Singularity Sky

Indomitus writes "I used to read tons of science fiction, nothing but for long stretches. Then I grew up and realized that most science fiction sucked. I look back on the time spent reading anything by Piers Anthony and know I'm going to be wishing I had those hours back when I'm older. Writers like Charlie Stross are the reason I know most SF sucks, because he does it so well. He fills this somewhat slim book with more ideas than any 10 other books from the section his work inhabits at the bookstore." Read on for the rest.

Singularity Sky
author	Charles Stross
pages	313
publisher	Berkley Pub Group
rating	9.9
reviewer	Matt Grommes
ISBN	0441010725
summary	A semi-sentient space travelling information gatherer called The Festival comes to a backward planet and instigates 1000 years of technological change in a month. The rulers of the world are not too happy and will use any means they have to stop the Festival, even if it means incurring the wrath of the super-AI that watches over the universe.

The main idea of the story, that a semi-sentient information-gathering alien system called the Festival comes to a backward farming planet and begins granting wishes -- in the form of advanced technology -- in exchange for stories and information, is only the seedbed for the larger exploration of the societally backward planetary system and what happens when the revolution you hoped to lead finally comes and it doesn't need you.

As a lifelong reader of science fiction, I hate that most SF is just as backward-looking as most Fantasy. Part of the problem with recent SF work is that we've come to a point in science where a lot of what made science fiction new has been done and what's coming is almost impossible to imagine, which I'll get to in a second. Space exploration can still be exciting but most new space stuff has been infected with the Star Trek Syndrome, as I call it, where everyone is boring and has no flaws, and the status quo rules. People just don't look to space exploration as exciting in real life so that translates to the SF work that people do. Real life science is changing so fast that it leaves even science fiction people in the dust. The result is the rise of 'Fantasy with robots and aliens' and 'Space Opera,' two facets of SF that seem to be dominating the landscape. Even Neal Stephenson, who was at the forefront of real technological future SF with The Diamond Age and Snow Crash has gone backward with Quicksilver and to a lesser extent Cryptonomicon.

The issue is The Singularity. This is Vernor Vinge's idea that technological progress proceeds at an exponential rate until there is a complete break with what came before. The End Of History, as people call it. This comes with the creation of a human-level AI that quickly proceeds past human-level, the invention of Upload technology that will allow us to live in computer systems and artificial bodies, something of that nature that we can't imagine. The problem with writing futuristic work in the time before a Singularity is that you can't see beyond it. Everything is different, so much so that all we can hope for is the fire up our imaginations to the point where we can begin to think in new ways.

One of the main goals of science fiction as I see it is to prepare us for the future. You can't hope to cope with the future if you've never been innoculated with new ideas. Singularity Sky is one of the first post-Singularity novels I've read that takes the idea seriously and examines it, allowing us to open our minds to the vast possibilities. Stross doesn't shy away from it like so many others. He uses the Festival's coming to show the speed of the change that comes with a technological Singularity and what happens to people in the aftermath. He also shows a culture trying desperately to hang on to old ways and the futility of doing that in the face of such rapid change.

There are problems with the book, mostly in the perennial bugbear of science-fiction, character development, but the rush of ideas glossed over that for me. This is only Mr. Stross's second book, I believe, the first being a collection of short stories called Toast: And Other Rusted Futures, that is high on my Must Read list. Charles Stross is a name that you will hopefully hear a lot more from in the coming years. His imagination is up there with the best and brightest and with his work as an accelerant my mind can't help but burn with new ideas. I hope more science fiction writers see this book and decide to move forward to meet him.

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Does it so well?

[CanSpice]

Writers like Charlie Stross are the reason I know most SF sucks, because he does it so well.

So you're saying he's good at writing SF that sucks?

Re:Does it so well?

[shut_up_man]

I think he means it like Jackie Chan movies... when you examine the plot, acting, dialogue, pacing, makeup and costumes, they are terrible. It's just that the stunts/kung-fu aspect is so cool, that you really enjoy the movie.

Not surprisingly, this works for porn as well.

Re:Does it so well?

[pilgrim23]

Sturgeon's Law as in Theodore Sturgeon, author and editor of Sci Fi of "The Golden Age" and the period just after that, said it best when staring at the Slush pile (the unsolisited manuscripts) on his desk: "90% of everything is Crud!"

Re:Does it so well?

[saden1]

I want to know if he is Charlie Stross with all the Amazon.com self-reviewing [slashdot.org] that has been going.

Re:Does it so well?

[Anonymous Coward]

I look back on the time spent reading anything by Piers Anthony and know I'm going to be wishing I had those hours back when I'm older.

Don't live in the past. If you enjoyed the books at the time you were reading them, they fulfilled their purpose. What else exactly would you have done if someone had convinced you that you'd dislike them later? Probably nothing nearly as much fun as the reading you actually did.

Re:Does it so well?

[GCP]

So you're saying he's good at writing SF that sucks?

The whole industry is.

What we need is today's equivalent of a "2001" (though we can do without the incomprehensible plot).

By that I mean SF that makes a serious attempt at creating a plausible future about a generation ahead that puts so much effort into the details that the more you know about the subject matter, the more impressed you are. An intriguing, thought-provoking and informative preview of a world that well-informed people consider so well t

Re:Does it so well?

[T3kno]

Kind of like LOTR in space? That question is slightly tounge in cheek, but that is also exactly what I have been craving. An imersive, embracing, extremely detailed SCI-FI "sub-genre", for lack of a better term.

Re:Does it so well?

[GCP]

I think you missed the whole FICTION part.

