With Dreams of Steel it feels that Glen Cook has hit his stride and has really matured as an author. This is fantasy at its finest: dark, mature and cWith Dreams of Steel it feels that Glen Cook has hit his stride and has really matured as an author. This is fantasy at its finest: dark, mature and captivating. The themes, the politics, the plots, the multiple viewpoints are all at another level.
This is the most political book of the Black Company so far. There's about 3-4 different factions and there's plots within plots within the plots.
Easy 5/5 and the Black Company is now in my top 3-4 fantasy series....more
Cartea explică foarte bine filosofia lui Adorno. Cred că este una din cele mai bune cărți din seria Descoperă Filosofia. Singura problemă ar fi că nu Cartea explică foarte bine filosofia lui Adorno. Cred că este una din cele mai bune cărți din seria Descoperă Filosofia. Singura problemă ar fi că nu explică deloc ce este teoria critică....more
Există în engleză expresia perfectă pentru filosofia post modernă: word vomit. Un curent care a avut origini în marxism, a pornit cu niște intenții buExistă în engleză expresia perfectă pentru filosofia post modernă: word vomit. Un curent care a avut origini în marxism, a pornit cu niște intenții bune dar în prezent a degenerat într-un nonsens și negare a realității, științei etc. Bineînțeles că aceste probleme nu sunt atinse în carte fiindcă autorii aduc în discuție doar aspectele pozitive.
Includ aici un citat din această carte:
"Cu toate acestea, hermeneutica neokantiană a lui Apel şi a lui Habermas este cea care suscită o mai mare disensiune în Vattimo, întrucât a priori al comunicării şi idealul comunității de dialog sunt pentru el consecințe transcendentale în intersubiectivitatea normativă; consecințe metafizice în subiectivitatea antropocentrică şi în violenţa pe care o presupune: structuri care ignoră misiunea istorică a mesajelor fiinţei care moare."
Cam așa sună jumătatea din carte despre filosofia lui Gianni Vatimo. Prima parte despre Lyotard este mult mai coerentă și poate fi măcar citită și înțeleasă. Cu toate astea cartea nu merită mai mult de o stea, atât pentru modul în care este scrisă cât și pentru subiectul în sine....more
Dificil, foarte dificil de înțeles filosofia lui Plotin. Această carte introductivă abia reușește să sintetizeze ideile principale. Probabil că ar treDificil, foarte dificil de înțeles filosofia lui Plotin. Această carte introductivă abia reușește să sintetizeze ideile principale. Probabil că ar trebui studiate textele originale ale lui Plotin dar este puțin probabil că voi ajunge vreodată să fac asta în viața asta....more
I have to say the Silk Roads is one of the most uneven history books that I have ever read. Trying to write a history of the world is never an easy feI have to say the Silk Roads is one of the most uneven history books that I have ever read. Trying to write a history of the world is never an easy feat and packing it all in under 700 pages is even more difficult.
The reason why I say this book is uneven is because it starts off very well with the ancient history, moves through the so called dark ages, the greek and roman periods but then speeds through the medieval period and the following centuries so focus on the XXth century. I think more then 20-30% of the book focuses on the XXth century. Monumental events in history such as the Napoleonic wars, the Russian or Chinese civil wars or the great rebellions in China in the XIXth century are glossed over, while Frankopan spends large amounts of pages on quotes and anecdotes about from lesser known British generals, politicans, explorers or traders.
The book is a revisionist history of sorts as it rightfully moves the centre of the ancient world from the Mediterranean to Persia. The chapters about the Persian Empire and the Silk Road are probably the most interesting in the whole book. Also, Frankopan is a Byzantinologist by profession and this is reflected in the very good chapters about the Crusades and the Byzantine Empire. Although, I feel that too much attention was given to the Fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, an event which is very important but not as momentous as the fall of 1453.
