Christian’s Subsection of the Internet

I rather enjoyed Revival. It’s nothing too special or spectacular, but a solid story keeping a pleasing casual pace and nerve that was perfect for a weekend read. It’s the kind of book where I’d recommend not reading the synopsis, and knowing as little as possible about the story before reading. Not because the book would be ruined, but because coming in blind adds a little extra suspense around what’s going to happen. And a little extra suspense never hurts. It’s a book which touches upon questions about life, existence, and death without going too deep into any of it - using many serious subjects as relatively light plot-devices to drive forward a more-than-decent little story which does the job of providing some light entertainment through a few days. This isn’t a book that will stick with me, but it’s a book that I enjoyed quite a bit while I had it around.

It seems that most of the discussion around Utopia is “What is this actually?” Is it a genuine vision of the perfect world? A work of Satire? A joke? To me it reads like a very interesting thought-experiment. I think it’s quite clear that the ideal world that is being described is in no way ideal. If anything, the island of Utopia seems more like a prison island designed to maximise output than like an ideal community. However, it’s a very interesting thought-experiment with a lot of interesting ideas. Some might be genuinely good, others are presented in a way which makes it very evident (at least when read today) why they would never work in reality. In any case, it was very interesting to read the origins of the phrase Utopia - and, if what was written hear was meant (or, perhaps more likely, taken) seriously, it’s also interesting to see how times have changed.

I’m generally an Agatha Christie fan, but The Sittaford Mystery didn’t gel with me. The plot, mystery, intrigue, etc. etc. is relatively average, though there’s an interesting “multiple perspectives” thing going on. However, the book seems unfinished. The plot is there, the dialogue is there, but there is very little surrounding it. People are going from place to place speaking to other people, and there isn’t much to build any atmosphere, to get me into the story at all, or to otherwise make this a book rather than a play. Still, it’s a short, overall fun little mystery, and if for no other reason it’s worth picking this book up to be introduced to the character of Emily.

In Rouge Protocol we continue following our favourite Murderbot further into space, and on the way to a far out mining facility, our Bot encounters some people they may have to work with in order to further their own goals. Murderbot also has to confront the most confusing of concepts: friendship. The Murderbot series so far has been a delight, and this book is not an exception. In this book we get a secondary bot character, a bit like a puppy, that confuses Murderbot with it’s attitude of trust and kindness. Of course, there is a bunch of shooty shooty bang stuff as well to keep the space action side of the story alive. This really is a very hard book, and series, to describe. It’s not like anything else I’ve read, and it’s so much fun to get to see the world through the eyes of a sentient bot who is, in theory, more or less stripped of emotion - but who has enough of a theoretical knowledge of it to recognise it. And… maybe to feel it as well? Maybe they will start feeling more and more as time goes by? In any case, if you haven’t, start at the start of the Murderbot Diaries and start reading them.

Reading the start of “Kniv” felt like reading a parody of a Jo Nesbø book. It was overdone, and it was grandiose. In other words, exactly what I would want, and what I would expect, from a Harry Hole book. As the book begins, Harry Hole is… checks notes in a state of checks notes again just to be sure despair, and had once again fallen off the wagon back into alcoholism. Once again circumstances around him conspire to make the upcoming days the worst days of his life. It’s interesting how Nesbø always gets away with this same, pretty much identical, trope for the start of every single Hole book, but hey - it does the job. After the opening drama, none of which I write any about as I was actually properly surprised at some of it, the story progresses in the way it has to progress. The way these stories always do. It’s obvious what has happened - then it isn’t - then there is a twist - then there is another twist - then you put your hand in front of your mouth while exclaiming “No, surely not?!” - etc. - etc. Usually with these books there is something about each individual books that sets it apart a little bit, and that makes it feel like it sidesteps the formula a little bit. With Kniv there isn’t really much that does that: it pretty much follows the path, a twisty path, yes, but still a path, without diverging from it. Fortunately, the formula these books follow is good enough for it not to feel too formulaic. Overall, not the best Harry Hole book, but certainly not the worse. Perfect as a lazy holiday-read.