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Faster Than Light: The Atari ST and the 16-Bit Revolution
“Power Without the Price.” Every Atari fan remembers that slogan from the 1980s as the rallying cry for 16-bit computing in the form of the Atari ST. This groundbreaking computer brought previously unimagined power to the home user for the first time—and transformed an industry or two along the way.
Author Jamie Lendino offers a fresh, vital look at the history of the Atari ST, guiding you from its inauspicious genesis at the center of a company known for its gaming consoles to its category-defining triumphs in music, desktop publishing, and video gaming. And he doesn’t stop there: He then leaps to the present to pull back the veil on the thriving software and mod communities that aren’t just keeping it alive today, but taking it to places its creators never could have imagined.
Whether you’re a longtime devotee who wants to relive the magic of the machine that unleashed the wonders of Dungeon Master, Time Bandit, and Starglider, an intrepid DIYer on the hunt for new ideas and resources to take your homebrew system to the next level, or a newcomer hungry to learn the ins and outs of one of the most important computers ever created, this book will get you there just as the ST did its long-ago digital pioneers: Faster Than Light.
- GenresVideo GamesHistory
327 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2019
16 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Jamie Lendino
7 books7 followersJamie Lendino is an author, editor, mix engineer, and technology enthusiast. He writes books about old computers and video games, and what it was like to experience them when new. Jamie has written for PCMag, ExtremeTech, Popular Science, Electronic Musician, Consumer Reports, Sound and Vision, and CNET. He has also appeared on CNBC, NPR’s All Things Considered, and other television and radio programs across the United States. Jamie lives with his wife, daughter, and two bonkers cats in Collingswood, New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 6, 2020
Oohh boy. After Lendino delivered "Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation", which was one of the most amateurish and hurried jobs I've read, here he gives us a tome on the ST. Got to tell you, I was very excited when I saw the title, because unfortunately there just aren't any good books on the subject. But then I saw the author and my hopes crumbled. Still, I gave it a go and... I was/was not (depending on how you see it) disapointed.
Let's start with the title: "Faster than Light". Like with "Breakout", it has no actual meaning in relation to the content. It's not like he's covering a Cray machine or something, and indeed he never says that the ST line was the fastest out there, so where does FTL come from? I guess it just sounds nice and catchy.
The content itself is a weird and confused hodgepodge. The author gives some of the history of the ST line, very superficial and simple. It consists, from the looks of it, solely of bibliographical research and not original content, like say, interviews. As such there's precious little new to learn and the approach is so mundane as to describe the machines like he's reviewing them for a magazine ("at the back we have a power button, the two MIDI ports" etc etc). Very few photos, which if you look back at the Breakout book is a good thing - though there are a couple of random shots with doors and stuff in the background, probably taken with a mobile. Zero effort. The ONE photo I'd like to have seen is that of the STpad; I don't remember having seen one and, since the author claims he had the chance to handle one at some even it wouldn't be too much to ask for one, would it?
Most of the book is taken up by software reviews. Indeed, if you take out the reviews all you're left with is a pamphlet, more or less. Zero insight, very little history.
Reviews: Here the author seems to be following a rough chronological order regarding the hardware and then throwing in a bunch of reviews organised in sections according to their content (before jumping back to hardware with no clear indication). The reviews themselves, for some reason, range from a couple of paragraphs to several pages in length and are, for the greater part of them, pretty boring. If you dare contrast those reviews to, say, the Bitmap books you'll see a chasm of difference. Things are not helped by the first person used throughout.
This last detail is not confined to software reviews, though. Because it's super evident that I bought a book not to read some history, but the author's very personal opinions and experiences, there's a ton of "I"s in it, which further adds to the amateurish feeling, too. It doesn't help that his writing is extremely bland and mediocre, but also his stories are extremely banal; nobody cares about the store you used to go to and how you didn't like Heroes of the Lance, Jamie!
At the end of the book there's also a big section about collecting (=what machines the author has and plans to buy after writing the book), the ST community nowadays, emulators (I think only Hatari is covered in some detail, but I was just hitting "next page" by that point) and mods. Which instantly makes it obsolete, of course.
...and all that, a collection of mediocre blog posts and some boring software reviews, at full price. A lazy money grab.
...
It's such a shame. Nowadays there are quite a few excellent retro books to buy, yet people still give their money to such awful releases. Take off your rose-tinted glasses, people, and demand more! You're giving your money here,it's not like you're being given these books for free!
Let's start with the title: "Faster than Light". Like with "Breakout", it has no actual meaning in relation to the content. It's not like he's covering a Cray machine or something, and indeed he never says that the ST line was the fastest out there, so where does FTL come from? I guess it just sounds nice and catchy.
The content itself is a weird and confused hodgepodge. The author gives some of the history of the ST line, very superficial and simple. It consists, from the looks of it, solely of bibliographical research and not original content, like say, interviews. As such there's precious little new to learn and the approach is so mundane as to describe the machines like he's reviewing them for a magazine ("at the back we have a power button, the two MIDI ports" etc etc). Very few photos, which if you look back at the Breakout book is a good thing - though there are a couple of random shots with doors and stuff in the background, probably taken with a mobile. Zero effort. The ONE photo I'd like to have seen is that of the STpad; I don't remember having seen one and, since the author claims he had the chance to handle one at some even it wouldn't be too much to ask for one, would it?
Most of the book is taken up by software reviews. Indeed, if you take out the reviews all you're left with is a pamphlet, more or less. Zero insight, very little history.
Reviews: Here the author seems to be following a rough chronological order regarding the hardware and then throwing in a bunch of reviews organised in sections according to their content (before jumping back to hardware with no clear indication). The reviews themselves, for some reason, range from a couple of paragraphs to several pages in length and are, for the greater part of them, pretty boring. If you dare contrast those reviews to, say, the Bitmap books you'll see a chasm of difference. Things are not helped by the first person used throughout.
This last detail is not confined to software reviews, though. Because it's super evident that I bought a book not to read some history, but the author's very personal opinions and experiences, there's a ton of "I"s in it, which further adds to the amateurish feeling, too. It doesn't help that his writing is extremely bland and mediocre, but also his stories are extremely banal; nobody cares about the store you used to go to and how you didn't like Heroes of the Lance, Jamie!
At the end of the book there's also a big section about collecting (=what machines the author has and plans to buy after writing the book), the ST community nowadays, emulators (I think only Hatari is covered in some detail, but I was just hitting "next page" by that point) and mods. Which instantly makes it obsolete, of course.
...and all that, a collection of mediocre blog posts and some boring software reviews, at full price. A lazy money grab.
...
It's such a shame. Nowadays there are quite a few excellent retro books to buy, yet people still give their money to such awful releases. Take off your rose-tinted glasses, people, and demand more! You're giving your money here,it's not like you're being given these books for free!
August 24, 2023
A disappointment to be honest.
There is nothing new here on the STs history, what is written is brief and sourced from other books or magazines.
There is way too much time spent on the author describing the games he played. As far as I'm concerned unless the game was originally created for the ST (not a port) or does something very interesting with the ST I would consider everything else a distraction.
The list of ST models was new to me, but it would have helped if he compared the models to competitor hardware, specifically the Amiga. For example, was the STEs blitter better/same/worse than the Amiga?
The mod'ing and emulating probably should not be in the book as it will be out of date very soon. I would have focused on the history of the ST which does not change.
I was looking for an STs equivalent of "On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore" by Brian Bagnall but this is not that book.
There is nothing new here on the STs history, what is written is brief and sourced from other books or magazines.
There is way too much time spent on the author describing the games he played. As far as I'm concerned unless the game was originally created for the ST (not a port) or does something very interesting with the ST I would consider everything else a distraction.
The list of ST models was new to me, but it would have helped if he compared the models to competitor hardware, specifically the Amiga. For example, was the STEs blitter better/same/worse than the Amiga?
The mod'ing and emulating probably should not be in the book as it will be out of date very soon. I would have focused on the history of the ST which does not change.
I was looking for an STs equivalent of "On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore" by Brian Bagnall but this is not that book.
February 3, 2023
You might think this is one of those potboiler business books about the story of how Atari was run during the 16-bit period. But it's a much more personal thing than that - there's a little bit of Atari corporate history, but it's mostly a long list of games and other software, with descriptions. It's very nostalgic if you remember the piece of software, but rather boring to read if you don't. Glad I read it but I think you'd have to have very fond memories of the ST to enjoy it.
September 3, 2019
This book deals with the history of the Atari ST line of home computers and the Atari company during that time. A perfect companion and reference work, written clearly and easy readable.
As you progress through the years you'll get information on both hardware developments and software (professional and games), ofcourse as the author grew up during this time it is a bit opinionated, but doesn't pose any problems to the credibility.
What was very nice to have in the book is a current state of afairs. As most of these types of books only deal with the past, this book ends with a list of current projects and other references for Atari computers.
Very much recommended if you ever used Atari ST computers at the time and want to fill in the blanks (or relive the past) or are now getting into them and want a good reference guide.
As you progress through the years you'll get information on both hardware developments and software (professional and games), ofcourse as the author grew up during this time it is a bit opinionated, but doesn't pose any problems to the credibility.
What was very nice to have in the book is a current state of afairs. As most of these types of books only deal with the past, this book ends with a list of current projects and other references for Atari computers.
Very much recommended if you ever used Atari ST computers at the time and want to fill in the blanks (or relive the past) or are now getting into them and want a good reference guide.
August 30, 2019
Nostalgic overview
I had the 520ST when I was a teen and enjoyed relearning about it. This book skims a lot and could use a little more meat, but it worked for me.
I had the 520ST when I was a teen and enjoyed relearning about it. This book skims a lot and could use a little more meat, but it worked for me.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews