Wulf C. Krueger

Kim Stone #12 to #21

I went down a rabbit hole with Kim Stone. After eleven novels starring Angela Marsons’ brilliant, abrasive, sympathetic Detective Inspector, I was so enamoured with these characters, the mysteries, and all the other greatness that make these novels, I just couldn’t get enough of them.

Every waking minute that could be spent on the novels, would be.

Ok, a few times I would start to despair at the loss of the rule of law in the USA, witnessing how people like you and me are impacted by what that despicable orange person does.

And then I would immediately return to Kim Stone and her team. Penn, Stacey, Bryant (whose given name I now finally know!), Frost, and, interestingly, Leanne - they all have their moments. The stories always address relevant contemporary issues, they’re believable, suspenseful and thrilling.

I cannot review those novels individually anymore because once I had finished one (without taking the time for my usual highlights, notes, and annotations), I’d jump right into the next. I’d probably be facing the worst book hangover in decades if there hadn’t been a certain book to spare me that trouble.

Just know if you’re into mysteries and police procedurals (in rural Britain), you cannot go wrong with Angela Marsons’ Kim Stone.

Thus, I’m awarding five stars out of five to each and every instalment from #12 to #21 and will be copying this review to each of these.

Randall Munroe’s “What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions” certainly has a clever premise, and I recognise its appeal to the science-curious. Drawing from his background as a physicist and former NASA roboticist, Munroe sets out to tackle (mostly) nonsensical questions with rigorous scientific logic. While that might sound fun in theory, in practice I found the book trying far too hard to be clever, and as a result, it came off as more smug than smart.

Admittedly, some of the questions Munroe attempts to answer are genuinely imaginative, but his tone often feels too enamoured with its own geekiness. Rather than inviting the reader into a playful exploration, it too often felt like being caught in an endless lecture by someone who delights excessively in their own intellect. I couldn’t help but feel that the answers to these questions were taken far too seriously—so much so that any joy or playfulness quickly evaporated under the weight of equations and thought experiments.

But then, take my subjective opinion with a grain of salt: Despite its immense popularity, I don’t really enjoy Munroe’s XKCD either.

DNF at 78% and two stars out of five.

Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam