After finishing Revelation Space in late December while I was on holiday I had to sort out what I wanted to read next. I was tempted to read the next book in the Revelation Space series however I reminded myself that I am trying to change pace at least a little bit between books. It took me me a little while to sort out what I wanted to read. I picked Dark Matter from my reading list. It was still science-fiction however a slightly different genre. It was reviewed very well and seemed a like it was perfect for me. A sci-fi book about multi dimensional travel.
Note there will be some possible spoilers of Dark Matter. I had such high hopes for this book. I started seeing sign’s i wouldn’t like it pretty quickly. Early on the protagonists meets a mysterious person was obviously another version of himself.
In another part of the book while he was in an alternate universe it felt like they murdered that version of his wife just to move the plot along. It made no sense or did not feel like they needed to do it other than to put him in a bad situation. I also worried that that twist would turn the book towards a framed murder trope. Thankfully the plot didn’t go that direction however they did use the framing point to a small degree.
Thankfully I was surprised at the direction they took leading up to the climax of the book. I was also slightly surprised at how the book ended. That was good however overall I still feel the book was mediocre. There are just too many sections of the book that I felt annoyed by what was written. It is hard to express however I just was disappointed. I did power through finishing it and I am glad that I did. I still might recommend it since it is a decent mindbending storyline however I wasn’t by any means blown away.
Once I finished Dark Matter I changed genres completely. I read Weapons of Math Destruction. I had heard about this book for a few years now I think. It finally made it onto my to reading list when I saw the author talking in the documentary the Social Dilemma. Sadly Audible UK did not have this book. I wanted to read it enough that I revived my Audible US account and purchased it that way. The author performed the audiobook herself. Her performance was really good. I’d like to say I loved the book however the book is disturbing in what it discusses so saying “love” is probably not appropriate. I thought the stories were fantastic. The issues are extremely thought-provoking. How algorithms are hurting society was disturbing. Overall I highly recommend it. It was well worth the read.
I finished Weapons of Math Destruction in the middle of the month. Due to work commitments I was pretty slow in finishing my next book. I didn’t finish it in February 1. I will put it on my February review list.