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Accelerando (2005)

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Re: Accelerando (2005)

#41

Post by jasonladuke0311 »

_jal wrote: post #11

Structurally, the book is a mess. But it is a narrative disaster much like Snow Crash , in which it doesn't matter because you're so busy trying to integrate all the mind candy you don't notice until a re-read. I feel like there are other science fiction books like this - overstuffed with lovely things to think about, from an author who is either inexperienced or doesn't care about the craft side. (In this case, Char…

Qntm (Sam Hughes) has a number of works like this. Ra, Fine Structure, and There is no Antimemetics Division are fun reads that get really messy at times.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#42

Post by HyperSane »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #34

Upon frequent recommendations via HN, I found a copy in a second hand shop whilst on holiday in Perth. Once I'm done with Permutation City (by Greg Egan - who, conincidentally is from WA) Accelerando is top of the reading list.

I've read almost all of his books and short stories. Quarantine, Permutation City, and Diaspora are my faves. Go find Egan and get a picture of him. There doesn't seem to be any on the Internet, which is pretty strange.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#43

Post by gravenimage »

peterldowns wrote: post #32
philipkglass wrote: post #22

If you liked Accelerando (and I sure did!), you may also like Stross's Palimpsest and Glasshouse [1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palimpsest_(novella) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasshouse_(novel) The rougher The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams is also worth trying: http://localroger.com/prime-intellect/ Also A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, and Ken MacLeod's Fall Revolution series. The l…

Strongly recommend reading A Deepness In The Sky before reading A Fire Upon the Deep . They're both good books but ADITS is phenomenal and much more similar to Accelerando , whereas AFUTD is less "hard sci-fi" and more "fantasy".

I'd absolutely disagree. If you read ADITS before AFUTD, you'll miss out on one of the major themes of ADITS - that you, the reader knows what's going on, and that the characters don't. That you know how it ends (well, ish), that you know the secrets they don't. That tension - maintained over such a large book - is what makes it so good!

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#44

Post by loxias »

This book was THE ONE that made me realize, far FAR later in life than my peers, (my early 30s) that reading fiction -- that horrible chore you were forced to do in high school -- can be fun. You never forget your first time.

A close and long time friend* kept pushing it on me, saying gibberish like "intelligent space lobsters!!" while I rolled my eyes at him.

Finally, I gave in and agreed to read a few chapters. I ended up not putting the book down for hours.

After that, it was undeniable I had managed to acquire yet another addiction. ;-)

Quickly it progressed, intentionally alternating between "books my friends think I will like"** and "things from the canon for a well balanced diet". A Fire upon the Deep, Foundation series, Halting State***, Rendezvous with Rama, Snow Crash, Permutation City, Dune, Diaspora, Schild's Ladder... ... and then a friend handed me Player of Games, then Excession. Wow.

Luminous.

Dark Integers.

I worry that I've only been enjoying written fiction for fun for a few years, but, because I am surrounded by aficionados, am already spoiled by having experienced "the best of the best" :)

*Thanks, Gene :D That was a gift that keeps on giving almost 10 years later.

**being a nerd, many of my friends are scifi book experts, you know the sort, shelves and shelves of books.

***Thanks, kcr love $TROPE, I hate spoilers, and not telling me more than "just read it".

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#45

Post by necubi »

chadcmulligan wrote: post #35

For any fans Stross is quite active on reddit https://old.reddit.com/user/cstross . I was pleasantly surprised when I mentioned one of his books and got a reply from him, he seems very happy to talk about his craft.

And here: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cstross

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#46

Post by loxias »

mindcrime wrote: post #30
philipkglass wrote: post #22

If you liked Accelerando (and I sure did!), you may also like Stross's Palimpsest and Glasshouse [1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palimpsest_(novella) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasshouse_(novel) The rougher The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams is also worth trying: http://localroger.com/prime-intellect/ Also A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, and Ken MacLeod's Fall Revolution series. The l…

I have yet to read Accelerando , but Glasshouse was amazing. It definitely gets my endorsement. I would further suggest that anyone who likes Glasshouse might like Permutation City by Greg Egan.

