Little Black Book of Ray-Tracing and Path-Tracing (Paperback)

Some sections were excellent and others felt like filler.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.

Genuinely excellent — I finished it in a week and immediately started again.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

Very good, with a few caveats. The core material is strong.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.