Book Reviews from 1999

It should be noted that I have heard some critics say the book is either very one-sided or that some parts are a little too much 'fiction' in regards to what actually happened. I don't know if that is true - could just be bad mouthing from someone who felt left out of the book or felt he or she was pictured in a bad way. Either way...

...It's just so very simple, go out and get this book now if you haven't got it already. Myself, I read our libraries copy twice, boy was that book in a bad shape or what? After I returned it the last time I never saw it again (no fault of mine though, I'm very careful around books), and just recently I bought my own copy and re-read it only to find it just as good, binding and entertaining as ever.

Interested in military intelligence (the famous oxymoron), ciphers and WW2 history? Try this book.

"The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork... a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a hideously-deformed evening dress...

At least, he hopes so. But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld's most famous witch, is in the audience, And she doesn't hold with that sort of thing.

So there's going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evening's entertainment with murders you can really hum...)"

If you've never read Pratchett then do not start with this one. He's so much better in some of his earlier discworld work.

This has long been the standard reference (apart from the RFCs) for the workings of TCP/IP. The book goes thru - if not all, so almost - all of the protocols in the TCP/IP-suite and - as the title suggests - present those in an illustrated manner as to better communicate how they work.

Anyone interested in how the internet protocols work, anyone doing ISP tech-support, or anyone wanting to do TCP/IP software development should  have read this book, or one of it's successors.

I know I thought "Well, I probably know most of this" before I started reading, but just a few pages in I realized that I most certainly did not know most of the stuff in the book.

This is the third book in the series, the two earlier being Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms and Volume 2: Seminumerical Algorithms. I have as of writing read neither of those two, but I plan too.

So, is this book just great or what? Well, there are some minor things I'd like to comment on. For one, there's a lot of space being wasted proving every single algorithm. Okay, so I exaggerate a tiny bit - it's not waste per se - but the proofs do take a sizable portion of the book and in truth-  as I can hardly understand anything of it - I'd personally see the space used for describing more algorithms instead. Fortunately, the math sections are easily skipped and they are not needed in order to implement anything described in this book.

Also, since I'm interested in hashing I was hoping for a big fat chapter on that, but unfortunately the chapter in the book was written around 1972 and the author does acknowledge in the second edition that much has happened since then and proceeds to give some pointers. Some other modern(?) data structures such as oct- and splay-trees are also missing, but those are possibly just special cases of n-way trees (that are described in depth).

But my reservations are minor, this book is really, really good and I wouldn't trade it in for any other book.

For the latest developments pertaining to the Art of Computer Programming series and the person which is Don Knuth you can visit his homepage.

The world is still eagerly awaiting the fourth volume in the series, a book which have been in production for almost as long as anyone can remember.

I do hope that Knuth manages to complete a couple of volumes more. His work is too good to go wasted.

Some time has passed since I read this one, but I remember I thought it pretty good (specially since it wasn't very expensive). The story seems to be on par with what I've read elsewhere, and the story is kind of interesting. If you want to read something closer to the truth about these computer criminals you hear about in the news, then this book may be worth while. The public media just can't get it right.

I'm somewhat reserved as to whether it's correct to use the term 'hacker' for Kevin, but I really don't know enough about him to be sure either way.

For the latest news on Kevin, check with 2600.

Basically I now know better than to buy anything in the "Teach Yourself XXX in YY seconds" series. Most of these books are way to basic, with the brilliant exception of TY C++ in 21 days, a book which I've begun reading and found to be very good, especially since it's available for free on the net (go to www.mcp.com and check it yourself). I've heard others make fun of that book and it's author though, so be vary.

This book is obviously outdated, but let this be a warning to everyone - before buying expensive books; do try to research them a little. If you can read all thru chapter three and find you understand everything even as it is being presented, then look for another book. Myself I want them real hard (talking technical litterature here), that way I have something to grow with. You should see me with the Dragon book, Heh. :-)

The story revolves around the young man Rand and his childhood friends. Rand live with his father in the outset of a small village called Emond's Field - of The Two Rivers. They are farmers. One night however, the idylic life of farming gets uprooted as evil Trollocs attack their home. Rand soon find himself a wanted man - wanted by many different factions - and he is forced to leave his village, as much to save himself as to save it, and with him - as if bound by his destiny - some of his friends come. As it shall be seen, the nightly attack was just the beginning, and Rand has just taken the first step from being a naïve young man, to one who must shoulder his destiny, and wherever he'll go, people will die, because they must, because it's prophecy. In this world being naïve will kill you. Rand won't like it, but he is bound by the Wheel of Time - even if less than most people - and follow it he must.

The story is engrossing, and most of the characters are interesting and vivid, and as you get to know them better, you see that they all have their own motives and dreams. As opposed to Lord of the Rings in where most characters are either good or evil, white or black, the WoT is different. The Aes Sedai - community of magic-wielding women - for example, say they stand for the truth and the light, but in the whole there are parts, and to sum of the parts are more than the whole. "Good", "Evil" - It's all pretty much subjective, just as in real life.

Apart from the great characters I must say I love their interaction, even though it can get repetitive some times. They just seem real the way they bicker amongst themselves.

Another thing is that there are romance in these books, and by that I don't mean on the epic-tolkienesque manner in which the elven princess love her prince, but more in a down to earth way. After a while companionships will form, matter it not that they involved were not out looking for it.

So what does the critics say? Well, they say that the books are too longwinding and there's too little fighting. You fools! This is pure art, not some AD&D let's roll-the-dice hack'n'slash adventure for twelve-year olds. :-)

Every fantasy fantast should have read this series. I can even recommend it to people whom never read fantasy before. One word of caution though; You must read the series in the original language and you must beware - a night with this book will pass very quickly, and you might have to get up early to go to work, no? Fear not, the paperback version is easily transportable :-)

Myself, I've read the whole series - save the latest book - three times.

If you like the cynicism of the Dogbert humor, then this book will surely make you laugh. Quite worth the read, if maybe a little too expensive to buy. Don't you have a friend you could borrow it from?