Tag: reading

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer, Book Review

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

We have to start imagining a world in which sentient robots exist.

We’ve had I, Robot and R. Daneel Olivaw. We now have Annie Bot. Lots of others in between. I read about a smart spaceship not long ago (We Are Legion). The main issue I have with all these books is that the robots are really immortal humans with some computer assistance.

Sierra Greer asks the question – what will a sentient robot be first used for? There are two obvious answers, weapons and sex toys. She starts her exploration with the unlikely choice. Annie Bot is a sentient sex toy. What happens is as likely as the movies with highly intelligent dogs. A sentient robot will not be that. However, an imprisoned human in a robot body can be that. We’ve had enough Mechanical Turks already – androids being remotely controlled by humans – to make that theory likely.

So is Annie Bot a a sentient robot or a human, imprisoned in a robot body? Sierra Greer leaves that question open to interpretation.

I give a 5*/5. The book is disturbing, it’s terrifying that this could be done one day.

We Are Legion By Dennis E. Taylor, Book Review

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

“We Are Legion” is an Expanse style space opera by Dennis E. Taylor. This was the first book by Dennis Taylor I read. Pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

Bob is turned into a space ship who can replicate and travel with speeds close to the speed of light. Humans cannot withstand this type of acceleration but Bob is a spaceship, not a human. This innovation is so radical and fundamentally different for Earth that hell breaks loose. Bob tries hard to recreate Star Trek for the good of humanity but the humanity isn’t necessarily ready.

I’ve not had such a wow moment with a science fiction novel since Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. “We Are Legion” is without a doubt one of the best books I read in 2024.

5*/5

Here’s also a song that features “We Are Legion”. I find it appropriate to describe the book.

Cindil Pindil and Djasta Prasta

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

Once upon a time, a widow had twin daughters with very different personalities: Djasta Prasta was lively and cheerful, while Cindil Pindil was quiet, hesitant, and cautious. When their mother gave them fabric to sew dresses for Easter, Djasta Prasta eagerly began working—cutting, sewing, and fixing mistakes as she went—finishing her dress in time for the celebration, even though it had issues. Meanwhile, Cindil Pindil spent so much time worrying about making mistakes that her dress remained unfinished.

When the festive bells rang, Jasta Prasta joined the dance in her new dress, while Cindil Pindil stayed behind the fence, watching in tears. From that day on, people say it has always been so: “Cindil Pindil behind the fences while Djasta Prasta dances”.

This is a short version of the Bulgarian folk tale, written by Georgi Raychev in the 1930s. It became part of the culture of my generation. Felt inspired to publish it here after mistakenly sent out a test post to my subscribers. Sorry about that! 🙂

Reading Block

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

I completed my Goodreads Reading goal last month and have not finished a single book since then. Not sure what’s going on. The book I currently read seems to be fine, but I’m stuck on it, and the end isn’t near. I can likely read it for another 2 weeks. The book is The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne, I’m around page 330 out of 510, and it took me 8 days to get there. It’s a Malazan style epic fantasy saga in a Norse mythology world.

Anyway, here’s a screenshot from my Goodreads accomplishment. I doubt I can beat this any time soon. My goal for next year will be in the 40s-50s, unless I find another series of books that is easy to read and long as I did in 2024. Stephanie Plum and Thraxas brought me good moments.

What I Read in November 2024

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

I read 7 books, 1 gamebook, and 1 comics in November.

Best books for the month:

  1. Thraxas 11 and 12 – The march to free Turai is over, and the series didn’t end. Some serious questions are left for the unwritten book 13, like why are Thraxas and Makri glued together? Both books were 5/5s, and also short and easy to finish.
  2. Shadow of the Fox #1 – a human with fox features starts a journey to secure a world-dominating scroll. LOTR in a magical ancient Japan. Book 2 relied on superheroes and deux ex machina, and is closer to the bottom of this post than the top but was still interesting.

Worst books for the month:

  1. Claw of the Dragon – a gamebook where the choices don’t matter and you just read a few pages in a non-linear order to reach the final. Probably targets 7-8-year-olds from the pre-computer age.
  2. Monk and Robot – clever and thought-provoking but not as interesting as the other books I read in November.