#1088

Finished the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Cixin Xu, and liked The Three Body problem best. The other two books, while interesting, were incredibly awful with how they portrayed women and gender interaction in general. Which sucks, because the dimensional discussion was interesting enough.

Also finished Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt. Very interesting and lots of stuff I never knew. Thick, however, and definitely a particular perspective of the second half of the decade. Worth a read/listen with a critical mind, I think. Gives a lot more context to how stuff is folding out today as well in Europe.

Caught up on Snotgirl Vol 2 (it’s kind of meh),
and read The Expanse Origins comic tie in (which was actually pretty endearing to me, nice little set of stories about the crew of the Rocinante).

Now listening to Count Zero by Gibson, and will do Mona Lisa Overdrive afterward. It’s my repeat of this trilogy and I’m catching a lot more stuff I missed last time.

1 Like
#1089

It might have been my favorite Stephenson book, and I like his work a lot.

#1090

Just finished “The Infra-World” by François Bonnet and “Beastie Boys Book” (mostly by Adrock and Mike D).

Both scratch very different itches.

C

#1091

It’s a tie for cryptonomicon and dodo for me

1 Like
#1092

I’m really fond of Zodiac, and need to reread Seveneves.

#1093

D.O.D.O was very good. I have mixed feelings on Seveneves, the last third of the book threw me for a bit of a loop. Reamde was good. I have to go back and re-read Anathem sometime, I don’t think I really clicked with it.

Maybe I’m a masochist, but the Baroque Cycle remains my favorite works by him.

1 Like
#1094

DODO is next on my list, so can’t compare. But I feel opposite to you - loved Anathem, like Seveneves a lot, didn’t like Reamde. Love all of the Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon.

#1095

Ah, this seems really good. I have been into Fisher lately but concerned about the recent-datedness.
Interesting to think of the blog as compared to a forum like lines in terms of collectivity.

#1096

I wasn’t as much into Cryptonomicon or Quicksilver, skipped the rest of the Baroque Cycle, had mixed feelings about Anathem, skipped The Mongoliad. I think I have a copy of Reamde among with some other misplaced books I picked up at a library book sale, somewhere in this house… :thinking:

I enjoyed Seveneves because it was just boldly crazy and had so many tangents into science and technology, but it definitely read like two or three different books. D.O.D.O. though was pure fun and reminds me of the wackiness I liked in Zodiac and Snow Crash.

#1097

Diamond Age remains my favorite, with Cryptonomicon as the runner-up. Those are the two I’ve read multiple times. Reamde is my least favorite. I really liked the direction that Seveneves went as it came to a close. The Baroque Cycle is the work I’ve failed to get into, despite numerous attempts. I will try again.

2 Likes
#1098

Couple of books I’ve read recently that I’d recommend:

Schild’s Ladder by Greg Egan: Group of scientists in the distant future, look to test the Sarumpaet rules an equation to test quantum graph theory. They mistakenly create a stable vacuum that begins to consume the local space around it. Two camps emerge, one to destroy the vacuum, the other to study it. Fascinating distant future SF that is dizzying in scope.

Hungry Hollow by AK Dewdney: Psycho-geographic study reminiscent of Charles and Ray Eames Powers of Ten Documents the life of the biosphere of a patch of land in northern Ontario. From the ecology of the plants, animals, and microbes, to the geology and chemistry of the land. Rich study in the taxonomy of life.

The Croning by Laird Baron: Cosmic horror of black magic and witchcraft. Geologist becomes entangled in the cult of the ancient leech. Abyssal terror in the vein of classic cthonic horror.

4 Likes
#1099

I loved cryptonimicon so much that I had a bit of correspondence with Bruce Scheiner the consulting cryptologist from the book🤓

5 Likes
#1100

Barron is great. I highly recommend his latest short story collection, Swift to Chase. haven’t dipped into his recent noir books yet but he’s probably my favorite occult horror writer.

1 Like
#1101

Just get " SPECTRES Composer l’écoute / Composing listening" about musique concrète, very interesting lecture!

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#1102

thanks to everyone who recommended Stephenson’s DODO. I wasn’t a huge fan of his (although i did enjoy Diamond Age back in the day) but in two days I am already half way through DODO and, albeit sometimes a tad too explanatory to my taste, it’s been bonkers. back to it!

1 Like
#1103

It’s a lot of fun. I thinking working with a co-writer worked to his advantage.

2 Likes
#1104

20 chars of absolutely agreed!

“perky vigor of a man who had sat through one too many free webinars about the importance of networking”. love some of character descriptions there.

2 Likes
#1105

(This same book is also titled “The Invisible Kingdom” with the same basic cover design.)

It was a fun and fascinating read. Probably about 1/3 to 1/2 about DNA rather than microbes, but at this scale that’s pretty vital anyway, and I learned some new things. I also appreciated some of the commentary on how science works (and doesn’t) and that life and species really aren’t as clearly defined as we might want.

If I were to nitpick I’d say some of the language referring to sex and gender isn’t “woke”, but it also didn’t strike me as intentionally transphobic. And I’ve read more gripping versions of how Barry J. Marshall deliberately infected himself with Helicobacter pylori to prove it, not stress, was the actual cause of ulcers.

2 Likes
#1106

Devoured Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home mostly on a plane ride, which was excellent and I’m surprised I didn’t read it earlier

7 Likes
#1107

Been poking around MIXING WITH IMPACT by Wessel Oltheten.

Easy going reading with some choice tips every now and again.

2 Likes