This book shines with its very interesting world. The coolest aspect to me was the mathematics-based space travelling (with sometimes somewhat wonky pseudo-mathematics, admittedly). This book only scratched the surface of what there is to know about the world of Neverness. It seems there are 3 more sequels to this book but they've been out of print for a long time so it may be tricky to get my hands on them. I'll still try, though.
Grad-school dropout Matt Fuller is toiling as a lowly research assistant at MIT when, while …
It's OK
3 stars
The best aspect of this book is that it is often very funny. However, I've seen the plot of jumping through different time periods a bunch of times done better. It is especially sad that only one, maybe two, of the future time periods is explored in any detail. Also, the book is often weirdly horny?
In my experience, the third part of trilogies usually sort of tapers off. This is also true here but not as bad as in many other series. Overall, this was still a pleasant read.
Without spoiling too much, this book delves deeper into the faction the previous two volumes sort of left unexplored. That means that the series closes without leaving you with any burning questions about the world building, which is quite nice.
Jean le Flambeur gets up in the morning and has to kill himself before his …
Briliant!
5 stars
This book has everything you could possibly want: Incredible world building, lovable characters, funny writing and an engrossing plot. If you like SciFi, you will like this.
When I started reading this book, I really did not like it at first. Many aspects of the story and characters initially felt quite cliched and forced. As the book went on, I found myself enjoying the characters and central mystery more. Especially the latter turned out to be a bit more exciting than initially expected. Still, this book isn't anything out of the ordinary. There's probably something better out there for you to read instead of this.
Reamde is a speculative fiction novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2011. The story, set …
Fun albeit sometimes a bit obnoxious
4 stars
It's a fun adventure/thriller involving techbros, terrorists, mafia, three-letter-agencies and gun-nuts. It takes some pretty crazy twists and turns but eventually culminates in a really satisfying manner. It was kind of different from what I usually read/listen to but definitely worth it.
As pointed out in the title, the writing can sometimes be a little obnoxious. This is because the book was clearly written by a techbro-y kind of guy: Computer stuff, MMORPG culture, commercial and military organization principles and gun usage are all described and explained in minute detail. Some of this is quite interesting (I learned a bunch of stuff about firearm safety) but it can get somewhat draining at some points.
Another thing that I found somewhat off-putting is all of the cartoonish characters. Nearly everyone is an excentric genius, super hardcore operator or very principled anti-Trump conservative. With some fantastical stories, Dune prime among, this sort …
It's a fun adventure/thriller involving techbros, terrorists, mafia, three-letter-agencies and gun-nuts. It takes some pretty crazy twists and turns but eventually culminates in a really satisfying manner. It was kind of different from what I usually read/listen to but definitely worth it.
As pointed out in the title, the writing can sometimes be a little obnoxious. This is because the book was clearly written by a techbro-y kind of guy: Computer stuff, MMORPG culture, commercial and military organization principles and gun usage are all described and explained in minute detail. Some of this is quite interesting (I learned a bunch of stuff about firearm safety) but it can get somewhat draining at some points.
Another thing that I found somewhat off-putting is all of the cartoonish characters. Nearly everyone is an excentric genius, super hardcore operator or very principled anti-Trump conservative. With some fantastical stories, Dune prime among, this sort of stuff is fine or even great, but for a story that is supposed to take place in the real world, it makes some of the characters much less relatable than I think they were intended to be.
Even though the negatives of this review are much longer than the positives, I still had a lot of fun with it and if it sounds like something you'd like, I'd recommend you give it a try!
From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, an …
Most likely the best book I'll read this year
5 stars
As the title says, this will likely be the best book I'll read all year. It certainly was better than every book I read last year. I started the book yesterday evening and have basically spent my every waking moment since then reading it. I strongly recommend anyone who enjoys reading to pick this one up. It will be worth it.
I will not say anything on what it is actually about. The less you know, the more you will enjoy the book. Not really because of twists and turns but rather because you will see an astounding world laid out from the perspective of a very interesting main character.
The main thing this book reminded me of was the books I read in German class in my two last years at school. This is a very good thing (German was my favorite class). The book is fairly short and …
As the title says, this will likely be the best book I'll read all year. It certainly was better than every book I read last year. I started the book yesterday evening and have basically spent my every waking moment since then reading it. I strongly recommend anyone who enjoys reading to pick this one up. It will be worth it.
I will not say anything on what it is actually about. The less you know, the more you will enjoy the book. Not really because of twists and turns but rather because you will see an astounding world laid out from the perspective of a very interesting main character.
The main thing this book reminded me of was the books I read in German class in my two last years at school. This is a very good thing (German was my favorite class). The book is fairly short and straight to the point, it takes as much time as it needs to lay itself out elegantly but does not meander or waste your time. Also, it is so incredibly unique that it will stick with you for a while after finishing it (again, like all the books we read for class).
An ancient Egyptian sorcerer, a modern millionaire, a body-switching werewolf, a hideously deformed clown, a …
My surprise of 2021
5 stars
I picked this one up at a used book store for 40 SEK and it probably was the most fun I had reading a book. The characters and the plot are absolutely wild and it was not at all what I expected it to be. There's also tons of nice twists and reveals. Highly recommended.
It's the twenty-fifth century, and advances in technology have redefined life itself. A person's consciousness …
Fun cyberpunk
4 stars
At first I was kind of put off by the noir-style narration but once I got over that, it is a fun story in a very interesting cyberpunk setting. There are quite a few surprising twists and reveals which kept me guessing until the end. If you like crime novels and/or cyberpunk, you'll probably enjoy this.
