Reader reviews

Disappointing. The description oversold what is actually inside.

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 chapters on data visualization are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. Two stars. The subject deserves a better treatment than this.

An enjoyable and informative read, though it could have been shorter.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

This is the third book I have read on artificial intelligence this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

I have been working with ai & machine learning for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.