Pretty fun, tapas-like stories about the built world in cities. I wish [a:Roman Mars|19916841|Roman Mars|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Kurt Kohlstedt|19916842|Kurt Kohlstedt|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] had put the book format to a bit more use, though; if you'd had Mars read this with some soft indie instrumentals in the background, the book would be indistinguishable from an episode of the podcast. A podcast which, to be clear, I very much enjoy; but I was hoping for some more depth, or photographs, or diagrams, or any of the other things that are easier to do in a book than in a podcast. Mars and Kohlstedt talked on the podcast recently about wanting to make the book accessible for the reader who started at any point in the book, but I wish there had been a greater attempt to weave a greater narrative through the story bits.

There is a lot to like about this book. It's really compellingly-written, impressively smooth in its prose and stunningly well-researched (seriously, 30% of the e-book version is bibliography). I'm really looking forward to the next 99pi book; hopefully it'll be more depth than breadth.