I think you missed the whole IMAGINATION part.

Fiction doesn't require the environment to be cartoonish or absurd, nor does a detailed and realistic environment rule out detailed and realistic characters.

Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October has plenty of character interaction, and it's all played out in the amazing environment of real 1980s submarine technology and real 1980s international politics. When I was at the Naval Academy, midshipmen (the students) were required to read it for the many interacting issues of technology, politics, leadership styles, organizational structure, etc.

Now imagine something similar to Hunt for Red October but stretching to predict the technological, political, social, economic etc. circumstances of a generation or so from now. (And all of those aspects drive each other and provide real motivations for the characters.)

Assume a Clancy-like author who will put as much effort into his predicted details as the real Clancy does into his fiction. Despite the inevitable forecasting errors, a good, well-informed, careful Clancyish author who did a lot of interviews and a lot of study could create a story that would be far more interesting than just character interactions in the semi-void of a poorly developed environment.

Personally, I thought 2001 was incredibly boring.

I don't admire the plot, just the creation of realistic vignettes (based on what was known at that time) of a possible future. As soon as it got beyond Jupiter, it was just random noise as far as I was concerned, but those aspects aren't what I'm referring to.

If you want factually based forward thinking literature, go read NASA manuals.

I have, which is why I'm no longer satisfied with today's SF comic books. I think real life is far more interesting, and that goes double for realistic speculations on our future lives.

I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by NASA people when I was a kid, back when 2001 (movie) came out. I assure you that the NASA folks were entranced by the scenes from 2001 of the space station docking maneuvers, of the interactions of the human crew with the onboard computer (HAL) and other aspects of the movie. It spurred a lot of discussions.

Imagine such a movie or novel created today. Forget about aliens and hokey telepathic beings and other nonsense. If space is involved, it should just be a reasonable near-Earth industrial and scientific environment. The real thing is more amazing than any alien stories or other hokum. Or, just keep it on Earth.

Extrapolate today's infant technologies, social movements, economic changes, political changes, etc. with imagination and Clancy-like attention to detail, then (unlike 2001, but like Clancy) have a real plot with real characters against a background that seems even more plausible to the well-informed than to the general public.... ...and THAT is what I'd love to see.

Re:Does it so well?

[SpinningAround]

You are so right...Rendezvous With Rama is one of the seminal works of SF.

Rama is perhaps the first SF book I read where alien technology is just incomprehensible to humans. Rama comes, Rama goes and we are not much the wiser at the end of the book about what it is. Far more likely than the Star Trek ubiquitous humanoid scenario.

Sadly the 4 follow-up books (which I seem to recall are co-written with someone) are a waste of paper.

Re:Does it so well?

[critter_hunter]

I believe both book and screenplay were written in parallel, and IMDB seem to confirm that.

The screenplay was written primarily by Kubrick and the novel primarily by Clarke, each working simultaneously and also providing feedback to the other. As the story went through many revisions, changes in the novel were taken over into the screenplay and vice versa. It was also unclear whether film or novel would be released first; in the end it was the film. Kubrick was to have been credited as second author of the

Heh. Gottalove it.

[dragondm]

I thought it was good.

You got to love a book that starts with it raining telephones.

Re:Heh. Gottalove it.

[Soruk]

Where are the telephone sanitizers? Or have they all been carted off elsewhere already? If so, it's only a matter of time before they're all wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from an unexpectedly dirty telephone.

Play nice with Piers Anthony

[YukioMishima]

Play nice with Piers Anthony. While Anthony's sci-fi books are definitely space opera, without his work, I would never have become the sci-fi reader I am today. His "Bio of a Space Tyrant" series was my first glimpse into some of the ideas that would germinate into a lifelong love of science fiction. He's an enthusiastic writer, and really does interact well with his fans, as evidenced by the fan correspondence he includes at the end of his books. Finally, at least it's reading and it's fun - I think the tradeoff for my hours is well worth it.

Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony

[Mukaikubo]

I don't have any use for most of Anthony's work, but his Incarnations of Immortality series was generally high-quality.

Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony

[Nom du Keyboard]

I especially like his Apprentice Adept series.

Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony

[kfg]

On a Pale Horse is a wonder. If this is the sort of thing that Mr. Anthony is capable of I certainly wish he'd produce more of it.

With each further volume however he "progressed" more and more toward his standard goofey fantasy style, which is fine for a book or two of light reading, but that's about it. It gets old, in a hurry.

So, while in essence I agree with you, I nonetheless found the series as a whole dissapointing.

KFG

Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony

[Mukaikubo]

Hmm. I do agree that On a Pale Horse is best, but I don't think there's a clear downward trend later. It's more bumpy than a simple slide.

The one about Time is forgettable but inoffensive; however, Fate is quite good. War is slightly bad, Nature's a bit above mediocre. "For Love of Evil", in my book, is almost as good as "On a Pale Horse" though.

There was no seventh novel in the series. I refuse to acknowledge its existence.

Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony

[TopShelf]

I think the series could have been summed up as "On a Pale Horse" followed by "Beating a Dead Horse..." Like many authors, Anthony couldn't just let a good book stand on its own, he had to follow up with sequel after sequel after sequel...

Personally, I liked his Tarot books as well, though.

Re:Play nice with Piers Anthony

[Anonymous Coward]

Piers Anthony -- SF's most prolific typist.

Piers Anthony advocates DRM

[dmaxwell]

Piers Anthony will never see another dime from me. He wrote in one his newsletters last year that he can't see "why some people get so outraged about protections on digital works". He often claims to hate tyranny and love personal liberty but is completely unable to see the connection those things have to DRM.

