"Summer Frost" by Blake Crouch, 2019

 "Summer Frost" by Blake Crouch, 2019

Summer Frost is a novella about the development of artificial intelligence by Blake Crouch, author of the WAYWARD PINES trilogy.

In Crouch's classic style, he wastes no time getting to the action. Summer Frost takes place in a near-future San Francisco. It blends video gaming, artificial intelligence, nanotechnologies, and other tech that is under development.

The story has an "Ex Machina" (with a hint of "Her") feel to it. The plot explores a software developer's interaction with an emerging self-aware artificial intelligence called Max, for who they are responsible for. As one would expect, the AI starts out rudimentary and expands in a series of natural progressions, eventually taking on a human-like form.

The handling of some of the gender-related issues felt a bit clunky;. However, it's a highly timely topic. There's more discussion of what Max is and is not from a gender point of view than seemed really relevant to the plot and Max's nature as an AI. 

I enjoyed how Crouch also introduces the thought experiment Roko's basilisk and Pascal's wager into Summer Frost, which lends itself well to the plot.

I rate this novella 2.25 out of 5 stars.

"Armada" by Ernest Cline, 2015

"Armada" by Ernest Cline, 2015

Dull, predictable, and imitative-- I couldn't wait long enough to turn the page. Not because I was at the edge of my seat with action and thrills, but because I just wanted it over.

Zack, our hero, is a high school student who is one of the best players in the world at space shoot-em-up game called Armada. A spaceship lands on the school lawn and enlists Zack to fight aliens.

The twists are trite and predictable; the action sequences were pedantic at parts, and parts of the ending well, corny.

The author's "secret sauce", according to the interview he gave with the Verge, is "pop-culture" references.  Though the book's the plot resembles the plot of the movie "The Last Starfighter" or the book "Ender's Game", it's all the references to our pop-culture that sets it apart.


★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.

Book description as found on goodreads.com:

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.

No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?

An Unwelcome Quest (Magic 2.0 #3), by Scott Meyer, 2015

An Unwelcome Quest (Magic 2.0 #3), by Scott Meyer, 2015

It's been at least three weeks since I've finished the book, and I'm only now getting the motivation to write a few short notes of my thoughts of it.  I'm not quite sure why but I do know it's given me some time to percolate in my thoughts.

This installment to the series lacks the humor and wittiness its predecessor shined in. In addition, less magic and wizardry in the story made for less material to be subjected to snark and comedy.

Other reviewers have also said that it's not necessary to read the first two books and that this story is fairly self-contained. I can only somewhat agree to that. I agree that the story moved the plot along and can be clearly understood without the help of the previous books. But I also firmly think knowing the back-stories of all the major characters added to the richness and fullness of it all and reading the prior two books gave that background.

So if asked if I would read the next installment in this series were it to become available, my answer would be yes.  I think there is enough magic to go around for another book.

My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 stars) - I liked it.

Book description as described by the author:

Ever since Martin Banks and his fellow computer geeks discovered that reality is just a computer program to be happily hacked, they’ve been jaunting back and forth through time, posing as medieval wizards and having the epic adventures that other nerds can only dream of having. But even in their wildest fantasies, they never expected to end up at the mercy of the former apprentice whom they sent to prison for gross misuse of magic and all-around evil behavior.

Who knew that the vengeful Todd would escape, then conjure a computer game packed with wolves, wenches, wastelands, and assorted harrowing hazards—and trap his hapless former friends inside it? Stripped of their magic powers, the would-be wizards must brave terrifying dangers, technical glitches, and one another’s company if they want to see Medieval England—and their favorite sci-fi movies on VHS—ever again. Can our heroes survive this magical mystery torture? Or will it only lead them and their pointy hats into more peril?

Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 #1), by Scott Meyer, 2014

Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 #1), by Scott Meyer, 2014

Thoroughly enjoyable and humorous without all complications of lengthy world-building and plot setups.  Nerds, geeks, and gamers alike will especially take to the story and immediately related to the pop culture references from the 70's through the 2010's.

 In short, Martin Banks discovers a file on the internet that allows him to manipulate reality through tiny changes. With that discovery, he mucks up is life in his timeframe and escapes to the Middle Ages and poses as a wizard.  Upon arrival in the Middle Ages, Martin meets another wizard named Philip who takes him under their apprenticeship and introduces him to other wizards who are actually fellow time travelers as well.

After a couple minor surprises and plot changes, Martin eventually becomes fully initiated as a wizard and join his fellow wizards to battle with Merlin. Merlin is actually another fellow time traveller named Jimmy who turns out to be the bad guy.

Upon defeat of Merlin/Jimmy, Martin and rest of the wizards decide to send Jimmy forward in time, but before Martin's timeframe, without powers as punishment for the wrongdoings.

At the end, Martin doesn't get the girl, Gwen. Gwen, who was later revealed to be a Witch (female wizard), parted ways from the Middle Ages heads further back into the past to Atlantis, where female wizards have all but few have chosen to have gone.

We don't really see Martin neatly tying up loose ends with the troubles he caused in his own timeframe. What we see is probably best described as a setup for the next book in this series; the dead giveaway being Merlin/Jimmy showing up just nearby Martin's location is Martin's timeframe taking meticulous notes and with villainy flair.

I think the only warning, if it can even be considered a warning, is that Martin's character isn't easy to like. At least not at first. Martin isn't particularly bright nor well-intentioned until about half way through the book.  At that point, we see some genuine character development and start to, not only root for Martin, but he becomes wiser and likeable.

All in all, the book was a witty, comedic romp through medieval times with a likeable cast of characters. If you are a sci-fi or fantasy fan, this book will not disappoint you.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)  It was amazing!

Ready Player One (Ready Player One #1) by Ernest Clines, 2011

Ready Player One (Ready Player One #1) by Ernest Clines, 2011

Taking place in the dystopian future of 2044, where everyone is connected to a virtual reality called Oasis, our hero Wade Owen Watts races to solve puzzles to win the ultimate prize of wealth.


I've read a lot of dystopian/sci-fi novels, some good and some bad, but very few that stand out among the crowd.  Ready Player One is a definite stand out.

Ready Player One is probably one of the best, if not coolest, sci-fi stories around. It's sure to wow any pop culture fan, especially those who have lived through the 80s and 90s. This book seemed to be endless pop culture nostalgia; everything from the Atari 2600 to ZZtop, or Pac-Man to Rubiks Cube are referenced.

Wade Watts is the average teenage outcast who prefers to lose himself in obsessing over this game (egg-hunt), while simultaneously escaping his pathetic trailer park life. Wade tells us the story of how he became a legend.

Right from the start I found myself easily connecting with his witty personality. While he does make mistakes along the way, his perfectly flawed nature makes his character and this whole journey very compelling. He's intelligent, no question, but he gets ahead of himself, learns a few life lessons, falls in love; showing us that he's human, above all else. Along the way, we meet characters who are or become, Wade's loyal friends in this hunt. Having a common enemy will bring people closer, and I loved seeing the sincere integrity of some of these other players. In the end, it shows how important it is to lean on others to help, instead of greedily trying to go through it alone. This is something we see during Wade's transformation in this story. He starts off as an introvert with self-esteem problems and comes out a true hero.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)  It was amazing!