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Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes …
A desperate trek through the icy canyons of Mars, a doll-sized family with giant-sized opinions, a defiant princess whose fate …
A desperate trek through the icy canyons of Mars, a doll-sized family with giant-sized opinions, …
Excellent. Will try to properly review it later. Highly recommend it.
An introduction to functional programming using the Elixir programming language.
Very interesting, beginner-friendly guide to functional programming and Elixir. What is functional programming, why is it worth learning, and how does Elixir behave.
My main criticism would be the pacing. Almost all of the book is paced well; concepts are not laboured (there's a distinct lack of 'five pages explaining the difference between float and integer'), and it all feels good. Except for one chapter - the 'main' chapter where you build an application - it feels like the pacing is doubled or even tripled. Maybe that is just me being a novice, but I felt that chapter could have been paced as two or three chapters and felt better for me.
But I'd still recommend it - it's a really good book. I think I will probably just need to review that one chapter a few more times before it really sinks in.
The true story of what happened the first time machines came for human jobs, when …
Book review: Blood in the Machine, by Brian Merchant.
Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood, His feats I but little admire. I will sing the achievements of General Ludd, Now the hero of Nottinghamshire.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a rare book which felt like it opened my eyes to something new; almost life-changing in some sense with the shift in perspective. The story of the Luddites and their fight to protect their way of life.
Nowadays of course, we think of a Luddite as a backwards, anti-technology person. Indeed, we use the word as an insult, to describe somebody who doesn't keep up with the times. But this is an excellent example of 'history written by the victors'.
The Luddites had a good, fulfilling way of life - they worked to their own schedule, they spent time with their families. They had a …
Book review: Blood in the Machine, by Brian Merchant.
Chant no more your old rhymes about bold Robin Hood, His feats I but little admire. I will sing the achievements of General Ludd, Now the hero of Nottinghamshire.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a rare book which felt like it opened my eyes to something new; almost life-changing in some sense with the shift in perspective. The story of the Luddites and their fight to protect their way of life.
Nowadays of course, we think of a Luddite as a backwards, anti-technology person. Indeed, we use the word as an insult, to describe somebody who doesn't keep up with the times. But this is an excellent example of 'history written by the victors'.
The Luddites had a good, fulfilling way of life - they worked to their own schedule, they spent time with their families. They had a career for life, with progression guaranteed. They were weavers, knitters, stockingers, and the surrounding trades. Crucially, they relied heavily on technology to provide this way of life.
What they fought against was not technology, but automation and the factory system which allowed the new entrepreneurial class to rewrite the fabric of society - without their consent and against the laws of the time - in order to redistribute wealth into their hands. The technology which allowed the wealthy to deny them work and good wages, which forced them into a life of working for the benefit of the factory owners. In the words of the Luddite George Mellor, "a soul is of more value than work or gold."
The book gives a fascinating insight into a time of profound change, and compares it with our modern era where we can see many of the same patterns being repeated. The Luddites are written about with compassion and humanity, and Merchant gives them a respect and dignity which history has denied them.
The true story of what happened the first time machines came for human jobs, when …
I will try to write a review later, but this was a really good book.
When last seen, the singularly inept wizard Rincewind had fallen off the edge of the …
You always know you're in for a good adventure when Rincewind is around. Along with his trusty many-legged companion, The Luggage.
This was a fun read. Wizards, 'Sourcery', lots of fireballs and fun times.
Really not much to complain about here - much less of the satire and social commentary Sir Terry is known for in his later style, but a fun, quick-paced adventure in a quirky fantasy world.
Death takes on an apprentice who's an individual thinker.
Enjoyable read. Not my favourite of the first five, but had plenty of good moments.
Story revolves around Death taking on a (human) apprentice.
Of course, humans feel compassion and love and so on - so are not especially well-suited to the job of Death. Which is where the drama for the story comes.
But Sir Terry does a good job of 'humanising' Death - yes, he does not really experience life, and he seems to be trying to learn by copying what he sees - but he comes across as a very lonely creature indeed who cares greatly for those entrusted into his care, and it is quite poignant to read this after he took Sir Terry in the end.
The wizard Drum Billet knows that he will soon die and travels to a place …
Fantastic. Loved this one.
