' place in the universe. At the same time, humans discover the ultimate weapon to deter the invaders.
Overall, the book has great ideas and realistic scenarios. If you are OK with the characters existing simply to be the observers of unfolding events, ignore occasional boomer-like complaining about future humans being weak, and tolerate the mail-order-bride situation in the first part, read it.

Humble Pi

Matt Parker

⭐⭐⭐
A collection of engineering and mathematical screw-ups, some of which you probably read about on the internet, or heard as an example in a class. Interesting, entertaining, and, at times, terrifying.

The Wrong Stars

Tim Pratt

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cheesy but fun space opera, that starts out with a weird alien artifact and ends with galactic-scale genocide conspiracy. A diverse spaceship crew, non-aggressive alien species that work with humans but are incredibly secretive (they are literally called Liars), lots of banter, revived ancient humans, and two rather horny main characters. It's like Firefly or Dark Matter. Don't judge me.

The Upright Thinkers

Leonard Mlodinow

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Progress of humanity, science, and philosophy, from ancient times to now. The main point, and something I always keep in my mind, is that there are no hero genius inventors - every next iteration of technology was built on work of many predecessors.

Out of the Silent Planet

C. S. Lewis

⭐⭐⭐
The story starts with the main character being kidnapped and brought to Mars. Mars is pictured as a pastel-colored, tranquil place, inhabited by multiple intelligent species that live in peace. The story eventually reveals some of the dark past of the planet and its peoples. There are also clear allusions to theism and religion when the main character meets the ruler of the planet. (It's C.S. Lewis, of course...) One thing I particularly liked are the descriptions of the things the main character sees but cannot comprehend. Overall, an entertaining adventure story, that is creative, even if it is naive measuring by our modern knowledge of Mars and space.

Toki Pona

Sonja Lang

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Toki Pona is a constructed language that is intentionally simple. There are 14 sounds, which are non-ambiguous (no pairs such as b-v or p-b), represented by latin script letters. There are around 120 words, written in either latin script or as pictograms. Each word can take on a form of a noun or verb, depending on usage. Because of such limited vocabulary, describing a specific thing can be a long and complex expression, which, to me, resembles programming. Although I never joined the Toki Pona community, it was still an interesting exploration into how simple a language can be while still expressing somewhat complex concepts.
https://tokipona.org/

Inhibitor Phase

Alastair Reynolds

⭐⭐⭐
Set after the Inhibitors destroyed most of the humanity, a seemingly ordinary man is recruited (under the threat of death) to find a weapon against the Inhibitors. There are nanoweapons, fish people, mind-altering Pattern Jugglers, and lots of spaceflight. Although some scenes were intense, and I still like the cosmic horrors, there was plenty of bad dialogue and many pointlessly re-used characters.

Game Engine Black Book: Wolfenstein

Fabien Sanglard

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
History of birth and development of the grandparent of all first-person shooters, Wolfenstein 3D. Although this book goes pretty deep and technical into early-90s PC hardware, it is rather easy and fascinating to read. Some optimizations and tricks seem pretty wild nowadays, such as assembly snippets in code, 50-some unrolled functions for speeding up scaling, storing graphics in a particular order and orientation. What makes it even more impressive, is that despite these obstacles, iD Software finished the game in around six months. Read it if you are into gamedev, or just to appreciate how far the progress has come where we don't have to concern ourselves with hardware, hacks and workarounds as much.

Starship Troopers

Robert Heinlein

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Full review

Off The Books

Venkatesh

⭐⭐⭐
A real-life view of the economics and relationships in a specific inner-city area. The author lived in the neighborhood for several years while researching this book. The book covers the lives and struggles of several people, including a car mechanic, a pastor, a mother, and a criminal. Any businesses change and move often. There is an uneasy relationship between the citizens, the police, and the criminals, especially over common areas, such as parks. Many of the choices would probably be judged by other, more privileged people, but that is often the best, if not only, solution at the time.

