Rudy Rucker: Software [Rating: 6]

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have had Rudy Rucker's book Software on my bookshelf forever.

Well shortly after writing that post I pulled it down from there, dusted it off, and read it (I just finished).

The book takes place in the year 2020, and the main character is a retired computer scientist named Cobb Anderson. At the beginning of the book, Cobb is in dread of his "second-hand" heart giving out (and with good reason: he cannot afford another). Then a robot double contacts him with a plan to get him to the Moon, where he will be given immortality—the robot community's "thank you" from enabling them to evolve freewill.

Along the way Cobb pairs up with a young druggie—who has legally changed his name from Stanley Hilary Mooney to Sta-Hi Mooney—and gets him to accompany him to the moon. There the duo find themselves in the midst of a robotic civil war that threatens to seriously affect humanity.

All in all, I'd have to say it was an enjoyable read, but there were parts of it I thought could be better. The ending in particular left a bit to be desired, to the point that if I didn't already have the next book—Wetware—on order I would probably not read it.

On the other hand, what disappointed me about the ending simply might be prelude to some really good stuff, so I am willing to give Wetware a chance.

For some enjoyable reading of a binary kind, take a look at Rudy Rucker's blog sometime!

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Lemony Snicket: The Grim Grotto (Rating: 6)

Hrmm, a word which here means "Not as good as I'd been hoping!"

Well, obviously I just finished reading The Grim Grotto, Book 11 in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

And, just as obviously—a phrase which here means "you'd have to be dimmer than Count Olaf not to realize this"—I was underwhelmed.

My best guess is that Mr. Snicket finally read his contract and learned that he gets paid by the word, for he surely padded this book with too many of them.

Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against long books, but I don't like it when too many of these words are the same words, or variations thereof.

Arguably, the purpose of this could be said to be a humorous attempt at preventing you from reading about the awful things that occur to the Beaudelaire orphans in this book.

Perhaps this is true, but not only has the device been done exceedingly in this series so far, but this book takes the ploy to new depths, a phrase which herein means "has made this overused technique excruciatingly annoying, and has really ticked me off!"

By the same token, the same could be said of my overuse of Snicket's more amusing (IMHO) technique, the use of the "which here means" to clarify what a word means (or what he—or in this case I—mean it to mean).

Which brings up another thing, a note for the parents of older children (say, oh, I don't know, ten and above?): read these books first—if you must—to screen them for content that is acceptable in your household, then turn the books loose on your kids, if for no other reason than to teach them some vocabulary.

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