I had an email back and forth with him and he brushed off as completely unimportant:

Forced format changes
Locking independents out of the market
Forced choice of platforms
Retroactive changes of licensing terms
Rewriting history
Every other thing about DRM that is problematic.

Oh and he completely doesn't get that what one clever human can do another clever human can undo which ultimately makes the so-called benefits of DRM moot.

He seems to think that DRM is his only hope of getting paid in the future. I got the distinct impression that to him Disney and the *IAA are completely reasonable aggrieved souls. For all of his professed love of liberty and justice, he comes off like Jack Valenti when it comes to his wallet. His works emphasize his dislike of censorship. He hasn't seen anything yet and he has no idea that he is now an advocate of censorship. If he likes DRM then he'll have to like everything that comes with it.

This is fine. I won't misappropriate his stuff online but I won't fund him anymore.

Re:Piers Anthony advocates DRM

[cardshark2001]

Piers Anthony will never see another dime from me. He wrote in one his newsletters last year that he can't see "why some people get so outraged about protections on digital works". He often claims to hate tyranny and love personal liberty but is completely unable to see the connection those things have to DRM.

What's that got to do with whether you enjoy his fiction? It's like the Seinfeld where Elaine refuses to eat at Poppy's pizza place because he's against abortion.

Hell, I like some of L Ron Hubbard's stuff, and we all know what a psycho he was (he invented scientology, in case you didn't know).

The fact that he was even willing to discuss stuff with you is pretty impressive, even if you disagree. You may have no idea what other authors feel about your pet political issues, because they never interact with the public. Piers should be punished because he does interact with his fans?

Re:Piers Anthony advocates DRM

[dmaxwell]

It is because I find his position in context to be utterly offensive. Yes, he answers his own email. Yes he'll even discuss his own views. I'm not "punishing" him because he interacts with his fans. I'm "punishing" him for rank hypocrasy.

His favoring of DRM is completely counter to everything he claims to stand for. I also try to avoid funding DRM advocates on general principle. I'll grant that is difficult these days but I will boycott the more obvious ways of giving Disney money for instance.

I'll even still read his stuff but only if I can pick it legitimately without funding him. I'm thinking of things like libraries and used bookshops.

Re:Piers Anthony advocates DRM

[cardshark2001]

I'm "punishing" him for rank hypocrasy.

It's your right of course, and I agree with you on Disney, for more than just their DRM stance. The ironic thing with Piers is just that you would never know what his position was unless he had taken the time out of his day to answer your missives. Your sort of attitude is probably one reason many authors don't go to the trouble. They're bound to offend some people with whatever views they hold.

As far as DRM goes, I think you're putting the cart in front of the hor

Re:Piers Anthony advocates DRM

[Genda]

This is the problem with advances in technology that transcend the common man's ability to adapt. There are a few, a precious few who are ready and willing to advance themselves to the point of transhumanity. The rest of the race is not only unwilling, the entire conversation scares the holy bejesus out of them, and the last thing they want is a few folks receiving virtual godhood in their presense... ergo, ignorance, bgotry, and stupid fear (by the way one must also acknowlege not all that fear is stupid.)

Re:Early Works by Anthony

[farrellj]

I agree...but do remember one thing, he can only publish in book form what the publishers want...and all they want these days is Bubblegum Xanth. The last really intersting series he wrote was the Bio of a Space Tyrant...which is *so* applicable to today's circumstances with our "Friend" Bush & co in the White House.

ttyl
Farrell

Oh for christ's sake

[Mukaikubo]

Reviewer needs to get off his high horse. It's fine that you experienced a loss of faith or whatever the smeg changed for you, but don't insult the rest of us who still like the sci-fi you sneer at (ooohhh, space operas, how amusingly plebeian- give me a break).

Re:Oh for christ's sake

[rjelks]

Shhhhhhhh, I liked the Zahn Starwars books.

-

Re:Oh for christ's sake

[(trb001)]

Agreed. While I would never give out an award for the writing in the Xanth series, it was creative and entertaining. Not every movie will receive an Oscar, but that doesn't mean that they aren't great in their own respect. Let me guess, you think heavy metal is 'lots of noise and stuff' too?

--trb

We seem a little tender today, don't we?

[krilli]

Come now, there's no need to let your feelings be hurt ... by a book review.

But still I agree with you, partly: badmouthing is not needed to contrast praise.

Re:We seem a little tender today, don't we?

[Mukaikubo]

I am sick and tired of people telling me what I shouldn't like.

Re:We seem a little tender today, don't we?

[Scott Francis[Mecham]

You may want to stop reading the Internet, then.

Re:We seem a little tender today, don't we?

[nomadic]

I'd suggest avoiding "reviews" then.

Sorta agree with both points of view

[OmniGeek]

Yes, much SF is junk (like much of Zelazny and Farmer, and I *thoroughly enjoy* their work); that shouldn't surprise anyone. (Harlequin romances, anyone? Junk is all over literature, and SF is no exception.) Of course, "junk" here has a wildly variable and subjective meaning.

As far as space opera, I just finished David Weber's "Path of the Fury", and while it doesn't stand up there with Lois McMaster Bujold or C.J. Cherryh, or Weber's other works (comes off somewhat as though put together out of spare parts to turn a buck), it was a great way to spend a 6-hour airplane ride. Best thing I could have done with the time.

I've spent many an otherwise-wasted hour reading good and bad SF, and I cannot honestly say I regret ANY of it, even *shudder* half of Battlefield Earth (as a research project in "Gods below, surely the book wasn't THAT bad, the filmmaker musta taken liberties... Gaah, he didn't, it was, it was!"). Consider the alternatives, like Harlequin romances, USA Today, and broadcast TV. Even bad written fiction is better than most TV, and it lets us exercise our imaginations instead of rotting our minds.

Re:Sorta agree with both points of view

[Flamerule]

Funny you should mention David Weber because I'm reading Field of Dishonor now. Unfortunatly, although I rather liked the second book in the Honor series (I read it first off of the Baen free library), I think i'm going to stop after this one. I swear my hands start to feel sticky whenever Weber goes off on one of his "Honor is the bestest person in the world ever!!!" tangents. His admiration for his own main character borders on pornographic at times [...]

Yeah, a lot of people have this issue. I persona

Re:Oh for christ's sake

[Mukaikubo]

Help me better myself... where have I heard that before?

Anyway, if you look at the Ringworld cycle as juvenile, I have nothing but pity for you. If you disdain Manifold: Time and The Light of Other Days, I scorn you. And if you buy into the reviewer's hypothesis that a higher percentage of scifi sucks than ANY OTHER POP CULTURE FORMAT, I laugh at you.

Don't knock Piers Anthony

[AtariAmarok]

It is easy to knock the guy if you think he is 100% Xanth. However, this is the same guy responsible for "Macroscope" (Nebula award nomination). The Cluster/Tarot series is also a worthy effort, with imaginative aliens that beat Niven's creations. There is also "OX", a decent attempt to make a novel around John Conway's "Game of Life".

Re:Don't knock Piers Anthony

[IWantMoreSpamPlease]

In addition to some of the best short stories ever written, compiled into his "Anthanology"

Anthonology

[AtariAmarok]

I was going to include "Anthonology", but wasn't sure it was 100% fantasy-free. I was listing only the science-fiction stuff.

Re:Don't knock Piers Anthony

[moving_comfort]

Yes, Macroscope - one of my all-time favorite SF novels. P.A.'s existance is justified by this work.

Re:Don't knock Piers Anthony

[hoggoth]

> It is easy to knock the guy if you think he is 100% Xanth

Funny you should say that. I read and loved 'OX' and rushed out to read 'Orn' and 'Omnivore'. I couldn't believe so many amazing ideas packed into one story.

Then, looking for more from this amazing writer, I read a Xanth novel. Oh well, anyone can make a mistake. Then I read another Xanth novel. I haven't touched Piers Anthony since. Stupid stories and characters who's sole reason for being in the book is to make a bad pun. What a waste of my t

Re:Don't knock Piers Anthony

[Nom du Keyboard]

I read a Xanth novel. Oh well, anyone can make a mistake.

If you say that, then you don't realize that PA was parodying the entire Wizard of OZ/Land of OZ series of books, with an adult twist.

Re:Don't knock Piers Anthony

[hoggoth]

> If you say that, then you don't realize that PA was parodying the entire Wizard of OZ/Land of OZ series of books, with an adult twist.

No, I "get it". It still sucked.

More to try

[AtariAmarok]

Since I didn't know if the next Piers Anthony novel I pick up will be crap or excellent I gave up on him

Anthony writes on three levels: at the bottom, there is Xanth. At the middle, there is Incarnations of Immortality. At the top, there is Macroscope and Chthon. He's been doing through all his career.

If you enjoy OX/Orn/Omnivore, you might like "Kirlian Quest". Yes, it is the 3rd book of a trilogy, but I read it first myself and had no problem from that.

Cool!

[Gr8Apes]

I'm always on the lookout for something different in the SF world. This review appears well done enough by not being all rosy, and instead focuses both on the pluses and minuses of the work. It has convinced me to at least look at the work for myself.
Thanks!

Ecology of Slashdot comments

[PanamaCongress]

Not off topic, but meta topic. Rarely do I get to see an interesting slashdot posting as it first appears. A moment of spare comments that allow me to post and comment. Unfortunately I have no interest to comment on this particular article -- but instead comment upon the peculiar way in which Slashdot articles resonate. Comments are a pyramid on slashdot. The earliest posters receive guaranteed exposure to meta-moderation. As the life of the posting grows, new comers, no matter how relevant their co

Re:Ecology of Slashdot comments

[rjelks]

While I agree with you in theory, you do realize that just because you haven't modified the default settings at the top of this page, others do set the page to "newest" on top. I like to customize it. I think people use most of their mod points on the newest story, so the old comments aren't read as much. You could stop wasting your time actually working and just visit the site more often. :)

-

Re:Ecology of Slashdot comments

[blindpoetx]

I just did some moderating and I noticed that most of the posts that caught my attention (aka visible, not collapsed) were already pegged out at 5. Such filtering helps when viewing the site, but it discourages moderators from culling through the dregs to find diamonds.

Piers Anthony?

[LordoftheFrings]

While agree much of his latest work is hogwash, in particular I really enoyedc the Battle Circle series. The characterization was weak, but the narration was quite good, IMO. Just saying, if you've never read any Piers Anthony, don't get the wrong impression from this. Some is good stuff.

Heinlein Doesn't Suck!

[waif69]

I know that you were writing a review of a book, not written by Heinlein, but the comment that most SciFi sucks, IMHO is going overboard. OK, perhaps 30% is lousy, and that might go even higher if you compare everyone to the standards that Heinlein and Clark and Asimov had set.

Obviously I have a lot of respect for the authors stated above, since they all have stong scientific backgrounds and truly understand the human condition. I just had to respond, don't hate me for message.

