The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver

I read The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't over the summer (July). I don't read much non-fiction and this one was somewhat palatable. The book was populated with many charts and it was a bit of a challenge to read on a tablet. E-book apps are only just getting to the point where reading graphic-rich apps are feasible. Footnotes are also problematic.

Silver's main thrust is that the kind of statistical modelling the general public is often exposed to suffers from poorly understood raw data being run through overly idealized models. Nate Silver, again and again, using examples from weather, climate, earthquake, politics, and gambling, shows that many popular statistical techniques are seriously flawed. He believes that the Bayesian modelling technique, which incrementally changes probabilities based on prior data, is a superior approach that should be used more often.

I chose this book because I was impressed with Nate's political predictions on FiveThirtyEight.com. I came away a little less impressed after reading the book.

Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers

Hide Me Among the Graves (2012) is a great take on vampires set in a very believable mid-19th century England. While not necessarily a sequel, it would be a good idea to read The Stress of Her Regard (1989) first. Set in the early 29 century, it shares the same alternate history with a slightly different viewpoint (and a much younger author).

Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis

Nec­es­sary Evil is the conclusion to Ian Tregillis’s Milkweed Triptych. The al­ter­nate-his­tory World War 2 series concludes with an alternate-alternate history where warlocks and superheroes meet in a final showdown. The action is fast paced and Tregillis skillfully ties up all plot lines with a neat and satisfying ending.

A great joy to read.

Codex Born by Jim C. Hines

Codex Born is the second book of the Magic Ex Libris series, a successful sequel to Libriomancer. The book hits all the marks: sound character development progressing from the first book, fast paced action with enough grit to keep it interesting without getting gory.

The world building is on an as-needed basis. This looks like the beginning of a long series and, given the quality of the writing, I'm hoping for a long run.

Ex-Communication by Peter Clines

Finished Ex-Communication by Peter Clines. A great continuation of the series. Zombies, superheroes, and zombie-superheroes... this series can do no wrong. Continuing characters are well developed and go through real changes; Clines is not afraid to break some eggs to make the omelet.

Looking forward to a fourth and fifth book in the series. If you haven't read the first two books (Ex-Heroes, and Ex-Patriots) in the series you'll probably still enjoy this book, but whats the point? The first two books are great.

From the author:

Three books in, and peo­ple are still in­ter­ested in a hand­ful of su­per­heroes I made up in fifth grade. This is a source of con­stant amaze­ment to me.

Wicked Bronze Ambition by Glen Cook

Finished by Wicked Bronze Ambition by Glen Cook. A decent enough continuation of the series (14th book in the series) with the participation of all the (surviving) characters from previous books. Garrett P.I. is getting older and TunFaire is becoming a more law-abiding city but there is still room for some adventure.

Not crazy about the super-short chapter format, especially when continuing scenes are split for no apparent reason.

2013 Hugo Award Winner - Redshirts

Definitely deserved the win. Funny and poignant.

 

2013 Hugo Award Winners | The Hugo Awards: BEST NOVEL

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, John Scalzi (Tor)

Judgement Night (Bureau 13 vol 1) by Nick Pollotta

I enjoyed Judgement Night much more than the first Pollotta book I tried. Bureau 13 is a secret American organization that handles Alien and Occult threats to the the world. The action is fast paced.

The first book I tried, Illegal Aliens, is widely touted as one of Pollotta's best (and best known) forays into the sci-fi/fantasy-humour genre. The plot was intriguing and the choice of characters was inspiring. The humor, however, was overly over the top. I have never experienced anything so baldly hacky before.

Bureau 13 was toned down enough for me to appreciate the hyperbole.

Pollotta was a very prolific author, often writing under the pseudonyms James Axler and Don Pendleton.

Announcing the 2013 Locus Award Winners! | Tor.com

Announcing the 2013 Locus Award Winners! | Tor.com: The winners of the 2013 Locus Awards were announced today at the annual Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle.

The Wertzone: RIVERS OF LONDON optioned for TV

The Wertzone: RIVERS OF LONDON optioned for TV: Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London books have been optioned for TV. Feel Films has picked up the rights, possibly with a view to producing in cooperation with one of the main British TV networks.

This would make a great TV series. Great characters and the supernatural aspects can be handled easily with practical effects (no CGI).