The whole book is very Persia-centric recounting the many incarnations of the Persian state as well as the many external interventions from the Ottomans, the Russians, the British and finally the Americans. The last part of the book focuses squarely on the oil politics of Persia and the greater Middle East in quite a lot of detail.
It's interesting, Frankopan set out to write a book that is not eurocentric by his own admission. However, in the end all he achieved was write a book that criticises the European expansion but still misses the actual history of the local states. There is also an unmistakable undercurrent of anti-Western and anti-American bias in the book. The examples are plenty, for example the Franco-British Suez crisis is covered in detail but the Communist takeover in Eastern Europe and China is almost completely ignored.
Nonetheless this is still a decent popular history book but probably not a book that i would recommend to someone that doesn't know much about history or doesn't understand Middle Eastern politics....more
A wonderful classic fantasy that reads like a fairytale. It's also ahead of its time staying away from the warring nations trope and having a dark skiA wonderful classic fantasy that reads like a fairytale. It's also ahead of its time staying away from the warring nations trope and having a dark skinned protagonist.
It never ceases to amaze me how authors from the 60s-70s manage to build expansive worlds with very few words. Modern authors have forgotten this art....more
What a fascinating book! It is about so much more then Steve Bannon even though he is the main focus of the book there are interviews and large sectioWhat a fascinating book! It is about so much more then Steve Bannon even though he is the main focus of the book there are interviews and large sections focused on Aleksander Dughin and Olavo de Carvalho.
Ben Teitelbaum is a music ethnologist that ended up researching the far right and most importantly Traditionalism. This philosophy posits that major world religions are founded upon common primordial and universal metaphysical truths.
Rene Guenon was one of the fathers of traditionalism, he was born in France but he eventually migrated to Egypt and converted to Islam and was inducted into islamic esotericism. Julius Evola was also another foundational traditionalist, he was an Italian philosopher that worked for Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany and wrote on mysticism, esoterism, orientalism. All Traditionalist writers were anti-democratic, anti-liberal and advocated a return to traditional ways of living, spiritualism and rejected modernism, secularism and the modern way of living.
Steve Bannon was in the US navy based in Asia where he read Eastern philosophy and discovered traditionalism. He then worked in investment banking in Goldman Sachs where he made a fortune and then used his money and connections to start his political lobbying career. He controlled Breitbart media and rose to become part of the Trump administration but was removed after disagreements with people such as Ivanka Trump and Jarred Kushner. He believed Trump should remove the US from the international system and was disappointed with Trump's continued interventionist policies in places such as Syria and his globalist policies. He views Russia as a natural ally of the US and China as the main adversary.
Aleksandr Dughin is a Russian philosopher and professor that drew inspiration from traditionalism and created the euroasianist movement. He started off with his National Bolshevik party and promoted Russian imperialism, expansionism, anti-americanism, anti-globalism and anti-western policies. He served in the Russian army and acted as an unofficial diplomat promoting Russian policies and alliances in countries such as Turkey and China. He participated in the Russian invasions of Georgia and Ukraine. The goal of his policies are the defeat of the US and the creation of a multipolar world.
Olavo de Carvalho is a Brazilian former journalist, astrologer, conspiracy theorist and self-style philosopher that became a major influence and adviser of the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He promoted traditionalism but he believed that the main force or globalism is China not the US. As such he advocated for a breaking of Brazil from China and BRICS and an alliance with the US. He famously debated and argued against Dughin's anti-americanism.
The book discusses the interaction of all these traditionalist thinkers and their influence on world politics. It is jam packed with so much interesting and lesser known information. One of the best non-fiction books I've read this year....more
Ca de obicei, am devorat cartea lui Armand Goşu. O analiză foarte lucidă a primilor doi ani de război în Ucraina. Cartea conține interviuri din perioaCa de obicei, am devorat cartea lui Armand Goşu. O analiză foarte lucidă a primilor doi ani de război în Ucraina. Cartea conține interviuri din perioada 2021 - 2023 și trece în revistă toate marile evenimente de la pregătirea invaziei, la atac, contra-ofensiva Ucrainei din 2022, rebeliunea lui Prigojin până la situația de la sfârșitul lui 2023.
