I found this review of Perl Best Practices (Chapter 15) to be of interest. Considering the reviewer, Dave Rolsky , is a major contributor to Moose (along with a lot of other great modules) it comes from a voice of some authority.

There are some objections (remember inside-out objects?), but overall PBP does quite well according to Mr. Rolsky. I don't have much to add as I agree with his review (I still don't like separate read / write accessors though).

I finally read the third novel in the uplift novels by David Brin (I reviewed the second novel last year). I liked this one much more than the last one. I even liked it more than Sundiver which I thought was a pretty decent book.

The only disappointing thing is that there is no resolution to the events that occurred in Startide Rising. The events from that book aren't ignored, in fact the implications of those events weighs heavily in the motivation for various important elements in this book. I'm just impatient.

This book, unlike the last book, makes me want to read the rest of the Uplift books.

About a month or so ago I finished reading Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. I haven't read many Clarke novels but I think his Rendezvous With Rama novel is one of the best sci-fi books I have ever read. Having said that, I did not particularly like Childhood's End. A number of the story threads are seemingly forgotten for lengthy stretches (although a number of them do come back at the end of the story). And the conclusion to the story I found depressing. Perhaps it was meant to be depressing, but I don't believe that to be the case.

Hopefully I won't be giving too much away by saying that one of the main themes of the book, in fact what I took to be the primary theme, is one of 'transcendent evolution'. If the evolutionary path described in the book is supposed to be transcendent or uplifting I have to say I want off that train right now. I simply cannot believe that the loss of individuality and an ultimate merging with a galactic supermind is a promising path for humanity.

In a nutshell I found the narrative disjoint and the main theme to be ridiculous.

I have yet to live up to my promise and write a review of Modern Perl (part of the problem is that I have a glut of books that I received over Christmas).

Perhaps you'd like to read David Golden's brief review?

Anyway, the book has always been available electronically and for zero cost. Available in multiple electronic formats. I have read much of the book and it is very good. I recommend anyone who is a Perl programmer to read it. Also recommended for programmers who aren't everyday Perl developers.

As promised I have a review of The Definitive Guide To Catalyst.

I was somewhat disappointed with the book. It is poorly organized. There isn't a coherent example taken to completion through the book. And, while it may be definitive, it is certainly not comprehensive. Having said all that I found it easier than the on-line manual to get through.

The organization is poor. The book appears to be gaining steam when it suddenly takes a detour to discuss deployment. The next chapter then seems to pick up where the earlier chapter left off. I can fathom no reason why it was done this way.

Certain topics are given the hand waving treatment. A chapter, presumably about extending Catalyst, discusses Actions in one paragraph. Its key bit seems to be that the reader should look at Catalyst::Action::REST for a good example of an Action. No doubt good advice, but I don't need to buy a book to tell me that.

Someone on the perl.org blogs asked about the book just the other day. I agree with the second commenter, Michael J, on every point.

This is the only modern book about Catalyst. It is far from perfect, but I still have to recommend it. It supplements some items that aren't covered well in the on-line docs. You won't learn everything and you'll likely still be confused about certain things when you're finished reading it. But it's all there is and it really is better than nothing.

Connie Willis has written some very entertaining books. Her most recent two books, Blackout and All Clear, are two of her best. I really enjoyed reading them.

Continuing in the time traveling historians universe we follow several of said historians to England during World War II. Much of the action takes place during The Blitz as the protagonists increasingly appear to be trapped in the past. The story is mostly set in London, but there are plenty of other locales, including Bletchley Park (and a short encounter with Alan Turing).

Highly recommended.

Macroscope, as best I can tell, is the only science fiction book by Piers Anthony. He seems to mostly be known for fantasy. I had heard his name but had never read any of his books.

I was underwhelmed by the book. I thought some of the reveals were too obvious and others too dull. I will say that most of the characters were interesting and I didn't think any of them got the shaft by the narrative. Overall I simply did not enjoy reading this novel.

I won't elaborately summarize the novel as I dislike that when I read other reviews. It is, loosely, about a group of four (no, five) characters and their search through the galaxy for the source of a mysterious signal. All this occurs in the early 1980's (the book was published in 1970). The title refers to an alien technology that allows one to view far distant objects or societies through an device dubbed a macroscope.

I wouldn't actively attempt to keep someone from reading this book, but I can't recommend it.

I recently ordered, and just received, two Perl-related books. One is the fresh off the presses Modern Perl, and the other is a 2009 book about Catalyst. After I read them I will review them here. I expect them both to be good.

I bought Modern Perl because I think I can learn a thing or two from it and because I'm a follower of the eponymous blog.

I bought the Catalyst book because I need to start using it for a project I'm working on at work. It is the most recent book on the topic and the authors are people who are highly regarded in the Perl community.

