A great continuation of Red Mars, which continues to build on the world, giving you a really deep sense of what Mars is like, and the politics it'sA great continuation of Red Mars, which continues to build on the world, giving you a really deep sense of what Mars is like, and the politics it's undergoing. Long, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Tons of science to be enjoyed. There was also a lot of descriptions of how people were figuring out how to survive and thrive on Mars, and I loved the science of all the attempts to terraform, mostly by our scientific hero, Sax. But I think my favorite were the space elevator and its construction, and the soletta - I mean what an amazing, big thinking idea to heat a planet using a giant magnifying glass in space?
I also loved the descriptions of the politics on Earth, especially around Praxis and it's dynamic founder, William Fort, and how the interests of all the transnats (trans nationals) resulted in what was happening on Mars. Because it does seem we are headed that way, with a few corporations that will dominate and get larger and larger because in am era of software-has-eaten-the-world, and we-are-running-out-of-natural-resources-on-earth, these companies can and will simply dominate entire spaces, and eventually surpass governments as the dominant centers of power. However to keep growing revenues as we hit tipping point of running out of natural resources, human resources and non-natural (produced) resources - is a bigger and bigger challenge, especially as numbers get larger. So you have to think on truly terrifying large scales - and thus an opportunity like Mars seems very appealing. Anyways, this seems (to me) like the path we are on, so it was interesting to see how Robinson was describing it and playing it out. But as William Fort put it:
Mindblowingly good. I haven’t read something so epicly ambitious and good in a long time. They say China is surpassing the rest of the world in lotsMindblowingly good. I haven’t read something so epicly ambitious and good in a long time. They say China is surpassing the rest of the world in lots of areas, you can put them up there in science fiction writers. And the best part was that the series built - you couldn’t imagine book 2 being better than book 1, but it was, and then you couldn’t imagine book 3 topping book 2, but it did.
Death’s End impressively goes deep into so many areas - human history, philosophy, physics, quantum physics, mind bending physics, and more. It even goes into dimensional warfare. I loved this quote:
I think one of my favorite elements was the 3 stories. The level of metaphor and dual metaphor was so artfully done I’m still impressed thinking about it. Oh - and I really want to go visit He’ershingenmosiken now. I loved how the narrator pronounced that.
(view spoiler)[The book was not without it’s flaws - I didn’t love the ending. I mean, you build up a love story across 3 books and hundreds of years, and the characters get so close… and then you do that?!
I also didn’t love watching all of Earth and humanity get sucked into a lower dimension - kind of depressing. But cool that some find a way to survive. Elon & JeffB are right - we need to get into space! (hide spoiler)]
Mind blowingly cool. Best science fiction I've read in some time. I just loved all the descriptions of the society of the future - how they lived inMind blowingly cool. Best science fiction I've read in some time. I just loved all the descriptions of the society of the future - how they lived in trees, the notion of owning property or even getting married was gone. How every surface was a screen.
(view spoiler)[ The undulations of how society responds to the Trisolaran threat seem surprising to me. Maybe its more the Chinese perspective, but I wouldn't have thought the ETO would exist in book 1, and I wouldn't have thought people would get so over-confident in our primitive fleet's chances given you have to think that with superior science they would have weapons - and defenses - that would just be as rifles to arrows once were.
But the moment when Luo Ji won as a wallfacer was just too cool. I may have actually done a fist pump. Though by the way, if the Dark Forest theory is right - and I see no reason why it wouldn't be - we as a society should probably stop broadcasting so much signal out into the universe. (hide spoiler)]...more
This was a fun, fast paced, can't put it down thriller that I finished in 1 day. It had a bunch of flaws to be sure, but also a bunch of things toThis was a fun, fast paced, can't put it down thriller that I finished in 1 day. It had a bunch of flaws to be sure, but also a bunch of things to like about it. And no, it's not as good as The Martian was - not close - but similar to the Martian it had fascinating science, and some great humor.
