3.3.24

Review: Foundation

Foundation (Foundation, #1)Foundation by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I decided to read the Foundation novels in chronological order, and before this I read Asimov's two precursor novels about Harry Seldon. I greatly enjoyed those books, which were just odd enough. I also liked the literary feel of those books, that felt like the writing from an Analog short story, where you had generally one deep thought and wove a whole story around it without engineering levels of meaning so prevalent in literary novels. Asimov kept that up here, by breaking the story into a few illustrative short stories. But I did miss the longer story arcs from the prequels, and I greatly missed the characters, who have "aged out" of this chronologically distant set of tales., While this one wasn't my cup of tea, it didn't scare me off of reading the next one -- I want to see what the worlds have in store.

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Review: The Every

The EveryThe Every by Dave Eggers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really quite enjoyed this book's predecessor "The Circle" for the way it predicted the work environment and the work of workers in the future. It seemed quite prescient. I was hoping for more of that here, Egger's concepts of the future world. But here the novel world building was less about the work environment but more about the world, changed quite drastically from our world, but a quite obvious possibility, perhaps even likelihood, of a future. And it felt much less positive than the first book. "The Every" is Egger's cautionary tale about putting too much power in the hands of a few well-meaning technocrats. The novel's protagonists are smart folks that try to destroy the Every, an amalgamation of Google and Amazon, from within. But whatever our heroes do, the opposite impacts occur. Instead of their sabotage making things worse for The Every, it enriches them. In the end, the story is quite Biblical. I enjoyed the story, and found parts of it, like the visit to the seals, humorous in a cringeworthy, too much like people I know, way. Eggers story of the ruling woke mob of technocrats is entertaining and, at the same time, frightening, as it feels all too likely. And if you are an app developer and want to have some ideas that are wonderful and moral at first blush, but could be perverted to enslave people in some way, Eggers has a ton of ideas.

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19.2.24

Review: Dutchman's Flat

Dutchman's FlatDutchman's Flat by Louis L'Amour
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found myself smiling as I read the second or third story in this collection. It was just what I was looking for - a well written story that was interesting and fun to follow. I did find later stories to be a bit more plain, a bit more rote, a bit too much. Heck, one had kissing! Overall, I found this a great way to spend a few nights reading, very relaxing.

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Review: Tales of the Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards

Tales of the Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and SpaniardsTales of the Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards by Washington Irving
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I tend to find that reading books more than 100 years old is difficult in following the casual pace of the style of writing. Here, no problem. Irving writes his stories and essays in an interesting manner. My favorite story was the one about the three daughters.

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Review: Run For The Stars

Run For The StarsRun For The Stars by Harlan Ellison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An enjoyable Harlan Ellison story, made more enjoyable by the author himself narrating and commenting at the end of the story. The story is about a lower class addict on a doomed planet being forced into a life or death situation because he is most likely to act like a rat and try to escape. What's funny is that Ellison nails the voice of this bottom-dweller and delivers a theater-worthy performance. A very unlikely plot but made fun by the way Ellison voices the thoughts of the "little man".

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14.2.24

Review: Forward the Foundation

Forward the FoundationForward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed Asimov's stories of Selden the mathematician smoothing the road to the future of the Empire. While the first book in the pre-Foundation series felt more like a Western, with a good man just trying to get his work done, this one felt deeper, more thoughtful. I haven't read any of this series, so I'm looking forward to "Foundation" because of this.

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Review: Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends

Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—FriendsPlatonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends by Marisa G. Franco
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this for tips on making friends, and mostly what I got out of the book was that Mom was right all along.

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Review: Foundation

Foundation by Isaac Asimov My rating: 3 of 5 stars I decided to read the Foundation novels in chronological order, and before this...