I don't think I've ever read a book where the protagonist is so indifferent to his own survival. Fortunately luck, good timing and The Wonk conspire to keep Uncharles, valet robot, going. He just wants to arrange someone's wardrobe and travel plans but ends up on an epic journey through a collapsed society. I laughed out loud several times.
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GenericMoniker reviewed Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Service Model, #1)
To fix the world they first must break it further.
Humanity is a dying …
The end of the world can have some humor
4 stars
I don't think I've ever read a book where the protagonist is so indifferent to his own survival. Fortunately luck, good timing and The Wonk conspire to keep Uncharles, valet robot, going. He just wants to arrange someone's wardrobe and travel plans but ends up on an epic journey through a collapsed society. I laughed out loud several times.
GenericMoniker reviewed City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett (Divine Cities, #2)
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war …
City of Blades
4 stars
Back to the rich world of The Divine Cities trilogy, this book follows Turyin Mulaghesh instead of Shara Komayd (the protagonist of the first book). Mulaghesh is called out of retirement to look into the disappearance of a Saypuri agent in the deceased war goddess' city.
The story is soberingly tragic despite some victories.
Back to the rich world of The Divine Cities trilogy, this book follows Turyin Mulaghesh instead of Shara Komayd (the protagonist of the first book). Mulaghesh is called out of retirement to look into the disappearance of a Saypuri agent in the deceased war goddess' city.
The story is soberingly tragic despite some victories.
GenericMoniker started reading The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
GenericMoniker reviewed Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick
Ethan Mollick, professeur à Wharton et auteur de la populaire newsletter One Useful Thing Substack, …
Co-Intelligence
3 stars
A generally optimistic take on what could be: Generative AI won't destroy education, it will be how everyone will have their own personal tutor. Smart executives won't lay off all of their human workers seeking cost savings but will use the productivity gains of AI to allow their workforce to do so much more than they could have previously.
Mollick covers some history of AI, current capabilities and limitations, and guidelines for working with it. But even a future rushing at us so quickly is difficult to predict, as the author acknowledges.
The book could use an index -- it is pretty hard to go back and find things later. For example, the jagged frontier is an insightful idea -- that it is really hard to know what kinds of things an AI is good at and what kinds of things it is bad at -- but in …
A generally optimistic take on what could be: Generative AI won't destroy education, it will be how everyone will have their own personal tutor. Smart executives won't lay off all of their human workers seeking cost savings but will use the productivity gains of AI to allow their workforce to do so much more than they could have previously.
Mollick covers some history of AI, current capabilities and limitations, and guidelines for working with it. But even a future rushing at us so quickly is difficult to predict, as the author acknowledges.
The book could use an index -- it is pretty hard to go back and find things later. For example, the jagged frontier is an insightful idea -- that it is really hard to know what kinds of things an AI is good at and what kinds of things it is bad at -- but in wanting to refresh my memory of the idea, there's not much to do except scan the pages visually. Maybe I should have gotten an electronic edition.
GenericMoniker finished reading Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick
Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick, Ethan Mollick
Ethan Mollick, professeur à Wharton et auteur de la populaire newsletter One Useful Thing Substack, nous livre le guide ultime …
GenericMoniker finished reading Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #5)
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #5)
Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. …
GenericMoniker reviewed Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #5)
Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future …
Favorite moments
4 stars
Content warning Things that happen... not so much plot
These were some things that I particularly enjoyed.
- Adolin and Shallan marveling at the wonders of a thing called a "shower". I've often thought that a hot shower is one of the great pleasures in life. (p.144)
- Kaladin and Sylphrenia doing a combination dance/kata together. (p.496)
- Kaladin's realization that Szeth wasn't like him, but rather like Kaladin's younger brother Tien. (p.653)
- A scene of peace, flute music & stew. (pp.847-849)
- Szeth described as a "master of wind and Truth" as a nod to the title. (p.920)
- "What are you?... Are you his god?" "No, I'm his therapist." (p.1256)
GenericMoniker rated City of Stairs: 3 stars
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (The Divine Cities, #1)
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its …
GenericMoniker finished reading City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (The Divine Cities, #1)
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (The Divine Cities, #1)
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its …
GenericMoniker started reading City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (The Divine Cities, #1)
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (The Divine Cities, #1)
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its …
GenericMoniker reviewed The Long Walk by Stephen King
In the near future, where America has become a police state, one hundred boys are …
A boy goes for a walk
3 stars
Content warning Maybe spoilers?
100 boys walk until only one is left standing.
Early in my reading of this book I imagined Stephen King taking a bet that he couldn't write a whole book where nothing happens except for someone going on a walk. I also thought I'd be disappointed if there wasn't some kind of a plot twist or at least that things get better spelled out about the setting that makes the walk what it is. But the plot, like the walkers, just keeps going down the line.
Doing a little research, this is apparently the first novel Stephen King wrote (and it was published under a pseudonym), so there probably weren't any literary challenge bets going on.
Despite the simplicity of the plot there are a ton of unanswered questions that leave the reader to speculate.
Did I like it? It was brutal and gory at times, so not "enjoyable" but it made me think.
GenericMoniker started reading Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #5)
Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #5)
Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. …
GenericMoniker started reading The Long Walk by Stephen King
The Long Walk by Stephen King
In the near future, where America has become a police state, one hundred boys are selected to enter an annual …
GenericMoniker reviewed Witch King by Martha Wells (The Rising World, #1)
Kai-Enna is the Witch King, though he hasn’t always been, and he hasn’t even always …
Complex
3 stars
Kai is a demon, which means he inhabits the bodies of humans after their death, and has various other powers. He and friends spend the book looking for another friend, which sounds pretty simple, but the world in which this happens has a complex backdrop of peoples, organizations and politics that is gradually revealed during a past and present timeline.
I'd recommend dedicating serious sequential reading blocks vs. the way I did it, which was in shorter snatches, occasionally with a few days in between. It made it hard to keep some minor characters straight and to understand some of the political situations. Do I not know what is going on because it hasn't been revealed yet, or because I forgot? Hard to tell sometimes.
Kai is a demon, which means he inhabits the bodies of humans after their death, and has various other powers. He and friends spend the book looking for another friend, which sounds pretty simple, but the world in which this happens has a complex backdrop of peoples, organizations and politics that is gradually revealed during a past and present timeline.
I'd recommend dedicating serious sequential reading blocks vs. the way I did it, which was in shorter snatches, occasionally with a few days in between. It made it hard to keep some minor characters straight and to understand some of the political situations. Do I not know what is going on because it hasn't been revealed yet, or because I forgot? Hard to tell sometimes.