Big focus on economics and politics. Didn't really expect that, but also I didn't know what to expect. Are a lot of 'mass market' sci-fi novels like this?
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Primarily on mastodon mastodon.gamedev.place/@DoctorBLLK Corpo bondservant. Talk to me about game design and dev, and tea! I do love some tea. Praise floppa
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Aden commented on Mirkheim by Poul Anderson
A STAR EXPLODES... And a billion years later, a galaxy explodes in war. When the …
Aden reviewed Sun Tzu's The art of war by Sunzi (The art of war plus.)
That book you've heard of and feel like the title gives you the gist.
4 stars
In the modern day, it is often said that this is a book for people in leadership roles, CEOs and the like. Touted in tech bro circles, certainly. While I can definitely see the appeals from that perspective, I also see value from without.
Primarily focused on genuine war concepts, a variety of topics can be abstracted to principles and manipulations of personal, interpersonal, and social handlings. From a leadership perspective, manipulation is the correct term here, though not in a Machiavellian sense. As opposed to backhanded and secretive tactics of control, here we see an aim toward genuine and caring authority. This, among other points, do carry some actual value in the modern day. And sure, there are plenty of other abstractions useful in a situation where One deals with "enemies."
If nothing else, this book teaches that the United States does not fight wars. The modern military superpowers …
In the modern day, it is often said that this is a book for people in leadership roles, CEOs and the like. Touted in tech bro circles, certainly. While I can definitely see the appeals from that perspective, I also see value from without.
Primarily focused on genuine war concepts, a variety of topics can be abstracted to principles and manipulations of personal, interpersonal, and social handlings. From a leadership perspective, manipulation is the correct term here, though not in a Machiavellian sense. As opposed to backhanded and secretive tactics of control, here we see an aim toward genuine and caring authority. This, among other points, do carry some actual value in the modern day. And sure, there are plenty of other abstractions useful in a situation where One deals with "enemies."
If nothing else, this book teaches that the United States does not fight wars. The modern military superpowers have no interest in victory. Because victory implies finality.
Aden reviewed Enchiridion by Epictetus (Dover thrift editions)
Short, thought-provoking.
5 stars
While the language can be a bit unwieldy, the precepts are short enough to gather the general meaning without getting too bogged down. We've all heard of philosophy, and we get the gist, but doubtful many have studied the core concepts of a given philosophy. This treatise on stoicism from only a few thousand years ago provides an opinionated look into a few aspects of human nature, and whether stoic or not includes some valuable considerations. This was honestly really fun to experience, though I did actually listen to it rather than read. Well-worth the time, it's extremely quick.
Aden finished reading Enchiridion by Epictetus (Dover thrift editions)
Enchiridion by Epictetus (Dover thrift editions)
Aden started reading Mirkheim by Poul Anderson
A STAR EXPLODES... And a billion years later, a galaxy explodes in war. When the …
Not a single clue what I'm getting into here except the general concept of sci-fi
Aden reviewed Neuromancer by William Gibson (Sprawl Trilogy)
Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer is a science fiction …
Groundbreaking, but uninspired perhaps
3 stars
Content warning Yeah it's a bit spoilery
Neuromancer is known as a progenitor of the cyberpunk genre, and it certainly captures that essence in the early chapters, but tends to lose itself to the complexity of the world as it continues, and honestly this feels intentional. Case experiences a world through drug addiction, forced sobriety, the pursuit of the high, and eventually a new high unfettered by his magic liver. In the same way that Case experiences the world in his various states, the writing follows a similar suit, and unfortunately a fair portion of this leads to a feeling of mundanity.
The plot increases in complexity as we learn the reality of Wintermute and its alter-ego, but the resolution falls a bit flat as we get a simultaneous "super-villain-esque allow me to explain my evil plan to you" scenario, and also a vagueness surrounding what actually happened to the AI identities. Many of the confusing points throughout the story that you could have figured out on a second read-through are simply explained directly in the end, removing a lot of potential for discussion and excitement for figuring out the clues.
It's one of those books that is certainly worth reading once. But only once. Maybe the sequels improve on the formula? But at least from a popular media perspective, I've never heard tale of the following entries like I've heard of this starting point, so it seems doubtful they are impactful.
I know this is not the best review, I'm sleepy and also I forgot to give a review back when I originally finished the read so it's been a couple months.
Aden reviewed Ask Iwata by Satoru Iwata
I miss you, Iwata.
5 stars
A beautiful, brief look into the life and teachings of Satoru Iwata. Short enough for anyone to enjoy, but highly valuable for gamers, designers, and those who want to look back on the origins of video games to today.
With the recent "developments" of Nintendo in the years since Iwata's passing, it has become ever more noticeable how considerable an impact this man had on the world. This book shows just how powerful you can be if you simply give a shit.