I think what I liked most was the vivid picture of what life on the moon might look like if it happened. Weir did a great job of imagining why a moon base might exist: tourism, and mining for things like aluminum - and then painting a picture of life in the base and how it would be different - and similar - to earth. It was similar to earth in that it had its rich areas, its ghettos, its dive bars, etc. Like in the Martian, Weir did a thorough job diving into the science - how a moonbase might work, and also pointing out cool little details - like how airlocks and the bubbles would have to be engineered. There was also a lot around how being in 1/6 gravity would be different - it means you can jump off buildings, it means it's hard to control your kids because they literally bounce off the walls, and it makes for very interesting sex. One of my favorite tidbits was how coffee tastes horrible at low pressure - something that I heard Andy Weir say in a Q&A that is the explanation for why airplane coffee always tastes so bad (its either too cold or burned):
So I loved the science - and you'd expect that from the author of The Martian which had similarly good science - but the issues with the book were the protagonist and the plot. Jazz was well conceived but came across as shallow and not quite believable. She also seemed way too much like a female Mark Wattney. (view spoiler)[And the plot came across as some kind of James Bond-esque plot to rule the moon that was also not believable. And in the end after almost killing everyone on the moon and destroying its economy she negotiates to stay on the basis that she's the only one who could smuggle? That makes no sense! (hide spoiler)]...more
This is a special book. It started slow for about the first third, then in the middle third it started to get interesting, then the last third blew myThis is a special book. It started slow for about the first third, then in the middle third it started to get interesting, then the last third blew my mind. This is what I love about good science fiction - it pushes your thinking about where things can go.
It is a 2015 Hugo winner, and translated from its original Chinese, which made it interesting in just a different way from most things I've read. For instance the intermixing of Chinese revolutionary history - how they kept accusing people of being "reactionaries", etc.
It is a book about science, and aliens. The science described in the book is impressive - its a book grounded in physics and pretty accurate as far as I could tell. (view spoiler)[Though when it got to folding protons into 8 dimensions I think he was just making stuff up - interesting to think about though.
But what would happen if our SETI stations received a message - if we found someone was out there - and the person monitoring and answering the signal on our side was disillusioned? That part of the book was a bit dark - I would like to think human reaction to discovering alien civilization that is hostile would be more like Enders Game where we would band together.
I did like how the book unveiled the Trisolaran culture through the game. It was a smart way to build empathy with them and also understand what they've gone through across so many centuries. And who know a 3 body problem was an unsolvable math problem? But I still don't get who made the game - maybe that will come in the next book.
A super fun, enjoyable read. A love letter to NYC, and worth reading just for that, especially if you live there or have visited. In the 2140, seaA super fun, enjoyable read. A love letter to NYC, and worth reading just for that, especially if you live there or have visited. In the 2140, sea levels have risen 50 feet, and Manhattan is half underwater, up to I believe 34th, with a +-10 ft tide that also creates a huge intertidal zone. Who knew that upper Manhattan had more altitude? Brooklyn is all underwater. The main characters live in the Met and Flatiron buildings, which are in the water by several stories, and now have docks and boat-parking on the lower floors. And the crazy thing about all this, is while this is science fiction, it is sadly a very realistic scenario - here is at least one article that says sea levels could rise 13ft this century. But if you think New Yorkers will give up on their city even if half of it is drowned, think again.
The other part that made this book very New York is the focus on finance. That there was an intertidal index IPPI was pretty entertaining, and of course New York is still the financial capital of the world. But then a lot the plot of the book is about wealth disparity. By the year 2140 the 1% own 80% of wealth - so it has become very concentrated - too concentrated, and the number of people in positions of power who want to overturn that rise, including our heroes. I frankly enjoyed the descriptions of New York being underwater more than this part, but like climate change, it has a very real risk of happening in the future. ...more
A fun, fast paced science fiction thriller. I read it in 2 nights and couldn't put it down. The book is about the quantum theory of many worlds whichA fun, fast paced science fiction thriller. I read it in 2 nights and couldn't put it down. The book is about the quantum theory of many worlds which states that all decisions we make throughout our lives basically create branches, and that each possible path through the decision tree can be thought of as a parallel world. And in this book, someone invents a way to switch between these worlds. This was nicely alluded to/foreshadowed in this quote:
(view spoiler)[This book can't be discussed without spoilers. It is a book about choice and regret. Ever regret not chasing the girl of your dreams so you can focus on your career? Well Jason2 made that choice and then did regret it. Clearly the author is trying to tell us to optimize for happiness - to be that second rate physics teacher at a community college if it means you can have a happy life. I'm being snarky because while there is certainly something to that, you also have to have meaning in your life that comes from within. I thought the book was a little shallow on this dimension. In fact, all the characters were fairly shallow. Daniela was the perfect wife. Ryan the perfect antithesis of Jason. Amanda the perfect loyal traveling companion, etc. This, plus the fact that the book was weak on the science are what led me to take a few stars off - but I'd still read it again if I could go back in time - was a very fun and engaging read.