România bineînțeles este în contra-timp cu istoria, filo-rusii din SIE și MAE rămași de pe vremea comunismului (sau urmașii lor) văd Ucraina mai degrabă ca un inamic și preferă victoria Rusiei. De aceea România are o atitudine oscilantă și asta ne va costa pe termen lung. În același timp Polonia devine una din cel mai importante țări din Europa din punct de vedere militar și diplomatic....more
Glen Cook is a true master of military fantasy. This is grimdark at its best before it was even a thing.
We are once again with Croaker and the Black Glen Cook is a true master of military fantasy. This is grimdark at its best before it was even a thing.
We are once again with Croaker and the Black Company and that is very welcome. The Company goes to new, exotic lands reminiscent of the Indian subcontinent. Here they face a new evil and fight the best battle of the series so far, hands down.
Everything Glen Cook is here: the fast pacing, the sparse writing, the lack of description, the brutality, the humour and the military life.
The 5 stars is sort of accumulated for the series so far. I really loved the Books of the North but had little issues with each one of them. But then I compare them with everything else I've read and realise at least one of them deserves 5 stars. So Shadow Games it is....more
A decent enough book with some useful tips for business writing. It basically boils down to cutting down the word count, using simple words and explaiA decent enough book with some useful tips for business writing. It basically boils down to cutting down the word count, using simple words and explaining why your message matters.
The authors spruik their writing business a bit too much which can become annoying sometimes....more
A good popular history of the Roman Republic from the early years all the way to Augustus. Tom Holland is very wordy as he tries to spin history like A good popular history of the Roman Republic from the early years all the way to Augustus. Tom Holland is very wordy as he tries to spin history like a fiction novel. He partially succeeds in Rubicon. The great romans Sulla, Marius, Crassus, Cato, Cicero Pompeii, Caesar all come to life in this book. The story of the Roman civil wars is especially captivating.
At the same time, the book suffers from Holland's over-flowery language. The book ends with the death of Augustus but there's little explanation of what he did to end the republic. In fact, about 40 years of his life are skipped. Overall a solid 3.5....more
Quite mediocre, weaker then the first book in the series. It is overbloated as usual for Sanderson. There were some very good moments especially towarQuite mediocre, weaker then the first book in the series. It is overbloated as usual for Sanderson. There were some very good moments especially towards the end. I find some characters very interesting and intriguing (Sazed) while others annoying (Elland and sometimes even Vin). It's probably a 2.5 overall as the novelty of the first book has worn off....more
Persian Fire was a fairly disappointing book. Tom Holland really wants to be the most non-academic history book writer. He tries to write his books asPersian Fire was a fairly disappointing book. Tom Holland really wants to be the most non-academic history book writer. He tries to write his books as a novel to appeal to a wider audience and uses flowery language as if the text is an ancient chronicle.
For some people this might work but it annoyed the living daylights out of me. I just want to read a good history book not a pretend novel.
Anyway, the book covers the background and foundation of the three main states in the story: Persia, Athens and Sparta and then covers the Ionian Revolt and the Greco-Persian wars with the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.
