I mostly like science-fiction. About to embark on a re-read of the Discworld series.
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Neuromancer is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. Considered one of …
Have read several times before but am reading again because I want to give the sequels another chance, I wasn't that into them when I read them previously.
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand …
Taking a break from the Discworld with some non-fiction. I've read this one before but I thought of it recently when I saw Carl Sagan in something, and I wanted to read it again.
It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to …
I have a feeling all my reviews so far have been very focused on when the Discworld series starts feeling "like itself" - capturing the feeling and exploring the themes that I remember it for as a whole from when I read it as a kid.
Well, this one is no different! However, it might be the last one that mentions it, because I think this book is the one that really gets to the theme of progress that runs through almost every memory I have of the series.
Equal Rites tried it, but I felt it pulled its punches. Wyrd Sisters skirted the edges of it with the implication of a renaissance in the arts kicking off in Ankh-Morpork. But in Pyramids we have a story about a man returning to his kingdom which is literally stuck in the past, bringing new ideas, and kicking off events which leave …
I have a feeling all my reviews so far have been very focused on when the Discworld series starts feeling "like itself" - capturing the feeling and exploring the themes that I remember it for as a whole from when I read it as a kid.
Well, this one is no different! However, it might be the last one that mentions it, because I think this book is the one that really gets to the theme of progress that runs through almost every memory I have of the series.
Equal Rites tried it, but I felt it pulled its punches. Wyrd Sisters skirted the edges of it with the implication of a renaissance in the arts kicking off in Ankh-Morpork. But in Pyramids we have a story about a man returning to his kingdom which is literally stuck in the past, bringing new ideas, and kicking off events which leave the world transformed. It's a really exciting development on top of the usual hilarity.
Meet Granny Weatherwax, the most highly regarded non-leader a coven of non-social witches could ever …
Granny Weatherwax was great in her previous outing in "Equal Rites", but it's the bickering trio of Granny, Nanny and Magrat, introduced in this book for the first time, that really bring the Witches stories to life.
This book also introduces a sense of progress and dynamism to the Discworld that is largely absent in the previous books, but will become a staple as the series progresses. Previous books have high stakes sometimes, but don't ultimately alter the status quo - Equal Rites did not end with women being accepted as wizards, everything is restored with a snap of the fingers at the end of Sourcery, etc. In Wyrd Sisters we see multiple characters breaking out of their rigid, pre-ordained roles, and a sort of renaissance taking root in the founding of the Dysk theatre. Though it seems almost incidental to the plot, it leaves the world altered.
When last seen, the singularly inept wizard Rincewind had fallen off the edge of the …
Couldn't help myself going right on to the next one!
Death takes on an apprentice who's an individual thinker.
This book is the first that really fleshes out the character of Death, one of the best characters in the series, and his obsession with the living world that he can never be a part of.
Another thing I enjoy about this book is the whirlwind tour of the disc - a little bit of Klatch, a little bit of the Counterweight continent, and a lot of Sto Lat and Ankh-Morpork. It feels like the disc is starting to take shape, as it were.
It's the first book in the series that I really can't find any fault with, it's just brilliant.
Death takes on an apprentice who's an individual thinker.
A little fiction break between books about the October revolution...
2020 Reprint of the 1922 Edition. "An American journalist and revolutionary writer, John Reed became …
The writing style in this book is frantic, as if it's just the author's notes sent straight to press, but it captures the nature and energy of the events. It's quite hard to follow what exactly is happening, with the myriad characters, parties, committees, papers and so on, but it is engaging so far.
"Ur-Fascism" or "Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt" (in Italian: Il fascismo …
I guess this is an essay rather than a book... But I read it and I'm going to count it anyway!
Over a hundred and fifty years after its initial publication, Emily Brontë’s turbulent portrayal of …
The story of Ellen Dean, a woman born into servitude, who helps to raise two generations of spoiled, petulant brats for a series of masters on the Yorkshire estates of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
Over a hundred and fifty years after its initial publication, Emily Brontë’s turbulent portrayal of …
Everybody in this novel is such a mess!
Over a hundred and fifty years after its initial publication, Emily Brontë’s turbulent portrayal of …
My favourite twitch streamer has been reading a couple of chapters of this on her stream once a week, so I decided to read it myself!
For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike--either free and equal …
Finally finished! Mixed feelings about it tbh, but I will write about that properly later.
Not enjoying this very much...
For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike--either free and equal …
Slow progress on this one!