Here we go!
User Profile
XML apologist. Erlang enthusiast. Currently JVMs & Performance stuff at Netflix. Previously JVMs & performative stuff at Twitter. He/him.
This link opens in a pop-up window
User Activity
RSS feed Back
Ian Brown started reading Shift by Hugh Howey
Ian Brown reviewed Wool by Hugh Howey (duplicate)
They live beneath the earth in a prison of their own making. There is a …
Wool? More like w00t! amirite?
5 stars
Man, what a trip.
No spoilers, but in the Sci-Fi spectrum of humanity coming together in the face of apocalypse or everyone fro themselves (with Rebecca Solnit's "A Paradise Built in Hell" on one end, and parts of Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" or the edges of John Wyndham's works) "Wool" is decidedly on the sharp stick-end end of that scale.
Anyway, wonderfully paced, and great world-building. Excited for the next books in the trilogy!
Ian Brown finished reading Wool by Hugh Howey (duplicate)
Wool by Hugh Howey (duplicate)
They live beneath the earth in a prison of their own making. There is a view of the outside world, …
Ian Brown started reading Wool by Hugh Howey (duplicate)
Wool by Hugh Howey (duplicate)
They live beneath the earth in a prison of their own making. There is a view of the outside world, …
Ian Brown finished reading True Names by Vernor Vinge
A classic. Reading it for the 100th time feels as fresh as the first time. Plus the essays included in this edition were...interesting.
Ian Brown started reading The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin
The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin
All is not well in the city that never sleeps. Even though the avatars of New York City have temporarily …
Ian Brown reviewed Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham
A strong open, and a big idea, is undone by a weak ending.
3 stars
A strong open, and a big idea, is undone by a weak ending.
As usual, Wyndham takes a simple premise and peels it apart to tease out contradictions and consquences invisible from the surface. Buried within the prose are occasional aphorisms that apply nicely to our current predicaments. But, by far, the most striking aspect of this book, published in 1960, is how it reflects (and supports) that era's nascent feminist wave. Worth a read, even though it waters out in the last act.
Ian Brown finished reading Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham
Ian Brown started reading Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham
Here we go again.
Ian Brown started reading A Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville
A Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville
China Miéville's brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document: the Communist Manifesto.
In 1848 a …
Ian Brown reviewed Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu Chicago wgah’nagl fhtagn.
3 stars
Fascinating concept, and a narrative that leverages the rot and evil of America, and the racist AF legacy of H.P. Lovecraft to create a more...realistic universe. The writing was a little weak, though the narrative arc was well-sustained through a number of stories. A fun, quick read and ultimately worth it. Beats watching it on TV I suspect.