His Majesty's Dragon

Naomi Novik

⭐⭐
Story about a man and his dragon, set in alternate reality Napoleonic wars. Sounds like a good premise, but felt incredibly dull. The main character is overly proper and gentlemanly, the relationship between him and the dragon is a bit too weird, bordering on romantic. Dragons, being intelligent creatures, somehow do not question war or humans using them in war. Halfway into the book, there was no real plot, conflict, or much world-building; just a guy and his dragon-with-benefits. Did not finish, just not my thing. But there are a dozen books in the series, so others must have liked it a lot.

The Three Body Problem

Cixin Liu

⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is a first contact story, although it subverts many common tropes. It starts out with two parallel plots: one set after the Cultural Revolution, following a political prisoner serving at a remote outpost; and another set in modern-day (2010s) China, following a scientist experiencing strange visions and other unexplained phenomena.
(Mild spoilers ahead)
First contact is conducted in secret, and there was no spaceship arrival or broadcast from the aliens, just the news that slowly leaks decades later. To assist their mission, aliens communicate only to the select few humans, who, of course, establish a cult (complete with a ship floating in international waters). Another way to "prepare" humans is a virtual reality "game", simulating the alien homeworld, where the goal is to survive as long as possible.
Alien world, physiology and technology are all creative and fascinating. Their world is inhospitable and unpredictable. Aliens can enter suspended animation at will and can organize into biological computers. Their technology can manipulate dimensions and create intelligent particles. However, I found their attitude to be way too human-like, and the level of technology they possess does not explain why they are still stuck on their homeworld.
Later on, the book turns into more of a techno-thriller, with main characters trying to get the only copy of alien communication transcript from the cult.
Overall, good, somewhat reminiscent of older sci-fi where aliens are exotic humanoids, but not as good as the sequels.

Racing The Beam

Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Exploration of Atari's VCS (later 2600) console, including hardware, games, and business. Although the hardware was very limited by modern standards (and, to me, seems like it was designed specifically around 2-player games like Combat), it is impressive how it was used (or abused, if you will) to produce Space Invaders, Adventure and Pitfall. Some of the book is about the business side of Atari, and the arcade market at the time. To book also briefly goes into game concepts - for example, having multiple screens that the player can travel between (think anything starting with original Zelda) was a completely novel idea at the time.
Overall, if you are fascinated with retro technology, read it!

Cryptonomicon

Neal Stephenson

⭐⭐
TLDR: See end of review.
Cryptonomicon is 900 pages of nerdy, tech-bro fantasy that has:
Okay, maybe I'm a bit cynical here. The book does have some brilliant parts though.
Some aspects of the book weren't so great though.
There are many more things that make no sense.
Overall, Cryptonomicon is fairly enjoyable while reading, but afterwards, all I can think is "what was the point of any of this?"

2022


Eating Animals

Safran Foer

⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you want to be utterly disappointed in humanity, frightened of factory farms, and/or become a vegan, read this book. It is horrifying what animal farms have become over the last century and how they get away with most of their violent, cruel, and polluting practices due to loosely written laws.

The Every

Dave Eggers

⭐⭐⭐
Sequel to the Circle, with more satire of the Silicon Valley "disruptions". With main character working at several departments of The Every, this book could have been several short stories. While The Circle used "privacy is theft" philosophy, The Every leans heavily into elitism and greenwashing, with an attitude that only they can solve the impending climate crisis.

Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

⭐⭐⭐⭐
A good horror story set in Mexico, about an English family of mine-owners, their shady history, and a plot against the main character, a wealthy socialite from Mexico City. The setup and the first half of the book is somewhat slow, but then the action picks up, and there are plenty of unsettling episodes, hallucinations, gaslighting, and, of course, a creepy old man with very bad ideas.

The Happiness Industry

William Davies

⭐
I don't remember much from this book to be honest, I just remember it was not at all what I expected.

