strange and random happenstance

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
Published by: Gollancz
Publication Date: February 25th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 404 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

What do you do when at face value it looks like you're on the outs at your job? You use that to go undercover at a shady tech startup that values secrecy and loyalty above everything else. Or at least values it second to a good Douglas Adams homage. Tech guru Terrence Skinner has left California behind for the grey skies of London. Could it be for personal safety, which is what's bandied about among the employees, or could it have to do with whatever is in Serious Cybernetics Corporation's second building, Bambleweeny? It's rumored that that is where Deep Thought is, because the guy really can't pass up a Douglas Adams joke. But Peter knows that they're up to no good because of a run in he had a month before his first day at SCC. A run in with an American practitioner who was working at the London Library where he is looking into recovering the Mary Engine. The Mary Engine is the supposed creation of Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace and if the Faceless Man owned it, which Peter knows to be the case, then it has to be seriously magical. Of course the Faceless Man's daughter sold it on eBay resulting in previous catastrophic attempts to retrieve it, so it's reappearance in the hands of Terrence Skinner is worrisome. Which is why Peter is now a Vogon at SCC, that's security to the layman. And Terrence sure needs protection when Peter stops one of Skinner's own employees from stabbing him. The incident leads Peter to be a bit of a celebrity among the staff but more importantly it gets him an in with Skinner. Because the attacker worked in Bambleweeny this allows Peter to get behind that mysterious locked door to discover that Skinner might have created not just Artificial Intelligence but Artificial General Intelligence. Which is where the money really is. This AGI could change everyone's life. And sure, Skinner sounds convincing, but Peter lives in a world where magic exists, and, well, magic is more likely than AGI, which means everything must come back to the Mary Engine. With the help and hindrance of other practitioners Peter starts to formulate a plan. The problem is that this is bigger than he thought and he was really not cut out for undercover work. This could end very badly.

There's one thing no one who's a fan of Aaronovitch will ever doubt, and that's his geek cred, and I'm not even counting that he wrote for Doctor Who. Because if there's one thing true geeks love it's Douglas Adams references from the overt to the obscure and arguing about the singularity. And here Arronovitch has built an entire book around these core beliefs. Because yes, Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a religion as is the belief we will all be killed by Cylons. And possible baddie boss aside, who hasn't wanted to work at a company that has Vogons and Magrathea as job titles and locations? But the veneer of Adams isn't where False Value shines, it's in it's handling of Artificial Intelligence, Deep Thought as it were. AI is right at this moment an issue that everyone is dealing with, along with trying to grapple with what this means for us as a species. And I don't think it's a coincidence that both AI and the singularity came into the vernacular in the fifties, AI preceding the idea that AI will destroy us all by only about two years. Yet it's only truly now that the extreme warnings signs those of us raised in the eighties to recognize are blaring klaxons. Skynet people! SKYNET! But the thing is, the question asked daily is, is this true AI? Because most times, especially in fiction, if we're told it's AI there's no way it's AI. It might look like it can pass the Turing Test, but can it really? Because the truth is what the vast majority of people believe is AI, which at this precise moment is "writing" and "creating" and "making art," isn't AI, it's a complex program that has scrapped the entire internet and is plagiarizing the work of others. Others who are losing jobs because of AI. When one of my friends was playing with Midjourney I told her to stop. Immediately. She was helping the program learn while taking away jobs from artists such as myself. Never help the machines to rise up! Aaronovitch has a wonderful character with Peter because he understands all of this yet is skeptical. He knows when people tell you AI you should look for the man or woman behind the curtain. And because of his line of work, it could be a ghost literally in the machine. A very vindictive ghost. But still, it's not AI. But one day it just might be. I mean look how much of a shit show it is when the AI is really just a misnomer. So for now, us humans are the real danger, we were the Cylons all along.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ada Lovelace, AI, Ben Aaronovitch, BSG, Charles Babbage, Cylons, Deep Thought, Doctor Who, Douglas Adams, False Value, London Calling, Mary Engine, Peter Grant, Skynet, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Vogons

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: December 5th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini illuminates the fascinating life of Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace—Lord Byron’s daughter, the world’s first computer programmer, and a woman whose exceptional contributions to science and technology have been too long unsung.

The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the most brilliant, revered, and scandalous of the Romantic poets, Ada was destined for fame long before her birth. Estranged from Ada’s father, who was infamously “mad, bad, and dangerous to know,” Ada’s mathematician mother is determined to save her only child from her perilous Byron heritage. Banishing fairy tales and make-believe from the nursery, Ada’s mother provides her daughter with a rigorous education grounded in mathematics and science. Any troubling spark of imagination—or worse yet, passion or poetry—is promptly extinguished. Or so her mother believes.

