Books

Every now and then I do a book review or two for the blog, people seem to like them and as it is the summer holildays, I’ve decided to give you an insight as to what I am reading or have read on holiday. It’s the normal mixed back of books; some old, some new, some best-sellers, some not. I only tend to write about books I like which is why my book reviews tend to be nearly entirely positive.

So here goes, some holiday reading for you all.

At school, I hated history and dropped it as a subject as soon as possible; it might have been the way it was taught or perhaps it was that the eras studied just were not those that I was interested in; these days though I read a lot of history books, it tends to be mostly early history but not entirely so. I’ve recently become more interested in European history and the creation of modern Europe; one of those figures which looms large is Lenin, a monster and tyrant in the West’s eyes and mythologised in the Soviet Russia. The collapse of the Soviet Union opened previously sealed records and has allowed Robert Service to re-appraise the life of Lenin and the influences which him; from his early upbringing and education to the execution of his elder brother Alexander, Lenin’s early life is brought to life and the monster is humanised. Yet as Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov becomes Lenin (Lenin was his revolutionary name), you see the man become the monster. If there is any criticism to be made of the book, it tends to ignore some of the major events such as the First World War and focuses on Lenin the man but as a biography it paints a picture of Lenin beyond the normal mythology, Robert Service’s Lenin: A Biography may not be the cheeriest summer read but I found it really interesting and learnt a lot.

The Black Jacobins by the great Trinidadian writer CLR James is the history of the Hatian Revolution of 1791-1804, especially considered against the background of the French Revolution (Haiti was ruled by the French), it mainly focuses on the black leader Toussaint L’Ouverture who rose from slavery to a hero of the Haitian revolution and a tragic one at that. A criticism oft laid at the book is that it is very partisan and idealistic but this does not prevent it from being an easy read and an important parallel to one of the key developments in European history.

The Library Book is a collection of pieces on the importance of libraries from short stories to personal testimony by such luminaries as Stephen Fry, Alan Bennet, Seth Godin and many more. At a time when many feel that libraries are now not necessary with everything online, this collection gives many reasons why we still need libraries. A library is more than just a collection of books, just as a book is more than just a collection of words; if you love books and libraries, this book is great fun.

It’s odd that I have read many of George R.R Martin’s books; I was a great fan of the Wild-Cards series which was editted by him, I also loved Windhaven and have read many of his short stories but I had never read any of A Song of Ice and Fire (The Game of Thrones) books, they had just passed me by and I had probably discounted them as more Tolkien fantasy wannabe. Well, more fool me, I’ve been racing through them this summer and have found them compelling, complex, exciting, violent and witty. Late to the party I know but I very pleased I picked them up. Full of strong characters, both male and female; flawed but heroic and certainly not Tolkien like at all. Although I have linked the boxed set, I’d buy them on Kindle if I were you; they’re very long so much easier to carry around on the Kindle. Saves you carrying around two heavy books if you are getting close to the end of one.

REST APIs and interacting with services via them are becoming an increasingly important part of the tech landscape; even humble infrastructure bods like myself can’t avoid them any more. The REST API Design Handbook by George Reese is great short introduction on how you go about designing a REST API and I wish that many of my developer friends would read it; it would make my life and theirs a lot simpler. I continue to see horrible things done with SOAP which would work so much better with a RESTful implementation that I feel that this should be compulsory reading before you decide to do anything with SOAP. And at only 90 pages or so, there’s no excuse for not reading it.

Fifty Shades of Grey is not a book I have read this summer and really have no intention in reading, although I gather it makes for great amusement when read aloud but if you want something similar but better written (although I can’t really say that not having read 50SoG), try The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice writing as A.N. Roquelaure. Of course it is adult, so if you are neither adult or a possessor of an open mind, give it a miss.

Sometime in the past couple of years, someone crept into Neal Stephenson’s bedroom and whispered into his ear

‘When you wake up, you are going write a book which will read like a techno-thriller and end like an extended scene from Modern Warfare; it will be an FPS in book form’

And so he woke up and started to write Reamde; this is not classic Stephenson, this is not a big ideas book, this book is designed to make you smile as it takes you on a ride through downtown China, the wilds of Canada and legendary landscape of T’Rain!