The wars are told almost entirely from the Greek perspective despite the name Persian Fire. I was expecting more of a Persian perspective. But most of the book the Persians are referred to as 'barbarians' to underline the Greek point of view. Also, there are no maps of the battles which is a major minus. I had to go online and watch some videos to better understand the army placements....more
On Tyranny is a short book written by Timothy Snyder in 2017 a few months after the US election. He takes the learnings from the XXth century and distOn Tyranny is a short book written by Timothy Snyder in 2017 a few months after the US election. He takes the learnings from the XXth century and distils them into a set of 20 pieces of advice that needs to be followed in order to prevent the rise of tyrannical regimes. The 20 lessons are very valuable but the book is a bit too short. Very worthwhile reading....more
Allen Downey is a professor who was written several books about python, statistics and several other topics. In Think Bayes he tries to use practical Allen Downey is a professor who was written several books about python, statistics and several other topics. In Think Bayes he tries to use practical python exercises to teach Bayesian statistics. The problem is that the python code hides a lot of the detail which can be quite confusing in the later chapters. This is a solid book with lots of learning but I wouldn't recommend it to any beginners. Also, the author uses his own python package which can be quite problematic....more
A good overview of the last century of evangelical Christianity in the United States. I don't know much about evangelical Christianity but from what IA good overview of the last century of evangelical Christianity in the United States. I don't know much about evangelical Christianity but from what I've seen in media, movies and on YouTube it always seemed very strange and didn't seem to have much to do with traditional Christianity. This book explains how starting from the 1960s a brach of fundamentalists took over the evangelical movement and pushed out all the moderates.
They created their own version of Christianity where Jesus is not peace loving but rather a strong, macho leader. Aggressiveness, guns and warmongering are encouraged and admired in this new Christianity which takes its inspiration not from the Bible but rather from Hollywood and popular culture. This is how Christian movies, music, media and televangelists are born.
The book does a decent job of explaining the link between the evangelical movement and politics from opposing the civil rights movement of the 60s and 70s, supporting the Vietnam war to influencing the election of Presidents such as Reagan, Bush and Trump. It also finally made me understand why evangelicals hated Hilary Clinton so much and that is because she came from a moderate Baptist branch of the evangelical community which is stark contrast with the fundamentalist branches.
I would have liked if there was more of a focus on the current day political side. There is a good explanation as to why modern evangelists support Donald Trump despite his obvious non-Christian values. But the main focus is more on the popular culture and the main evangelical media figures that ran churches, published books and created new denominations.
There is a good discussion of all the various sexual scandals and the many cover ups within the churches. But there is very little discussion of the super popular and overly rich and corrupt televangelists.
Overall this is a quite an informative book which gave me a good overview of the modern evangelist movement. There was an exaggerated use of the word 'patriarchy' and some areas were only briefly covered but it does the job....more
Glen Cook closed out the 1980s by releasing the Silver Spike, a standalone conclusion to the Books of the North that wraps up a lot of the threads. ThGlen Cook closed out the 1980s by releasing the Silver Spike, a standalone conclusion to the Books of the North that wraps up a lot of the threads. The narrator is no longer Croaker but Case and we actually see little of the actual Black Company.
The book felt like a bit of a redux of the White Rose and because of that it feels a bit unnecessary. It basically undoes some of the events in the previous book and then once again resolves them. There's a bit too much deus ex machina. Also, Cook's famous sparse writing is particularly jarring, I had to go back and reread passages several times because it wasn't clear what was happening.
Despite its flaws the ending is explosive and full of action, I couldn't put the book down after around the 80% mark. There were quite a few surprises and twists as usual.
I gave the book a 3/5 to represent the accumulated frustrations of all the previous Black Company books. It would be a 3.5 in reality as it's definitely above many other books I rated with 3 stars....more
End Times is by far my book of the year. Hell, it could be the book of the decade. It brings together the things that I find the most interesting in tEnd Times is by far my book of the year. Hell, it could be the book of the decade. It brings together the things that I find the most interesting in the world: history and statistics.
Turchin works in the field of 'cliodynamics' which basically tries to use statistical modelling techniques to predict crises in world history. Of course, as statisticians say all models are wrong but some are more wrong then others. It's probably impossible to have a perfect model of history but Turchin gives it a pretty damn good go. His model predicted the instability of the 2020s back in 2010. What does he base it on?