The Circle

Dave Eggers

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ridiculous and over-the-top satire of the Silicon Valley tech world, complete with a protagonist that doesn't just drink the corporate kool-aid, she chugs it. To be honest, at first, I could not stand how clueless the main character was, but as my wife pointed out, "that is exactly how people in her position would be" (i.e. a college dropout with no marketable skills, hired into a tech company via nepotism), and it all made sense. Did not make it any less terrifying though.
Memorable quote:
First of all, I know it's all people like you. And that's what's so scary. Individually you don't know what you're doing collectively.

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid

Thor Hanson

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Very well-written and captivating stories exploring various plants and animals adapting to their environments in the age of global climate change, whether it's lizards being better at surviving hurricanes, forests migrating (!), or species living in local climate anomalies.

Antarctica

Kim Stanley Robinson

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Is this science fiction, adventure, or a history book? The answer is yes. It is probably the most epic story I read this year, involving climate, politics, survival, madness, and very vivid descriptions of beautiful and hostile Antarctic environments. It follows a politician from D.C., an experienced mountain guide, and an average no-name guy, all of whom find themselves in Antarctica in a middle of a a climate crisis, political turmoil, and eco-terrorist activity.

The Universe Within

Neil Shubin

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Similar to Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish, but this book relates more global processes, such as planet formation, geology, and climate to the evolution and adaptations of discovered fossils.

Recursion

Blake Crouch

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Incidents of people experiencing false memories lead back to experiments that can alter reality itself. And, of course, many people and governments are trying to use it to their advantage. The plot had some twists, was well-paced, and very enjoyable. What I thought was interesting is that just like Dark Matter, it is the human perception that plays the key role in the technology.

The Year's Best Science Fiction

(28th annual collection, 2011)

Short Stories:
Most of these were okay, but ones that stood out are: Chicken Little is a dystopian story about a person-corporation that is also a sovereign state, attempting to alter human perception. The Sleepover is a fantastic story about intelligences that are beyond our physical reality.

Junk DNA

Nessa Carey

⭐⭐⭐
Interesting, well-researched information about what is called "junk" DNA, and the various important roles it plays in expressing human genes, but a bit too textbook-like at times.

Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great examples of how the famous and the powerful became such because they were in the right place at the right time, and not simply because they were somehow more skilled or intelligent.

The Book of OWA: For Tomorrow, a Better Tomorrow

Daniel Izadnegahdar

⭐
My friend published this book on [popular online store] and sent me a physical copy. If the title sounds like it's about a cult, it's because it is. OWA is a utopian post-scarcity society living on an artificial planet 60,000 years in the future, and they solved most of the problems of the modern world. What this utopia really turns out to be is this: all humans are identical clones, artificially grown to perform a specific job, educated only enough to performs that job, forced to live exactly 100 years, have zero privacy, adhere to a dogmatic set of rules, and get reprogrammed for any transgressions, yet they are always happy. And this is honestly described as utopia, without a hint of satire. Anyway, this is a dollar-store version of Brave New World with no self-awareness, no plot, very many unaswered questions, lots and lots of internal contradictions, unintentionally ignorant and thus hilarious statements, bad grammar, and quite a lot of cringe. I did get a chuckle out of a few jabs at religion though, and the illustrations are done in great detail.

Corruptible

Brian Klaas

⭐⭐⭐
The book explores corruption, what drives it and some particular historical accounts. Honestly, I don't remember much, but it was interesting, and the examples were solid.

Stiff

Mary Roach

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lots of interesting facts and stories about what happens to bodies after death, as well as related ethical and religious issues. Like Mary Roach's other books, it is very well written and engaging.

The Waste-Free World

Ron Gonen

⭐⭐⭐
Exploration of multiple scenarios on how to reduce or eliminate waste from the economy. Some examples were very reasonable (reusable containers, better farming methods, fabrics from food waste), others did not sound very environmentally safe to me (shredding old electronics as a recycling method).

