manohar's reviews
127 reviews

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

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5.0

This was definitely my favorite of the trilogy.
It was a short and gripping read.
I finished most of the book in very few sittings.
The parts with Will using the knife are very thrilling.
I was shocked about how sad the ending was with all the deaths.
Overall a great read.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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4.0

Finished the whole book in two sittings.
It was a great read.
I really liked the author's writing style.
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

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5.0

Wow. Just utterly fascinating and mind-blowing.
Thrilling from start to finish.
This book sort of reminded me of my favorite sci-fi movies Arrival and Interstellar.
Even with all the sci-fi elements, there were a lot of strong characters with good emotional arcs.

My only gripe with the book is there were too many technical descriptions of physics concepts. Sometimes they went over my head, but it didn't really detract from my enjoyment.
There's always a simple example after the complex physics concept which helped in understanding what's going on. This is clever writing.

I'm really excited the read the sequels.

Spoiler
Things I really liked and stood out to me
Ye Wenjie's emotional backstory with her father's death was vividly portrayed.
Good non-linear storytelling
The game scenarios with Wang are fascinating.
The ending of the game with the Trisolarean fleet in the stars is my favorite scene from the book.
Panama Canal nanomaterial plot is good.
The cosmic wave plot with Wang was engrossing.
Da Shi fucking steals every scene he is in. He's amazing.
The proton shenanigans at the end were also fascinating to read.
The same repeated scene with the message broadcast from Ye's and Trisolarian guy's perspective was really cool to read.
Exhalation by Ted Chiang

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5.0

Brilliant set of short stories. Really mind-blowing and thought-provoking stuff.

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate - 4.5 stars
Interesting take on time travel

Exhalation - 5 stars
This blew my mind. Loved this so much

What's Expected of Us - 5 stars
Short but scintillating stuff.

The Lifecycle of Software Objects - 4.5 stars
Really enjoyed this. Some great futuristic thoughts about AI.

Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny - 3 stars
Interesting premise but overall meh.

The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling - 5 stars
Brilliantly written story. Interesting thoughts about human cognition.

The Great Silence - 4 stars
Interesting

Omphalos - 3.5 stars
A bit more technical related to Einstein's theory of relativity.
I didn't completely get it when I was reading it. Gotta revisit this again.

Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom - 4.5 stars
Another solid story about Many worlds theory.
Interesting thoughts about Free will again.