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**Selected for App Store Best of 2015** Be in the game, chat with other people watching the game...
OsmAnd Maps
Travel and Navigation
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Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. OsmAnd...
Zinio - The World's Magazine Newsstand
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Browse over 6,000+ digital magazines in the world's largest newsstand or read fresh articles daily...
VoiceTra(Voice Translator)
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VoiceTra is a speech translation app that translates your speech into different languages. VoiceTra...
Tokyo Subway for iPad
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Tokyo Subway for iPad application is a comprehensive guide to traveling through Tokyo in Japan. ...
Shonen Jump Manga Reader
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The official English source to read Weekly Shonen Jump, the world's most popular manga magazine! You...
The Pillars of the Earth
5.0
Rate It
Tabletop Game
The Pillars of the Earth is based on the bestselling novel by Ken Follett and the 2006 game in the...
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Fresco
Tabletop Game
In Fresco, players are master painters working to restore a fresco in a Renaissance church. Each...
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ClareR (5726 KP) rated Beautiful Shining People in Books
Aug 5, 2023
I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I started reading this, but I quickly realised that I was loving what I was reading. I do like both speculative and science fiction, so I knew we’d be off to a good start.
This is so much more though. It’s about relationships, both with others and oneself. It’s about loneliness, feeling cut off from others and trying to make a connection.
Both John, a young American tech genius, and Neotnia, are loners. Neither of them want to be alone. John is trying to escape his past and his past self, and Neotnia wants to find her past. They’re both very caring, likeable characters, Neotnia in particular, especially in her interactions with the elderly residents of a home she volunteers at.
My particular favourite was the cafe owner and Neotnia’s guardian - Goeido. He has an interesting and sad past as a Sumo, and this is probably the reason why he is so protective towards Neotnia.
Some of the themes have their place in our society too. The rise of AI, tense relationships between superpowers, terrorist attacks, deep fakes, cyber attacks, fake news - all of these affect us today.
Tokyo as a setting was inspired. All of the AI and robots didn’t seem out of place. I mean, we expect them there, don’t we? Robots taking your order in a fast food restaurant and helping you with directions in the street seem not too far a reach of the imagination in Japan (you can probably tell I’ve never been there!).
The last chapter or so, was so powerful. It was sad and explained all of what had gone before. It was emotional, and the ending was perfect.
Many, many thanks to Orenda for sending me a copy as a part of their book club. I’m really glad I read it!