Review: Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley

Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley by Adam Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oral history books might sound like an easy book to write. Lazily copying and pasting the interviews into a readable format. However, once you dive into the final product, it becomes less clear as to the level of difficulty that was involved. The writer obviously has to interview someone. Just type out a transcript of an important person and call it a day. Though this book doesn't interview someone. It interviews everyone. Think of a name that's important to the history of Silicon Valley, and he/she/they are in here. How much it matters is up to you.

Genius does a good job sectioning the interviews by subject and timeline. For example, the interview with Steve Jobs appears throughout the book because it's cut up among the various topic and places in time he was involved in. The book more or less starts with Atari where most of the early figures of Silicon Valley, including Jobs, got their first tech jobs. Each chapter does a thorough run-through and history of each subject. Doing an excellent job of using interviews to tell an actual story. Which is where the book really shines. Using the voices of the people that were there to explain the beginning, middle, and end of a point in the valley's history.

The only real downside to a book of this format is the length. I couldn't help feeling this book would have been only half as long if the interviews were summed up rather than directly transcribed. Keep in mind I don't view the format as a bad thing. It's more of a point of order for someone else who is thinking of reading it. It might not be for everyone.

My only real complaint is the people in the book can be a little self-serving at times. It's not the book's fault, it's just holding up a mirror, but that doesn't change the fact it's there. In particular, the 'epilogue' had a lot of people smelling their own farts. As someone who has already used their smartphone three times since starting to type this, I really can't argue that Silicon Valley has been really important to our culture and history. But there was too much taking credit for the good while ignoring responsibility for the bad.

All in all, if you're the least bit interested in history and/or Silicon Valley, I would say this book is a must. It's extremely well put together and everyone who was someone is here. It even has Lars Ulrich.

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Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've done a lot of re-reading this year. Some have held up, some have revealed themselves to lack plot. And this might be the fourth time I've read THGttG. Does it still hold up? Yes. Why would you even ask that? I'll get into why a little later down, but just know that I can probably read this book a thousand times and still laugh like no one is watching.

Since I'm a negative person, I tend to gravitate to what is wrong with something. So I'll start what's bad about this book. One, it's British. British authors tend to write as if only British culture exists. You can travel a million lightyears across the galaxy and the aliens there will still serve afternoon tea. Cognitive bias is more of a human flaw than a British one, but it's still there. Two, sometimes the cleverness is undermined by the absurdity. For example, the Improbability Drive and how it's first used might be one of the cleverest ideas in literature. I could write every clever idea I ever have throughout my life and never have an idea that good. But then the characters turn into penguins and stuff for no other reason than to be absurd. It's kind of how a joke is ruined by a heckler. Except here, the heckler and comedian are the same person.

Good Omens, the one by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, doesn't have much a plot to it. It's funny and well written but doesn't hold up to multiple reads. The reason I bring that up is because I had the same worry for THGttG. The thing is, the opposite is true for this book. Hitchhiker has a fairly layered plot that moves along at a breakneck pace. I would even say maybe a little too quickly. It's a rather short book and might be helped by expanding it somewhat. Still, it doesn't waste my time and deliveries an exciting adventure. Which is about eighty percent of what I ask for in a good book.

Now, why does THGttG hold up? I want to call the reason micro-humor. There are so many little jokes throughout that the book keeps you laughing regardless of how well you think you remember it. Sure, everyone remembers 42 and Thanks for All the Fish, but it's all the wittiness in between that keeps it fresh. THGttG is an absolute must if you've never read it before, but, what makes it truly great, is it stays an absolute must even after you've done so.

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Review: The Poppy War

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first question I had come to mind while reading 'The Poppy War' is if it would be classified as YA. At first, I was thinking that answer to be a soft no. Especially in the beginning, it has elements associated with YA. Lots of training, young female protagonist, a poor oppressive upbringing. There is also the danger of this book simply being classified as YA. The publishing industry tends to put books written by female authors, especially if the main character is young, in YA regardless if it belongs there or not. By the middle of the book, my answer changed to more of a hard no. Then, by the latter third of the book, my answer changed to another question: Why the hell did I ever ask myself that?

The biggest asset to this novel is that gradual change. Not from YAish to full-on adult, but more of the change of the character and the nature of the world around her. Think the first Godfather film. Michael going from a decent guy to the worst of all the mob bosses. I won't say if Rin goes to the dark side or not, but it's more of the comparison of hard decisions and comprises she has to make. The person who you start with isn't the same by the end. I know character development shouldn't sound like a mind-blowing topic, but you'd be surprised by how few books actually have it.

There's also the prose. When I first starting reading, I dug into how well and engaging it was written. And it never really loses momentum. I've been stuck reading a book that had really strong first few chapters but quickly loses its sense of polish. You won't find that here. My only problem writing-wise is the characters aren't as varied as I'd like. They don't all sound the same, but I feel most of them are singing the same song at different notes.

My only criticisms are small nitpicks. It's a little longer than need be and I wasn't as enthused with the book by the end as I was in the beginning. Also, it's written in the third person without me really understanding why. We spend 95% of the narration with Rin and could have easily been told in her first-person. Though this more of a matter of personal style and taste. I still really loved it but felt worn by the closing chapters. So I say read it as soon as possible. You just might want to pack a snack.

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Review: Shades of Magic Vol. 1: The Steel Prince

Shades of Magic Vol. 1: The Steel Prince by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Is it possible for a story to have too fast of a pace? Of course it is. If something isn't given enough time to be explained or analyzed or even cooked, it can appear to be underdeveloped. It can be the result of limited space or time or being the prequel to another story. Having the context exist, but not in the actual story you're telling. Ultimately, leaving everyone with a sense that the story needed more room to be flushed out. Like asking a question and answering it without fully exploring its meaning.

I read 'A Darker Shade of Magic' a few years ago and felt I probably should have binged on the entire series before reading this. I enjoyed the novel but wasn't quite sure how to feel about its comic cousin. I almost felt bad that I wasn't fully invested in this story. That maybe it was me or the story just doesn't fully translate well into a graphic form. But that's bullshit. Each story needs to justify itself on its own terms. Not by another story you may or may not remember super well. Even if it's written by the same person.

The dialogue is written well enough. The story itself though feels like it should have been six issues instead of four. There isn't enough characterization to understand why most people are doing much of anything. Why does the prince have any beef with the pirate queen? I know she's kind of a bitch and laying pipe on his turf, but there isn't any reason for him to go after her beyond the plot demanding it. We're only given one backstory and its fairly generic. Editing not only involves taking bad stuff out but also putting good stuff in.

The art is serviceable. It has a nice consistency to it, which I liked, but it's a little dark and some of the characters don't stand out as well as they should. Also, the covers are better than the interiors. Something that always annoys me. Comic books should always put as much work on the inside as the outside. I know it costs time and money, but a half-assed job is forever.

I think that there was too much of a focus on getting fans invested in the story so they would continue reading. A little introductory tale before the main quest. The problem is that this story goes by too fast to understand why you're even there in the first place. It's like a meal that doesn't fill you up. It wants you to order seconds, but I'd rather have something that satisfies me the first time.

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What's Up?

I don't have much to update on writing-wise, so I'll try to be brief. Moving is going slowly, but we're making progress. I hope to do a separate blog entry on the painting designs I'm doing, so keep an eye out for that. I haven't been taking pictures of my progress because there aren't enough people who pay attention for me to put in the effort. You will, however, see the finished product once I'm done. Might be as early as this weekend. End of August at the latest.

Writing stuff, there isn't much to report. I've scheduled a short-form writing time on Sundays, but I have yet to keep it. To be fair, I have a good excuse. Might have to wait until all the moving is done before I can dive back in. I'm still editing Variant War, entering the final arc of the novel. I'm keeping track of who POVs each chapter because I need to go back and edit Snyder's chapters. If I keep this up, I should be done soon.

I put in an application to manage my local region for NaNoWriMo. I'm still planning on doing it even though I have yet to plot out the novel. I still have three months. Editing and moving have just gotten in the way. Plus work keeps throwing me curveballs. That's never fun.

In other uninteresting news, I completed reading my Heinlein collection. Had some oddball short stories and a collection of speeches that had alluded me until now. I want to do a podcast to do a deep dive into his work, but it's not like I have time for that. Also, I can't think of anyone who would want to listen to my voice.

Still nothing from Writers of the Future for the third quarter, but I'm not expecting anything until September. As I understand it, they haven't finished doing the second quarter. We'll see.

That's pretty much it for now. I know it's pretty much reviews at the moment, but that's what pointless blogs are for.