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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Powersat (The Grand Tour #1) in Books

Nov 25, 2019

Powersat (The Grand Tour #1)

Ben Bova | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Dan Randolph has a dream - cheap power for all delivered via a series of orbital sun-powered 'Powersats' that will beam their energy down to Earth. However this is a huge project and there are any number of things that can go wrong. Dan will need to summon all his resources as a businessman and format astronaut to ensure his brainchild has a future.

This is a pretty solid start to the Grand Tour series of books, which seek to show the reader every corner of the solar system together with a gripping story. The science is accurate and plot is certainly gripping.

However this is a fairly workmanlike book, feeling a lot like Bova was writing with gritted teeth to actually get it finished. As a result it is a good but not great work of fiction.

Kudos

Sarah (7800 KP) rated Modern Romance in Books

Dec 14, 2019

Modern Romance

Aziz Ansari | 2016 | Health & Fitness

8.0

(6 Ratings)

Book Rating

Interesting and funny

I had to do a double take when I first saw a recommendation to read this book - a factual non-fiction book written by a comedian isn't something you hear about every day. But it's actually a fun and hugely interesting read.

There's a great balance in this between facts, data and laughs, and there are some very clever insights in this into modern dating and romance. It was also interesting to read about dating in other foreign cities that I didn't know much about. Aziz is a relatively endearing author, coming across as rather friendly and inviting and you get the feeling that he really cares about the subject matter. There's a lot of truth in this book and whilst I don't think anything in this is massively groundbreaking, it's still an insightful and entertaining read.