The Witcher

Blood of Elves

Time of Contempt

Baptism of Fire

Tower of the Swallow

Lady of the Lake

Andrzej Sapkowski

⭐⭐⭐
The series needs no introduction, but I read the books at the worst time. (Spoilers ahead) I read Time of Contempt, about Nilfgaard's planned attack on the Northern Kingdoms in February, right before Russia invaded Ukraine. The part with Ciri being kidnapped by elves to bear a child for them was right around the repeal of Roe vs Wade. And the ending with a city-wide rebellion is rather relevant too. Needless to say, this is all a bit uncanny.

Jake Rosenfeld

⭐⭐⭐
A thorough looks at how companies (and industries) set salaries and how utterly nonsensical it gets at the time. The key point is that it's not the individual worker's productivity, industry demand, or cost-of-worker-replacement that drive salaries, but other emergent properties.

Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Buddy action-comedy in space: Back-of-the-napkin science, DIY engineering, OSHA violations, and communication issues. Thoroughly enjoyable and very much in the spirit of The Martian. Without too many spoilers, humanity is facing a rather unusual space-borne disaster, and main character has to somehow figure it out after waking up from stasis in the middle of nowhere.

2021


Something Deeply Hidden

Sean Carrol

⭐⭐
Author is a follower of the Everettian many-worlds quantum theory, which, in his opinion, is the simplest explanation of our universe, including space and time. The overview of basics of quantum physics are decent, but a lot of the book is philosophical discussion around many-worlds, not supported by experiments (if that's even possible at the current time). I feel like this should have been much, much shorter.

Binti

Nnedi Okorafor

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story made me feel like this is a book I read a long time ago in my childhood. Unlike other sci-fi I read, it feels particularly positive and hopeful. Binti, a teenage Himba girl, leaves her home to attend a prestigious university on another world. It's a short story, but there is a lot in it: conflict of tradition vs. progress, interaction with aliens, politics, question of duty and belonging. Now I need to find the other Binti stories. To clarify a few things in the story, look up how traditional hair style of Himba women looks.

The Evolution of Useful Things

Henry Petroski

⭐⭐⭐
Interesting historical accounts of gradual evolution of a table fork, a paperclip, a zipper, and even 3M's adhesives. The general point the author makes is that form follows failure, but there's a bit too much philosophical discussion on that. Worthy read, even if a bit boring at times.

Tales of H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Even after almost a hundred years, some of Lovecraft's short stories still hold up pretty well. Very vivid descriptions (including lots of smells, which I found unusual), strange, yet realistic, settings, and, of course, darkness, dread and horror of things incomprehensible to the human mind. My favorites were The Music of Eric Zahn, Call of Cthulhu, and At the Mountains of Madness.

Palaces for the People

Eric Klinenberg

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The book discusses the influence of public infrastructure such as residential buildings, streets, parks, and libraries on citizens' well-being, crime rate, and ability to withstand a crisis. It provides a multitude of historical examples of both successes and failures of planning. One of the interesting points the author makes is that a neighborhood can reduce crime not by being tough on small offences ("broken windows" theory), but by altering places where the crime takes place: abandoned buildings, empty lots, unlit streets. Another interesting observation is how small residential communities and libraries can be self-regulating and self-policing. Definitely a very insightful read, even if you do not live in an urban setting.

Critical Mass

Steve Martini

⭐⭐⭐
Lawyer seeking a quiet life on an island off Oregon coast and a Swedish man from nuclear non-proliferation organization are trying to stop terrorists from detonating a nuclear bomb in the US. It reads and feels like an average action movie, getting very cheesy and unrealistic at times. Overall, it's okay.

