thogek's reviews
428 reviews

The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Future Skinny by Peter Rosch

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Future Skinny was definitely something different. A main character with the ironic combination of anorexia and food-calorie-powered precognitive abilities but very little control over his own life (and, of course, a few ruthless others who want to control and use him).

The integration of the character's anorexia/precog/bulimia state seemed well thought through and well described, although there are points where not everyone is going to want the description. (Warning: Detailed descriptions of a rapid gorge-feast meant to fuel a precog reading may not be for everyone.) The writing overall I thought was rather good, descriptive, and still easy to follow.

The story itself was arguably a bit thin, and the two-timeline style (the narrative and the prior interview transcripts) could be a little confusing to follow at times, specifically how the two related, or even which was before which for awhile there. And the final-scene ending struck me as odd: promising that it ain't over without really resolving anything, and a bit unclear what was going on during (which I think may have been partially intentional, but IMO should have been clearer by the end).

My rating is based on that mix: good original concept, good writing, awkward two-timeline usage, limited incomplete story. Overall, I kinda liked it, at least enough to wish that it went deeper and farther with the story.

Content Warnings

Wisdom: A Very Valuable Virtue That Cannot Be Bought by Jason A. Merchey, Jason A. Merchey

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slow-paced

3.0

Merchey's _Wisdom_ makes for a mostly interesting read.

It's style can be rather (as he himself puts it at one point) meandering, and largely consists of a conversational tour of many many quotes on wisdom and related studies somewhat loosely woven together into chapters with somewhat loose foci. This can be interesting in the attempts to interpret and apply some of these quotes, and there are some overall good ideas about wisdom and its value in both an individual life and in a society.

OTOH, while Merchey's examples and explorations lean into many different subjects, they tend to show some significant bias when dipping toward anything remotely political. (Especially when ranting on Republicans, vaccine dissensions, a misrepresentative strawmanning of libertarianism, and the odd spectacle that is Trump.) Some of these examples are certainly fair, and he does show some degree of balance at times, but too often these sorts of political references seem to dissolve much of his purported understanding of wisdom into the very tribalistic biases he recognizes wisdom should transcend.

On the whole, though, an interesting read, with some good (if meandering) perspective on what wisdom is and why we should value and pursue it.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced