Robin > Recent Status Updates

Finally up to the topic of the book (assembly theory), but there's still a lot of circuitous verbiage. I get the feeling much of this book could have been an email. The idea is interesting; I just wish Walker had launched into it earlier, and was using clearer definitions and examples now.

Chapter 1 is frustratingly full of question-begging - the author confidently claims no one can satisfactorily explain why a car is not alive. But that’s a conclusion of her argument, not a premise. The writing also meanders, as though the editing team had no idea what the author was on about so just let her spin her wheels. Chapter 2 is starting to get more interesting.

A Boy And His Dog (Ellison): 4.5/5. Gripping and dark but ultimately satisfying on a deep level. A paradoxically depraved and humane parable about the dangers of repression. Full review will expand.

400 pages to go. I think dan Simmons is my new favourite author.

I think the plot's finally about to start.

Actually on page 237 of 390. It's not boring or bad in any way, but it feels impossibly, implacably, unbearably long.