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Brave New World paints a future that still hasn't found the secrets of automation through robotics and computing. This makes it especially interesting, as the world Aldous Huxley imagines is so much different from ours, but eerily similar as well.

However, I feel like this utopian satire falls short to scrutiny in the modern era with the advent of computers and robotics. Huxley's future society still relies on the inefficiencies of human labor, and as such, has become dystopian solely through it's need for human capital. This is not to say that aspects of Huxley's dystopia do not ring true today; psychological conditioning and manipulation in the pursuit of capitalistic interests are issues facing society today.

While I enjoyed the book, I found it to be more akin to philosophical allegory than a powerful piece of narrative fiction. I was constantly feeling as if the characters were dropping character so they could deliver a treatise on the nature of being, spirituality, or material goods. As the book went on, I found myself growing tired of Huxley's appeal to traditional values as they became more and more tangled with what I read was an appeal to individuality and freedom.

Terry Pratchett seamlessly traverses the humorous and heartfelt in this book. It's a lovely coming-of-age story with pacing that never leaves you wondering when something exciting is going to happen next. While Tiffany Aching doesn't particularly read as a 9-year-old girl, her character is so sassy and enjoyable to behold that it's hard to be bothered by her rather adult attitude.

Pratchett espouses on the responsibility we have towards our community and our families, no matter how dumb or difficult they may be, and left me thinking about how we could all stand to embrace our inner witch a little more.