Seth Godin – The Dip (2007)

May 24, 2007 by Mr. Nau The idea that “winners never quit and quitters never win” is completely false, as Seth Godin demonstrates in this short book. His examples are full of truth and real-world examples of how to determine what to go for and what to quit. This humorous book was a fun read. […]

Jack McDevitt – Eternity Road (1997)

May 08, 2007 by Mr. Nau A few centuries after the collapse of our civilizations, the United States has fragmented into group of small countries with few artifacts from ancient times left, except the collapsing remains of roadways and buildings. This adventure trudges in places, but is a good read nonetheless — the story of […]

Michael Crichton – Timeline (1999)

Apr 03, 2007 by Mr. Nau Michael Crichton imagines an interesting story, where a group of anthropologists travel back in time to rescue a professor trapped in the 14th century. The exposition takes a while, the action is fast and hard, and the conclusion seems rushed. The characters are realistic and the story is cleverly […]

Hackers and Painters (2004)

Jan 27, 2007 by Mr. Nau Software guru, Paul Graham, presents a number of insightful, interesting essays that discuss how engineering happens, how technology affects our society, and how small, passionate groups of geeks can take on large entrenched corporations. This engaging piece of work has world-changing ideas aplenty, for the technical and non-technical alike. […]

Robert J. Sawyer – Hybrids (2003)

Dec 14, 2006 by Mr. Nau The conclusion of the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, this book wanders through questions of biology, philosophy, religion, and the differences between two worlds. It’s a decent story, although some of the plot twists were difficult to swallow. Many situations are rehashed and some sections unrelated to plot seemed like obvious […]

Robert J. Sawyer – Humans (2003)

Dec 12, 2006 by Mr. Nau In this second novel of the trilogy, we delve more into concepts alien to parallel Earth’s intelligent Neanderthals and visit their world. The characters felt more two-dimensional this time. The story was well-thought out, but some of the dialogue felt clunky. Still, this was a satisfying page-turner. Grade: B-. […]

Robert J. Sawyer – Hominids (2002)

Dec 08, 2006 by Mr. Nau Sawyer’s exploration of the accidental transfer of a modern Neanderthal physicist to our version of Earth is an interesting look at our culture and civilization from the perspective of an outsider from a contemporary intelligence that never developed agriculture. The book is well-written and very imaginative anthropological speculative fiction. […]

William Gibson – Pattern Recognition (2003)

Set not long after the 9-11 attack, and dealing with modern online culture, this novel spins a tale of conspiracy and intrigue. Despite the modern setting, Gibson has managed to keep the “Cyberpunk Cool” factor alive. After all, we are now living in the future. Gibson fans will enjoy this. Grade: B. IBL: Pattern Recognition.

Cory Doctorow – Eastern Standard Tribe (2004)

Is he crazy or is he right about the conspiracy to put him in a mental hospital to keep him out of competition? Art, the protagonist, is an engineer working with Eastern Standard Tribe, while living in England. This work was a riveting page-turner, but felt a little short. Grade: B+. IBL: Eastern Standard Tribe.

John Scalzi – Old Man’s War (2005)

Jan 26, 2006 by Mr. Nau John Scalzi takes us on a satisfying thrill ride, tagging along with our protagonist, John Perry, as he joins the army in old age after losing his wife to a stroke. This exceptionally well-written book is fairly short, but the action is intense and dramatic with very believable characters. […]

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