Jeff C

• Rated 4 stars

“I liked the first half of this book better than the last half. It is an original and fascinating world, and the protagonist is strong and interesting, but ultimately both the protagonist and the world felt under explored. The only other characters given any real attention are gods of some sort or another, but as the narrator often reminds us, they cannot really be understood by mortals. The other human characters are two dimensional or worse, just part of a faceless crowd (that the narrator nonetheless is confident despising and dismissing). I didn't mean this review to be so harsh, I did enjoy the book, and the character Sieh will probably stay with me for a long time. But like in the Hunger Games, with which this book has much in common, it felt increasingly like social commentary, and a poorly thought out form of commentary, bereft of real insight, the closer to the conclusion it came.

In any case, I don't think I'll continue with this series, but I will be interested to follow the author's career - the book is engaging, entertaining, and has genuine moments of wonder.”

Jeff C wrote this review Saturday, December 31, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“An insightful, meticulously researched book that provides a framework for understanding why successful, well-managed companies can abruptly fail. Especially interesting if you are interested in understanding how fortunes can change so quickly in the hi-tech sector, and if you're tired of the standard explanations (bad management and arrogance are the two I hear most often). The dilemma here is that the very processes, values, and decision making procedures that drive a company's success in normal circumstances also seal its fate when confronted with disruptive change. And also, disruptive new technologies never look important is significant upfront - to anyone. The book explains this in detail, and provides extensive research to support the case. (In fact, the one weakness for me was that the research was a bit too extensive, as I was more interested in the main ideas.) In short, this will likely change the way you think about and talk about business.”

Jeff C wrote this review Saturday, December 31, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“An exceptional work of high fantasy that should be considered a classic. A rich, detailed, and original world; an engaging heroine whose coming of age story leads explores complicated questions about faith, goodness, charity, and the appropriate use of violence; an author with extensive knowledge (at least it seemed so to me) of medieval weaponry and tactics. If I have any reservations about this book, it is that the story is mostly limited to the heroine's viewpoint - a world this rich deserves to be explored from other characters' perspectives. Fortunately there are more books set in this world. And I'll definitely be reading those as soon as I can. In short, fans of high fantasy need to read this book.”

Jeff C wrote this review Monday, November 28, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“A moving, thoughtful, and insightful account of Jobs's life and remarkable achievements. Isaacson's main achievement here, I think, is to capture the full complexity of Jobs's character, and how his obsessions were integrally linked to his accomplishments. A fascinating read. ”

Jeff C wrote this review Sunday, November 13, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“The most original work of fantasy I've read. Compelling, perfectly paced, richly detailed. The characters are complex, multi-dimensional, and real. The heroine is particularly well realized and unique for a fantasy adventure story.

I find it impossible to describe this book in a way that does it justice. But it's fun, it's smart, it's refreshing, it's deeply satisfying. Don't miss it.”

Jeff C wrote this review Tuesday, October 25, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Not as enjoyable as the first one. The plot wandered around without building any real tension. I didn't really care about any of the characters. The narrator's voice seemed overdone this time around and became very self-conscious, distracting from the story instead of adding to it. Worst of all, I didn't find the protagonist (Stark) as likeable as I did in the first book - I felt like telling him to get over himself. The best character in the book is a zombie slayer who hardly does anything, which seemed like quite a missed opportunity.

Overall it felt like this book was just filling in time before the final battle in the third book. ”

Jeff C wrote this review Tuesday, September 27, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“An interesting and thought provoking read, although I felt like many of the lines of research and examples presented were only loosely related by the common idea of "little bets". Still, it changed the way I think about creativity and innovation, and it made me look at the organization I work in and ask if the way we've set things up is likely to encourage innovation or stifle it. Prior to reading this book, I didn't really have a framework to consider that question from. The book is a short, easy, and often entertaining read, and there's an excellent section on further resources at the end, including a number of twitter feeds to follow. ”

Jeff C wrote this review Saturday, August 27, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Excellent follow up to the Name of the Wind. This story expands the scope of the world introduced in the first novel, and the author continues to impress with first-rate world building and a slate of interesting new characters. The story-within-a-story structure continues, and I find much of the tension in the story comes from the gap between the young Kvothe and the old one, and wondering how the author will bridge that gap with just one novel remaining. I will definitely be reading the third book as soon as it becomes available. ”

Jeff C wrote this review Monday, July 25, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Interesting and eye opening. Full of memorable experiments described in detail and their surprising results. Longer than it needed to be, though; the same material could have been covered in a long article or essay. The chapters also felt like an arbitrary collection of different areas of the author's research, without a unifying theme or shared conclusion. Still, this book has done more than anything to shake my confidence in "revealed preferences" (the idea that you can tell what people value by observing what they do or what they buy) and in people's ability to decide for themselves what they care most about. And while I find the results challenging, the philosopher in me would like more thought given to where we go from here and what to do with these findings.”

Jeff C wrote this review Friday, June 3, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“For me this falls perfectly between Guy Gavriel Kay on one side and George R R Martin on the other - an exceptional story with much of the lyricism and beauty of Kay and much of the gritty action and intrigue of Martin. Perhaps also with a touch of Neil Stephenson thrown in, in the way the story explains the principles behind the magic and makes magic just another subject to study alongside mathematics, history and chemistry. ”

Jeff C wrote this review Monday, May 16, 2011. ( reply | permalink )