Non-Human Intelligence (Coffee Book Series)

Better than I expected. Rare to find a technical book this well judged.

This is the third book I have read on science fiction & fantasy this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.

The clearest explanation of science fiction & fantasy I have come across.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with science fiction & fantasy.