Just Finished Reading Going Postal by Terry Pratchett and Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
On my recent trip to Baltimore I read my second Discworld novel - Going Postal. I have to say that I enjoyed this book much more than Thud! It is a very clever book and it appealed to me on many levels. I especially enjoyed the Clacks and the parallels my mind drew with areas of modern life and some of the practices of the operators of the Clacks. Moist was a fun character if not a little predictable, all in all a great read in my opinion.
However Dan Brown's Digital Fortress was a big disappointment to me. It was predictable and terminology was used in a clumsy and in some cases incorrect fashion. He made the common mistake of calling crackers hackers and tried to dramatise the breaking down of a firewall in a way that really did not work for me. If he really did consult with ex-NSA agents I fear for the security of the NSA! I thought it might be a fun read but it really wasn't. I may yet read the Da Vinci Code but after reading this book I am in no rush to get it.
So a bit of a mixed bag. I found Dan Brown's writing pretty simplistic with silly amounts of twists at then end that were almost funny but not really. Whereas Going Postal was a really fun book that had me amused all the way though. I have bought Night Watch and Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett - both were recommended by friends.
I also bought The Art of Diving on a friends recommendation as his friend Alex Mustard did all the photography. I have to say the photos are amazing and I can only hope to take pictures approaching that quality whilst I am in Malta. I also bought An Essential Guide to Underwater Photography by Michael Aw and Matthieu Meur when I was at the London Internation Dive Show (Amazon doesn't seem to have this) and got it signed by the author (first book I have ever had signed). Hopefully that will help me to take some nice pictures - I tested out my underwater camera enclosure and strobe yesterday ready for the holiday
However Dan Brown's Digital Fortress was a big disappointment to me. It was predictable and terminology was used in a clumsy and in some cases incorrect fashion. He made the common mistake of calling crackers hackers and tried to dramatise the breaking down of a firewall in a way that really did not work for me. If he really did consult with ex-NSA agents I fear for the security of the NSA! I thought it might be a fun read but it really wasn't. I may yet read the Da Vinci Code but after reading this book I am in no rush to get it.
So a bit of a mixed bag. I found Dan Brown's writing pretty simplistic with silly amounts of twists at then end that were almost funny but not really. Whereas Going Postal was a really fun book that had me amused all the way though. I have bought Night Watch and Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett - both were recommended by friends.
I also bought The Art of Diving on a friends recommendation as his friend Alex Mustard did all the photography. I have to say the photos are amazing and I can only hope to take pictures approaching that quality whilst I am in Malta. I also bought An Essential Guide to Underwater Photography by Michael Aw and Matthieu Meur when I was at the London Internation Dive Show (Amazon doesn't seem to have this) and got it signed by the author (first book I have ever had signed). Hopefully that will help me to take some nice pictures - I tested out my underwater camera enclosure and strobe yesterday ready for the holiday
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nightmorph on :
Actually, I quite liked both Thud! and Going Postal, though I read 'em the other way around, in the order they were published. GP is more in the author's lighthearted manner, but I liked the darkness and character building of Vimes in Thud! too.
Both novels were much better than "Monstrous Regiment", which was quite a let down. Pratchett's standalone novels usually don't work so well; his work is best when he uses recurring characters/places, like the Watch books and the Rincewind books.
Marcus D. Hanwell on :
I have only just started reading the Discworld stuff and so will probably read most of it out of order