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Accelerando (2005)

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Re: Accelerando (2005)

#51

Post by Matumio »

joe-collins wrote: post #24
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…

Worth noting the author's warning on TMoPI: "This online novel contains strong language and extreme depictions of acts of sex and violence." This is very much not a routine notice, and it runs the gamut from elder abuse to self-mutilation to suicide to torture to necrophilia to drug abuse to underage sex. It is fascinating , but it is a story of deeply unhealthy people doing deeply unhealthy things. I say this as som…

It's a fair warning, but (apart from the "over-controlling parent" track), the book is not all about those things. I find a classic like Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" more disturbing (still worth it), though it has only a single crime and is otherwise filled with nice, supporting people.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#52

Post by PhasmaFelis »

_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…

Greg Egan is fascinating. His storytelling and characters feel oddly flat and sterile to me, but he's the only sci-fi author in 25 years of adulthood that regularly makes me think "I'm not quite smart enough to be reading this," and that's pretty impressive.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#54

Post by joe-collins »

gravenimage wrote: post #43
peterldowns wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

I read ADITS, and then only got partway through AFUTD before getting distracted. You have me curious enough to consider a second attempt at reading through the latter. My parting impression of ADITS was just deep disgust and sadness about the human cultures.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#55

Post by thom »

Vivid memories of downloading and reading this (in one of its earlier forms before 2005) over a couple of days of commute on my HTC Typhoon smartphone. Definitely felt the future beginning to arrive.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#56

Post by radarsat1 »

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

> his book should not be taken as a manual for the future, and rather as a cautionary tale and fantastically creative techno future

Frankly a lot of sci-fi that is intended as the latter is often taken as the former. I feel like there is some kind of lesson there: if you create it, expect someone to take it the wrong way.

If you are depicting a dystopia, be aware that there is a selection of people out there that will consider it a utopia from the point of view of the worst characters in the book and say to themselves, "that sounds awesome, I'm going to build that."

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#57

Post by loxias »

radarsat1 wrote: post #56
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

> his book should not be taken as a manual for the future, and rather as a cautionary tale and fantastically creative techno future Frankly a lot of sci-fi that is intended as the latter is often taken as the former. I feel like there is some kind of lesson there: if you create it, expect someone to take it the wrong way. If you are depicting a dystopia, be aware that there is a selection of people out there that wil…

I think you are (depressingly?) correct. c.f. Xi's China. I had no idea... In stories after stories I've heard from friends who escaped I kept thinking "this is just a cheap rip off of 1984".

Of course, none of them had read 1984...

Edit: With apologies for a lack of citation, there is a growing problem in the functional design and layout of government and law enforcement command offices. Upper management had brought in a design firm to make a new counterterrorism center, and they looked to Hollywood as inspiration. As a result, day-to-day operations were impaired, because of course that's not what real work looks like. There's no "huge screen" covering a whole wall or everyone using touchscreens.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#58

Post by gpderetta »

HyperSane wrote: post #42
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.

Is Greg Egan even his name? Does anybody have met him IRL?

edit: also his short stories are excellent.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#59

Post by winReInstall »

egypturnash wrote: post #8
yurymik wrote: post #7

It seems to be a third book in a series. Do you need to read Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise before this one?

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

They came before and were better in all aspects.

Re: Accelerando (2005)

#60

Post by nicopappl »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #3
hyperkewb wrote: post #2

This is one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time. The explorations into autonomous corporations comprised primarily from software as some of the main economic and legal actors was quite interesting.

I still think about the bit where they weaponized a sentient alien pyramid scheme.

Consider reading Existence by David Brin. The book premise is the first alien contact being a pyramid scheme.
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