I Robot - Isaac Asimov (Audio Book)

March 29, 2007, 12:00 am

No doubt a brilliant piece of science fiction in the 50s, this classic didn't really fullfill my expectations.

The stories describing the robotic troubleshooters, Donovan and Powell, I found pretty annoying. I didn't like the characters much, and I didn't like the way that the robots reacted to the inevitable conflicts of interest.

I did, however, like the last story. Benevolent and exponentially more intelligent super AIs running the planet to achieve their own abstract and inscrutable ideal for the human condition. I think mostly because it focused on the robot AIs as abstract concepts, rather than the characters interacting with them directly.

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The Commodore - Patrick O'Brian

March 22, 2007, 12:00 am

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The Wine Dark Sea - Patrick O'Brian

March 9, 2007, 12:00 am

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Voyage of the Lively from HMS Surprise complete

February 26, 2007, 12:00 am

The voyage describing Jack's final days as temporary captain of the HMS Lively are now mapped in as much detail as could be gleaned. This includes the raid at Port Vendre and the landfall at Minorca to rendevous with Stephen. Most of the places referenced in the description of Stephen's rescue were fictional so they couldn't be included in the map. Would love to hear from you if there are any real locations I missed.

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Clarissa Oakes - Patrick O'Brian

February 23, 2007, 12:00 am

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