Future Crimes is a very detailed book, looking at all various ways that technology can be exploited for nefarious purposes. It’s a really good read, though it leaves you with a lingering paranoia about every device in your home. After the chapter on IoT (internet of things) devices, I googled whether our robot vacuum had a vulnerability (it did). Continue reading
The Poppy War uses the general frame of Chinese history in the 20th century, but reshapes it with its own fantasy elements. So there’s an invasion from an island nation (Japan), the influx of opium and heroin but then the fantasy elements of being able to call upon gods and become shamans are mixed in with all that. Continue reading
Astounding is a history of the golden age of science fiction, specifically focussed on John W. Campbell Jr., L. Ron Hubbard, Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. And it is quite frankly, bloody brilliant. Continue reading
The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan was a really fascinating read and I enjoyed so many aspects of the book. Continue reading
Inspired by @Tracy King’s tweet (and that I also did this last year which is still valid), here’s a list of the books that I loved this year. Continue reading
The idea and the world the author created are great. The novel takes place in a city called Rosewater in Nigeria. The events span between about 2040 to 2066. Basically, the life of the main character Kaaro. Rosewater comes into being because an alien entity emerges from the ground. Continue reading
The novel’s central premise is that there are doors between worlds, they appear in thin places between worlds and people can cross the Threshold and end up in another world. And in these words are vampires, witches, normal people, magic or terrible things. Continue reading
I know you don’t often have sequels to non-fiction, but The Narrow Corridor feels like a sequel to Why Nations Fail. It expands on the themes in the first book, why nations do or don’t manage to have stable democracies. Continue reading
We once again follow the exploits of our favourite humans and vampires (and occasionally some demons as well). Greta is filling in as medical director at a mummy wellness spa in France, where a strange phenomenon is making the mummies weak and dizzy. When the intrepid characters find out what is going on, it’s on a scale that no one can handle, not even all the denizens of Hell itself. Continue reading
The book’s hook is the fire that broke out in the library in 1986. Interwoven is the story of Harry Peak, the only ever suspect in the case. Harry Peak really isn’t a sympathetic character (to me, at least) Continue reading
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