Diverse Books

Neal Asher - The Skinner - Review

alexmc6 — 2007-03-21T10:56:54+00:00

Markus reviews The Skinner, the first book in the 'Polity' series (4 books so far) by Neal Asher, and finds it fast paced, captivating, fascinating, and, in classic Neal Asher vein, slightly gory and OTT. Good stuff, then... worth reading for the planet's ecosystem alone!

The book kicks off with Keech, Janer, and Erin arriving on Splatterjay, named after it's most (in)famous founder/settler/criminal's nickname (Jay 'Splatterjay' Hooper), although the name is also the defining characteristic for the planet's rather unusual and violent biology.
The three protagonists are not your standard fare, either…

Read the full review on Diversebooks

Karen Traviss - City of Pearl - Review

alexmc6 — 2007-03-07T11:30:42+00:00

Markus reviews City of Pearl, the first in the Wess'har Wars series by Karen Traviss, and finds this profound new yarn on Ecology, peaceful co-existence (or not), and Social Structures well written and highly entertaining:
"If Karen can hold that level of writing and storytelling then this will be a series to look out for, and look forward to indeed!"

Read the full review on Diversebooks

REVIEW: "Knowledge Power: Intellectual Property, Information and Privacy", Renee Marlin-Bennett

Markus — 2007-03-06T13:28:24+00:00

Robert Slade reviews Knowledge Power: Intellectual Property, Information and Privacy by Renee Marlin-Bennett, and doesn't think it lives up to its promise:

True, as with David Brin's "The Transparent Society", Marlin-Bennett promises a unique premise, in this case a tie between privacy and intellectual property. Unlike Brin, in this book the link is not strongly demonstrated. We are, therefore, left with a somewhat simplistic review of the topics listed in the title.

Neal Stephenson - Zodiac - Review

alexmc6 — 2007-03-01T10:01:13+00:00

Markus reviews Zodiac, the 2nd novel by Neil Stephenson, and is enjoying it enormously:
Maybe not his most sophisticated writing, but definitely up there with the most entertaining books I’ve read. Like, ever. Belongs on top of your reading pile!

Sangamon Taylor (ST to his friends) is an activist with GEE, the Group of Environmental Extremists, in their Boston office. He is a wizard with a Zodiac (a u-shaped semi rigid inflatable dinghy, usually with a serious outboard motor, for those not familiar with such matters), and a self-professed professional pain in the arse. Especially to big Chemical Industry Corporations...

Read the full review on Diversebooks

Iain Banks - Canal Dreams - Review

alexmc6 — 2007-02-23T16:13:17+00:00

Markus reviews Canal Dreams by Iain Banks (no middle initial here), and is intrigued; with the first half, at least.
The story itself plays on 3 ships, marooned in the middle of the Panama Canal during a new Panama crisis, when they are boarded and taken over by local 'freedom fighters' – but neither the focal passenger (world renowned cellist Hisako Onoda), nor the freedom fighters are all they appear to be, and so the stakes, both political and personal, keep rising…

Read the full review on Diversebooks

Near-future Bio-Terror Thriller: Greg Bear - Quantico - Review

alexmc6 — 2007-02-07T10:53:17+00:00

Markus reviews Quantico, a near-future SF thriller on Bioterror, and the FBI special agents chasing the terrorists, by Greg Bear, and find it a captivating read - part thriller, part military/police, part hard/biological sf; all parts well executed.
Quantico is cop Valhalla. They say good cops go there when they die. Every day you solve crimes, make arrests, study hard, work out, do target practice, and at the end of the day you get together with your fellow agents in the boardroom, swig back some beers, and laugh. Hardly anybody gets hurt, nobody locks their doors, everyone knows the rules, and the bad guys always lose.
Just like real live, then…

Read the full review on Diversebooks

Book review: Computer Security - 20 Things Every Employee Should Know

Markus — 2007-02-04T18:41:15+00:00

Gary Hinson sends us a review of Computer Security: 20 Things Every Employee Should Know - The Employee Handbook for Securing the Workplace by Ben Rothke:

Exec summary: This neat little booklet summarizing computer security for ordinary employees could usefully support a structured security awareness program, but do not rely on it alone.

Here are the '20 things every employee should know':
1. Phishing and spyware - don't click links requesting personal info or download programs from unfamiliar companies, and set browser security
2. Identity theft - be careful over phone and web, monitor finances
3. Responsibility - guard your 'access credentials' and follow policies
4. Passwords - choose wisely, don't write them down and don't share them
[...]
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Kazakh-based SF: Liz Williams - Nine Layers of Sky - Review

alexmc6 — 2007-01-26T13:19:38+00:00

Markus reviews Nine Layers of Sky, an SF story set in the former Soviet Union and permeated by Central Asian Myth by Liz Williams, and, despite of some gaps in the story and a 'clunky' ending, seems to be rather taken by it.

Modern (aka Post-Soviet-Union) times, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Elena Irinova, a former Astrophysicist on the Soviet Space Programme, is eking out a living by working as an office cleaner, dreaming of old space-faring glories in the past, and of a new live in Moscow, or Canada, in the future. When a strange, spherical, black object comes into her possession [...]

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Victorian-era space pirate adventure: Philip Reeve's Larklight - Review

Markus — 2007-01-18T12:46:54+00:00

Markus reviews Larklight, the first book in the series of the same name by Philip Reeve, and is loving it: "Charming, to say the least. And excellently executed, from the story, the Victorian references, the illustrations, through to the packaging and little extras!"

The story follows Art Mumby, 11, when he and his sister are displaced from their home orbiting the moon by giant white spiders, and hook up with an infamous space pirate, Jack Havock...

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Alan Cash - The Janus Effect - Review

alexmc6 — 2007-01-11T15:40:46+00:00

Markus reviews The Janus Effect, the debut novel by Alan Cash from the Birmingham SF Writers Group, and considers it to be a "ok effort for a debut novel, with some strange changes in style and topic halfway through." Overall an OK book, and an enjoyable read. A promise for the future – we look forward to the next book Alan!

The book plays in a dystopian near-future suffering from Global Warming, with the UK as an isolated Dictatorship, experimental time travel available to a select few, and Aliens on Earth (no contact so far). Plenty of standard SF cliches, then.
Read the full review on Diversebooks.