Failure mode, expeditionary force, book 15 by Craig Alanson (2023)

Fun conclusion to the series, but I was disappointed in the "elders" confrontation at the very end.  Otherwise, the story was fun. 4/5 Stars.

Match Game (Expeditionary Force #14) by Craig Alanson

The story is suddenly drawing to a close; the stakes get much higher and some of the mysterious, ultra-powerful tech, e.g. another "elder AI" are involved.  Fun.  There are way too many loose ends to wrap up, however.  So the final volume will likely be disappointing. 4/5 Stars.

Fallout (Expeditionary Force #13) by Craig Alanson

The adventures continue; I am reading quickly to get to the end of this series. Mindless, silly sarcasm and cheesy space opera. 3/5 Stars

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I usually dislike "unreliable narrator" stories, particularly stories by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. I am almost always clueless, confused, and need to go back and re-read the narration after the big reveals at the end to understand who was lying, gaslighting, etc. This book is very-well crafted, easy to follow, and gripping.  The psychology (slowly developing psychopathy) is compelling and the writing is wonderful.  My children dis-recommend her other books because they are so depressing. 5/5 Stars, highly enjoyable!

1950’s Tech still unsurpassed

I am burdened with cognitive biases. I have sensibilities, ethics, and judgements from an earlier era. I look at large-scale human pursuits, social justice ethics, and public policy through a lens and rubric that biases me for the goals of The Enlightenment  -- Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

Interstellar Spacecraft

In the 1950s, we planned, designed, built, and eventually flew (in the 1970's) interstellar spaceships to advance our understanding of our solar system, mostly the outer planets. Over fifty fantastic years later Voyager-2  is still gathering and transmitting data back to us about the interstellar medium. Among the considerations, methods, and technologies that have advanced since the probes were sent out is our consideration of reliability:  The 1950s perception of redundancy is now considered too conservative; we are increasing risk of catastrophic failure by using reserve power to deliver more scientific data from more instruments as Voyager-2 races towards the 21 billion Km mark from the earth.  Let's hope the probe lives 50 more years!  

Could we design, build, and fly interstellar spacecraft today?  Now that private companies like SpaceX have returned civilization to medium and heavy space launch capabilities, the answer in 2024 is "yes."  But are governments or NASA or other publicly funded "science" endeavors interested?  That answer is "no."  We have other concerns, values, and priorities. In the 1950's we cared about discovering the outer planets and the interstellar medium.  We designed space probes and instruments to "science the sh*it out of" the unknown frontier.  Our tech now is focused inward and no longer looking towards the stars.

Weapons Tech 1955

Another interstellar rocket engine concept, the liquid salt water rocket was first developed in 1955 for the "big stick," or the Supersonic Low Altitude cruise Missile (SLAM).  The concept was to create a nuclear-rocket-powered, large hypersonic cruise missile loaded with 10 Hydrogen Bomb warheads. The missile would fly faster than mach 3 at an altitude of 50m, navigate to targets using look-down cameras and a stored map (no inertial guidance, GPS, or other navigation!) and deliver H-Bombs while out-flying interception missiles and radar.  We developed both a scale model and a working prototype of the rocket motor that exceeded their design specs. The full-scale system was tested and verified in 1964.  We discovered the missile could circle the earth for "months," and adjust its speed and rocket exhaust to destroy targets and kill people with sonic booms and nuclear fall-out, respectively.  The missile could continue rampaging after exhausting its supply of H-Bombs. 100 of these missiles were planned. If launched as a revenge "doomsday device," each of these missiles could fly for months, nuke 10 large cities and then poison the world with nuclear fall-out.  If launched as a first- or second-strike nuclear weapon the SLAM could avoid detection, penetrate enemy territory, destroy 10 targets, fly home, and be reused if needed.

Optimism

My point about the 1950s is that our accomplishments were not just the progress & inventions of that time, including:

• Fiber optic cable

• Video Recording

• Hovercraft

• Oral Contraceptives

• Credit Cards

• Solar Power

• Non-stick cooking pans

• Lasers

• Polio Vaccine

• Microchips

• Seat Belts

Most people were optimistic about applications of scientific method and "the future." We envisioned and worked towards rapid improvements in wealth creation, social justice, and understanding our universe.  We planned to control the weather and use nuclear weapons for peaceful purposes. What happened?

Adler und Engel von Juli Zeh

Ich habe jetzt einen Bibliotheksausweis beim Verbund der Öffentlichen Bibliotheken Berlins. So kann ich in Libby E-Books und Hörbücher ausleihen. Da digitale Medien so beliebt sind, dauert es auf der Warteliste vier bis sechs Wochen, bis man Bücher ausleihen kann. Ich bin geduldig und meine Liste ist lang. Dieser ältere Roman von Juli Zeh tauchte zuerst auf, also habe ich ihn auf meinem Handy gelesen. Juli Zehs Charaktere sind lebhaft und spannend. Die Geschichte hat ein düsteres, deprimierendes Cyberpunk-Feeling; Der Verlierer Max kämpft mit seiner Degradierung, Kokainabhängigkeit und dem Selbstmord seines Liebhabers in einem kriminellen Thriller, serbischen Gräueltaten in Bosnien und der EU-Erweiterung nach Osteuropa. Dies war Zehs erstes Buch. Es gewann den Deutschen Bücherpreis. 4/5 Sterne.

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W Anthony

The beginning and end of this book are interesting and enjoyable, but the majority of the details in the middle are really boring, 2/5 Stars.  Read the book summary or wikipedia articles on these topics instead.

Break Away (Expeditionary Force #12) by Craig Alanson

THe politics are getting more interesting as the story evolves. This one has a satisfying ending, 4/5 Stars.

Critical Mass by Daniel Suarez

Crypto Bro's in the High Frontier!  The story is fantastic but some of the geopolitical struggles are a little too complicated and difficult to suspend disbelief. Thrilling action and fun plot twists, 4/5 Stars.

Brushfire (Expeditionary Force #11) by Craig Alanson

As the story starts to come to a close, the ridiculous, repetitive existential threat cliffhanger tropes are no longer dominating every chapter of the story.  More and more-interesting political ideas are explored. I look forward to finishing the series. 4/5 Stars.

KTF Part 2 by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole

Fast moving story trying to tie together many separate plot lines and make the rest of the "big reveals" to end this chapter of the story.  Although a fair number of the main characters died, I think the authors should have killed off more of them to end the story.  3/5 Stars.

The Pursuit of Power by William H McNeill (1982))

I normally don't enjoy these dense, phonebook-long history textbooks with too many names, dates.  But this book is fantastic; there is never a dull moment.  It is deeply insightful and posits the author's theories of larger, sociological nation-state behaviors not only of the leaders but the populations.  5/5 Stars.  I am grateful someone at work recommended the book.

Breakaway (Expeditionary Force book 12) by Craig Alanson

Although the same old tropes are repeated ad nauseum, the characters are developing, 3/5 Stars.  I shall finish the series and go back to read the other branch of the story (Mavericks).