Tag Archives: review

What is your favorite text editor? When I polled my readers with the same question back in 2009, Vi won by a landslide. I’m not sure if it was because I skewed the results by stating my preference for that … Continue reading →

Sometimes you read a book, and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Not because it was bad, but because the story is so depressing and/or disturbing that it makes you feel dirty. The Sparrow by Marry Doria Rusell … Continue reading →

One of the things I got for Chrismas this year was Apple’s Magic Mouse. It is one of these devices that I sort of coveted, but wouldn’t actually buy myself due to the price tag, and the entire buttonless setup. … Continue reading →

It’s not often that I am unable to finish a book. I am a book worm by nature – I devour printed volumes wholesale not unlike Sam Savage’s Firmin. Good, bad – it does not really matter. So far there … Continue reading →

When I reviewed Embassytown I lamented at the scarcity of well designed, interesting aliens that do not conform to overplayed archetypes such as rubber-forehead people, and rabid, insectoid killing machines. I enjoyed Miéville’s attempt to create a race with a … Continue reading →

Taja Grimm’s World has a rather interesting pedigree. It started as a short story titled Grimm’s Story which Vinge published some time in the early 60’s. In 1968 he expanded it into a novella format, renamed it to Grimm’s World … Continue reading →

If you have been following my literary reviews for a little while, you have probably noticed a pattern according to which I select my reading materials. I love hard SF, and I am fascinated by anything that even brushes against … Continue reading →

As you know, I am a big fan of LaTex. If you did not know that then you must be new here. Welcome to the blog! I have actually written a fairly large number of posts about this lovely markup … Continue reading →

China Miéville is probably best known for his imaginative fantasy work set in the same funky universe as the excellent Perdido Street Station. I really like what he is doing to re-invigorate the genre by pushing at it’s borders from … Continue reading →

I have finally finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution. According to Steam, it took me close to 46 hours but much of that time was artificially padded by stealth game play. Basically, I really tried to pass every level without being … Continue reading →

Long time ago, some time in the 90’s I presume, the literary science fiction magazine I subscribed to, used to run a series of editorials titled something like “The Return of Feudalism”. They were all written by a Polish expat … Continue reading →

Like most of you, I have watched enough Magica game play videos to make me want to check it out. I picked it up on the cheap during one of Valve’s countless steams sales because that’s what you do these … Continue reading →

Guess what time it is kids? It’s time for a book review! We haven’t had one of these in a while. Stop whining! I’m giving you good SF titles to read here. I’m enriching your lives. So you are gonna … Continue reading →

Against my better judgment I tried playing Crysis 2. I mean, it’s a popular game, right? Millions of people bought it, played it and raved about it online. Millions of people can’t be wrong, right? Oh wait… Never mind. Millions … Continue reading →

Remember my long rant about mindless entertainment? Here is a movie that is anything but that. It is the exact opposite. It is smart, poignant, reflective and heady. It is the kind of movie that Hollywood execs would loathe to … Continue reading →

Choosing a good title for your movie is relatively important. An interesting, catchy or cool sounding title can draw attention and really help to market the final product. When you are dealing with a reboot of a long franchise this … Continue reading →

I love books that explore interesting concepts. The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi was a little bit of an impulse buy for me. You see, I have a running Amazon wish list. Whenever I stumble upon very favorable book reviews, … Continue reading →

I was interested in LA Noir and it’s face mapping technology ever since I heard about it. From what I have seen in the trailers and previews, the game seems to have made a serious attempt to break out of … Continue reading →

Captain America is the last big shared continuity Marvel movie before the big Avengers event of 2012. It is Marvel’s last chance to wow the audience and make them interested in the bigger project, and to get the critics to … Continue reading →

Halting State is definitely one of Charlie Stross’ low end books. It is nowhere near as impressive and intellectually stimulating as Accelerando or Glasshouse. I’d probably put it in the same category as Singularity Sky. Still, it is quite interesting … Continue reading →

When I read Accelerando I concluded that Charlie Stross is a master of putting a staggering number of cool ideas on every single page of his novel. The density of ideas per page in that book was so great it … Continue reading →

If you are not watching Game of Thrones right now, you are missing out! I know what you think: it’s a fantasy series, and you know how I feel about fantasy. But you know what? This is a good one! … Continue reading →

After being scarred for life by watching X-Men Origins: Wolverine I have decided, I was done with X-Men films. Apparently, I was not the only one since. The Hugh Jackman’s solo performance was so bad that it managed to almost … Continue reading →

Sometimes you stumble upon a book that is well written, interesting, suspenseful, full of unexpected plot turns and reveals, and you go: “Meh…”. Don’t get me wrong – there is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. I really can’t criticize … Continue reading →

So I guess I am now officially a Mac user, seeing how I own a brand spanking new 13″ Macbook Pro. This of course does not mean I am not a Windows or Linux user anymore. I’m just a firm … Continue reading →