User Profile

I wasn't sure I was going to finish this, but it really picked up about 30% of the way in.

It's a relatively light overview of a load of stuff (no prizes for guessing that bit)

You're probably familiar with all of it, but there will be gems and additions to knowledge that are delightful.

A highlight for me was the discussion of time, the age of the universe and how our understanding of that has changed (and is still changing)

This book is a refreshingly open look at lots of parts of his life. It goes into more personal detail than I expected.

Good to get a bit of a peek behind the curtain on the well known shows. The audiobook is narrated by Robinson himself which was obviously great.

I can't believe we almost didn't get him on time team or his version of Baldrick. I guess it's also an interesting lesson in serendipity and persistence.

Loved the bits on Mick Aston - it's good to hear he was as wholesome as he always seemed.

Thought I'd give this series a go before the Apple TV show. It's pretty fast and doesn't hold your hand.

Didn't realise how short it was going to be - fun read with some great characterisation. Will probably reread and then continue the series.

I think this was possibly ruined by Jekyll and Hyde being such a defining work and now well known trope. No doubt it was amazing for the time.

If I could somehow read it without that context I imagine I would have enjoyed it a lot more. As it is, it’s a passable horror with plenty to read into the themes.

A bit disappointing overall, though.

Loved this. Wasn’t dry at all and written with a sense of humour and awareness of the target audience at all times.

For me it is less common to find a non-fiction book unputdownable but I devoured this and enjoyed all of it.

I enjoyed the variety of topics and the sense of scale. The mathematics was supported by analogy and practical examples. There were also interesting parts on general scientific progress. A stand out for me was the commentary that not so long ago learned people were able to hold the sum total of human science in their minds - something that is no longer possible.

I enjoyed the coverage of the anthropic principle however-much it may feel like a cop-out.

Black holes continue to fascinate and terrify me.

I loved the first one - this one only slightly disappointed but was still a great read. Ana and Din are great characters, and there's some good development and interactions between them here.

Introduced a potential (and relatively inevitable) Moriarty type character which escalated the stakes. The worldbuilding continues to be stellar - just the right mix of fantasy anchored in familiar concepts.

The mystery of this book was a little disappointing, but it was made up for by the series level plot advancements.

It felt smaller scale and more contained than the first book, and I kept waiting for it to kick up a gear and unfortunately it didn't, really. Still - great - and I look forward to the next.

Kinda interesting approach to a set of tools to deal with particular challenges. The idea being you use this book more as a reference and reinforcement exercise than a life altering read.

No real complaints about the book but also no real praise. YMMV.

Introduced to Ken Liu through his translation of the Three Body Problem

Some great stories, some less so. Thematically centered on writing and passing on of thought.

I really enjoyed State Change where your soul is a physical object - imagine His Dark Materials but inanimate objects not animals.

The man who ended history was interesting, but was just too long and repetitive. Not to take anything away from the brutality of history where unit 731 is concerned of course.

I don't think this really worked as an audiobook, I wish I'd picked up a paper copy.

I've somehow never really read any cyberpunk type sci-fi. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this.

Mindblowing also was how much of an influence this book has been on the genre, and how many of the concepts were so ahead of Gibson's time.

The story was relatively basic, but given everything else I don't think you can complain. I'd love to have read this when I was younger before so many of the tropes in the book were plastered everywhere.

I think I'll try some other classic sci-fis that are often mentioned in the same breath as Neuromancer soon.

This was interesting. It would be nice if more people of different walks of life left their condensed wisdom towards the end.

Jarring to see the progressive views on race with the regressive views on women.

I really enjoyed this. I especially enjoyed the Minch featuring quite heavily. Part of me likes to imagine some ancient lineage to that area - that's my delusion and I'm sticking to it.

Didn't expect the trip to Palestine or Tibet but they were well done. An expertly written book with some amazing passages that were almost poetic.

The book focuses on walking, the land, and the history both of those things connect you to. Parts of it reminded me of Tolkien's writing style.

This feels like a wintery book to be read in low light, not in summer with sunlight streaming through the window.

"For him, as for so many other people, the mind was a landscape of a kind and walking a means of crossing it."

A well written book that I enjoyed. A focus on life being a series of tidal ebbs and flows, waxes and wanes rather than a linear GETTING BETTER or GETTING WORSE.

I had the same kind of issue I have with Matt Haig’s books where the answers and “solutions” just don’t translate well, or I can’t empathise with the situation.

Some of the book centres around mindfulness and the power of acknowledging and addressing the moment and your needs.

I don’t really agree with some of the criticism the author is getting - all situations are relative and as much as I can’t empathise with the situations here, that doesn’t devalue them. It felt to me as if the book was intentionally internal and inward looking, rather than it being a statement on her character.