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monkeyboystiff's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad, but a bit twee for my liking. Characters had no depth, they were ciphers to move the story along. Kat was the classic manic pixie dream girl genius who was inexplicably interested in the hero, then wasn't, then was again.
I found the Founder's Puzzle thing confusing - how exactly was that constructed? Are all the books laid out specifically for that? Are all the related bookstores laid out the same.
Lots of convenience too - one friend is very rich so they can travel anywhere, and then "Grumble" the master hacker not only has a easy to make page scanner out of cardboard, but LEAVES the a kit for them to put together! Flatmate has a model city that covers the entire flat, everyone tolerates it because they are all equally eccentric and quirky.
The final secret message was quite sweet, but nothing amazing.
I found the Founder's Puzzle thing confusing - how exactly was that constructed? Are all the books laid out specifically for that? Are all the related bookstores laid out the same.
Lots of convenience too - one friend is very rich so they can travel anywhere, and then "Grumble" the master hacker not only has a easy to make page scanner out of cardboard, but LEAVES the a kit for them to put together! Flatmate has a model city that covers the entire flat, everyone tolerates it because they are all equally eccentric and quirky.
The final secret message was quite sweet, but nothing amazing.
zophiebrown's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A love letter to the power of books and the pursuit of knowledge.
shelbycadle's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Not bad but not one of my favorites. I did not enjoy the lack of quotation marks on some of the dialogue, and the story was a bit boring at times.
mish_r's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
lauracooleyjohnson's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this title had a “Guernsey literary potato peel” kind of vibe. (Which I loved, so this is a good thing). But wow, I clearly didn’t read reviews very well. This was instead a cross between Davinci Code and Ready Player One. But it was a delightful easy read without tons of angst, and a heartwarming message. I’m docking it a star for racing through the end a bit, and solving the big bad puzzle that propels the first 80% of the book largely off-page. But I still recommend.
jeemo's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
sroller07's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm. Reasonably entertaining story, most of the way. Reasonably interesting central character, and some useful sidekicks to give him shape. Story progresses nicely, with some sly humour, but about 2/3 of the way through I started thinking, "this is going to end with a weak pfffft, isn't it?" And yes, it did. I have accepted that it's OK for it to do that, but it does make the whole effort of reading the book a bit pointless.
Overuse of Google? Yes. Overuse of "boobs"? Not granted. As I recall, for years one of the standard challenges for animators is to model the complex movement of the breast; sort of a modern equivalent to looking at the realism of the hands in famous old paintings.
And maybe a little bit too reliant on handwaving about crowdsourced computing. I don't see a neat future where we get to what's shown here.
But bookstores! Secret passages behind bookshelves! All is forgiven.
And yes, do go and look up Aldus Manutius. It's worth it.
Overuse of Google? Yes. Overuse of "boobs"? Not granted. As I recall, for years one of the standard challenges for animators is to model the complex movement of the breast; sort of a modern equivalent to looking at the realism of the hands in famous old paintings.
And maybe a little bit too reliant on handwaving about crowdsourced computing. I don't see a neat future where we get to what's shown here.
But bookstores! Secret passages behind bookshelves! All is forgiven.
And yes, do go and look up Aldus Manutius. It's worth it.
frances_the_red's review against another edition
5.0
Scientology für lesehungrige Senioren
Wer ein bibliophiler Informatiker wie ich ist, der in seiner Freizeit Dungeons & Dragons spielt und Verschwörungstheorien liebt, wird dieses Buch genau so verschlingen wie ich. Die Charaktere sind einem sofort sympathisch. Die Anspielungen bringen einen zum Schmunzeln. Die erwähnte reale Bedrohung und Tatsache, dass Amazon und Co die kleinen Buchläden verschlingt eher zum grübeln.
Insgesamt ist das Buch eine sehr nette und fesselnde Geschichte, die zudem einen kurzen kritischem Blick in die Verlagszukunft wirft.