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Jan reviewed Die Herren des Abgrunds by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Die Scherben der Erde, #3)

Adrian Tchaikovsky: Die Herren des Abgrunds (EBook, Heyne)

Vor beinahe einem Jahrhundert hat die feindliche Alien-Zivilisation der Architekten beinahe die Menschheit zerstört. Dann …

Gelungener Abschluss

5 stars

Im dritten und letzten Teil gibt Tchaikovsky nochmal Gas. Im Gegensatz zum zweiten Teil lässt der Spannungsbogen zwischendurch nicht sonderlich nach. Alle bekannten Charaktere sind voll in die Geschichte involviert, Bündnisse werden geschmiedet, die Handlung wird insgesamt etwas actionreicher. Alles läuft auf das Finale hinaus, und eben dieses hat der Autor hinbekommen. Mal wieder eine gute Space Opera.

#sciencefiction #sf #buch #books #tchaikovsky

meliache@bookrastinating.com reviewed Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

Merlin Sheldrake: Entangled Life (Hardcover, 2020, Random House Publishing Group)

There is a lifeform so strange and wondrous that it forces us to rethink how …

An appetizer for the world of fungi, not a beginners mycology textbook

4 stars

Fungi are incredibly interesting and this book does them justice. It does an excellent job of describing their importance and the hidden connections between Fungi and plants, but also Fungi and humans. And it's written in a way that you feel close to the author, as he takes us on this journey.

I just wished there was more. More about different kinds of Fungi, more about recent science, about the importance of Fungi in different cultures etc. But I assume this is just no the scope and also not the ambition of this book, it's not meant to be an intro into mycology.

If I could I would give it 4.5 stars. It was very interesting and it made me want to dig more fungi related books, but it was not perfect. E.g. I felt a bit less invested than when reading "Never Home Alone" by Rob Dunn last …

Fungi are incredibly interesting and this book does them justice. It does an excellent job of describing their importance and the hidden connections between Fungi and plants, but also Fungi and humans. And it's written in a way that you feel close to the author, as he takes us on this journey.

I just wished there was more. More about different kinds of Fungi, more about recent science, about the importance of Fungi in different cultures etc. But I assume this is just no the scope and also not the ambition of this book, it's not meant to be an intro into mycology.

If I could I would give it 4.5 stars. It was very interesting and it made me want to dig more fungi related books, but it was not perfect. E.g. I felt a bit less invested than when reading "Never Home Alone" by Rob Dunn last year and which is another biology popular science book talking about life that is normal hidden from us. Not sure why I preferred that, maybe it's the quality of the prose, maybe it felt more scientific and more complete. So as a nitpicky German I feel hesitant to give a perfect score, so 4 it is. But I'll definitely watch out for new books from Merlin Sheldrake.

#fungi #books #entangledlife #merlinsheldrake #popularscience #biology

Wild Woila reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

No cover — Anthony Doerr: Cloud Cuckoo Land (Hardcover, 2021, Scribner)

Elaborate but tenuous.

3 stars

(3 stars = I liked it)

Three time periods are braided together by an ancient Greek tale: 15th century Constantinople, the modern day, and a space-faring future. Elaborate but tenuous. On their own each story has potential, but together they don't quite make a whole. Like Cloud Atlas but less enthralling.

Reading time 7 days, 89 pages/day

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Wild Woila reviewed Account Rendered by Melita Maschmann

A cog in the Nazi machine

4 stars

Autobiography of a woman who was a committed & diligent National Socialist (#Nazi), of her experience in youth work & propaganda, and her journey coming to terms with the truth of what she participated in. Description of the clinical dispossession of the Poles is disturbing (and new to me), as is the readiness with which everyday mediocre people were led into misguided beliefs, alternative facts & constrained thinking, to do prosaic work with horrifyingly evil outcomes.

Reading time 11 days, 26 pages/day

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