I read Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan, and liked it a lot. It’s a noir-ish SF novel set in a somewhat dystopian future where, thanks to the discovery of the relics of a technologically advanced alien civilization on Mars, humanity managed to spread over a number of distant worlds, and, more importantly, work out a technology of digital human storage which allows one’s mind and memories to be saved after the death of the body, and downloaded into another. Takeshi Kovacs is an ex spec-ops soldier who gets killed in the prologue and then ‘re-sleeved’ into a new body when hired by one of the most powerful people on Earth to solve a bizarre murder mystery. It’s through the challenges this tasks presents for him that we learn both about the setting and Tak’s not-exactly-amiable character.
Category: Reviews
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
I was thrilled when this game (hereafter TW2) appeared, yet it took me two years to finally play it from start to finish. And even after doing so, I can’t say for sure why it failed to lure me in the way its predecessor (hereafter TW), one of my all time favorites, did in 2008. A mystery by anyone’s standards, because TW2 has it all: the story, the visuals, the combat, the humor. It’s rare that I have so few (next to no) objections to a game. Yet if I was to choose one to replay, I’d still rather go to TW than to TW2.
Among Others
Acting on a hunch, and seeing how it won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards, I picked up Jo Walton’s “Among Others” and – couldn’t put it down.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
I have finally seen the film. Like many other people I talked to about it prior to seeing it, I was afraid that it would be too stretched out and boring. The book itself is boring despite its relative thinness (being a kids’ book after all), let alone a nine-hour dramatization – or so I thought. It’s not like that at all. It’s pretty to look at and funny and exciting and in the end I sincerely wished I had the sequels at hand – I’d have watched them too, and right after.
The Stress of Her Regard – Revisited With Spoilers
Several days ago, I wrote about my initial impressions with Tim Powers’ “The Stress of Her Regard”, making an effort to reveal nothing of importance to a potential future reader who doesn’t want to be spoiled. That post felt oddly unfinished and, honestly, rather lame, but it took me a while to figure out why. And now I’m going to tell you, in all the glorious, spoilerific detail.
Continue reading The Stress of Her Regard – Revisited With Spoilers
The Stress of Her Regard
A book by Tim Powers that I just finished reading. I’ve read another one, “The Drawing of the Dark”, this summer, so I thought I knew what I was getting into; but “The Stress of Her Regard” surprised me in several ways.