Shaders Unchained: Writing Powerful Shaders for Every Platform

Almost excellent. A second edition could easily push it to five stars.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The chapters on computer graphics are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.

Genuinely excellent — I finished it in a week and immediately started again.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.