space – Made by Mikal

The Complete Robot (again)

Post author:mikal
Post published:June 23, 2025
Post category:Book

I’ve read this book a few times, but honestly the Foundation TV series has left me with a new enthusiasm to re-read some Asimov stuff. I have previously read the entire extended multi-author series, and honestly a fair few of them sucked — especially the ones by other authors — so this time I have the luxury of being a bit more picky. Worse, Asimov remixed the robot stories several times into various volumes, and it can be quite confusing. The Complete Robot contains all the robot stories, and replaces I, Robot (reading one, reading two), The Rest of the Robots; Robot Dreams; and Robot Visions. It also contains a couple of previously unpublished stories.

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Title: The Complete Robot
Author: Isaac Asimov
Genre: Robots
Release Date: 1982
Pages: 688

Exit Strategy

Post author:mikal
Post published:September 8, 2024
Post category:Book

Another really good if a bit short book. My only real criticism of the first four books in this series is they really should have been one book.

Rogue Protocol

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 29, 2024
Post category:Book

The third installment in the murderbot series. Another fun if a bit short read. Honestly these books should all have been a single volume. That's the only way I don't enjoy these books -- they're super expensive for their length.

Artificial Condition

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 23, 2024
Post category:Book

Another short and fun sci-fi read. Our favorite anxious and depressed murderbot is off trying to solve the mystery of why in fact he murdered all those nice people. Along the way he meets a mildly annoying but actually kind of friendly AI transport ship with a lot of unexplained capabilities. Definitely worth a couple of winter evenings to read.

All Systems Red

Post author:mikal
Post published:August 5, 2024
Post category:Book

This book was a short but fun read. Sufficiently short in fact that perhaps it was a little over priced, but not outrageously so. It follows an adventure of a slightly rogue but generally nice cyborg SecUnit which has charmingly named itself MurderBot. That's confusing, because said cyborg is too busy being depressed and anxious to actually do much murdering. I will definitely read the sequels.

Colony One Mars

Post author:mikal
Post published:June 12, 2024
Post category:Book

I bought this book because Amazon recommended it to me and it got good reviews. There's a lesson there somewhere. You see, I didn't realise when I bought it that the book is self published, and its a little bit... awkward. Its little things, like clearly needing an editorial pass to make the phrasing flow better, and the fact that the text on the spine of the book is upside down. Literally the first line of the book has a weird justification that looks like Microsoft Word at its worst. Now, I'm not opposed to self published books -- the Silo series (Wool, Shift, and Dust) are self published for example, as is Unix: A History and a Memoir and I liked all of those. That said, first impressions do matter I think. Overall I'd say the sort is interesting, if a bit shallow. The level of plotting is probably in line with what you'd expect from a talented teenager. For example there's not much foreshadowing, characters instead just outright state their nefarious intentions. In the end, I got 85 pages in and realised I just don't care, so I stopped. This book is definitely going in the charity pile.

Project Orion

Post author:mikal
Post published:June 12, 2024
Post category:Book

I was quite excited when this book arrived. It's a bit old (early 2000s) and therefore a bit hard to find, so when Amazon randomly had a "new" copy I snapped it up. This copy is definitely unread, but yet still yellowed with time and the binding is a bit sad. Project Orion is the story of America's attempt to build interstellar space ships powered by small nuclear explosions in the early 1950s. The story is told through the lens of one of the children whose father was a principal researcher on the project and who has now interviewed a lot of the players as well as reading de-classified historical documents. It should be noted that much of the program is still classified -- for example the exact minimum amount of plutonium you need to make a big explosion. The 1950s seem to have been an interesting time for nuclear research, as the technology was seen as both generally hopeful in the sense of finding peaceful uses for this destructive capability, while also being terrifying with the prospect of mutually assured distruction. This project started before NASA existed -- at the time each major branch of the military was competing…

Project Hail Mary

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 24, 2023
Post category:Book

I enjoyed Andy Weir's two previous books, so I guess it's not a surprise that I enjoyed this one too. I feel like this one is closer to The Martian than to Artemis, so perhaps Weir is finding his sweet spot in terms of content choices. This book follows a school science teacher doing foolhardy things to save both himself and those he loves. It's a bloody good read but I don't want to ruin it for you so I'll leave it there.

Ignition!

Post author:mikal
Post published:May 5, 2019
Post category:Book

Whilst the chemistry was sometimes over my head, this book is an engaging summary of the history of US liquid rocket fuels during the height of the cold war. Fun to read and interesting as well. I enjoyed it.

Redshirts

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 15, 2013
Post category:Book

I was super excited to get my hands on the latest John Scalzi book because I've really liked his previous stuff. Unfortunately while this book is fun I feel that the underlying concept is pretty weak... Its more of a toy boy than something which makes you think, which is a disappointment to me. Don't get me wrong, the overall execution is good, but the book feels lazily plotted, much like a badly done Harry Harrison does. So, if that sort of thing annoys you, give this one a miss.