James

Quirky, fun and non conformist.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky novella. It certainly doesn't conform to the usual story structure... Its strange and quirky, more of a wndow into Auri's backstory...or should that be ftont story? But that suits it. I fell (even more) in love with Auri and her story. If you like fantasy and you like quirky, then I think you will fall in love with it too.

It's curious. I first read this story as a teenager. Upon re-reading it, I realized that I'd forgotten much of the story, but the political ideas he explores had made a huge impression.

Heinlein gets a bad wrap for exploring socio-political ideas in his stories. (cough-cough 'Starship Troopers') . Personally, as long as it isn't actual propaganda, I think sci-fi is a fantastic medium to explore such ideas. Look at how many amazing and important sci-fi stories do this. Think 1984, Fahrenheit 451 or Brave New World. In some ways, this is what sci-fi is about.

In this story, Heinlein explores another type of political ideal. Another one that today. as a mature liberal minded adult, I find impractical and unrealistic; because humans are so very human. But I did get a sense of coming full circle, which was very interesting.

Apparently, he wrote this story either during or shortly after visiting Australia. The influence on the story is noticeable with his take on some Aussie lingo and post-colonial/post-convict attitudes shining through.

I was also blown away by his depiction of AI. While some of the technological ideas of the 1960's have been and gone - his AI character is still very relevant and spot on in terms of being a bit of a "black box" and similar to a modern "LLM".

Heinlein's depiction of life on the moon also aged well (not the cultural bits) - It turns out, the moon is an even harder mistress than he envisioned, as evidenced by the current challenges just getting remote drones to land safely and operate in its harsh conditions. Any attempt to establish a permanent base or colony will still have to overcome these same challenges - and he thought of all this before humans even got there!

I say, this novella is well worth the read, despite the very dated 1960's attitudes and cultural extrapolations.

A thought provoking work on humanity

Theodore Sturgeon at his best. What is humanity and how will it evolve? Written in the early 50s, this story is much less race and gender biased than many others written at this time. While the author projects his moral and ethical values, he shows a thoughtful and considered view of what might be and manages to spin a remarkably entertaining tale at the same time.

A popular and intriguing account about the solution to longitude and the development of the maritime watch.

Dava Sobel makes interesting reading of the story of Harrison and his clock. The book outlines the technical challenges ships had to overcome in order to safely sail the oceans, the different solutions proposed and how the clock won.

What a charming, upsetting and perception challenging book. An excellent read. Provides some deep insights into how this country (Australia) treated Indigenous Australians from the perspective of an Indigenous family. The book was published in the mid 80's, however is still relevant today. - Perhaps even more so.

An amazing, sometimes disturbing read with rather novel insights into the possible direction of “AI” - Although I don't think he was looking at it as AI in our current sense.

The first three books tend to be a tad hard core but worth it. The fourth is less so, with the author exploring the idea of highly advanced alien entities that straddle multiple dimensions and how they might appear gods. Wetware was my favorite by far.