Hcmc

Exactly what I want out of fiction. A well paced plot, a few characters to root for, and surprises that keep the story ahead of, or at least more complex than a readers lazy imagination. Recommended.

** Disjointed ** Even though this is a serial put together in 5 parts, the story didn’t quite fit together. Some sort of cross between Story of your Life and the movie Moon, there were certainly interesting ideas, but the pieces didn’t fit together into an airtight whole. Aliens, bounty-hunters, and a love story felt more like a collection of short stories in different universes, rather than a single story.

Was interested in the first arc, somewhat distracted in the second. The narrative involving mass trait didn’t resonate, and by the end I was a bit bored. DNF about 80% through.

Scattershot for Smil, but I don’t regret reading it.

Great overall thesis, but what is the definition of an elite? And how are they overproduced? Feels like this book should be 1000 pages to support the breadth of arguments it aims for, and is limited by format.

** Some 菊花茶 Tea? ** I’ve recently started to appreciate Chrysanthemum tea. For most of my life, I thought it bland, and if given the choice, would readily take coffee, preferably with sugar. But this year I’ve started to appreciate Chrysanthemum, a sweet fragrance almost orthogonal to the sweetness of sugar and a refreshing touch that pairs nicely with savory dishes. How could I have missed this flavor all those years? ...

2

Brings nothing not better articulated in The Long Game. Yet maybe that’s the point, the Trumpist hawks and liberal hawks are saying the same things with only a different level of sophistication.

** Some books that wander are lost ** After returning from the dead, our hero, Fitz, goes wandering. … and wandering. … and wandering. He checks voicemail to find that the boss wants meet up in the mountains. So Fitz continues wandering; … and wandering. … and wandering. Then they find an air-wing of F-16s and kill all the bad people. The end.

Picking piano back up after about 20 years this was good sight reading practice. Hope to make it through the whole series.