I have never read Glasshouse but I loved Permutation City (though I think Diaspora and Schild's Ladder were even better. Luminous/Dark Integers and Palimpsest are tied in my mind for "best short story")

I would posit that since you like Greg Egan, I consider Egan one of my 3 fav. authors, and Accelerando was the book that...well... got me to read books! That it's reasonable to suspect you would strongly like it as well. :D

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#47

Post by Animats »

joe-collins wrote: post #26
richardhod wrote: post #20

Do please note that Stross is quite well known not to a fan of the idea of the Singularity, and that his book should not be taken as a manual for the future, and rather as a cautionary tale and fantastically creative techno future

> Some of you might assume that, as the author of books like "Singularity Sky" and "Accelerando", I attribute this to an impending technological singularity, to our development of self-improving artificial intelligence and mind uploading and the whole wish-list of transhumanist aspirations promoted by the likes of Ray Kurzweil. Unfortunately this isn't the case. I think transhumanism is a warmed-over Christian heresy…

> I think transhumanism is a warmed-over Christian heresy.

There's some of that. "Uploading" is going to be really tough. Probably harder than strong AI. If you can build weakly godlike AIs, why bother uploading obsolete biobrain content into advanced hardware?

Although life extension is likely, in the form of editing DNA into a new longer-lived race. Retrofitting existing people is less likely to work.

I don't see strong AI in sight yet, but we're getting progress in the more "human" areas, like art. We may get Microsoft Middle Manager 2.0 before we get a robot that can do auto repair. Then we get "machines should think, people should work", and highly-profitable machine-run companies. This is perhaps followed by the Butlerian jihad.

There's been an implicit assumption in SF that AI capabilities would progress roughly in the direction of skills which lead to increased income levels in humans. That may have been a bad guess. Watch the public rhetoric change when the first machine CEOs outperform humans.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#48

Post by dragonwriter »

joe-collins wrote: post #26
richardhod wrote: post #20

Do please note that Stross is quite well known not to a fan of the idea of the Singularity, and that his book should not be taken as a manual for the future, and rather as a cautionary tale and fantastically creative techno future

> Some of you might assume that, as the author of books like "Singularity Sky" and "Accelerando", I attribute this to an impending technological singularity, to our development of self-improving artificial intelligence and mind uploading and the whole wish-list of transhumanist aspirations promoted by the likes of Ray Kurzweil. Unfortunately this isn't the case. I think transhumanism is a warmed-over Christian heresy…

> I think transhumanism is a warmed-over Christian heresy.

Christianity covers enough time and space that basically every idea that isn’t Christian orthodoxy is found in Christian heresy, so that’s probably true but not a ground for dismissal except from tbe perspective of Christian orthodoxy.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#49

Post by endtime »

bdheifjsn wrote: post #27

I don't think the lack of coherency is a problem I think it's part of the experience of being an obsolete meat machine that is getting a direct injection of the future right into your brain. If you feel slightly confused about the rushed pace of the story good because that's how everyone else is feeling experiencing it, it's a wild ride, you're not entirely sure what's going on but it sure is simulating. Also another…

I also always interpreted the beginning of the book as deliberately written to make the reader feel the future shock that Manfred is trying to stay ahead of.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#50

Post by PhasmaFelis »

pinewurst wrote: post #10
egypturnash wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it is not related to those two books except insofar as they all involved writing around The Singularity.

Stross has explicitly written that he will not write a sequel to those two books.

IIRC, Because he realized he made a crucial mistake in the second one and it's too late to unpublish and rewrite it.

Which I might understand from most authors, but it seems oddly faint-hearted from Stross. Fuckin' retcon it, dude. Push updates for the ebooks, start the third book with a forward saying "the book you thought you read was a lie, here's what really happened." If any writer on Earth could get away with that, it's Stross.

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