Stuff about Books I've Read

This is a British cyberpunk novel, which I’m reading as this month’s pick for the Exeter Dystopian Novels Book Club. Structurally, the book has two narratives that end up joining together. One is the story of a character named Y, who has had her memory erased and been subjected to extensive body modifications. Not least, a third arm coming out of one of her shoulders. It turns out that she is in another dimension, one that was discovered by humanity many years ago but kept secret. This place is run by a character resembling some kind of feudal king named the Manor Lord.

This is the twenty-ninth Discworld book, and it features the Ankh-Morpork city watch. Mostly, though, it focuses on Sam Vimes, who is sent back in time with a criminal named Carcer due to a lightning storm over the Unseen University. They arrive a few days before a revolution that Vimes participated in as a young recruit to the watch. In this new timeline, Carcer kills young Sam’s mentor, John Keel, and Vimes ends up having to take his place.

I have read this before, but I could remember almost nothing about it. After having finished it again I can see why. It’s fine, but it feels like it doesn’t have a lot to say after the excellent original book.

I’ve read this several times before, but it’s this month’s pick for the book club. I figured I should read it again to have it fresh in my mind. I remembered almost all of it, the only thing I think I didn’t was the Soul Scrolls shop where unmanned printers are printing out prayers which get shredded straight away.

This is the story of a morbidly obese man that is addicted to food. He has become trapped in his apartment due to his weight, and at the start of the book is going to be removed by crane to go to the hospital and have his foot amputated. This goes wrong however when everyone else seems to turn into rage filled zombies.

I borrowed this from the library as an audio book. It’s written by the professor of AI at the University of New South Wales. Despite that, it’s not particularly technical or even all that in depth. It’s an overview of the current state of AI, the hype around it and the issues around its use.

This is the last full length Rincewind novel in the Discworld series. There are two main plot threads, one being Rincewind stranded in XXXX, a continent parodying Australia which has yet to settle in as it was added by the gods after the others were already there. The other features the faculty of the Unseen University trying to locate Rincewind hoping that he can help cure the librarian of his illness that causes him to change shape (Rincewind is the only person who knows the librarian’s name). The wizards end up stranded on a deserted island thousands of years in the past inhabited by strange and unique animals and plants created by the god of evolution.

The Colour of Magic is the first book in the Discworld series, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it. The book is structured as a collection of four loosely connected novellas following the adventures of the inept wizard Rincewind and the tourist Twoflower. Despite having read it numerous times, I still found myself laughing out loud at its silliness.

This is a part of the Discworld series, featuring the Lancre witches and a family of Vampires. Magrat and Verence are getting married, and Verence invited the vampires to Lancre as a part of the celebrations. They begin taking control of people’s minds and as such the town itself.

This is the last Discworld book centred around the City Watch, although most of the story focuses on Vimes on holiday at the Ramkin’s estate in the countryside. There’s not much in the way of a holiday happening though as Vimes is dragged into a criminal conspiracy around the exploitation of goblins.

This is a story set in a future where antibiotics are no longer effective due to overuse. People over the age of seventy are refused healthcare and end up in hospitals called waiting rooms.

I listened to this on Spotify. I started before he actually became Prime Minister, but just got around to finishing it now. On election night, I stayed up most of the night, going to bed as Labour hit the 326 total to become a majority and Jacob Rees-Mogg lost his seat.

This month’s pick for the Dystopian Novels Book Club. I’ve read it before, but so long ago that I’d forgotten most of the details. In it, a group of boys crash land on a deserted island and attempt to build a society with each person filling different roles. Throughout the course of the book, this all falls apart, descending into arguing, fighting, and eventually murder.

The eleventh book in the Discworld series. In this one, Death is removed from his duties and made mortal by the auditors for developing a personality. I think this is the first appearance of the auditors, literally faceless bureaucrats of the universe. This is also the story that introduces the Death of Rats, since living creatures start creating new mythological beings to replace the missing Death.

This month’s pick for the Dystopian Novels book club. It’s just been released on paperback after winning the 2023 Booker Prize. It tells the story of a family in the Republic of Ireland living through the rise of a totalitarian government.