When Ada is introduced into London society as a highly eligible young heiress, she at last discovers the intellectual and social circles she has craved all her life. Little does she realize that her delightful new friendship with inventor Charles Babbage—brilliant, charming, and occasionally curmudgeonly—will shape her destiny. Intrigued by the prototype of his first calculating machine, the Difference Engine, and enthralled by the plans for his even more advanced Analytical Engine, Ada resolves to help Babbage realize his extraordinary vision, unique in her understanding of how his invention could transform the world. All the while, she passionately studies mathematics—ignoring skeptics who consider it an unusual, even unhealthy pursuit for a woman—falls in love, discovers the shocking secrets behind her parents’ estrangement, and comes to terms with the unquenchable fire of her imagination.

In Enchantress of Numbers, New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini unveils the passions, dreams, and insatiable thirst for knowledge of a largely unheralded pioneer in computing—a young woman who stepped out of her father’s shadow to achieve her own laurels and champion the new technology that would shape the future."

Ada Lovelace is everywhere these days, even on this season of Victoria, so this is a must read, especially as the release day event is at my local Barnes and Noble!

Dark Dawn Over Steep House by M.R.C. Kasasian
Published by: Pegasus Books
Publication Date: December 5th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest mystery in the popular Victorian crime series featuring the ever-curmudgeonly private detective, Sidney Grice, and the charming March Middleton.

London, 1884.

125 Gower Street, the residence of Sidney Grice, London's foremost personal detective, and his ward March Middleton, is at peace.

Midnight discussions between the great man and his charge have led to a harmony unseen in these hallowed halls since the great frog disaster of 1878.

But harmony cannot last for long. A knock on the door brings mystery and murder once more to their home. A mystery that involves a Prussian Count, two damsels in distress, a Chinaman from Wales, a gangster looking for love, and the shadowy ruin of a once-loved family home, Steep House..."

I JUST recently found out about this series and I can not wait to dive fully in. 

Bryant and May: Wild Chamber by Christopher Fowler
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: December 5th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are back on the case in this whip-smart and wildly twisting mystery, in which a killer in London’s parks is proving to be a most elusive quarry.

Helen Forester’s day starts like any other: Around seven in the morning, she takes her West Highland terrier for a walk in her street’s private garden. But by 7:20 she is dead, strangled yet peacefully laid out on the path, her dog nowhere to be found. The only other person in the locked space is the gardener, who finds the body and calls the police. He expects proper cops to arrive, but what he gets are Bryant, May, and the wily members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

Before the detectives can make any headway on the case, a second woman is discovered in a public park, murdered in nearly identical fashion. Bryant, recovering from a health scare, delves into the arcane history of London’s cherished green spaces, rife with class drama, violence, and illicit passions. But as a devious killer continues to strike, Bryant and May struggle to connect the clues, not quite seeing the forest for the trees. Now they have to think and act fast to save innocent lives, the fate of the city’s parks, and the very existence of the PCU.

An irresistibly witty, inventive blend of history and suspense, Bryant and May: Wild Chamber is Christopher Fowler in classic form."

Anyone else not liking the new cover look? The covers are what first drew me to this series, and if this had been the cover I would have NEVER picked them up.

Bel, Book and Scandal by Maggie McConnon
Published by: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: December 5th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Maggie McConnon rings in Christmas in Bel, Book, and Scandal, the third adventure for everybody’s favorite Irish-American culinary artist turned amateur sleuth.

Bel McGrath tries her best to keep herself on the straight and narrow but she just has a taste for trouble. This time danger arrives in the form of a newspaper left behind by visitors to Shamrock Manor―and a photograph that jolts Bel out of the present and back into a dark chapter from her past. The person in the photo is Bel’s best friend Amy Mitchell, long gone from Foster’s Landing, at a commune in upstate New York shortly after her disappearance. The picture, and Bel’s burning desire to find out what happened to Amy―and whether she may still be alive―is the catalyst for a story in which old secrets are revealed, little by little…and certain characters are shown to not be as genuine as Bel once thought."

For a more holiday themed read, with murder of course. 

No Time To Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: December 5th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin, and with an introduction by Karen Joy Fowler, a collection of thoughts—always adroit, often acerbic—on aging, belief, the state of literature, and the state of the nation.