If you want to really minimize regret, you have to live your life to avoid it in the first place. Regret can't be hacked, which is kind of the point of the book. My favorite book about regret is Remains of the Day. I do really like the visualization of the decision tree though - that is a powerful concept.
A fun, humorous, fast-paced, and fascinating take on what happens when an AI awakens. In order to tell this story, Reid invents a fictional SiliconA fun, humorous, fast-paced, and fascinating take on what happens when an AI awakens. In order to tell this story, Reid invents a fictional Silicon Valley company called Pluttr, which seems sort of like a mashup of Snapchat+Facebook+WeChat but with more big data about us all, so it’s able to really personalize it’s experience. Frankly it seems like a good idea and where the afore mentioned companies are likely going. And this is one of my favorite things about good science fiction - it predicts the future. While not everything about this novel will come true, it is clear that Reid - who is a former tech CEO himself (and disclosure, a friend) - did his homework about technological trends and weaves them in nicely to a thrilling singularity story (Note: the book doesn’t use the word “singularity” at all, in a homage to current silicon valley trends, because for some reason that I get but don’t quite understand that word is passé - but instead to renames it “the omega point”).
One of the most interesting aspects of the book for me is the fictional company Phluttr. I mean, when an AI finally awakens you’d have to put your money on Google doing it (if it happens in the private sector) - they are the furthest along in the intersection of having the key ingredients: lots of data about people, AI technology, and computing power. But I suppose it would be weird to use a real company - Dave Eggers The Circle was similar in describing a company that was basically FB+Google. But as I said, it does seem like the descriptions of Phluttr will happen, once the both the AI improves (pretty much possible now), the dataset known about each user vastly increases (happening in some pockets), and computing power improves (will be there soon). And thinking through the possibilities of what that will enable was super fun. For instance, there was an scene in the beginning of the book where Phluttr deduced that two of the characters were at the same bar and likely there on a date, and gave them coupons and messages/information appropriate to that deduction.
One of the more interesting philosophical questions tackled by the book is: should we try to accelerate creation of a super AI? Since the first one created will have a decisive advantage and any other super AI’s created will never catch up to its intelligence nor power. Many think that the creation of a super AI is inevitable anyways, and there is a chance that whoever creates it may retain some control or benefit - though there is a very high risk you wouldn't - which is the debate. (view spoiler)[The book has characters that take both sides of this question, but ultimately lands that major countries (US, China, others) will get into an “arms race” and strive to create it. Doesn’t seem unlikely. AI in general (regardless of a super AI) will be the next nuclear arms race, no question - already is if you look at all the hacking and security issues (eg US presidential election). (hide spoiler)]
But don’t let my introspections about the subject matter make you think this is a deep thinking AI book. It is a fast paced, fun thriller with a twist at the end. It’s also got a good amount of self-deprecating-silicon-valley humor - eg I loved the fictional persuadif.er blog, with posts such as “Eat on the phone” and then you find poor characters like Pugwash doing just that. Or fun references thrown in like how Tim Tebow is now a VR tycoon (huh?). Bottom line: this captures interesting technological trends in a humorous & thrilling read - highly recommended!...more
My first Scalzi book - and really enjoyed it. Delightful well written science fiction book set in the future in a time when humanity is spread outMy first Scalzi book - and really enjoyed it. Delightful well written science fiction book set in the future in a time when humanity is spread out across space and can travel between planets using "the flow".
I liked how this universe was entirely designed around one huge natural resource (the flow). The entire balance of power was created because the people who controlled the most valuable planet (Hub) started out as armed toll collectors. And from there they shared power with anyone who could contest them, and thus created lots of other Houses and Guilds. With this power dynamic established, the book then delves into the question of what happens if the main natural resource should change.
One other thing that I liked even though it was minor to the book was how the emperox's all had all themselves recorded for their entire lives - all neurological happenings in their brains. This lets you create an AI against that dataset that let's you sort of recreate their personality. This idea is interesting, though I think if it did exist it would be much more transformative than it was represented in the book. However makes you wonder if people aren't already starting to do things like this.
I really enjoyed this book, and there is a lot to recommend it. It did drag on a little at the end so I knocked off 1 star - but overall a wow book.
I really enjoyed this book, and there is a lot to recommend it. It did drag on a little at the end so I knocked off 1 star - but overall a wow book.
It's the story of a starship sent to Tau Ceti - the nearest star that has Earth analog planets - to colonize it. The journey there will take generations, and the story is told of the 3rd & 4th (?) generations, which are the ones that reaches Tau Ceti. It is a story of purpose, and how having a purpose affects behavior. A story of politics, and people.
The first cool thing about this book is the richness of its world. The ship is intricate and large in its design and ambition to shepherd ~1200 people for that much time. It had 3D printers that can print almost anything you can imagine - even DNA - or more printers - so little goes lacking that can't be recreated.
But the thing that makes this book brilliant is the Ship. The AI that controls the ship, who is narrating the book by the end. It's observations about humans and our language are just brilliant. It starts with the astute observation that human language is very imprecise, and relies heavily on metaphor and analogy. It is remarkable once you start to reflect on it, how true that is. To hear the AI reflect on this:
Basically we are a bunch of pattern matchers, trying to match things we've seen before to new things, and if they don't match perfectly, it doesn't matter, because matching helps us bucket and organize the new information. But this is incredibly fuzzy! The AI also makes hilarious observations like this:
Listening to the AI try to reason is also very interesting to my programmers mind. I especially loved it's discussion of the meaning of life - it really nails it. If a program (or a person) has no objective, it has no purpose, no meaning, no organizing principle, and it's existence will be in trouble. But if you have that meaning to organize your thoughts & actions - or your subroutines - than you have a purpose. Meaning is the hard problem indeed.
"We had a project on this trip back to the solar system, and that project was a labor of love. It absorbed all our operations entirely. It gave a meaning to our existence. And this is a very great gift; this, in the end, is what we think love gives, which is to say meaning. Because there is no very obvious meaning to be found in the universe, as far as we can tell. But a consciousness that cannot discern a meaning in existence is in trouble, very deep trouble, for at that point there is no organizing principle, no end to the halting problems, no reason to live, no love to be found. No: meaning is the hard problem."
(view spoiler)[My review focuses a lot on the AI, but that's not the main thrust of the book. The war between stayers and leavers, the political tensions, the slinghot maneuvers to get back - all make the book worth reading. And as a surfer, I love how it ends with Freya finding meaning in surfing waves. (hide spoiler)]...more
I love Stephenson - and this was another hit - absolutely loved it. The great thing about a good Stephenson book is it makes you think about theI love Stephenson - and this was another hit - absolutely loved it. The great thing about a good Stephenson book is it makes you think about the future in new ways, and this book was no exception.
It was really two books, and I certainly didn't see the second one coming. It starts out in modern times and then someone blows up the moon. We don't have time to find out who, as within a few years the fragments of the moon cause the worst asteriod shower earth has ever seen and wipe out all life in earth. We have time to send 1,500 people up into space - and this is their story.
The use of robots throughout the books was fascinating to me. Stephenson has clearly looked 10-20 years into our future and correctly predicted how it will go. From robot workers in space, nano-bots, nano-robot weapons, and more - we get a vivid portrayal of how robots might be a part of our future lives.
I thought the focus on use of whip technology in space was interesting. And of course, the whole notion of Cradle was just cool - though not sure about it's feasibility.
I couldn't put this book down. It was well written - even elegant in a way, as well as though provoking. I love post apocalyptic books as they areI couldn't put this book down. It was well written - even elegant in a way, as well as though provoking. I love post apocalyptic books as they are great canvas's for humanity, and what matters. In Station Eleven an Ebola-esque virus (the Georgia Flu) knocks out over 99% of the worlds population. This story is told half right before the collapse, and half afterwards, and has several threads that tie together nicely.
Reading how civilization and infrastructure all die after the collapse is fascinating. One by one, cable tv, the internet, water, and power all eventually stop working. Nobody is alive to maintain them - or who even knows how. Other infrastructure like gasoline to power cars and airplanes, groceries, guns, and even clothing all become rarer and rarer commodities. Really makes you realize how much we are standing on the shoulder of hundreds of years of progress and knowledge, and how far into the middle ages we could easily fall. We really know nothing individually - our civilization is based upon the collective knowledge of billions.
If there is a motto of the book, it's probably this quote: "Because survival is insufficient". Humanity craves for more than survival - we crave for something more out of life. The story follows a caravan of actors and musicians who travel from town to town to play Shakespeare, and bring some art and a shared experience. Interesting that of all the artists from the past 400 years, Shakespeare is the one that survives and still resonates.
