Phil Denhoff
Truly swashbuckling, it's a fun, somewhat steampunk somewhat fantasy romp. It's quick, it's fast, it's funny, and I was glad to get back into this book again. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it, to be honest.
The writing is a bit wonky — there's some stilted dialogue, things are fantastical or unrealistic, but it's a book that doesn't take itself too seriously and I appreciate it.
I enjoyed reading this after seeing Tarkovsky's STALKER. The film focuses on the Zone, and its unbearable pressure on the stalkers. But Roadside Picnic is focused much more on Redrick and his struggles outside of being a stalker. I wonder how much that comes down the refining a story — the authors wrote this over a year or so. And they came up with an excellent story, albeit a bit dry and slow. What if they'd waited a year and then rewrote it? Created a new story in the same vein? Would it be better? Different?
I've been thinking a lot about how people find niches to excel in. Sometimes that's their one world, or it's a certain kind of furniture, or some particular software. I liked the book but I enjoyed the movie more. Why?
Wow, John Jakes; you let me down.
I was expecting a fantastic novel about the struggle of the oppressed black man versus the oppressive white man and how through ingenious techniques and usage of time travel the black man would reduce the oppressive storm of white society to a small blustery wind on a cool summer's day.
Instead I got... I got a piece of shit novel. I mean, it wasn't bad but it wasn't any good either. I read pulp fiction. This could have been written by a ten year old, and I'm not sure I'd notice the difference.
If it was meant to be funny, well it sure as hell failed that one too.
Why did I even finish this book. What a waste of my time.
I really enjoyed this! It was assigned for a class but I read the whole thing a month ahead of schedule... Once I started I just couldn't stop! Pixar's history is incredible!
I found Part IV inspiring in a way I certainly wasn't expecting. I'm at a time where I want to read more, learn more, and see more and to hear of the author's wishes to do that after a fruitful career, and of Steve Jobs regrets at never doing that, encouraged me to keep on this track.
Boring. It comes across with all the worst character tropes, has a poorly driven plot, side-quests to meet the locals that come across as banal and seemingly provide no character motivation (Louis kills them all anyway! With hardly a second thought!) and−worst of all−has this weird affection for inter-species sex that provides absolutely no benefit in the book. For god's sake Niven, if you're gonna put sex into a book, don't be shy about it. It's your own damn book!
The message is simple: stop wasting time online doing non-intentional things. Time spent on YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit “browsing” is time that is wasted. Only use tools online that provide a benefit for your end-goal, and be conscious of what your end-goal of technology is.
My goals, for instance, are to help me learn new skills, to help me experience film, and to encourage quality time spent with people I like. So I use tools like AWS, Duolingo, Letterboxd, and Riot/Matrix regularly. OTOH, tools like Instagram or Twitter don't hit my end goals - so I actively avoid using those platforms. It's a matter of choosing your intentions and moulding your use of technology around what you want, instead of using technology “as it was designed”, which is rarely in your best interest.
More to the content, I didn't find the writing all that interesting, and the use of possibly-hypothetical personas always strikes me as odd in these kinds of books. If the person is real, use their full name to make your argument credible. Otherwise, be honest and tell the reader that the persona is made up! Even so, these sections are short and do provide valuable examples.
Overall I enjoyed it much more for the principles it describes about technology use over its craftsmanship.
It was fine. It's an interesting idea but I felt like the essay itself was a little too casual for my liking. For example, I noticed flagrant English grammar and syntax mistakes that, while I'd accept them in a blog post (or something similar) I don't expect to see in a printed argumentative essay, but to each their own.
I remember the movie affecting me much more than the book ever did. I thought the lack of punctuation was interesting, but it definitely added confusion to the story. Maybe that was the point.
Wasn't worth reading the 20 pages I did. Author's ideas are better spelt out elsewhere, in much more enticing and enjoyable language. Excessive cursing makes the word “fuck” lose its importance, which unfortunately the author is happy to indulge in.
I really enjoyed this, even after watching the film adaptation. I knew where it was going but I still enjoyed the telling.
This was and is a fantastic, stand-alone book.
I will not read the sequels. I refuse. The ending of this book was obvious - the story is over. There is no more to be told.
Ender's age always surprised me. I found it hard to ever imagine him as 6, or 8, or 11. He was always older in my minds eye. It seemed as if the author knew his age was not the most important thing, it was instead who he was that mattered.
Spoiler The ending game was a great surprise. I loved it. It moved me in a way few other books have done before. The fact that Ender was tricked into believing his simulations were just that, simulations, not truly the battles and wars they were was a genius move on the part of the author, and it is definitely what I'll remember about this book.
I am sure I will read Ender's Game again in my life. The buggers will not stop me.
I dunno, this novella just isn’t for me. It’s quick, it’s sorta fun, it’s a unique interpretation of what murderous robot is but I don’t vibe with the vibe.
I stopped reading it one day because I was a bit bored, and it took about two weeks for me to realise I never want to pick it up again. It definitely fell short of Annihilation in terms of how well it hooked me.