Ursula K. Le Guin has taken readers to imaginary worlds for decades. Now she’s in the last great frontier of life, old age, and exploring new literary territory: the blog, a forum where her voice—sharp, witty, as compassionate as it is critical—shines. No Time to Spare collects the best of Ursula’s blog, presenting perfectly crystallized dispatches on what matters to her now, her concerns with this world, and her wonder at it.

On the absurdity of denying your age, she says, “If I’m ninety and believe I’m forty-five, I’m headed for a very bad time trying to get out of the bathtub.” On cultural perceptions of fantasy: “The direction of escape is toward freedom. So what is ‘escapism’ an accusation of?” On her new cat: “He still won’t sit on a lap…I don’t know if he ever will. He just doesn’t accept the lap hypothesis.” On breakfast: “Eating an egg from the shell takes not only practice, but resolution, even courage, possibly willingness to commit crime.” And on all that is unknown, all that we discover as we muddle through life: “How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.”"

I have read so much Le Guin this year that I just HAVE to get my hands on more!

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: December 5th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The seventh novel in James S. A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series--now a major television series.

AN OLD ENEMY RETURNS

In the thousand-sun network of humanity's expansion, new colony worlds are struggling to find their way. Every new planet lives on a knife edge between collapse and wonder, and the crew of the aging gunship Rocinante have their hands more than full keeping the fragile peace.

In the vast space between Earth and Jupiter, the inner planets and belt have formed a tentative and uncertain alliance still haunted by a history of wars and prejudices. On the lost colony world of Laconia, a hidden enemy has a new vision for all of humanity and the power to enforce it.

New technologies clash with old as the history of human conflict returns to its ancient patterns of war and subjugation. But human nature is not the only enemy, and the forces being unleashed have their own price. A price that will change the shape of humanity -- and of the Rocinante -- unexpectedly and forever..."

Do you know what I plan to do this winter? Read ALL THE EXPANSE! ALL OF THEM!!!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ada Lovelace, Bel Book and Scandal, Bryant and May, Christopher Fowler, Gower Street Detectives, James S.A. Corey, Jennifer Chiaverini, M.R.C. Kasasian, Maggie McConnon, Persepolis Rising, Ursula K. Le Guin

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unmapped Sea by Maryrose Wood
Published by: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: April 21st, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For fans of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart's Mysterious Benedict Society, here comes the fifth book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood.

Lord Fredrick Ashton may not feel ready to be a father, but with a little Ashton on the way, he's sure about one thing: The wolfish curse on his family must end soon, before the child is born. Penelope willingly takes on the challenge; when Lady Constance's doctor prescribes a seaside holiday, Penelope jumps at the chance to take the three Incorrigible children to Brighton, where she hopes to persuade the old sailor Pudge to reveal what he knows about the Ashton curse.

But the Ashtons are not the only ones at the beach in January. The passionately temperamental Babushkinov family is also taking the winter waters. The Incorrigible children may have been raised by wolves, but the Babushkinov children are the wildest creatures they've ever seen. Is it more than mere coincidence that these untamed children have turned up in Brighton just as Penelope and the Incorrigibles arrive?"

The new cover art, it burns, it burns. I HATES IT! I HATES IT!

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: April 21st, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"THE THRILLING ADVENTURES OF LOVELACE AND BABBAGE . . . in which Sydney Padua transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into a hilarious series of adventures.

Meet Victorian London’s most dynamic duo: Charles Babbage, the unrealized inventor of the computer, and his accomplice, Ada, Countess of Lovelace, the peculiar protoprogrammer and daughter of Lord Byron. When Lovelace translated a description of Babbage’s plans for an enormous mechanical calculating machine in 1842, she added annotations three times longer than the original work. Her footnotes contained the first appearance of the general computing theory, a hundred years before an actual computer was built. Sadly, Lovelace died of cancer a decade after publishing the paper, and Babbage never built any of his machines.

But do not despair! The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage presents a rollicking alternate reality in which Lovelace and Babbage do build the Difference Engine and then use it to build runaway economic models, battle the scourge of spelling errors, explore the wilder realms of mathematics, and, of course, fight crime—for the sake of both London and science. Complete with extensive footnotes that rival those penned by Lovelace herself, historical curiosities, and never-before-seen diagrams of Babbage’s mechanical, steam-powered computer, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage is wonderfully whimsical, utterly unusual, and, above all, entirely irresistible."

Whereas this looks just delightfully fun and I have no cover issues at all. I might have interior art issues, but the book isn't out yet so I won't prejudge.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, Comics, Maryrose Wood, Sydney Padua, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, The Unmapped Sea, Tuesday Tomorrow