User Profile

Nick Locked account

pythoneer@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 10 months ago

Educator at a UK university, enjoyer of live and recorded music, avid reader of sci-fi, fantasy, crime and historical novels, and selected non-fiction.

Find me at @pythoneer@cyberplace.social for non-book-related nonsense.

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Nick's books

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Adrian Tchaikovsky: Elder Race (EBook, 2021, Tom Doherty Associates) 4 stars

Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way. …

Technology *is* magic, but it can't solve all your problems

4 stars

Arthur C Clarke famously once wrote that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", and this story is the living embodiment of that, presenting the idea from both perspectives. I enjoyed how the book regularly switched between those perspectives, showing how conversations were perceived differently by the protagonist who controls the technology and his more primitive, magic-fearing counterpart. The struggle to communicate is one of the themes of the book.

Besides that, this is a book that also tries to deal with the concepts of loneliness and isolation, and the profound depression that can spring from this. I found it interesting that the book depicts a technological solution to these human problems, but one that is deeply flawed.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot. It's not action-packed, nor is it full of intrigue or plot twists; it prefers to focus instead on the thoughts and feelings of the …