This book is a mix of volcano science, in the field anecdotes of volcano research in exciting places, and musings on the scary thought that humanity is now exerting more destructive collective force than all the world's volcanoes combined. I'm not sure if it was the mix, or my distracted mood, or just that I'm not that into volcanoes, but I did struggle to concentrate on this one. Even the bits about volcanoes on Mars.