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The Golden Transcendence 172

Posted by timothy from the spam-filtering-ideas dept.
Argyle writes "I recently finished reading The Golden Transcendence by John C. Wright. A great novel that serious science fiction readers should pick up. The Golden Transcendence is the third book in The Golden Age trilogy. The first two books were The Golden Age and The Phoenix Exultant." Read on to see if this series might be for you; if so, you're just in time, because author John C. Wright (a retired attorney) is working on the next book, Orphans of Chaos.
The Golden Transcendence : Or, The Last of the Masquerade
author John C. Wright
pages 350
publisher Tor Books
rating Excellent
reviewer Michael Pusateri
ISBN 0765307561
summary Can the determination of an individual change the entire society?

The books are firmly in the space opera genre with a dash of Heinlein libertarianism tossed in for good measure. The story takes place in the far future when artificial intelligences (known as sophotechs) and humans live immortal lives in a libertarian society of near unlimited technology. The experience of real physical interaction is replaced in many cases by remote bodies, recorded experiences of others, and complete control of what a person perceives. Humanity has moved beyond the one body - one brain system and has adopted many different systems of thought and even physical form

Mr. Wright puts forth a brilliant vision of technology and society in the far future where wealth is measured in seconds of computer time and physical labor is non-existent. In this future, there is are still wealthy and poor people but in a different way. In a good interview, Mr. Wright explains:

There would still be rich and poor, even if the poorest of the poor were absurdly well off by our standards. No advancements can eliminate differences in the abilities of men, or the differences in how men value the abilities of their fellow man (which is what causes inequality of prices and hence of incomes). If only by comparison, there will be poverty, even in Arcadia. My characters Ironjoy, Oshenkyo, and the Afloats [...] are meant to represent this idea of future poverty; the Seven Peers represent wealth.

As an example as just one of the concepts presented, we can look at the idea of 'sensefilters.' Perception is no longer what organic senses directly tell the mind. The signals received by the body or remote bodies are processed to be acceptable to the person's particular preferences. If a person doesn't like to see advertising, their mind eliminates the advertising from their vision and fills in the scene with what would be there if the advertisement wasn't there. Consciously, the person isn't aware of this, only that they have requested not to see advertisements. Sensefiltering can be used to remove (or add) objects, people, and even ideas from an individual's perception. The plot devices are interesting stuff that Mr. Wright explores in just enough detail to keep you wanting more throughout the trilogy.

The protagonist, Phaethon, is the son of one of the most important people in the society (known as the Golden Oecumene). In the first two books, Phaethon struggles against first the realization that he is missing parts of his memory, his struggle against society, his fall into exile, and his return to strength.

The third book finds Phaethon poised to fight against the true enemy that has been revealed to him. Without spoiling too much, Phaethon is forced to fight for the very survival of his society (which tossed him out) or allow it to be destroyed.

The author, John C. Wright, obviously has a libertarian heart and embodies the attributes of individuality, resourcefulness, ingenuity and desire for progress in Phaethon, the hero. In the opening novel, we find a society content with things how they are, willing to simply stop progress to prevent anything from changing their utopia in any meaningful way. Phaethon is a man of action in opposition to the statist Golden Oecumene. The underlying theme is that without mankind's strive for exploration and new goals, it is doomed.

Overall, an excellent book and series for the science fiction reader looking for something more than blasters and evil six-legged aliens. Getting used to the terminology and concepts is slow at first but well worth the effort.

Final note: If you enjoy Iain Banks's Culture series, Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn, or John Varley's Eight Worlds, you will enjoy the The Golden Transcendence and the entire Golden Age Trilogy.

You can purchase The Golden Transcendence from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
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The Golden Transcendence

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  • Anti-spam? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blat.info ( 744034 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @02:46PM (#8058568) Homepage
    As an example as just one of the concepts presented, we can look at the idea of 'sensefilters.' Perception is no longer what organic senses directly tell the mind. The signals received by the body or remote bodies are processed to be acceptable to the person's particular preferences. If a person doesn't like to see advertising, their mind eliminates the advertising from their vision and fills in the scene with what would be there if the advertisement wasn't there. Consciously, the person isn't aware of this, only that they have requested not to see advertisements. Sensefiltering can be used to remove (or add) objects, people, and even ideas from an individual's perception. The plot devices are interesting stuff that Mr. Wright explores in just enough detail to keep you wanting more throughout the trilogy (see other review [blat.info]).

    • Re:Anti-spam? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Wintensis ( 722822 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:13PM (#8058943)


      I think this has the potential to take things WAY to far.

      One could argue that if one has one's 'filters' set to high, one can end up screening out anything NEW. New experiences are what keeps the mind growing. So - I have visions of hordes of drones soaked in a safe, porn-tinted perceptual cocoon.

      Not saying that the idea doesn't have merit, but I think it can be abused.

      I'd say... go for a 5% 'totally random material' bypass ;)
      • One could argue that if one has one's 'filters' set to high, one can end up screening out anything NEW. New experiences are what keeps the mind growing. So - I have visions of hordes of drones soaked in a safe, porn-tinted perceptual cocoon. Not saying that the idea doesn't have merit, but I think it can be abused.

        Well, considering most content seems to be created like This [homestarrunner.com], it's no wonder we need content filters.