The storyline pre-collapse that follows Arthur and his three wives is interesting. I won't say much about it, other than Arthur, his wives, and the paparazzi-turned-jounalist-turned-paramedic-turned-doctor Jeevan, seem to all be searching for meaning in their lives. And ironically Jeevan seems to find the most, becoming a doctor after the collapse. Also, I'm glad I'm not a Hollywood celebrity. The conversation between Arthur and Jeevan where Arthur just wants to talk about anything but himself stuck with me - sometimes we are all sick of talking about ourselves.
Regardless of what you think about this book, one thing is for sure - after you put it down and walk around the world, you are full of a newfound appreciation and gratitude for everything. Hopefully that appreciation and gratitude will stick around a little - though I know it will fade as months and years go by.
What a fun series. I loved Wool, and Dust and Shift both gave us the backstory to explain the world and how it ended up. I think the first book was byWhat a fun series. I loved Wool, and Dust and Shift both gave us the backstory to explain the world and how it ended up. I think the first book was by far the best, but this gave us a nice conclusion.
(view spoiler)[It was the conclusion we wanted to see - the people finally get outside! My problem with this book is there were lots of holes. A lot of the other reviews have pointed this out too, and I'm not sure if the fact I know it was self-published is biasing me to say it could have used more editing, but feels that way a little. But the writing was great.
There were lots of things that weren't cleared up or never really fully made sense. The major one is why Thurman really felt the need to destroy the whole world - feels like there could have been a lot more to that. It also wasn't clear how he really accomplished that - was it all nuclear or was it nano? If nuclear, wouldn't the world really be a wasteland?
Whatever happened to silo 40 and other silo's that went dark? I was kind of expecting that they had already broken outside and would have been waiting there. Or perhaps they already went to the sea and Hugh will tell us their story later.
What happens to the other silos after silo one is destroyed? Didn't it power their server rooms and probably provide other stuff including guidance to the silo heads? Will they make the 200 years on their own?
The mystery of silo 17 and why the dead bodies at the top didn't rot was never really explained. I'm guessing they were kept whole by healing nano's, but it felt like there was more to that story.
I didn't understand why Anna didn't come back to life. If Thurman could do so after being killed by Donald, why not her? All the love stories (Juliet and Kyle, Donald and Anna, etc ended up sadly - I wanted one happy one. (hide spoiler)]
If anything, I think this book is about hope and resiliency. Jules and Donald and even Solo weren't perfect, and suffered through a lot, but the only thing that kept them going was hope of a better life, and determination to keep themselves alive. That determination defined them and was what we admired about them. The hope was what gave them their drive. Hope is a powerful and necessary part of human psychology. ...more
A classic dystopian novel published in 1985, but still very relevant - and even trending in 2017 due to the political climate. I liked how it unfoldedA classic dystopian novel published in 1985, but still very relevant - and even trending in 2017 due to the political climate. I liked how it unfolded - we learn about the state of the world and what has happened to it very piecemeal throughout the book, and I think if Atwood had just described it all up front it wouldn't have been nearly as compelling.
This book seems to be a kind of warning. It describes a future state that is chilling and depressing, and yet (to the point) chillingly possible. It describes a society that has - for reasons we never quite learn (but might have to do with radiation or sterilization?) remade itself from one where everyone has basic freedom and choice, to one that is the opposite of that. Pleasure, poverty, and other evils are eliminated in this system. And most chillingly, women have almost no rights. The books main character is a "hand maiden" who's only role is to bear children from the person who seems to have purchased/acquired her for that purpose. She doesn't even have a proper name anymore - she is called "Offred" because she is the property "of Fred".
A lot of the book explores themes like the above - what it would be like to take away basic freedoms, choices, and also ability to have relationships with others. Chilling and depressing, because so much of what we value in modern society is our freedom. And yet, we do know that too much choice does paralyze, and many people want leaders and situations that simplify the decisions they have to make. This might sound like a balance, but its not, because our ability to make choice, especially bad choices, is actually crucial to our development.
This was an insightful sentence, because it implied the commander thought they were making society better, not worse, overall. And yet clearly for everyone in the book - including the commander - it doesn't sound better. Did they just miss the mark? Was it a big experiment gone wrong? Regardless, in todays world this sentence is perhaps most applicable:
Mark Watney is a steely-eyed missile man. A man's man. A badass mechanical engineer botanist astronaut who is stranded on Mars during a Nasa missionMark Watney is a steely-eyed missile man. A man's man. A badass mechanical engineer botanist astronaut who is stranded on Mars during a Nasa mission gone wrong, and left to fend for himself. I listened to this on audio on a roadtrip, and it flew by - what a fun story. Not surprised at all it's being made into a movie directed by Ridley Scott starring Matt Damon. Also pretty amazing is that it was self-published.
