This is a science fiction novel set in the cramped confines of a navigational beacon in interstellar space. The solo operator of the beacon is a bit... messed up by his military service and needs to think some stuff through. The book could be depressing, but it is not. Its funny and serious and an entertaining read all at once. I enjoyed it. It was also quite different from the TV show that is based on it by the way.
I think its interesting how my perspective on these older science fiction books changes a bit each time I read them. Last time I read this book I was annoyed by how few were robot stories, whereas this time I really dug The Martian Way, because I think the premise feels much more possible that it did a few years ago -- let alone in 2008! I enjoyed this book, again.
I am historically terrible at giving up on a book, but I am trying to call it earlier when a book is going nowhere. This book… Was going nowhere I cared about.
Stuff the British Stole
This book is interesting and easy to read, but I can’t help but feel like sometimes it lacks depth of analysis. It certainly lacks any form of supporting references, which I have come to expect in books of this type.
This book is a delightful collection of short stories by Hugh Howie, mostly not about actual machine learning or AI. What else can one say about a book of short stories with no overarching theme? Was good. Did enjoy.
The Chairman's Lounge
This is the story of the downfall of an Australian business hero, the destruction of an iconic Australian brand, and hubris. In a mere four years Alan Joyce when from hero status in Australia, to literally hiding out with his mother in Dublin while being hounded by the press. Truly his downfall was impressive.
However, I think it’s also another example of Welshian management ultimately failing, as seen with General Electric in The Man Who Broke Capitalism and Lights Out. This includes: publishing accounting results that while inline with the definition of the accounting standards appear to have redefined expenses in a manner convenient to management with little rationale provided; misleading customers on their refund rights at a time when those same customers were trapped at home suffering and Qantas was sitting on massive cash stockpiles; illegal union busting; and shedding large numbers of highly skilled staff which simply couldn’t be replaced in a timely manner when travel ramped back up again. That is, optimizing for this quarter’s numbers by completely ignoring the longer term impact of the decisions being made.
Platform Decay
So I just finished reading the latest Murderbot book and I had caused me to realize I have questions, but we’ll get to those in a moment. This book is fairly standard Murderbot fare — Murderbot is doing something they think is dumb because their humans asked nicely. Very Bolo Tank if you will. The book is ok, for what I would call a “travel book”, but it does feel like the overall plot isn’t being progressed much in these recent books. Like I get it. Corporates bad, weird hippy dumb circle planet and university with mercenaries good — but shouldn’t there perhaps be something bigger happening here?
Once again a relatively short but enjoyable Murderbot book. I think its endearing that Murderbot continues to develop as a character, even if some of the tropes are feeling a little worn around the edges. Yes they get injured, yes they do some combat, yes they're sarcastic. On the other hand I think this story line is both unique compared to the previous ones, and builds reasonably upon the previous book. Honestly though, this and the previous book probably should have been one volume.
This book is the story of the makers of the Apollo Program space suits, International Latex Corporation (ILC). The book is written from the perspective of a former employee, so presumably it's not entirely unbiased, but it's still an interesting read. At a time where more traditional aerospace companies were either focused on converting rubber pressure suits intended for high flying military aircraft, or things which resembled the love child of a space craft and a garbage can, ILC was actively working on what we now recognize as a space suit -- something protective and pressurized that still allowed as much joint mobility as possible. ILC had their stumbles, especially when forced to pair with more traditional aerospace companies who looked down on ILC's background as a garment manufacturer. However, it seems pretty clear in hindsight that they were by far the best prepared in terms of making something actually usable. Ultimately ILC also suffered pretty severely from reduced government funding as the US Federal Government reduced investment in the space program at the end of the Apollo era -- it turns out there aren't heaps of buyers for space suits. This book is both detailed but at the same…
I am conflicted about this book. I bought it impulsively in a book shop because the review sounded really good, and I hadn't read any Neal Asher before, but within the first 50 pages has decided the premise was silly and the writing two dimensional even for a science fiction book. I persisted, largely because of sunk cost fallacy. Its rare for me to give up on a book, but this was one of them. In the end it was off to the charity box for it.