2024-08-28 | Reading, Sci-Fi
This book came highly recommended by a good friend whose opinions on stuff I generally trust. I mentioned to them that I needed some books for travelling, and they announced that they loved the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. With a lot of planned transit and transfer time in my life, I grabbed all of the available Murderbot books and loaded them on my Kindle, ready to read.
I didn’t do a whole lot of reading on the flights over. It wasn’t until I was on the train, trying to conserve roaming data, from Rome to Pompei that I finished No Way. I started, and finished, All Systems Red on the flights from Catania to Venice. I know it’s a novella – but reading a book in a single sitting is nearly unheard of for me. I think even Matthew Reilly’s Cobalt Blue took me a couple of sessions.
That I managed/could read it in a single sitting says a lot about the novel. It was punchy, interesting, and pure/hard enough Sci-Fi that I was captivated the whole time. I found it very interesting that I assigned a gender to Murderbot before I started reading the book. I wonder if that had something to do with the person who recommended it to me.
I’m moving on to Artificial Condition (the second Murderbot Diaries novel) next.
Quite a few stars out of a few more stars.
2024-08-22 | Reading, Sci-Fi
Frank’s back. I guess in many ways he never left. This is the continuation of One Way by Simon Morden.
It’s going to be hard to talk about this book with out spoiling things about One Way. So if you’ve not read One Way, and plan to, you might want to turn away now. Come back once you’ve read it and let me know if you agree with me.
Spoilers below.
You’ve been warned.
I was surprised when Frank was left on Mars in the last book. But I probably shouldn’t have been – it was ripe for a sequel (or more) with the imminent arrival of the NASA crew and all the excitement around that.
The detailed writing style of this novel makes you feel like you’re on Mars with Frank. The fear. The focus. The relief.
I don’t think any of the twists or shocks in No Way surprised me – not like in One Way. It was quite predictable. That said, it was a very enjoyable read.
The final chapter was a doozy for me. Hit me right in the feels.
Let me know what you thought of it.
2024-07-23 | Reading, Sci-Fi
Not what I was expecting.
It took me a couple of gos to get stuck in to this. I’m not a voracious reader, and it often takes time for me to get into a book, let alone start one properly. I think maybe I was trying to read it while I was too tired.
Once I got over the hurdle of the first few steps, though, I was hooked and i managed to read this surprisingly quickly.
The book follows Frank as he travels to Mars to establish the first structures there in preparation for the first fleet of the ‘real’ settlers. Things, of course, don’t go according to plan. There weren’t any really surprising plot-twists or turns, and I could have handled some Neal Stephenson-esque deep dives into some of the science around the space suits or habs or something, but it doesn’t happen. There are hints of it, and they were enjoyable, but I would have liked more.
Actually. There was a surprising plot-twist, right at the end. It turns out there’s a sequel. I’m on to that next.
2024-05-17 | Reading, Sci-Fi
Everyone* had told me I had to read 3 Body Problem, but I never got around to it. When I saw that there was a TV adaptation of it, I thought it was best that I read the book before watching the TV series. In hindsight, I probably didn’t need to. They two are pretty significantly different, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the TV adaptation covers the remaining two books in the trilogy that I am yet to read.
From now on, in this post: book only.
The book grabbed me pretty quickly when numbers start appearing on photo negatives. That was exciting. Unfortunately, the excitement peaked right there in chapter 2. It didn’t go away, don’t get me wrong. But the excitement simmered rather than boiled from there on.
The descriptions are vivid, and the story really got into my head.
I will read the remaining two novels.
2023-10-28 | Reading, Sci-Fi
I had high hopes for this novel when I started reading it, after having read The Martian and Project Hail Mary. But this isn’t a man-is-stuck-in-space-alone-and-needs-to-go-into-details-about-niche-science-knowledge themed book, so it feels outside of Weir’s really strong toolkit.
I enjoyed the mystery side of things, and the inevitable Weir-esque delves into the science of various processes. It’s like reading Neal Stephenson without the huge slowdown as the novel descends into treacly textbook-style explanations of the physics behind things.
All in all a decent novel that kept me mostly entertained.
3 stars, probably.
2023-10-28 | Reading, Sci-Fi
My lovely friend Nick recommended this Andy Weir novel to me. I’d read The Martian previously, so jumped PHM immediately. I was in the depths of being frustrated with Shantaram at the time, so jumping onto something fun and interesting was an easy decision to make.
I loved the premise of the book, and the unlikely-hero trope. I found Grace frustrating as a character, but I get the feeling that I was meant to.
I enjoyed the thought that Weir put into the alien non-humanoid design and language, and their scientific limitations.
Largely an enjoyable book, and I look forward to the film.
