Tag: books

The Confusion by Neal Stephenson

Volume two of the Baroque Cycle. The adventures continue around the world. Capers, betrayals, antics, and science.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

And now, for something completely different. This is one of Jess’ favorite authors, so I thought I’d give it a try.

It’s written entirely in present tense which gives it a strange feeling–which goes well with the story which is about a strange circus.

There are competing magic systems at play, but unlike, say, Sanderson, we’re not giving some in-depth explanation of how they work. It’s left vague and dreamlike.

It was certainly different than anything I’ve read recently. I liked it alright.

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

Set during the end of the Scientific Revolution we get a historical-fiction look into the lives of members of the Royal Society and Louis XIV’s court as well as happenings around the world. Court intrigue. Vagabond action and adventure. Scientific discovery. Technical advancement.

Long. Very long. 944 pages in print. But I enjoyed the story. Not sure how much appeal it would have to someone with no existing knowledge of Newton, Hook, Huygens, Leibniz, Louis XIV, etc.

Wedding of the Waters by Peter Bernstein

Our vacation was going to take us across midstate New York so I thought it appropriate to visit the Erie Canal and to learn more about it before the trip.

Interesting exposition of why build the canal where they did as well as the political interest of using a canal to bind the interior of the country to the seaboard via commerce.

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson

A novella set in the Stormlight Archive universe.

I guess it’s a credit to Sanderson’s writing ability that I find the main character of this story so annoying. Immature, rash, flippant, lucky. But I suppose the point of the story was the character realizing many of these things by the end and begins to understand she’s going to have to take life more seriously in the future.

Perhaps the next time she shows up I’ll like her more.

Wool by Hugh Howey

I’ve read this a couple times before, but wanted something easy to read and familiar while Jess was in the hospital.

What if you’re entire world were a massive silo buried in the earth? Why can’t you go outside? How long has humanity lived this way?

Blindsight by Peter Watts

I feel pretty certain I didn’t “get” this book. It’s an odd one.

Okay, so vampires are real, and there are solid biological explanations behind their mythology. They went extinct, but scientists recovered their DNA and brought them back. That’s just a given and entirely secondary to the actual story though, which is about scientists detecting an anomaly at the edges of the solar system and sending a team out to investigate. First contact…..with….something. It doesn’t go well.

The Weather Machine: A Journey Inside the Forecast by Andrew Blum

This was my pick for my book group at work. It was interesting, but I was hoping for a little more meat.

Interesting to read about how long ago scientists were dreaming of a day that they’d be able to use physics modeling to calculate what would happen in the atmosphere to generate forecasts. And now multiple teams around the world operate supercomputers doing exactly that.

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

The 3rd book in what-is-apparently the first Mistborn trilogy.

The world continues to deteriorate after Vin assassinates the Lord Ruler. Things are looking bleak as forces they don’t understand ravage the countryside. Then, a hero arises.

Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich

A hurricane ravages New York City. One guy predicted the cascading failures and follow-on disasters around the event. But then decides to live a life of isolation.

I’m still not really sure what the point of the story was. The writing was fine, but when I finished it was mostly, “okay, I guess were done now.” But maybe that had to do with being phenomenally distracted by other events while trying to finish the last ~15%.