Holidays Are Fun

Went to Berlin for a week. Nice city, rather many trees and parks, absolutely worth a visit. Pictures to follow, when I've got the time to sort through them.

Books read there:

Larry Niven - Ringworld
Niven is one of the best known authors in Science Fiction, having won a plethora of Hugo and Nebula Awards. His ideas are usually grand, and he excels at the depiction of alien life (see The Mote In God's Eye for one of the best depictions of an alien race ever). Ringworld is no different here, the idea of a inhabitable Ring circling a sun (basically a slice of a Dyson Sphere) is impressive and the Pierson's Puppeteers as well as the Kzin are great alien races which aren't just disguised humans. The story lacks a bit in character development, but makes up for it in scope and vision. Good read.

Brian Aldiss - Non Stop
This one was a bit of a mixed bag. While the basic idea - a spaceship crewed by primitive savages who are the many generations removed descendends of the original crew - is great, the execution lacks a bit for me, because it is pretty clear what's going on early on. The twist at the end didn't come all that suprising for me, I pretty much expected what turned out to be the truth. Good bits are the Freud and Jung based pseudo-religion of the tribes on the ship and the personal growth of Roy Complaint, the main protagonist. Readable, but not a must read.

Now reading:

Neal Stephenson - The System Of The World
Halfway through the final part of The Baroque Cycle and glued to my seat, reading. Stephenson has always been a nerd's writer, but The Baroque Cycle is an absolute nerdgasm, especially if you happen to be interested in history. Pure brilliance. (note: This is NOT Science Fiction. It's different from Stephenson's previous body of work. Deal with it.)