I read about this book on an Amazon blog. I don't recall which one. It sounded interesting so I decided to take a chance. It was not a complete disappointment, but also not a pleasant surprise.

The Fireson brothers (popularly known as the Firefly brothers) are 30's era bank robbers. They discover they cannot be (permanently) killed. Several times during the novel they are seemingly dispatched only to 'wake up' in the morgue or in the back of a car. Over time their wounds miraculously heal. The Fireson's have no explanation for their ability.

The book uses the magical element as a hook, but the story is more about middle America during the Great Depression. This seems like an interesting, if not original, idea. The writing is a distraction as purple prose is scattered throughout the novel.

Overall I would say it is not worth the time to read.

A few weeks ago I finished reading a recent Vernor Vinge book named Rainbows End. While not quite as satisfying as A Fire Upon the Deep or A Deepness In the Sky it is an excellent read. Vinge has quickly become a favorite of mine.

The book covers a number of interesting topics from ubiquitous computing and augmented reality to the trade-offs we make for safety versus freedom. While some things are familiar it is all still very different.

There are quite a few story threads and not all of them are tied up at the end. This is fine as the environment that Vinge creates is very compelling and most of the characters are interesting. This book is certainly worth your time.

Startide Rising is a book by David Brin. I've read a few of Brin's works. Namely I have read Sundiver and Kiln People. I enjoyed both of those books, but I had a very hard time getting into Startide Rising. Why? I think, at its core, I don't buy the premise, or can't imagine it. I think I lack the imagination to buy into the idea that people and dolphins (and chimpanzees!) will be working together as equals. The dolphins can speak English and can move about in harnesses that have arms and legs. I tried to imagine this but I never quite bought it. I didn't believe what I was seeing in my mind!

This was actually the second time I have attempted to read this book. The first time I got about 20 or 30 pages in and gave up. This time I was able to finish and there were certainly very enjoyable parts of the book. I just can't recommend the book as a whole.

I've read a number of Richard Price books. Namely Clockers and Lush Life. Bloodbrothers is Price's second book and I found it very different from those other books. This book seemed more personal and less like the highly detailed, well-researched novels that his other books are.

The book is primarily about a recent high school graduate with the nickname of Stony. He has a brother, a father, and a, possibly crazy, mother. His dad is distant but very much wants his eldest son to follow in his footsteps as an electrician. Stony is drifting and is non-committal to the good union job.

The characters are well developed, but (I may be spoiled by endless movies with similar characters) they seem derivative. Of course this book was written in 1976, but I'm not reading it then, I am reading it now. Anyway, if you've seen any movies about working class Italians in New York you will recognize these characters. A decent book but I'd rather read Clockers again.

A double bill, by author Jerry Pournelle, Fires of Freedom has two of his stories that deal with individuals and their fights against oppressive governments.

The first story deals with a young American who is shipped off to Mars as part of a deal to keep him out of prison on Earth. On Mars he joins a movement for an independent Mars. This story read so much like any number of Robert Heinlein novels that I thought he had come back from the grave. It's a decent read but I think the best was saved for last.

The second story takes place in the same universe as The Moat In God's Eye. It details a small colonial planet's attempt to gain some respect within the empire. I loved this story and it makes me want to read much more of the books that are in this universe.

I recommend this book primarily on the strength of the second (and longer) story. Both stories together make for an excellent read.

Nemesis was published in 1989, just three years before Isaac Asimov died. Of his later novels that I have read this is one of the better ones. This isn't to say that I liked it that much. It contains some ideas (Gaia, intelligent planets) that don't particularly appeal to me, but were prevalent in many of Asimov's works of this period. A decent, and short, summary is available from the link so I won't bother with one here.

Worth reading but not one of Asimov's better works.

I haven't done any book blogging, but I thought I might give it a whirl. A few weeks ago I finished a very good science fiction book The Mote In God's Eye. I'm reasonably certain I had heard good things about this book before I decided to buy it, but it would have been some time ago and the my recollection of such things is poor. I'm a big fan of the works of both Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven (both individually and as collaborators). Among other of their works I had previously read their fantastic Lucifer's Hammer back about 6 or 7 years ago.

I'm not big on summaries so here is a very simple one: a millenium from now humankind has colonized much of the galaxy but has found no evidence of non-human intelligent life. Then one day an alien probe appears near one of the colonies. The rest of the book is about the voyage to the aliens home planet and about the cultural and physical differences between the aliens and the humans. Here's a hint: the humans and aliens are very different and many problems are caused due their misunderstanding and mistrust of one another. The book attempts to adhere, with some exceptions, to a realistic physical universe. This is not a fantasy, but a work of hard science fiction.

This is an excellent book. I recommend it highly.