Alternate account of @hirvox@mastodon.online
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44% complete! Hirvox has read 11 of 25 books.
The Sparrow is a novel about a remarkable man, a living saint, a life-long celibate and Jesuit priest, who undergoes …
He broke the chains. Then he broke the world….
A decade ago Darrow led a …
This was a tough read. It wasn't bad. But because however clever the protagonists are, their enemies have cruel logic in their actions as well. No plan survives contact with the enemy, and these occasions come early and often.
When the tech platforms promised a future of "connection," they were lying. They said their "walled gardens" would keep us …
The author couldn't decide whether to make a textbook or a book-length rant against political opponents, so he did both at the same time. Bonus shoutout to the endorsement of neomonarchism in the middle of talking about the importance of the non-aggression principle.
In the preamble, the author wonders why more pop-sci books don’t post their references exclusively online. Two words: Link rot. Sure, a reference to an online source might rot too, but if you at least know the URL you might still find it from one of the archival services.
Mika Aaltola is a researcher for the Foreign Policy Institute, and attempted to convert his musings around the flareup of the war against Ukraine into a presidential bid. Now that the effort seems doomed, I took a look at the collection of those musings. It’s fine as a political analysis, but the President’s thought leadership responsibilities are not limited to foreign policy. And his grasp there is more tenuous.
Content warning Spoilers for Amygdala, sexual violence
An odd book. The pace in the beginning suffers from the extensive introductions of each character. Their designs are complicated, like overgrown plants. So describing them in detail takes way too long.
There’s also some very odd worldbuilding choices, and the warnings in the book description are there for a reason. Especially the reproductive cycle, which involves necrophilic rape and parasitism. There’s a scene where the audience of a gladiatorial combat arena gets.. over-enthusiastic. And one would imagine a chain reaction from the aftermath. How is this civilization of billions still alive?
Also, the evil villain’s plot involves inventing medicine and implementing healthcare, so one might hear echoes of the author’s voice there.