Subliminal

Leonard Mlodinow

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great research and studies into what goes on in the brain on the subconscious level, from blindsight and recognizing images to decision-making. One of the later chapters describes how humans are wired to be optimistic, yet egotistical, and to value own decisions above others', which made me lose faith in humanity a little bit more :|

Machine Man

Max Barry

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reclusive engineer acidentally loses a leg and then gets obsessed with turning himself into a cyborg. The main character is borderline sociopathic but will be relatable to anyone in a tech field. His slow descent into madness, his employer's attempt to take advantage of him, and the ridiculous events that happen as the result kept me on the edge. The ending is rather dark and is somewhat bittersweet.

The Bird Way

Jennifer Ackerman

⭐⭐⭐⭐
While The Genius of Birds covered research into birds' cognitive skills, The Bird Way covers a wide variety of topics, mostly about birds of Australia and New Zealand. What I found interesting is that the described species normally stay in the same area their entire lives, unlike mostly migratory North American birds. This significantly increases their mortality rates and puts a different perspective on evolutionary adaptations that they develop. There are also plenty of interesting information about brood parasites, their adaptations, and hosts' counter-measures. Great read for any birder, although being somewhat familiar with Australian birds would certainly help.

Flatland

Edwin Abbott

⭐⭐⭐
This novella is probably most famous for its imaginative description of a two-dimensional world. As for the people who inhabit this world, they are an obvious satire of Victorian society, getting pretty sexist and/or classist at times. There are also chapters describing a 1-dimensional world and dimensions above third. Read it out of curiosity and historical value, there isn't much of a plot.

The Hidden Half

Michael Blastland

⭐
The book attempts to address inconsistencies and hidden variables in many studies and statistics, however, all it seems to do is to say "well, we don't really know why", often without trying to look into issues deeper. Needless to say, it was a bit frustrating to read.

Turquoise Days

Alastair Reynolds

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was the first Alastair Reynolds novel I read. Taking place on a remote planet populated by strange Pattern Juggler organisms and centering on scientists who are studying them, the plot quickly escalates to a conspiracy lead by zealots, and then, a potential planet-wide catastrophe. I think it could make a great movie adaptation. Definitely worth a read.

Diamond Dogs

Alastair Reynolds

⭐⭐⭐
A crew is trying to ascend a mysterious tower with progressively more difficult puzzles with an unknown prize at the top. Gruesomely violent traps, unexplainable intelligence lurking in the tower, and severe body modifications, the main question becomes "how much of others and of yourself are you willing to sacrifice for a reward?".

The Epigenetics Revolution

Nessa Carey

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fascinating read about how genes are expressed, and how the environment can shape an organism without changing its DNA sequence. There is a fair amount of depth for a popular-science book, but the author gives good analogies. I was surprised to find out that maternal and paternal DNA are responsible for different parts of embryo development, that bees are identical clones, yet can differentiate into workers, drones and queens, and that X/Y chromosome interaction and gender expression can get incredibly complex.

American Gods

Neil Gaiman

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reminiscent of, and, no doubt, inspired by classic Greek mythology. Old, forgotten gods from cultures around the world as well as the new gods of the modern age conspire against each other, dragging the main character in the midst of it. Very dark, vivid scenes and, of course, memorable characters.

Quiet

Susan Cain

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The book discusses introverts and introversion, especially in business enviorments, where extroversion is more accepted and valued. Being an introvert, most of discussed traits seem obvious to me, but the discussion of introversion within other cultures was interesting.

Neuromancer

William Gibson

⭐⭐
Classic sci-fi novel and the origin of the cyberpunk genre. I really wanted to like it, but alas. The setting and the premise are interesting, but the plot lost my attention quickly. Out of all the characters, only Armitage had an interesting story. I liked some of the encounters with Wintermute, but most of the time, I did not know what was happening, and, most importantly, why. I feel like the author prioritized the settings, flashiness, and edginess of the imagined future over the plot.

