Wildcard: Warcross Series, Book 2

Wildcard: Warcross Series, Book 2 by Marie Lu

The previous book ended on a cliffhanger. Was Emika helping the right side? This book takes that and runs with a number of twists and turns. The new technology has lead to criminals turning themselves in or committing suicide. However, it may be going too far. Some people are inundating the police for guilt of past parking tickets and the like. The creator of the tech (Hideo) is doing it to try to find the people that had abducted his brother. Emika eventually discovers that Hideo's opponent, "Zero" is actually the AI versions of his deceased brother. This boy was part of big project that took kids out with fatal diseases as the guinea pigs. It was their mom who had brought him out. However, now he had become part of a group lead by a quiet women that was trying to take Hideo's tech for their own benefit. Eventually all comes to a positive conclusion. The tech is initially shut down. However, since most of it is so important to society Emika is brought in to help restore it in a positive way.

Warcross

Warcross by Marie Lu

Warcross is a super popular game that everyone loves to play and watch. The billionaire creator had lost his brother when he was young. Now he has a grand plan that nobody knows about.

The protagonist is a young woman who is struggling to make ends meet. She is secretly a great game player and hacker. She gets her chance to participate in the big game tournament after she hacks into the opening ceremony. The game creator recruits her as a type of "bounty hunter" to find people that may be trying to undermine him. She has a lot of success and learns a lot about the creator and enters into a small romantic relationship with him. However, one of the underworld guys she is tracking is her match. 

The story goes well, but the end gets trite. The game creator wants to eliminate crime and provide full historical access to memories. She feels that this could get people a loss of control. Maybe she should have partnered with the underworld people. But they were also mean.

The book feels a lot like Ready Player One.

Inheritors

Inheritors by Asako Serizawa

How where the Japanese impacted by World War II? This book contains a gorup of tightly-coupled stories of a family that span the time before and after World War II. There were family members that had a strong loyalty to the emperor and country and wanted to serve. There was also a discovery that there was Korean ancestry in the family. Family members had been involved in secret biological weapons work, including research on involuntary human subjects. The book continues to modern times and alternate-reality worlds that end up becoming intermeshed with the real world. There are family "secrets" that only become disclosed after many years - often limiting the chance for people to know their relatives until their death.

The family spanned both America and Japan. This left them somewhat isolated and not really part of the culture of either. The mind of the traditional Japanese is difficult for Americans (even of Japanese origin) to understand.

Empire of Silver: A New Monetary History of China

Empire of Silver: A New Monetary History of China by Jin Xu

While gold has often been important in the western world, silver has been the precious metal of choice in China. At times, this had enabled great arbitrage opportunities, as silver fetched a higher value in China. This book looks at the detailed history of silver and finances in China, going back to ancient times. The author goes on to tie the opium wars to silver and then finishes out looking at modern Chinese banking and finance. It is interesting to read about how currency and finance evolved separately in China, yet still went through many of the same ups and downs as other parts of the world.

Maoism: A Global History

Maosim is a history of the bread of socialism espoused by Mao Zedong. It is not a biography of Mao. Instead, it focuses on the rise to power of his brand of communism and implementation of similar principals in other countries. Maoism differed significantly from the Russian communism. (And both were quite different from what Marx envisioned.) Maoism supported violence. It was also very peasant-centric. It was ideologically inconsistent. What was preached was not necessarily what was practiced. It is somewhat politically pragmatic, willing to change to continue to stay in power. The cult of personality was also important. After Mao's death, the cult of Mao gradually faded in China, only to be gradually revived. Maoist China is arguably the most successful implementation of communism in the world. However, it has been very adapted to Chinese conditions, adopting many capitalistic components.
The discussion of Maoism in other areas of the world is enlightening. Overreactions to Maoism led to heavy American involvement in Vietnam. Maoist China has strategically given aid to other countries to help meet its means. Some countries (such as Cambodia) have adopted ideology. Others, like those in Africa would often just go through the motions. In the west, Maoism appeals to those outside the mainstream. The violence appeals to many developing countries.