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osiris

osiris@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 11 months ago

Systems developer, hobby guitarist and dreamsofbeinga-writer.

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reviewed Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (The Machineries of Empire, #1)

Yoon Ha Lee: Ninefox Gambit (2016) 4 stars

Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle …

Review of 'Ninefox Gambit' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Positives

I absolutely loved the world-building. The almost kind of pre-Warhammer 40k kind of society where religion and technology are extremely intertwined is fascinating. The idea that new discoveries in science will lead to bordering on ludicrous and superstitious requirements for new technology to work is fantastic.

I also really, really appreciate the author's obvious appreciation for his readers' intelligence by not over-explaining the mysteries of a future with, to begin with, an almost incomprehensible technology and society. The story is so much told from the inside of the characters for whom it is obvious what a box moth or a calendrical sword is.

Negatives

I felt too much of the book was military sci fi, my own reaction surprising me a bit (I thought I liked that more). Too much time was spent in the details of battle encounters, and too little in the arch plot of the Hexarchet …

Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower (Paperback, 2000, Warner Books) 4 stars

In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful …

Review of 'Parable of the Sower' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This is book is a modern rendition of Earth Abides (by George R Stewart). It is superior in many ways. It is so much more well-written, more believable and a lot more emotionally attached.

But this was not a book for me.

Its diary format lends itself to a single-subject, single-threaded narrative that is too far from my preferred storytelling which is parallell storylines reminiscent of that in modern tv series. The diary format also leans into slower, observational progress which is probably intentional, to make it feel more genuine and grounded. But for me that just takes away excitement - everything is just a string of situations, there's no feeling of story arc.

For some this is probably an indication of quality, but I want my fiction to be fiction.

Richard K. Morgan: Woken Furies (2005, Del Rey/Ballantine Books) 4 stars

Richard K. Morgan has received widespread praise for his astounding twenty-fifth-century novels featuring Takeshi Kovacs, …

Review of 'Woken furies' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

It makes sense why I never finished this book when it came out. It has fantastic world building but quite a dull story. It introduces fantastic potentials for twists and exciting build-ups, but then just let’s them wane out. The big reveals at the end should have come way sooner.

I found the narrator (audio book this time around) and his attempt at a one-man theatre cast extremely tiring. His “female” voices reducing every woman to a hapless damsel in distress almost made me put the book away in the first minutes.

Niklas Natt Och Dag: 1793 (Paperback) 4 stars

Review of '1793' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Det var länge sen jag läste (lyssnade) på en bok som så fullständigt fångat mig. 1793 skulle kunna beskrivas som Seven förlagd i det sena 1700-talets Stockholm. Ingen är riktigt god, många är onda, och världen och tillvaron är en nästan oövervinnerlig kamp.

Boken balanserar hela tiden på det uthärdligas gräns, där karaktärerna drabbas av saker så fruktansvärda att man tror att man måste lägga boken ifrån sig. Med den lyckas hela tiden landa på rätt sida med minsta möjliga marginal, och man kan istället inte sluta läsa.

Språket är troligen inte alls historiskt ens nära 1700-talssvenskan, men ger en perfekt känsla av dåtid utan att fastna i fällan att bli krångligt eller onödigt omständligt. Martin Wallström, en favorit sen Mr. Robot, gör ett fantastiskt jobb som inläsare.

Review of 'Nattavaara (Nordmark, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I den postapokalyptiska världen c:a 2050 har allt kollapsat - matförsörjning, el, rättsväsende, sjukvård. Utbrytarstater i olika landsändor gör uppror mot Sverige, och på landsbygden kämpar man med allt man kan uppbringa för att klara sig ytterligare en dag.

Nattavaara är en fantastisk bok där det inte finns några goda karaktärer, inte ens huvudpersonerna. I bästa fall är man bara sig själv närmast och tvingas fatta beslut med fruktansvärda konsekvenser för andra för att överleva.

Bokens inledning är så nattsvart att jag knappt kunde fortsätta lyssna. Ganska snart fastnade jag dock i den fascinerande berättelsen och den övergår i en mer spännande historia med förtäckta inslag av satir över nutiden. Snart blev det nästan omöjligt att sätta den på paus. Med lite slipning hade den kunnat vara en femma.

Uppläsaren har fått mycket hyllningar i andra recensioner, men själv har jag svårt för hans nästan teatraliska intonation. Man vänjer sig …

Gene Kim: The Phoenix Project (Hardcover, 2013, IT Revolution Press) 4 stars

The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win is the …

Review of 'The Phoenix Project' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

As a novel, this book is horrible. But it's probably the best management book I've read. Although I've been working with devops for years, this book is an invigorating boost and a reminder of why devops is so important and why I should continue to always advocate it for my clients.

At times the management lingo in the book just makes me giggle, especially how business terms are used unironically by the characters in everyday dialog. But that doesn't matter - I couldn't put this book down. Particularly the first third, where the old way of working and the all-too-familiar downward spiral is so precisely described, is fantastic. It's like a thriller set in my professional world.

This book was also a much-needed reminder for me, as a developer, not to forget the importance of IT ops. Not to fall into the thought trap of putting development at the top …