There were two great things about this book: the humor and the science. The science appealed to the mechanical engineer in me - Watney is a bit like McGyver except he knows a lot more about chemistry and botany. I didn't double-check all the science, but loved the descriptions of all the math: calorie calculations, creating water, etc. Just fun stuff.
But the humor was top notch. Weir does a great job portraying a stranded man trying to remain upbeat by talking to himself in log entries. And the excellent audio narrator only made it better.
In the end, a well told story of survival against the odds. And one of belief - I liked the CNN Mark Watney watch - you could totally imagine how into this story the media would get. We humans love a good surviving against the odds story. ...more
What an amazing, sprawling, realistic book. If we ever do populate Mars, I think this book will feel like a realistic blueprint of how it might go,What an amazing, sprawling, realistic book. If we ever do populate Mars, I think this book will feel like a realistic blueprint of how it might go, complete with technology that is applied, inter personal dynamics, politics, and more. Earth is of course over-populated, pushing over 10M people, and so the space of Mars is appealing and we send a ship to start to populate it. By the end of the book, there are many, many people on Mars, all living in bubble cities. The book moves around in who the main character is, across probably half a dozen protagonists. At first I was annoyed by this, but it was well done and I think I liked it by the end.
(view spoiler)[The first great debate that polarizes the first 100 settlers is whether or not to terraform Mars. There are "purists", largely the scientists who want to keep it as is, and then there are those who want to make it inhabitable, even if it takes a long time. The latter group eventually wins given the economic pressure from earth, but not easily. Speaking of economic pressure, this eventually causes an immigration spike, and then the creation of a lot of mining groups, and even a "space elevator" that is basically a cable that can lift large payloads off the planet and easily hurl them towards Earth.
The original settlers of Mars are very idealistic, looking to escape and reset what matters. They aren't from a single country, and strive to create a system where there is no economy and instead people are rewarded by their contribution to the system. This kind of thing doesn't scale of course as more people immigrate and economic pressures grow.
A fascinating development in the book is the invention of a treatment that enables significant life longevity. This is something I fully expect will happen at some point as there is no law of physics we are aware of that would prevent it. The interesting thing about this, is it will have all kinds of side affects on our society - the obvious one will be a population explosion. But the first generation that has it will be a kind of adam and eve as they will live a very long time and have the opportunity to control and own a lot. You can also afford to take a longer term view, for instance embarking on projects that might take 30 years.
**spoiler alert** The conclusion to the epic of Hyperion, and a worthy one at that. I loved this series, and didn't expect I'd find the love story of**spoiler alert** The conclusion to the epic of Hyperion, and a worthy one at that. I loved this series, and didn't expect I'd find the love story of Aenea and Raul so powerful.
In two words, this series was about evolution and love.
The Hyperion story is Yet Another Science Fiction Story About Artificial Intelligence (YASFSAAI) - but it's a damn good one, and more thought out and intricate than any I've ever seen. The Core is split into factions - the TODO - that fight and war amongst themselves, much as humans do.
The Core evolved from people. Core entities lacked empathy - or the ability to love - and were thus never able to evolve past being a parasite on humanity. (view spoiler)[The farcaster network was their first parasitic approach, the cruciforms were their second. (hide spoiler)]
It's kind of sad that the Catholic Church is the evil character in the book. But is equally clear that after a great traumatic event like the Fall of the Farcasters, humanity turns to fear and uncertainty, and thus to religion. Unfortunately, the people in charge of that religion are the wrong sort, whose goal is power rather than the good of humanity.
The curiously named "Void Which Binds" is the true all-encompassing force in the universe. It is described in the following quotes:
The one thing I never understood about this series is the Shrike. Why does he exist? In earlier books he's an evil entity. And now we learn something more about his relationship with Colonel Kassad, but not enough to explain his presence or why Aenea is able to rein him in - he almost becomes a good guy.
The thing I love most about this book, is that the true path, which Aenea is leading humanity on, can only be explained as a love story. Her and Raul's love is a worthy and necessary ending to The Cantos.
I really enjoyed this book. Some people told me that book 3 wasn't the match of books one and two, but I really quite enjoyed it. I'm struggling toI really enjoyed this book. Some people told me that book 3 wasn't the match of books one and two, but I really quite enjoyed it. I'm struggling to put my finger on it, but I think the dynamic of Raul, Aenea, and A Bettik was a strong one - they clearly cared for each other, and you could see that they would even love each other in the future.