Re:Heinlein Doesn't Suck!

[bbsguru]

Not all SF is classic literature?

Pshaw! next you'll try to tell us that not all reality television is real, or that pro Wrestling isn't a sport.

Most of everything is not the Best of anything. Get a clue. It's reading the rest that makes the best such a treasure.

And lay off Piers Anthony. He ain't Heinlein or Asimov, but neither is William Gibson. Nobody is. That's why Heinlein and Asimov are important.

..the time spent reading anything by Piers Anthony

[burgburgburg]

I look back on the time spent reading anything by Piers Anthony and know I'm going to be wishing I had those hours back when I'm older.

Groan.[embarrassed shudder]
Proust and Joyce? No, don't have the time. I'm reading another Xanth book, thank you.

I'll be skulking over there, for now.

1000 years of technological change in a month.

[ch-chuck]

and you thought the patent office was busy and overwhelmed now

Speaking of bad...

[Euphonious Coward]

I just finished the worst book I have read in years -- "Chindi" by Jack McDermitt. It's awful from the very first line: "The Benjamin ... was at the extreme limit of its survey territory ..." Each chapter is worse than the last, each deft touch reveals it as the more tawdry. Chapters start with quotes from great but somehow sophomoric works of the 23rd century. The ship's captain is gorgeous but unfulfilled. Every character is bored with his or her life and life's work, desperate to relieve the tedium. Reading it was like watching a train wreck. Recommended, sort of.

Re:Speaking of bad...

[AKAImBatman]

Have you read his other books? He seemed to do best when he was writing Sci-Fi mystery, but pretty much all of his books are very dry reads. I'd almost go as far as to say they're painful to read. I think the only reason I keep reading them is because he throws out enough intrigue to keep you interested after reflection.

I've sort of developed a "take it in small quantities" approach to his writing.

My biggest complaint about McDevitt (and others)

[edremy]

He can't write endings. He's got the idea thing down pat, and many of his characters are interesting. (A Talent For War and The Hercules Text are good examples, and much better books than Chindi)

But he can't write an ending to save his life. His books just sort of peter out, or end so abruptly you're left going WTF? Destiny Road is a great example of the latter: major plot points are still being resolved on the 3rd to last page. Stephenson, for all that's he's loved here, is another like that. I love

try again

[lambent]

The whole "magic is indistinguishable ..." bit, as well as 'uploading' yourself into a computer, as well as 'let's see what happens when old fashioned cultures collide with new cultures' is all old hat. Already been done many times before.

This is nothing new. The man you extol as being a fresh creative force for the beleagured sci-fi genre is doing the same thing every author has done for the bast 80 years.

Re:try again

[Elwood P Dowd]

Thank you. (Score:5, Amen)

Also, it would have been helpful if the reviewer named another author or novel that he felt stood the test of time. That would give us a data point so that we could have some idea if we could trust his judgment of fresh creative force.

And regarding the so-called singularity

[Transient0]

Try Permutation City by Greg Egan, Everyone in Silico by Jim Munroe [nomediakings.org] or Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams [kuro5hin.org].

MOPI is even available as a free text at the website. And these are just the three excellent examples that spring to mind, I know I've read at least a dozen other decent explorations of this unimaginable future.

Re:And regarding the so-called singularity

[dsplat]

I don't get the impression from what I've read of Vinge that he views the singularity as a discontinuity. The problem is that we understand progress and innovation based on models of their first and second derivatives that simply won't apply beyond the singularity.

An interesting point to consider is that singularities have happened to humanity before, but on a greater time scale. Speech made it possible to convey information from one individual to another abstractly. Writing made it possible to convey information across distances and time. Each of these advances changed the nature of what is required for humans to acquire skills and knowledge and push beyond the boundaries of what is already known.

Try branching out..

[bravehamster]

If you think that the majority of scifi sucks these days, you aren't looking very hard. Try Iain M. Banks, anything of his, and then look me in the eye and tell me scifi sucks. Ditto for Stephen Baxter, or David Brin, or Greg Bear or Gregory Benford. Hmm...that's a lot of B's....

Re:Try branching out..

[Mukaikubo]

The joke in the fandom community is that they're the "Killer Bees".

Baxter earned my unending adulation for whatever part of "The Light of Other Days" he contributed with Clarke, and "Manifold: Time" sealed the deal. Favorite writer of the 1990s for me.

Re:Try branching out..

[Elwood P Dowd]

Try Iain M. Banks, anything of his, and then look me in the eye and tell me scifi sucks. Ditto for Stephen Baxter, or David Brin, or Greg Bear or Gregory Benford. Hmm...that's a lot of B's....

That's also a lot of men. Try Octavia Butler.

Re:Try branching out..

[Vlad_the_Inhaler]

Joan Vinge.

Her vision of the future was dominated by amoral corrupt corporations, hypocritical religion, by a class/caste system and by drug syndicates.

Then again, maybe that was just observation.

Re:Try branching out..

[AKAImBatman]

Ditto for Stephen Baxter

Ugh. Mainfold: Time was so damned depressing that I've vowed never to read another book by him. It started off so good too. "Man will get to space, even if he has to do it illegally." Then it degraded into franken-squids, everyone dies, and the Universe ends. Exactly how is this an entertaining read?

Re:Try branching out..

[Damek]

or Ken MacLeod or Alastair Reynolds or Kim Stanley Robinson or Octavia Butler or... there are so many (and they don't all have last names starting with B :)

Re:Try branching out..

