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polymerwitch Locked account

polymerwitch@bookwyrm.social

Joined 3 years, 1 month ago

I like speculative fiction and political philosophy

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polymerwitch's books

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Currently Reading

David Graeber, David Wengrow: The Dawn of Everything (2022, Allen Lane) 4 stars

A breathtakingly ambitious retelling of the earliest human societies offers a new understanding of world …

Frustrating at best

2 stars

I usually find Graeber's work a bit annoying as I agree with the conclusions, but I find his arguments for how to get there lacking. I had high hopes for this book as the premise was interesting. Unfortunately, this book was even more frustrating that his others. I enjoyed the critique of eurocentric views on civilization, and I liked that the book argues against a narrative of progress through feudal lords and then capitalism.

However, a main argument in the book is against the idea that large population governance is not inherently oppressive. I wholly reject this idea. The arguments Graeber and Wengrow make are hundreds of pages long and never get beyond "well there is no evidence of a monarchy so they must have had people's assemblies and been democratic." The city, they infer, is therefore a structure we can have without oppressive relations. There is then much advocating …

reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Tamsyn Muir: Gideon the Ninth (EBook, 2019, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 4 stars

"The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some …

dark fantasy for the jaded millennial

4 stars

I loved the characters in this book. Enough so that I greatly look forward to the next in the series. I did find the story structure telling a little light, and it often reminded me of epic adult Scooby Doo. It's a hybrid of the jaded millennial reluctantly participating in society (but on their own terms) and a Shakespeare-ian 5-act play, where the protagonist forms a band who tries to unmask the monster clue by clue. The telling was still lots of fun. I guess it just felt like it couldn't decide if it was quirky pop comedy or something deeper.

Samuel R. Delany: The Einstein intersection (1998, Wesleyan University Press, Published by University Press of New England) 4 stars

Wanderung zwischen den Zeiten

Der junge Lo Lobey ist ein Mutant. Er und andere seiner …

what?

4 stars

I have no idea what I just read, and I think that might be the point. It was beautiful though like an acid trip is beautiful. In this case it probably does have some slightly more profound meaning, but for now I kind of just feel like I'm coming down and everything is a little less real.