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Mindplayers by Pat Cadigan Published 1988 by Gollancz In a world where virtual reality is inside everyone’s head and you can choose to be someone else if you tire of your own personality, somethings are still illegal. Like being crazy without a license. Seeking altered states of consciousness and living an impulsive, directionless life, Allie…
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The Rent Trap by Rosie Walker and Samir Jeraj Published by Pluto Books in 2016 The Rent Trap explores the world of private renting and how rising house prices make home ownership out of reach for many renters. It looks at the instability caused by short term contracts and the impact on families. The book…
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Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire Published by Random House in 2003 I went to Rwanda last year on a work trip and it inspired me to learn more about the genocide in 1994. I visited the excellent Genocide Memorial and bought several books. Shake…
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Devices and Desires by K. J. Parker Published by Orbit in 2005 Sentenced to death for innovating in a country that tightly controls its industry, an engineer, Ziani Vaatzes, escapes prison and flees to an enemy nation. Outside the Republic the warring duchies are much less technologically advanced, a situation the Republic desires to continue,…
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The Secret State by Peter Hennessy Published by Penguin in 2002, updated in 2010 The Secret State is about Britain’s secret plans to respond to an attack on the UK during the cold war and beyond. It covers the rationale behind investing in nuclear weapons and why UK governments chose that rather than a civil…
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I was at a book reading (of The Rent Trap by Rosie Walker and Samir Jeraj) at David’s Bookshop in Letchworth recently, and because I have poor impulse control in book shops, I bought more books. One of them was an essay on giving gifts, specifically giving books as gifts, by Robert Macfarlane, called The…
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Necrotech by K. C. Alexander Published 2016 by Angry Robot This was a lot of fun. Riko is a street thug, the muscle in a gang of criminals clinging to existence in a near-future cyberpunk dystopia. She wakes up in an unfamiliar lab and has to fight her way out. Riko thinks it’s just the…
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The Curious Affair of the Deodand by Lisa Tuttle Published by Jo Fletcher Books in 2016 as a sampler I went to FantasyCon last weekend and had a fabulous time. In my goody bag were a number of samplers for books. Unusually The Curious Affair of the Deodand is a complete short story and is…
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Singularity Sky by Charles Stross Published by Orbit in 2005 Singularity Sky is Charles Stross’s debut novel. Humanity has spread out among the stars and fractured into societies with different technological levels and administrative structures. Rochard’s World is an outpost of the New Republic, an authoritarian, mid-20th century tech level society. An entity called the…
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I love the title of Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula Le Guin. It’s a short story collection and normally I would steer clear of short stories as I don’t find them as satisfying as novels. This book came to me as part of the collection from an emigrating friend and, while I didn’t connect…
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Boudica Marginalia 