[Flamerule]

Fine, I'll look you in the eye and tell you that I can't stand reading David Brin. His characters are flat and lifeless, altered however necessary to get across whatever "insightful" political or philosophical point he wants to emphasize this paragraph. Sundiver was okay, but Startide Rising and the Uplift War were absolutely hideously dry. Not only can he not do characters, he can't do plots or interesting situations either. I had to struggle to finish both of the above.

*stares* You think they were dry? Of all words, dry? Startide Rising and The Uplift War were full of... emotion, description, action... they were fucking organic. Sundiver was far plainer and drier than those 2. I thought the characters and plots were thoroughly engrossing.

All of the above are why sci-fi sucks. They're excellent examples of the "Plot? Characterization? Who needs those! We've got SCIENCE!" school of thought. They're so wrapped up in how scientifically accurate they are that they totally forget that scientific accuracy is not and has never been an element of an engaging story. Especially since their "accurate" predictions usually get disproven or debunked by scientists within six months of publication anyway.

At this point I have to question whether you actually intended the above to include Brin, since it doesn't describe his novels at all. So you've read Startide Rising and The Uplift War, right? Where were there any scientific predictions of any sort? The novels are far more character- and story-driven. The only thing that's even vaguely scientific is the entire process of uplifting dolphins and chimps; none of the technology used, for example, is gone into at all. It's just there: superluminal drives, probability drives, weapons, etc. All of those are "far-future magic" sort of technologies. Maybe Sundiver has some of what you're describing, but I'm familiar with Bear and Benford, and Brin's Uplift Trilogy, at least, is quite distant from their work.

And just as an aside, Benford's Timescape was superb.

Is this a book review?

[Mr2cents]

Or is it general SF bashing? Most SF sucks, I hate this, I hate that, that is boring, ...
The fact is: most x suck, where x can be anything you like (TV programs, /. stories, people, hookers, ...). Get over it and stay on topic next time.

Re:Is this a book review?

[Flyboy Connor]

most x suck, where x can be anything you like (TV programs, /. stories, people, hookers, ...)

Hookers only suck when you pay extra.

Re:Is this a book review?

[jdcook]

"most X suck" Best summarized as Sturgeon's Law: "90% of everything is crud." And hey, an SF author said it!

And when you're older still...

[Call Me Black Cloud]

...you'll look back on your Slashdot submission and realize what a pretentious uptight snob you were, and you'll wish you had the time back you spend shunning things that were actually entertaining.

Based on your review, I'll take Anthony over Stross:

There are problems with the book, mostly in the perennial bugbear of science-fiction, character development, but the rush of ideas glossed over that for me.

I'm sorry, I prefer a few good ideas and good characters versus poor characters and many ideas.

A Colder War

[HeghmoH]

If anybody is interested in seeing a glimpse of what this author can produce, his short story "A Colder War" is available online for free at http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.ht m [infinityplus.co.uk].

This story is one of the best I've ever read, and it's the only work of fiction I have ever encountered, on paper or on the screen, that actually managed to give me nightmares. Go read it if you haven't!

Re:A Colder War

[charlie]

"A Colder War" was a dry run for a novel.

That novel, "The Atrocity Archives", is due out in hardcover in the US this April/May.

You can pre-order it from Amazon.com here [amazon.com].

Piers Anthony

[nicophonica]

I do have one good thing to say about Pierce Anthony. I was reading him one day and suddenly a little thought balloon formed over my head which read: "This is crap." I threw the book down in disgust and learned a valuable lesson: it's not a moral failing to give up on a bad book. Quite the opposite, it a sin to reward a horrible writer by plowing threw dreck just to finish it.

Double edged sword

[AKAImBatman]

Sci-Fi has always been a bit difficult for me. I love the ideas of building new technology, visiting new worlds, and finding out new things about the Universe. Above all though, it still should be entertaining.

Unfortunately, most Sci-Fi writers fall into two categories:

1. Taking the "human condition" to the extreme. Futures where sex is the only thing driving humanity. Of course, they're so much more advanced than us because everyone has sex with everyone.

I hate to break it to the authors, but this sort of society would quickly degrade due to a lack of scientific focus. Not to mention that human feelings on the subject are actually pretty immutable. (No matter what anyone says.)

One way or another, these books are no more entertaining than a porno flick.

2. Fantasy dressed up as Sci-Fi. I personally don't like Fantasy books all that much. But these books make it that much worse. Most of them have space travel as a background to get to a fantasy-like world. After that, forget about the Sci-Fi.

Once on the fantasy world, the laws of physics no longer apply. There aren't even social-political issues to work out. There's just some big quest for something. Or a, "look at how much better they are than humans." Blech.

Personally, I thought Heinlen's juveniles were the best examples of Sci-Fi. Rocket Ship Galileo, The Rolling Stones, and Time for the Stars inspired those of us who wanted to some day reach the stars. Which is amusing since so many of his adult books fell into the categories above.

Here's what I'd like to see: Someone should write a series of books on what space would be like if we developed nuclear engines. (Orion, NERVA, GCNR, M2P2, NSWR, etc.) Build a grand story around the concepts and push the public to make it happen. We always see space as far in the future. It doesn't have to be!

An even better bit of Sci-Fi would be a television movie showing the conflicts of developing the first nuclear launch methods. The struggle between the pro and anti nuclear groups. Showing how far people are willing to go for their beliefs. And the results of finally reaching the stars.

Re:Double edged sword

[Mukaikubo]

Although it doesn't involve nuclear engines, I'd recommend the Firestar series by... um... Flynn. (I can't get to a search engine or Amazon, so working off memory- if Flynn fails, search for Firestar).