Societal collapse is caused by elite overproduction (too many rich) and popular immiseration (too many poor). These two factors work together to cause major crises. Turchin reviewed many of the famous collapses such as the Taiping Rebellion in 1840s China or the French revolution and found that in all cases there was an oversupply of elites that were fighting for power, a widening gap between the rich and the poor and a worsening condition for the lower classes.
The elites which don't have access to power start fighting in an attempt to gain power while the lower classes start rebelling. For example, during the Taiping rebellion the Chinese elites were competing for the Mandarin roles, but there were too many candidates and not enough roles. At the same time the lower classes were suffering from poverty. The leaders of the rebellion were elites that failed the public service entry exams and instead started a rebellion to which the lower classes rallied to.
Turchin then does a comparative analysis of the history of France and England. Both countries experienced cycles of disintegration and then recovery. They actually influenced each other and the collapse of one usually was followed by the collapse of the other with a delay of a few decades.
In general monogamous societies (such as the Western ones) collapse once every 200-250 years, while polygamous societies (such as the Mongol Empire or the Islamic empires) collapsed every 100 years due to higher elite overproduction (as noted even by Ibn Khaldoun who noticed that an Islamic dynasty ruled roughly for 100 years before it is replaced by another one).
But crises don't always lead to societal collapse. Turchin notes that in some cases the elites manage to make deals and sacrifice some of their power in order to preserve the order. In the XIX century the British and Russian Empires avoided revolutions by taking active measures. In Britain the people's charter reform gave extended rights to the common people and in Russia the serfs were freed. In Russia, this period of recovery lasted only for a generation until the disintegration once again started with the revolutions of 1905 and finally the collapse of 1917.
The main focus of the book is of course the United States. Like the other countries studied the US also experienced cycles of disintegration and recovery. During the XIXth century there was a rapid expansion of the wealthy class as the US industrialised and expanded, the South had extensive agricultural lands and an old ruling class descending from the British ruling class while the North had the newly enriched business class. Although slavery was a factor in triggering the war, the main reason for the Civil War was the rivalry and the struggle for power between the Southern old ruling class and the Northern newly enriched bourgeoisie. The civil war lead to the death of many of the elites and the reconstruction period things started looking up for the lower classes.
Following the recovery of the middle to late XIXth century there was yet another period when the elites started gaining more wealth and power and there was increasing social turmoil. At this point two things happened: a lot of the wealth of the elites was wiped out in the Great Depression and FDR's New Deal gave more rights and financial help to the working class. During the 1930-1950s there was elite consensus in the US that the lower classes should receive a fair share. By voluntarily forgoing some of their wealth to the working class the elites prevented a societal collapse.
The problem is that gradually the elites once again started accumulating more wealth and power and the working class started losing out. Real salaries started dropped since the 1970s. The life expectancy of working class American started dropping and today 30-40 yr olds have a lower life expetancy then their parents due to death of despair (alcohol, drugs, crime, suicide). Their heights have also been dropping due to diet. At the same time there are more and more elites, more and more people get degrees and the numbers of millionaires has been exploding.
This means that in the US both of the conditions for societal collapse are satisfied: elite overproduction and popular immiseration. The Democratic party used to be the party of the working class but is now more representative of the ruling elites, while the Republican party represents the interests of other elites that are challenging the status quo but are also using populism to engage the working classes. People such as Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson or Steve Bannon are all rich elites that are trying to challenge the status quo in order to gain political power.
It is interesting how immigration fits in the narrative. Although at face value the right-wing is against immigration, it actually favours immigration because it brings in cheap labour and depresses worker salaries. That is why for example someone like Bernie Sanders is against immigration, because he knows all it does is further the immiseration of the American working class.
If a new consensus is not forged it is likely that the US will face societal collapse. But is that inevitable? History says not necessarily. There are also good examples in European countries such as France, Denmark and Germany where the elites have forged a working relationship with the rest of the population and have shared their wealth....more
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