T”Rain? T’Rain is a MMORPG world where gold-farming is encouraged and where livings can be made; big money is possible and real world transactions can happen. So when a virus writer exploits that and demands a ransom to be paid in game to recover from the effects of a virus; all hell breaks loose and when the wrong laptop is infected…the story really starts.

But if you are a Stephenson fan and come expecting a typical Stephenson novel, you are going to be disappointed; if you come looking for new ideas (beyond that of T’Rain, which is a clever evolution of MMORPG), come looking for challenges and to learn.

Don’t REAMDE!

If you put that all to one side and come looking a novel told at movie pace with a gamer’s fascination for hardware of all sorts; this is the novel for you!!

Do REAMDE! It’s fun!

Okay, your flight to Vegas may need more than just the one book, especially with the inevitable delays. So here’s a couple more books.

‘Zero History’ finishes Gibson’s ‘Blue Ant’ trilogy begun by ‘Pattern Recognition’ and continued in ‘Spook Country’; it features  Hollis Henry and Milgrim from Spook Country along with the recurring Hubertus Bigend.

Featuring the concept of secret brands; brands which are underground, where the heat is generated from the street and never revealed to the mainstream. In this case it’s a secret brand of jeans known as ‘Gabriel Hounds’. Bigend wants to know more about the brand for his agency and employs Hollis and Milgrim to discover more about it. At first they are working seperately but soon their paths cross and converge; with everyone eventually ending up in way over their heads.

The thread of the story shifts quickly and frequently drawing in many strands to weave a story which is much greater than the parts.

This is classic Gibson full of knowing references to brands, technology and in a world which is mostly familiar. And for a novel written by an American but set in London; it really captures the feel of my home city…

I’ve always enjoyed Gibson’s prose and even when the story hasn’t been the greatest, I find his rhythm and structure pleasing but this time, it’s coupled with fast-moving  and entertaining story.

And now for something completely different; ‘Don’t Sleep, There are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle’ by Daniel Everett.

Daniel Everett started as a missionary to the Pirahãs tribe in the Amazon; sent there to learn their language so that he could translate the Bible into their language. He discovered a language which challenged his understanding of both linguistics and also his faith.

This book is fascinating as it demonstrates how language can change and colour our views and even our deepest held beliefs.  For example a language which has no counting system, no fixed words for colour or even personal property; a culture which accepts dreams as an equally valid reality to that of waking. A life lived entirely in present, where only eye-witness accounts have any value.

This account of Daniel’s personal journey is funny, exciting, moving and thought provoking. Well worth a go. And perhaps a good way to spend time being delayed in airport lounges.

Okay, the summer holiday season is nearly over but some of you have long flights to look forward to on your way to VMworld; so perhaps some geeky novels could help pass the time. Well, it’ll make a change from trying to catch up on all those features that you will never use in the latest version of VMware.

Ready Player One is the first novel from Ernest Cline; who wrote the screenplay for  thecult film ‘Fanboys’; set in a grim near future where the energy crisis, global climate change has lead to widespread disease, poverty, war and famine. Indenture for debtors has become law and large corporates rule the roost.

A familiar setting but within this setting, a funny, exciting and well imagined novel is set. For despite the bleak reality, the population of this world can escape into a virtual reality known as OASIS.

The OASIS was developed and built by James Halliday; a reality built on top of geek culture from the 70s on. Halliday has died and left no heir but he has left a will leaving his fortune to the person who can find the three keys within OASIS to unlock the Easter Egg hidden within the game.

A whole culture has built up around this; loners, gaming clans and even a big bad corporate all seek the keys to the realm. A culture obsessed with the minutiae of geek culture, who know Monty Python backwards, Wargames, The Breakfast Club…Pacman….Zork…all these are believed to hold the answers to the quest.

A young man finds himself the first to crack the first clue and from this, the quest for control of OASIS turns into a race with twists and turns; well imagined realities with many of tips of the hat to especially 80s culture lead to a book within a book, how many can you spot and how many do you know.

If you grew up geek and love geek culture….this is the book for you. And if you didn’t, there’s a cracking adventure story in it and it might just make you curious enough about geek culture to google some of the references.