It's about, in extremely broad terms, how mankind goes from more or less current state to one where space travel is accepted as routine, unremarkable, and cheap, there's several large space stations in orbit, et cetera et cetera... basically, every space geek's dream of what could happen in the next 50 years.

For the love of God, though, stop after Rogue Star, the second book. The last two are a dramatic dropoff in quality.

Re:Double edged sword

[Nom du Keyboard]

Someone should write a series of books on what space would be like if we developed nuclear engines.

Day 1: Set out on trip to nearest star (not counting Sun).

Year 1: Still on course.

Decade 1: Still on course.

Century 1: Dead, but ship still on course.

Re:Double edged sword

[ultramk]

1. Taking the "human condition" to the extreme. Futures where sex is the only thing driving humanity. Of course, they're so much more advanced than us because everyone has sex with everyone.

There are lots of books about Europe.

m-

Re:Double edged sword

[Sloppy]

Futures where sex is the only thing driving humanity. Of course, they're so much more advanced than us because everyone has sex with everyone.

..
human feelings on the subject are actually pretty immutable.

Human feelings are mutable, because humans are mutable. I mean, if we're talking about Science Fiction, is altering humanity (e.g. genetic manipulation, cybernetic surgery, psychological brainwashing, etc) really that hard to swallow?

No, when it comes to human feelings in Science Fiction, I think jus

Re:Double edged sword

[ChaosDiscord]

Unfortunately, most Sci-Fi writers fall into two categories:

Two categories that I suspect you would define as crap. Always remember, 90% of everything is crap. [jargon.net]

Taking the "human condition" to the extreme.

It's a common technique in fiction to try and distill down something "pure" about humanity, to reveal things hidden by day-to-day life. Typically this is done by creating an unusual setting to eliminate reader's preconceived notions. You might do this by trapping children on an island [gerenser.com], sending someo [jaffebros.com]

Destination Moon

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

>An even better bit of Sci-Fi would be a television movie showing the conflicts of developing the first nuclear launch methods

Heinlein's "Destination Moon" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042393/) had this as a plot element. 1950.

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Re:

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If You're Unhappy with SF...

[Nom du Keyboard]

If you're unhappy with the state of SF, perhaps you've just been reading the wrong SF. I am not yet nearly so ready to consign away the entire field (with the exception of a few remaining choice nuggets) as you sound to be. This may well be an excellent book, however there remain more worthwhile books and authors out there to read that I've already discovered (and don't yet have time for) for me to believe SF is a dying field.

And as another person who has also read a great deal of Mr. Piers Anthony Jacob's works, he entertains well, and often slips in useful observations on life. (A certain RAH was also known for that once upon a time.) He entertained you well once, or you wouldn't have kept reading him.

To want those hours back now (or someday) is to say that time spent reading is not time well spent. I respectfully disagree, although time spent writing is even better time spent. What else would you have done during that time really that would have been better for you now? Split your time between reading the Encyclopedia Britannica and running cross-country to improve your health? I think not!

And if P.A. Jacob no longer meets your reading needs, it is not because he has changed, but rather you have. This is not a bad thing for either you -- or him.

Regardless, you have succeeded in interesting me in this book, and I'll add it to my list as well. However your reasoning behind it seems less than universal.

And consider reading some authors who only publish on the Internet. Some ideas are too leading edge to sell to editors and publishers. That's how I found this sig line.

Peace!

why knock down others in a "Review"?

[emptybody]

Sorry sir, you lost me.

Your introduction slams other authors for no aparent good reason. If you are reviewing a book you can easily say it is better or worse, in your opinion, than some other works.

It is not necessary to drag in some other persons works and knock them down.

Re:why knock down others in a "Review"?

[ultramk]

Your introduction slams other authors for no aparent good reason. If you are reviewing a book you can easily say it is better or worse, in your opinion, than some other works.

I completely disagree. Having a reviewer state up front who they think rocks or sucks, let's you "calibrate" the review to your own tastes.

I totally agree with the reviewer about Piers Anthony, and so that makes me think that I will probably agree with him about the rest of his review. (of course, there are those who who will consid

Piers Anthony

[truffle]

While much of what Piers Anthony has written is crap, he has written several books which I would personally consider good science fiction:

* Macroscope
* The Apprentice Adept (books 1-3 only)
* Incarnations of Imortality (books 1-4 only)

I'm omiting from this list books that were entertaining but not really good, and books that are clearly fantasy and not sci fi. Of this list only Macroscope is what I'd call pure sci fi, containing no fantasy elements, but it was really quite good, one of his first.

Most of his sci fi is really quite tollerable and an enjoyable read. When in doubt skim the first chapter, and if the word panties is mentioned skip the book.

I did of course also quite like his lighter fluffier stuff, it was a staple of my reading from ages 12-17 when I bought anything he wrote.

Sturgeon's Revelation

[Tim Ward]

Grew up and realised that:

most science fiction sucked

Yes, of course.

May I refer you to Sturgeon's Revelation [catb.org].

SF for adults, please.

[rumblin'rabbit]

Yeah, you're right. Most science fiction sucks. I have about 1000 SF books in my basement from my youth, and I find that few of them are readable now.

My main problem is not the stories themselves, but the quality of the writing. That many of them are written for 14 year olds doesn't help (although this in itself doesn't make it poor writing).

We need SF book for adults, for people who have actually become somewhat literate in their dotage. I know they're out there, because I own a few.

Author website

[charlie]

Hi there.

If you want to read more of my stuff, there are some (older) stories on my fiction pages [antipope.org].

