Timbo
Carrie Vaughn's story was quite good but the mvp was Jana Bianca's story. Really haven't read too much sf (maybe a me problen) about pregnancy/childbirth but it is a fundamental and fascinating aspect of human existence and she explores here the possible connections between mothers of alien species.
The books (at least 2-5 so far) are similarly constructed in that they really crescendo. Once I hit like 5 chapters from the end I am lapping it up like a dog.
The material to get there is not that amazing but as an audiobook I don't really mind putting it on one time speed and just chilling out with these characters in this fantasy world for a long time. I still have the motivation to keep rocking, which is pretty good for five 1,000 page books.
The only piece of the world-building that doesn't really work for me so far is the Children of the Light. They are basically a bunch of dudes who are just kind of angry and run an official militia looking for evil people. And you know what typing that out nevermind I get it now.
It's the fourth in this big fat Turkey leg of a fantasy series. I'll keep listening to em (40 hours gets my money's worth from that there Audible)
Cool stuff in the Wheel of Time:
- The way magic works (sort of dangerously pull from the essence of the Earth)
- varied cultures
- hangout-style pacing
- main characters are compelling
- the character Perrin
Bad Stuff in the Wheel of Time:
- prudish
- villains feels a big mustache-whirly and “disposable-henchmany”
- the female characters are very much written by a man. it's not always awful but it's not not always awful
80% action 20% sci-fi.
Oscillates in tone between goofy and grim in a way enjoyed.
It's quite violent. I wanted to learn more about the Idirans and the Culture and was a bit disappointed by how much of this novel is just adventure as opposed to sci-fi but I'm intrigued enough to investigate other titles in the series.
Basically Star Wars Episode 6.5.
Adds some much-needed context for all the nonsense that happens in Rise of Skywalker. It doesn't quite make all the nonsense work... but it definitely helps it go down a little more smoothly.
The audiobook was very well-produced with sound effects and music from the movies.
It was basically a fun Star Wars action movie of a book that helps Episode 9 be a little less dumb and was a fun listen while driving to work.
She recycles the same trick over and over but it never really gets old to me. She demonstrates how all the expectations of society, seen under the right lens, are as offensive as our greatest taboos.
It worked for me in Earthlings, Convenience Store Human (I dislike the title translation to Woman), and in this book the short story format lets her explore a larger breadth of topics, which was a lot of fun.
The authors outstandingly accomplish their goal here.
Data engineering is covered in all its aspects: history, philosophy, and current/previous best practices.
My favorite part of this book is that everything is framed through the lens of business. Data engineering exists to provide business value and the authors here keep reminding of this and urging not to under or over engineer data products.
The pragmatic tone really serves to assist in critical thinking about data projects and identifying the best ways to approach them. Perfection, or even creating a good data product can be hard but this book gives you the tools to approach projects with the right mindset.
So I've read through all the Berserk available as of 2/15/2023.
It was absolutely incredible.
One of the reasons I started reading it was enjoying the Dark Souls games so much and hearing about how this was a major influence on the way their worlds were constructed. Not only is that certainly validated but I noticed a lot of things that have clearly influence many of the Japanese Role Playing games I've played over the years, most obviously the buster sword from Final Fantasy VII is absolutely Guts' sword from Berserk.
Ignoring the story, the art alone in this manga is outstanding. There are panels that are just absolutely bursting with horrible monstrosities that are fascinating to look at. There are also moments of light and tenderness and just the fascinating way that Griffith is portrayed. The character is adored by most to a degree almost of worship and is illustrated in such a way that I too was in awe of this person.
The story itself is complicated and perhaps at times problematic. Sexual violence is frequent and the most horrific monster-murdering possible happens in every volume. Female characters are certainly over-sexualized but are also given long, complicated, decades-long arcs of growth and transformation.
There are many characters in Berserk, all of which get their own arcs, but the main intrigue follows Guts and Griffith. Through their adventures the themes of destiny, responsibility, ambition, sacrifice, reliance on others, comradery, and others are explored through grim, violent adventures.
The series to me is one of the best pieces of fiction I've ever encountered and quite an accomplishment for Kentaro Miura. I look forward to seeing what his proteges put forward to end the story as he had imagined.
Overcomes it's annoying “sad smart white guy” energy by so clearly illustrating the dread that permeates existence in the mass media age. The constant buzz of information, both mystical and inane, is ever present as an overbearing undercurrent to all the machinery of the story.
Reads extremely well in 2023, as the smartphone/information age has only increased the flow and rate of information blasted upon us.
One of the best books I've ever read.
I was utterly engaged from the beginning. Lilith's journey is fascinating and is served by clutterless prose.
This might be the densest “interesting ideas per page” sci fi novel I've encountered. This has one of the best and most interesting depictions of alien life. The position Lilith finds herself in, relative to the extraterrestrials, allows for all sorts of interesting examinations of not just human behavior and tendencies but also the definition of “human” and how flexible that might be.
Masterpiece.
The way he oscillates between generations makes the characters lives feel both eternal and miniscule at the same time. The lens focuses in and out of different time periods with a speed and smoothness I don't think I've encountered before.
The three novellas share a lot of the same themes, so it felt more like reading a novel. I loved it and have only tertiary context for the Chinese history and culture permeating the characters lives.
Ellison's exhausting couch-surfing romp with what she figured were some of the coolest global indie game developers was extremely compelling. She chose her subjects well: most of the people she talks about have gone on to achieve even more success in the eight years since. She spends her time hanging, talking, drinking, playing, and reckoning.
The type of late 20-s drunken, desperate energy she exudes is something I'm quite familiar with. I wish my experience resulted in anything like the interesting words written down by Cara Ellison. She exposes herself in every way: good, bad, and ugly, and it feels like a gift to receive. (I believe the introduction uses this exact language) Now that I'm well into my 30s it reads like misguided grasping at straws twenty-something existential reckoning but I've done it and I ain't hating. In fact, I love it more because of this. The lack of measure and refinement gives it a punk vibe that I love, although video games by their very nature are so capitalistic that I don't know if it is even possible to be a “punk” in that space.
This book elicits a lot of feelings because it is raw and honest and imperfect, kind of like Ellison herself. It's probably the coolest book about video games I've read.
Comprehensive overview of classic data warehousing concepts.
It seems to me you could build a great functional data system for a small to medium sized company by following this thing to the letter.
It doesnt really touch upon the most modern data storage strategies or techniques, but companies who are looking to deploy those practices probably know who they are and are familiar with the concepts in this text. A great reference for tried and true data strategies.
Well, that concludes a nine, 500 page book series. Around book 4, I knew I'd keep following these characters no matter what. I'd say they really stuck the landing here.
The series managed to be impressively consistent while taking creative risks. Tying most of the loose ends together after crafting such a sprawling story is pretty darn impressive from my perspective.
The Expanse books are mostly about how humans continue to be human no matter what situations they find themselves in. There is an almost folksy quality to the writing that I appreciate.
I feel well-rewarded for my time investment in this series and have developed a genuine emotional attachment to the four principal characters. Farewell Rocinante.
The 4th part of what is essentially one long book. They are truly fascinating in their totality. Mishima himself seems to eminate from the pages, the words themselves representing his own intensity.
They are complicated books. After the first two books I thought I had Mishima pegged for one who was obsessed with Japanese purity and chose to demonize other modern distractions. Then in the third book you get a wild romp of mysticism and eroticism. In this final volume, there is cynicism, reflection, and an attempt to circumvent fate that seems to serve as a metaphor for Japanese culture that I, as an American, can't quite articulate.
Overall, these books deliver a wide-ranging examination of existence set during 80 years of Japanese history. Mishima's striking voice creates a powerful text that is as good as any of the world literature classics I have read.
