David H. Friedman
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His Dark Materials

reviewed March 10, 2005

The first volume is thrilling and moving, with the unsentimental brutality of the best young persons’ adventures (and like the very best children’s books this is for unfossilized grown-ups as well.) The second volume is intriguing and disturbing. The third volume was emotionally weaker: one cares much less for the people and races as the action widens to cosmic scope. Everything wraps up quite neatly if unsettlingly. (This review is written in August of 2020, ten or more years after reading the books.)

Web Standards Solutions

reviewed October 21, 2004

How to separate structure from style in web page design. Very clear.

Dan Cederholm’s Webpage

Wicked

reviewed October 9, 2004

Grim, ugly, painful. Beautifully written. The Wicked Witch recast as an intellectual, emotionally crippled revolutionary in a society reminiscent of Victorian England and Tsarist Russia. Terrific idea, terrific execution.

Ringworld

reviewed September 30, 2004

A ribbon around a star with the area of a billion earths. Evolutionary manipulation. Flying cities! A classic.

Re-read it because I wanted to finally read the rest of the series in honor of the appearance of the latest installment. But I misremembered the cat-tails, which are actually from A World out of Time.

Review of Ringworld at Larry Niven’s Website

Azumanga Daioh

reviewed September 2004

Wacky highschool Anime. Cute characters.

Azumanga Daioh

Jonathan Carroll

reviewed June 11, 2004

White Apples

The Wooden Sea

Eschatological fiction. Interesting characters.

Jonathan Carroll’s website

Firefly

reviewed 2004

A terrific space western from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kaylee is qute! Foolishly canceled, there is a movie in the works. Good theme song.

Firefly

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