If you want to know when the sequel, "Iron Sunrise", is due out (and the other books I've got coming), see my books FAQ [antipope.org].

And there is of course the obligatory weblog, but because it's CGI-mediated and my server's decidedly on the elderly side I'm not going to post the URL here. (If you want it badly enough and you're clueful you'll find it :)

Re:Author website

[charlie]

I'm told I'm cited as the primary source for the verb "to slashdot" in the Oxford English Dictionary corpus. (They're after printed sources, not online ones, so this is rather unfair -- I didn't invent the verb-backformation, after all.)

I don't use /. reader personality traits in my fiction. But I do read /. daily -- as I have done for some years -- and use it as a fertile source of pointers to new ideas. (If I use any net personality types in my fiction it's from usenet -- which I've been reading since about 1989. All of human life is there, kinda-sorta, including both saints and the sorts who live under rocks.)

Added bonus factoid: Singularity Sky was written on Linux and MacOS/X boxen, using Vim. Formatting was done using POD macros, and the source was kept under RCS control (CVS is massive overkill for novels). The output files (in RTF and PDF) were finally generated using some command line tools and a makefile I knocked together ...

... Then I had to find a box running Microsoft Word in order to import the files and save them in the file format the publisher wanted. (And people wonder why I wash my hands compulsively?)

Please . . . less rant, more review!

[StefanJ]

This review had barely a thing to say about the book.

Other than avoiding the Sci-Fi Comfort Food syndrome, how was it? Was it well based? Were the characters interesting and believable? Was the technology well worked out, or just wish-fulfillment stuff?

While I agree with much of the reviewers ranting, I was really disappointed in this piece as a review.

Stefan "More about the Singularity here! [wholeearth.com]" Jones

Try reading

[Creepy Crawler]

"Permutation City" by Greg Egan.

The year is around 2054 and rudimentary AI's are here. People have been digitized, but only run at the maximum allowed then at 1/17 time ratio.

The book deals with spam filters (baneysian and adaptive ai - if the spam filter acts as you, is it really avoiding what you want?), AI, duplication of the mind, evolution, government.. There's some pretty heavy theory in this book.

What I can tell is it's mainly sold in Australia and UK as mine's pried only as such. I got my copy at a 1/2 priced book store here in Indiana.

This is an example of how to ruin a discussion

[DavidBrown]

It's quite fascinating. I saw the article on /., and decided to read it. But most of the comments that have been highly moderated (forgive me, but I cruise at filter +2) are comments either attacking or defending Piers Anthony instead of discussing Singularity Sky and the talents of Charlie Stross.

Why did this happen?

It happened because the submitter, timothy, decided to attack Piers Anthony in his post as a target of opportunity, and the /. staff decided to let it in (assuming timothy isn't on the /. staff himself - I wouldn't know).

Why was this attack posted? If timothy had submitted a post entitled "Piers Anthony Sucks" it wouldn't have been accepted by /. editors.

At this point it seems that nobody cares about Stross's novel, which is a shame.

For these reasons, I think that the /. staff should consider this story to be an example of a failure of editing, and should consider the idea that it's better to leave the personal attacks /. readers instead of posters and editors.

Re:This is an example of how to ruin a discussion

[Fantastic Lad]

People discuss what interests them. I don't know anything about Charlie Stross, and I'm almost certainly not going to read his work. (My own interest in SciFi books ran its natural course back in my early teen years.)

I don't care about Piers Anthony either, and indeed, I don't care to rate him good or bad, precisely because I don't care.

I DO however, care about the same issue you care about; I find social patterns completely fascinating. Hence my commenting on your comment.

People discuss that which fa

Piers Anthony and science fiction?

[AtariAmarok]

by the way, since when does Piers Anthony write science fiction?

Here are just some of his "pure science fiction" titles. I weeded out the "half-fantasy" ones like Apprentice Adept:

Macroscope
Prostho Plus
Race Against Time
Rings of Ice
Triple Detente DAW pb 74; Tor pb 88
Steppe
But What of Earth?
Total Recall
Chthon
Phthor
Battle Circle (Sos the Rope, Var the Stick, Neq Omnivore
Orn
OX
Cluster
Chaining the Lady
Kirlian Quest
Thousandstar
Viscous Circle
Refugee
Mercenary
Politician
Exectutiv e
Statesman
The Iron Maiden

Tarot series

[AtariAmarok]

"Tarot" is actually part of a larger series that includes "But What of Earth", the Cluster Trilogy, Thousandstar, and Viscous Circle.

However, I excluded "Tarot" from my long list that proved he was a science-fiction writer, because Tarot to me contains too much of a mystical/fantasy aspect to make it count as strictly science-fiction.

Same with Arthur C Clarke

[AtariAmarok]

"this book is a novelization of the script and the original novel" mm, sounds great _and_ original!

Yes, this applies to Total Recall. It also applies to Arthur C Clarke's "2001" novel. Guess you'd better take that one off Clarke's science-fiction bibliography, ok?

Parent is an Amazon Repost

[Entropy Unleashed]

The parent link just reposted the spotlight review from Amazon, which is available here [amazon.com].

Re:Piers Annthony Science Fiction

[AtariAmarok]

not a science fiction author.

He's written more than 25 science-fiction novels (yes, that is excluding all the fantasy novels), some getting important genre awards or nominations.

Re:this sounds familiar! NOT FLAMEBAIT

[Nom du Keyboard]

Unfair to have moderated this parent as Flamebait.

Satire or humor, absolutely!

Social commentary? I see it.

Geek humor? You bet!!