Normally I don't write book reviews, because I do not have much to add to the thousands of reviews already out there, and would rather spend my time in the next book than typing words about what I just read.

Still.

Recently I finally was able to break my dry spell of reading and enjoyed a collection of books that have some themes in common yet are very different in scope and while what I write about them here could barely be called 'reviews', I want to give them all a mention as I enjoyed reading them very much, they provided me some fascinating food for thought, and they might be of interest for your reading list.

Ubik

First, I was able to cross Ubik by Philip K. Dick of my to-read list, something I have been wanting to do for years. I was not certain what to expect of it, but it positively surprised me - especially considering how long ago it was written (1969).

There are some pieces that both have not aged that well and are integral part of the story, like everyone smoking cigarettes and the use of coins everywhere. The latter is pretty fun - in a cringe way - as they really portray the micro-payment situation we increasingly find ourselves in, culminating in a TV taking payment to even turn on and the door of someone's apartment refusing to open to let them out because they cannot pay the $0.10 coin it is asking for that task.

Reading a bit around those analogue relics (someone even laments their collection of high-end vinyl and tapes, which could be retro-chique nowadays), Ubik is an interesting and fun thought experiment about what could happen when dream-like worlds for almost-dead people mingle with the 'real' world, which has to deal with telepaths being an integral part of society, and anti-psis working from agencies to counter the effects of those mind-readers.

Eversion

What a ride this book by Alastair Reynolds was. I do not want to say too much here as I don't want to give away clues, but this Groundhog Day meets Cthulhu story is such a fun and fresh adventure with some hidden depths.

Murderbot

Next I plunged straight into Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries serie, attracted by the small book size (100 page-ish) and quirky premise. Let me say, Murderbot is now my favourite human/machine construct. Angsty as heck, relatable more often than comfortably admitted and with some observations about human affairs and social interactions that look from that slightly different angle that makes you ponder them.

'Murderbot' is the secret - private - name of the SecUnit you ride the head of in these (as of now) seven books and which has to come to grips becoming their own person instead of the robot-like half-machine-half-biological appliance that they were designed to be, not even counting having to deal with such a thing as 'friends', be it in the form of (former) clients, or a sentient transport ship.

“I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites.”

I greatly enjoyed sharing the private space of Murderbot's head, their astute observations about humans, endless watching of soaps (I kind of wish I was able to consume media just from inside my own head), and the subtle worldbuilding that's going on in the background.

(BTW, Murderbot, She Wrote on Wired is an article about Martha Well's career and tells about how the Murderbot series was a turning point in her life).

Discworld

Does this wonderful series of books by Terry Pratchett need any introduction? I hope not, but if it does, you're in for a treat.

Two very different books were read, starting with Commander Vimes of the City Watch in Night Watch. Travelling back in time by some freak weather, he has to deal with the civil uprising he was part of as young watchman, find the stabby evil guy, protect his younger self and somehow get back to the love of his life, who is about to give birth to their child while in the meanwhile contemplating how actions have consequences.

Next up was another book by Terry Pratchett: The Wee Free Men (Discworld #30, Tiffany Aching #1) which is a stand-alone book (or the start of the Tiffany Aching witch series). Witches in the Discworld are pretty great persons, with more insight into how people work and what makes them tick than real magical powers. Tiffany is the youngest witch I encountered thus far; with her nine years she is both a bit lost in the world after her granny died, but also not afraid to ding an unexpected water monster on the head with a tactical frying pan to save her annoying little brother. Then some very odd talking little blue men in kilts show up and she will have to save her home lands from impending evil.

The Hydrogen Sonata (last of the Culture series)

With a sad feeling I've started reading this tenth instalment and last book in the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. Sad because there are no more of those wonderful books left after this one.

Murderbot might have made friends with a sentient ship in their voyage to finding themselves, the Culture ships are a different breed altogether. Vastly complex, smart, vain and occasionally funny, they are their own people and provide an interesting counterpoint to the (generally really not so baseline) human(oid) beings living inside them, on the huge O-ringworlds (orbitals, typically 3 to 4 million kilometres across) or the occasional planet. The Culture is a civilisation of an amalgam of humanoid people, about the same age as the Gzilt this book centers about - 10 thousand years - and aside from the various (bio) advancements, people are still people doing very human things, even if they are in such an advanced society, or are bots.

I am really sad that mister Banks will not write any more books on the condition of being dead, because he had such a keen eye on psychology and social structures and interactions, and writes about them in a humorously scathing but very intriguing way, building some very fascinating worlds in the process. I did add The Wasp Factory, The Bridge and Walking on Glass to my to-read list though.

That's it for now, I will of course continue my favourite hobby with other books and might even blurp here about them now and then. I noticed I started the draft for this post on 2024-10-27. Might need to up my writing game a bit :) At least I read about 5,116 pages over 15 books last year, according to TheStorygraph.