It had all the elements of a great epic: strong heroes on a mission that is important to humanity, an evil empire trying to stop them, and a mysterious force in the universe trying to help them. The world is almost 300 years after the fall of the farcasters, and is described in such a way as to almost be nostalgic. The hawking mat, all the characters and elements of Cantos, the consul's ship, etc.
One of the major themes of the book seems to be how the universe can be incredibly harsh. This quote captures it nicely:
In harsh times, people often turn towards religion. Fascinating to see that after the Fall, after all the chaos and war and death that ensued, it was the Catholic church that rose to power, and goes onto to rule the universe. People are comforted by its ability to make the universe safe for them with the power of the cruciform.
One of the themes of the book is definitely fear. Fear of death in particular. De Soya fears each death he has, Raul came close to death on Mare Infinitus with the sharks. The Chitchatuk were interesting here - having to live a particularly fearful life, dependent on the thing that eats them for food (artic wraiths).
But love is the counter to the theme of fear. We keep getting hints that Aenea is the missionary from the human god and will show us all a better path through love. Raul follows her because he believes in her - and it's clearly foreshadowed they will love each other. ...more
A fun fast paced book that sucks you in right away and doesn't let go. The remnants of humanity live in a 150 story silo below the earth and can'tA fun fast paced book that sucks you in right away and doesn't let go. The remnants of humanity live in a 150 story silo below the earth and can't leave as the outside is now toxic. This is a bit of an odd thing to have happened, but it gives us a nice palette to think about things.
Everything is rationed, including how many children you can have. People self-identify by their profession and where in the silo they live: farmers and mechanics in the lowers, IT in the mids, and professional class in the uppers. The working class wear color coded uniforms to easily distinguish them.
The book was a lot about control. How to control a contained civilization, and give them hope (eg a live feed of the outside) and yet keep them in harmony and doing their functions. Strange mechanisms of control were built all over the silo: communication was oddly limited given the IT resources they have - many messages had to be delivered by courier as emails cost valuable money to send. Most strange of all - there is no elevator, which forces anyone wanting to travel the length of the silo to spend 2-3 days on the journey.
The cleaning ritual was a strange bit of culture. (view spoiler)[Upon reflection, I can see why it was necessary. If people never go outside, uncertainty of it still being bad would creep in, and people would need to try it. As perhaps happened in Silo 17. (hide spoiler)]
I really liked the unraveling of Bernard, and how he went from repulsive/annoying, to understandable once you understood his role and responsibility. (view spoiler)[His role is to eliminate any doubt in the delicate balance of the silo. Opening the book up with the doubt of Holston was brilliant as it sucked you in immediately. (hide spoiler)]
I liked Juliet too - she was the right combo of being determined to do right, and having brains and grit. ...more
A hilarious romp through the known and unknown universe that exposes how ridiculous much of US copyright law is. Written by the founder of Rhapsody,A hilarious romp through the known and unknown universe that exposes how ridiculous much of US copyright law is. Written by the founder of Rhapsody, who knows a thing or two about music and the copyright surrounding it. What I didn't expect from a book by an entrepreneur is a funny book - and this book is not bad. It is being compared to Hitchhikers Guide, which nothing can approach, but its not bad. My only gripe would be there are a ton of footnotes that attempt to extend the humor and most of them didn't work for me.
The basic premise of the book is brilliant; that aliens have been listening to - and thus pirating - our music since 1977, without our knowledge. Because US copyright law states that a single case of intentional copyright violation can be fined $150,000 - this means the entire universe is many times over in debt to humanity.
It's pretty ridiculous that the music industry got such a big fine to be passed. I think one of my favorite parts of the book was learning about the law firm that Nick Carter works for, and seeing a little under the hood of how they operate.
I first read this ~10 years ago and just re-read it as someone reminded me that it predicts the future of reading. And it does - what I love aboutI first read this ~10 years ago and just re-read it as someone reminded me that it predicts the future of reading. And it does - what I love about Stephenson is his high level of prescient-ness. In fact I think it also predicts a lot of the future of nanotechnology and entertainment.
The Young Ladies Illustrated Primer is a dynamic book with an AI in it. Imagine Alexa or Siri in 5-10 years, smart enough to make up stories on the fly and answer questions about or even redirect the storyline. The YLIP is designed in the book for a 4 year old girl, Fiona, but Nell and a few other girls end up with them also. Maybe this resonated with me as I have a 4 year old girl and wish this existed for her. What's particularly powerful about this, is the story was able to be adaptive to the problems in Nell's life, and give her strength and confidence at moments when she needed it. Some cool trivia: Project Fiona was the codename for the Kindle. There is now a building at Amazon in Seattle named Fiona.