I think it's the third one in the Discworld series, chronologically, but it's the first one where I feel Sir Terry's true style became apparent.
In this novel, we meet for the first time Granny Weatherwax - probably my favourite Discworld character. Yes, there are many fantastic characters, but Granny Weatherwax always occupies a soft spot for me.
We learn about Borrowing, and how Granny can't Borrow bees; we encounter Headology - how people will believe certain things and words can prod them in the right direction.
The story itself is great - about a young girl, supposed to have been the eighth son of an eighth son - and therefore a wizard - she was in fact born a girl. So she inherits wizard magic in her genes, yet her genes do not match her physical appearance nor the way society treats her as a …
Fantastic. Loved this one.
I think it's the third one in the Discworld series, chronologically, but it's the first one where I feel Sir Terry's true style became apparent.
In this novel, we meet for the first time Granny Weatherwax - probably my favourite Discworld character. Yes, there are many fantastic characters, but Granny Weatherwax always occupies a soft spot for me.
We learn about Borrowing, and how Granny can't Borrow bees; we encounter Headology - how people will believe certain things and words can prod them in the right direction.
The story itself is great - about a young girl, supposed to have been the eighth son of an eighth son - and therefore a wizard - she was in fact born a girl. So she inherits wizard magic in her genes, yet her genes do not match her physical appearance nor the way society treats her as a female. There's a strong element of equal rights between the genders (obviously, given the title), but I found it fascinating how Sir Terry seemed to touch on something deeper - that the bits we are born with between our legs do not define who are or what we are capable of.
I blasted through this in (for me) a very short space of time, every day I looked forward to reading it.
Feels like it aged very well, too.
The wizard Drum Billet knows that he will soon die and travels to a place …
After finishing The Light Fantastic, there really wasn't anything else I wanted to do besides start Equal Rites. Maybe I will binge read them all in order after all.
The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the …
I love this opening quote:
The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.
This was a brilliant read. Really enjoyed it.
Where I felt the first one to be perhaps a little disjointed - lots of fun little scenes but maybe a bit less in the way of compelling overall narrative - this one is so much better.
I'm aware that Sir Terry recommended people ignore the first two books in the reading order, and whilst I can see why he may have said that about the first one, this one is very much worth reading.
It's funny, heartwarming, interesting; the main story is compelling and well-paced; there's plenty of sharp observations on humanity. His talent only develops upwards from here, of course, but the improvement between the first and second books is remarkable.
It's also got some incredible punes in it.
I love this opening quote:
The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.
This was a brilliant read. Really enjoyed it.
Where I felt the first one to be perhaps a little disjointed - lots of fun little scenes but maybe a bit less in the way of compelling overall narrative - this one is so much better.
I'm aware that Sir Terry recommended people ignore the first two books in the reading order, and whilst I can see why he may have said that about the first one, this one is very much worth reading.
It's funny, heartwarming, interesting; the main story is compelling and well-paced; there's plenty of sharp observations on humanity. His talent only develops upwards from here, of course, but the improvement between the first and second books is remarkable.
It's also got some incredible punes in it.
The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the …
Really needed to read something light and gentle. Only a dozen pages into this so far, but really enjoying this. I read The Colour of Magic last year, and enjoyed it - but this really feels like his writing leveled up between the two books. I know later books are even better, but am surprised by the difference between these two.
On 24 February 2022, Russia stunned the world by launching an invasion of Ukraine. In …
Read a bunch of this late last year and was really enjoying it, but had to take a break for various reasons. But the last week, I've got back into it. Really fantastic book exploring the 1990s and early 2000s background to the war.
On 24 February 2022, Russia stunned the world by launching an invasion of Ukraine. In …
I have to say, I much prefer the UK cover over the American one that showed up when I searched for this in Bookwyrm. The colour scheme the font, the layout - and most importantly the image selected for the cover - just feel so much better to me. Had to add this version myself as a new book, which may seem excessive, but it was worth it to me.
Anton Eine's “Human Kind” is a thematic compilation of science fiction short stories dedicated to …
Read the first story but just not been in the mood for reading lately. Finally found a book I have that hunger for, so pausing this one for now.