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phonner

phonner@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years ago

Math teacher, writer phonner@mathstodon.xyz

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phonner's books

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Michael Swanwick, Michael Swanwick: Stations of the tide (1993, Legend (Arrow Bks.)) 3 stars

The story of a nameless bureaucrat who is sent by the Office of Technology Transfer, …

Review of "Stations of the Tide" by Michael Swanwick

4 stars

A complex and subtle story with many innovative plot elements and world details that often feels like its been intentionally written to be hard to follow. A worthwhile and satisfying read, due in part to its length.

Review of "Net Gains" by Ryan O'Hanlon

5 stars

A story-driven history of the analytics movement in soccer/football. O'Hanlon brings personal knowledge of the game and experience writing about the sport to the book, and the result is an engaging overview of soccer and its complicated relationship with math. Not too technical, but technical enough to know exactly where to look if you want to learn more about how analysts are trying to quantify a seemingly unquantifiable game.

Mur Lafferty: Six Wakes (2017) 4 stars

"A space adventure set on a lone ship where the clones of a murdered crew …

Review of "Six Wakes" by Mur Lafferty

4 stars

A solid, fun, page-turning sci fi mystery. If you go looking for plot holes and scientific shortcomings you'll undoubtedly find them, but I enjoyed the book enough not to go looking.

Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go (2006, Vintage Books / Random House) 4 stars

Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly …

Review of "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

5 stars

A beautiful, engrossing, haunting story. The innocence of the narrator and her vivid coming of age stories drift toward unsettling resolutions that reveal themselves slowly. But like the characters in the book, we knew what was coming all along.

Grace Curtis: Floating Hotel (2024, DAW) 4 stars

Welcome to the Grand Abeona Hotel: home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and …

Review of "Floating Hotel" by Grace Curtis

4 stars

The aging luxury hotel moving through space provides a clever hospitality-industry backdrop for enjoyable character development stories. A political mystery story line attempts to pull them altogether, but doesn't deliver as much as I hoped.

Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five (Paperback, Dell Publishing Co.) 4 stars

Slaughterhouse-Five, also known as The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a science fiction …

Review of "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

5 stars

An incredible and innovative book full of wisdom, humor, purpose, and the kind of writing that makes you feel like the author is sitting by your side telling you the story. I was sad for it to come to an end. So it goes.

Charles Stross: Singularity Sky (Paperback, 2004, Ace Books) 4 stars

Singularity Sky is a science fiction novel by author Charles Stross, published in 2003. It …

Review of "Singularity Sky" by Charles Stross

4 stars

A readable mix of familiar Sci Fi and Adventure elements that are done better elsewhere. The set-up is compelling and there are some well-conceived and executed story lines, but the most "alien" part of story didn't come together for me: It didn't mesh well with the other story-lines and made things drag a bit at the end. I wasn't initially interested in reading more, but now a few months later, and seeing that this is an early work from the author, I might take a chance on the sequel.

Ben Macintyre: A spy among friends (2014) 4 stars

Review of "A Spy Among Friends" by Ben Macintyre

5 stars

Incredible story of WWII-era espionage centered on the notorious double-agent Kim Philby, who spent 30 years as one of the most influential spies in both British and American intelligence all the while working directly for the Soviets. The real-life spy stories are exciting and well-told, and in them it's easy to see the origins of fiction like James Bond and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". There is a parallel story about the danger of the "old boy" network, where authority, influence, and trust is given based on social standing, and maintaining appearances is often more important than doing what's right.

Natalie Hodges: Uncommon Measure (2022, Bellevue Literary Press) 4 stars

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST NPR “BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR” SELECTION NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ …

Review of "Uncommon Measure" by Natalie Hodges

4 stars

I enjoyed this overall, but perhaps not as intended. It's a vivid portrayal of a kind of person I've often known but never quite understood: the classically trained musician who seems imprisoned and tortured by music while professing to love it. It's several sad stories told well — of lifelong performance anxiety, of inhibiting perfectionism, of being an outsider — but perhaps the saddest story is that of the person who might be happy if they could understand just one thing, yet you know they never will. I never bought in to the "time" theme, and the attempts to weave physics in were strained, but I found much to learn from and admire here.

Greg Bear: Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1) (2003) 4 stars

"Virus hunter" Christopher Dicken is a man on a mission, following a trail of rumors, …

Review of "Darwin's Radio" by Greg Bear

4 stars

A compelling, well-told story built on a deep understanding of science -- not just the content, but its people, culture, and relationships with government and policy. The book moves briskly in many places, but drags in some. Good characters with complex relationships explore familiar themes in the outbreak genre: competing scientific theories, competing policy positions, iconoclasts against the establishment, truth against mob mentality, and ultimately humankind versus itself.

Billy Walters: Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk 4 stars

Review of "Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk"

4 stars

A fun, if uneven read. It's at its best when focused on the stories and characters that fill the author's life of gambling, hustling, winning, and losing. It's at its worst when the author tries too hard to be the victim who does right by everyone even while being wronged. You probably wouldn't expect — or maybe even want — a fully honest self-accounting from a man who's lost so much, but his is a unique story and there is a good deal of truth here, including some the author may not see himself.

reviewed Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Children of Time, #1)

Adrian Tchaikovsky: Children of Time (Paperback, 2016, Pan Books) 5 stars

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a …

Review of "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky

5 stars

An immensely satisfying story about human advancement and hubris that gave me everything I'm looking for in good sci fi. It's an exciting story filled with twists and turns that touches on deep, familiar ideas in profound and novel ways. There's lots to think about, characters to care about, and story lines to look forward to. The kind of book that gets me looking into the rest of the author's catalog.