One of the pieces of magic of the Young Ladies Illustrated Primer was that for Nell and Fiona's editions, there were live actors ("ractors") on the other end, reading all the lines 1 on 1. This put a level of personalization and human connection into the story for the girls that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Learning about the marketplace of ractors was particularly interesting and it's hard to think such a thing won't exist in 2-5 years as VR takes off. Would you rather watch the movie Harry Potter or live act out the scenes with 2 friends as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and have professional actors play the other characters? You can imagine this being a big form of entertainment of the future.
The nanotechnology described in the book was also fascinating. Describing a world of robots and drones too small for the human eye to see, doing tasks and even fighting each other. Massive wars we perceive as "particularly dusty days". Poisoning or taking control of another person is as easy as getting them to inhale or injest some nanobots. The drummers were a particularly interesting notion of hive-mind, connecting multiple humans together through nanobots attached to their synapses on their brain. And then of course you have nanobots creating other bots, which led to this great quote:
But of course the biggest implication of nanotechnology is the ability to manipulate molecules and thus - given The Feed (which I somehow provides a stream of molecules & energy for manipulation) - you can make anything in a Matter Compiler (MC). This is kind of like what they had in Star Trek, and what 3D printing gives us .0001% of today.
The book is largely about what would happen to society if MC's were invented and much of the need for farming, manufacturing, etc was eliminated. Poverty would become even more prevalent, as would crime, governments would collapse, and of course, a class divide would emerge as never before, driven by those who have technology and those who don't. And of course, badass engineers like Hackworth will rule the day (kind of). I suppose in a way the book is about the fear of what will happen if technology progresses too far and leaves masses of humans without a purpose in life. Parking lots and chaos.
I cracked and finally picked this up. Very enjoyable quick read - couldn't put it down - it was like crack.
I'm a bit bothered by the lack ofI cracked and finally picked this up. Very enjoyable quick read - couldn't put it down - it was like crack.
I'm a bit bothered by the lack of backstory of how Panem and the Hunger Games come about. It is just kind of explained away in a few paragraphs and we are left to accept this very strange world where teenagers are pitted into an arena each year to kill each other? I was expecting it because I've seen Battle Royale, but I would have appreciated knowing more of the backstory of how the world could have come into such a odd state.
I suppose what makes a book like this interesting is thinking about the strategy of it all. The players are going to be statistically encouraged to band together because they will last longer that way, but by definition of course any partnership will be broken, and the drama of how that unfolds is always interesting and full of friendships broken and betrayal. Each character approached the game in their own way. Some banded together in larger coalitions, some were loners initially and banded together later. And some were just loners, like Foxface. A lot depended on your survival skill: could you find food and water on your own? Self-dependence is highly valued - and of course our hero was strong there.
All in all, a fun read, but I feel kind of dirty for having read it. ...more
As an engineer I couldn't help but love this book. It's full of logic games! The 3 rules of robotics are a very rich medium for lots of fun puzzles,As an engineer I couldn't help but love this book. It's full of logic games! The 3 rules of robotics are a very rich medium for lots of fun puzzles, and I very much enjoyed reading them. I think the book originally came out in serial form, as it was broken down into short stories or capers. Kind of reminded me of Sherlock Holmes - another favorite of mine.
Examining robots also gave a canvas for defining what it is to be human. I loved the robot religion story. Robots with a superiority complexes - but thank goodness for that first law or it would be a Terminator-style story.
According to Asimov's predictions, in 2009 the robot revolution should be in full swing. But I don't see a lot of robots around. Anyone have a good prediction on where we are with robots? When will we have pet robots and robot laborers? ...more
I enjoyed every second of this book. I haven't read a time travel book in a long time, but loved this one, as the descriptions of London in 1812 wereI enjoyed every second of this book. I haven't read a time travel book in a long time, but loved this one, as the descriptions of London in 1812 were very rich. I loved how Lord Byron and other famous poets were running around, and the descriptions of all the beggars were fascinating. Add in some ancient Egyptian magic and you've got a great book!
Random sidenote: It's interesting to think that back then poets were the rockstars of the age, as the only form of mass-media was newspapers, so those who mastered the written word could be broadcast much further than any musician or actor. How times have changed!...more