-------------------------------------------------- BOOKS -------------------------------------------------- A list of books I've read, starting December 2023. The dates in square brackets are the dates I finished reading them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Extra Life: Coming of Age in Cyberspace. 1998. David S. Bennahum. What it was like to grow up obsessed with computers in the first age of personal computing. And also attend an Ivy-League prep school with a DEC PDP-11 in the computer classroom. Well written, interesting if it's your thing (as it is mine). I've posted a sort-of review in my phlog. [2024-04-14] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Mythical Man Month. 1972. Fred Brooks. Necessary reading for anyone managing the development of a major mainframe operating system. Kidding aside, quite impressive how much of it is still relevant. While the technology references are just a bit dated (though historically interesting), the observations on scaling up communication are timeless. [2024-03-18] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Cosmic Puppets. 1957. Philip K. Dick. I'm not a huge PKD fan, but every once in a while - perhaps when the world starts seeming all too real - I enjoy picking up one of his novels. This one reads like an episode of the original Twilight Zone, if it had a modern special effects budget. Strong "A Stop at Willoughby" and "It's a Good Life" vibes, with the metaphysics cranked up to 11. Short, worth reading. [2024-02-18] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Machine Vendetta. 2024. Alastair Reynolds. Now that Iain M. Banks is no longer with us, Alastair Reynolds may be my favourite living sf author. A few of the novels he wrote in the 2000s - "House of Suns" and "Century Rain" in particular - rank among the best sf novels ever written IMO. I've not been as impressed by his work of the past decade or so, but lately he seems to be turning that around. Last year's "Eversion" really hit the mark, and "Machine Vendetta" comes pretty close. The third in a series of police procedurals of the far future starring the increasingly world-weary Prefect Dreyfus, this one sees the Prefect going up against an old foe, a rogue AI. Kept me turning the pages. [2024-02-05] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency. 2022. Andy Greenberg. Really enjoyed this one. Fascinating tale of how the 'anonymized' transactions on the blockchain turned out to be anything but, and how Bitcoin proved to be kind of a honeypot for organized crime. [2024-01-??] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mona Lisa Overdrive. 1988. William Gibson. Concludes the Sprawl trilogy. To my mind the weakest of the three novels although it does bring the story to a satisfactory end and is certainly worth reading. Unlike the previous two novels I think I'd only ever read this one once before, back when it first appeared in paperback, so I had largely forgotten what it was about. [2024-01-??] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ Large: The Strange Case of the World's Biggest Internet Invasion. 1998. Charles C. Mann, David H. Freedman. A late entry in the "Computer hackers of the pre-web era" non-fiction genre, overshadowed by predecessors like Sterling's "The Hacker Crackdown" and Stoll's "Cuckoo's Egg". Still interesting mostly in how it shows how bad computer security was back then, that a none-too-bright script kiddie could with a bit of help install a sniffer on an Internet backbone router. Also has the distinction of being probably the least glamorous portrait of a hacker ever written. [2024-01-??] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Artifact Space. 2022. Miles Cameron. I'd never heard of the author or the book before I came across it in the SF section of a local bookstore, looking for some light holiday reading. An endorsement from Alastair Reynolds on the cover persuaded me to check it out. It's not quite in Reynolds' league, but it is an enjoyable action-filled space opera, if you like that kind of thing. There are some STNG vibes; the protagonist reminded me of Tasha Yar and there's another character who is a bit like Data. This novel is only half the story, but I liked it well enough that I plan to pick up the sequel whenever it comes out in paperback. [2023-12-28] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Count Zero. 1986. William Gibson. I must have read this quite a few times back in the 80s, as I remember the story pretty well. It's much better written than Neuromancer; the characters are a lot more real and have actual human relationships that extend beyond the purely transactional. This is where we get to see the Sprawl up close for the first time. Possibly my all-time favourite Gibson novel but we'll see, as I plan to read more of his back catalogue in 2024. [2023-12-17] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier. 1991. Katie Hafner and John Markoff. Profiles Kevin Mitnick, Robert Tappan Morris, and a group of hackers in West Berlin. The section on the Berlin hackers was the most interesting, covering many of the same events related in Clifford Stoll's "Cuckoo's Egg" but from the other side. Neuromancer's protagonist, Case, seems to have been the role model for many but they mostly come out looking like Bobby Newmark, the titular character in Count Zero. Which is to say, out of their depth. [2023-12-14] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Neuromancer. 1984. William Gibson. Decided it was time to re-read the Sprawl Trilogy. I enjoyed Neuromancer, obviously, it's a classic, but even when I first read it back in my early 20s I thought the characters were a bit lacking in depth. His most iconic work, but not his best. Still loads of fun though, and the way he puts words together is sheer street poetry. [2023-12-05]