Utopia for Realists

Rutger Bergman

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Although statistically, the world is the best that it has ever been - less poverty, less hunger, and higher standard of living, in certain aspects, it has regressed and can be made better. The book covers several of these topics, such as universal basic income, shorter work week, and open borders. Although rather idealistic, it documents case studies and experiments in implementation of these policies. Historical accounts of common peoples' lives (and how they barely changed until 1800s) and views on utopian ideas were interesting.

The Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton

⭐⭐⭐⭐
A meteor introduces a deadly pathogen to a remote town in Southwestern U.S. and a team of scientists are trying to find a way to neutralize it. Sounds relevant, eh? It's an enjoyable read with lots of technical details, most of which are realistic as far as I can tell. The ending was a bit abrupt, but is also realistic.

The Poison Squad

Deborah Blum

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Excellent and horrifying chronicle about the food industry in the late 1800s - early 1900s, fight for its regulation, and founding of the Food and Drug Administration. There is a lot of science, politics, unlikely allies, and conspiracies. Certainly made me appreciate that I don't have to worry about my groceries being tainted with formaldehyde, borax or salicylic acid. The situation with large businesses and lax regulation is still relevant today in some fields, particularly, in the digital world.

Ancillary Justice

Ann Leckie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A fascinating mix of space-faring empires, multi-theistic religion, cultural conflicts, and exploration of conscience, mind and body. Partially told from a perspective of a vast intelligence that controls multiple bodies, some passages can get overwhelming. Author herself said she wanted every sentence to matter and add to the world, so there are incredible amounts of detail. I will definitely be reading the sequels.

How to be an Antiracist

Ibram X. Kendi

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ibram Kendi's view on racism is very specific: Racism is the establishment of hierachies that favor specific race(s). He covers nuances of terms "racist", "not racist" and "anti-racist" in that context. There are many discussions of conflicts related to skin color, and not just "white" vs "black" that is common in the US, but also "light-skinned" vs "dark-skinned", more perceptible in other societies. The author is very self-aware and points out his own flawed thinking from the past. Definitely read it for a fair insight into race, relations, and how they can be made better.

Elysium Fire

Alastair Reynolds

⭐⭐⭐
Sequel to The Prefect / The Aurora Emergency, the story again follows police agents investigating a series of mysterious deaths. At the same time, a populist leader that questions the established colony order is gaining significant support. The book expands on the foundation and more dark secrets of the Glitter Band, and asks interesting questions, such as "should a democracy be allowed to dismantle itself?", but I think the previous book was more engaging.

The Hacking of the American Mind

Robert H. Lustig

⭐⭐⭐⭐
In the first part of the book, the author does a great job of describing of three main reward pathways in the brain: pleasure (dopamine), happiness (serotonin), and stress (cortisol). In addition to the mechanism, he provides great real-life examples of how specific medicines and substances interact with hormones, receptors and brain processes. In the latter part of the book, author describes the misuse of word "happiness", and how consumer media is equivocating it with wealth, owning property or instant gratification. The author criticizes the US healthcare system, which, I believe, is a major subject of his previous book as well. For me, it is always fascinating to learn about how the brain works.

Red Rising

Pierce Brown

⭐⭐
This book could have been so much more. The premise sounds interesting: Martian mining colony workers discover that they are not the frontier of colonizing Mars, as they were told; instead, they are working for the wealthy elite on Mars that has already been terraformed for decades. The first chapters have vivid descriptions of dangerous and gruesome life of the mining colony, but the main reveal was somehow boring. After some events, the main character is recruited into an underground resistance group. From that point on, the story goes on a tangent, almost like a long side quest in a video game. Main character needs to infiltrate the upper echelons of Martian society by getting accepted into the top university, to do which he needs to... compete in a survival game with other teenagers, which takes up the rest of the book. There are more deus ex machinas (at least 2 that I recall), ridiculous luck, logical inconsistencies in story and events, and no clarity in motivations of anyone who is participating in the game. Only expectation of something happening kept me reading.