    • Re:Anti-spam? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by maliabu ( 665176 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:18PM (#8059000)
      the 'sensefilters' probably won't work in real life. it only filters things out visually, but not physically .

      this means you're still paying for the bandwidth taken to download advertising, the people you don't like to meet will still be there, probably slapping and kicking you invisibly.

      filtering ads on TV will show you what would be there if the ads wasn't there - ie nothing.

      • Re:Anti-spam? (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Wintensis ( 722822 )


        hmm... now, I don't know what to do about 'invisible assailants' (that make me chuckle, btw) or paying for bandwidth by ads that I don't ever see, but finding a replacement for things that are blocked out shouldn't be a problem: I'll use the time/perceptual space to view my collection of por... classical art - much like I have on my screen-saver, or wallpaper.

        Heck - I can even see a new art form growing up around that. Subscribe to 'Ad-ventures', the new series of 15-second serial story vinettes, shown
        • Heck - I can even see a new art form growing up around that. Subscribe to 'Ad-ventures', the new series of 15-second serial story vinettes, shown to you in place of commercial advertising! Why follow just one story when you can follow two?!

          now you're giving ideas to advertisers who can advertise in this filtered timeframe. money will eventually take over. like Cable TV which you pay to watch movie without ads.

          and how do they avoid being double-filtered in this filtered space? well, combining PurdueGraphi

      • Re:Anti-spam? (Score:3, Informative)

        by Malacca ( 598693 )
        In the book, 'sensefilters' can be used by both 'persons' with meat bodies as well as completely incorporeal uploaded 'persons'.

        In the latter case, for the person involved, both the 'visual' and 'physical' are filterable. It is only for 'persons' with meat bodies that one could be slapped and kicked invisibly. One of the taboos in the Golden Oecumene is acting contrary to the sense-filtered worldview of others.
        • How is this even possible NOT to do?

          To stop from violating YOUR sense filter, don't I have to know what it is, and vice-versa? I might not WANT you to know what my filters are doing. (no, really, NO ONE is naked in my filter, honest).

          Besides... what happens if I'm dealing with two people at the same time, and doing action A will violate person #1's sense filter, and NOT doing action A will violate person B's? (If I dodge the imaginary tiger, for example. Does it not exist and can't be reacted to, or d

          • Re:Anti-spam? (Score:2, Interesting)

            by Malacca ( 598693 )
            IIRC, there are AI routines that operate below the conscious level to consensualise the 'sensefiltered' environments. Trust the machines; the machines are your friend.

            One of the issues covered is the disadvantage of having one's perception modified like this. It's a blindspot that can be exploited. So, I could e.g take myself out of the 'sensefiltered' environment, and see things as they really are. In this case, there would be nothing to tell me what is and isn't acceptable to people around me.
    • Something worth thinking about is the idea of the merge between life experience and advertising. For example an advertisement might display a woman rollerblading or smiling. How would you be able to tell a difference between an "advertisement" that contained nothing but a picture of a womans face and a woman sitting still on a park bench, say... reading or something?
      • How would you be able to tell a difference between an "advertisement" that contained nothing but a picture of a womans face and a woman sitting still on a park bench, say... reading or something?

        By the sound.

        Try grabbing its breasts......

  • Science Fiction? (Score:5, Funny)

    by digital_milo ( 212475 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @02:48PM (#8058617)
    More like 'Math' Fiction.

    I love how some trilogies have at least 4 parts.
    • The ever increasingly inaccurately named trilogy?

      (Of course referring to Douglas Adams ;)

      Mad.

      ps. Since in the future we can filter content, would we also be able to filter out absolutely horrible 2s and 3s to books and/or movies? Now that would be nice..

  • single book please.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by viniosity ( 592905 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @02:57PM (#8058736) Homepage Journal
    I really enjoy both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but what I wouldn't give for a novel that just ended without dragging me into 3 or more books. I just don't have time to read 3 in a row and I don't have patience to wait for them to keep coming out. (I am aware I'm being picky here)

    I know that the authors have investigated serious time in creating their world, but I'm not proposing never using the world again.. just give the particular character and plot a rest. Outside of the franchises (Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Star Trek) that pump out more than I want to keep track of, I don't see much.

    The last good one I read: Tigana

    The last bad one I read: Wheel of Time Series (OMG-will it EVER end?)

    • Re:single book please.. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by CGP314 ( 672613 ) <CGP@NOSpAM.ColinGregoryPalmer.net> on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:16PM (#8058972) Homepage
      I just don't have time to read 3 in a row and I don't have patience to wait for them to keep coming out.

      I have a rule that I don't start reading a series of books until it's done. I want to know that there is an ending. But, sadly, I did get sucked into the Harry Potter series, now I live in terror that JKR will get hit by a bus before she finishes. Or worse, what must be tempting in her position, she takes the money and runs away from the pressure of it all.

      --
      In London? Need a Physics Tutor? [colingregorypalmer.net]

      American Weblog in London [colingregorypalmer.net]
    • Good points about the trend towards trilogies/epics.

      The last bad one I read: Wheel of Time Series (OMG-will it EVER end?)

      That's a perfect example. The Lord of the Rings, six books contained in three novels, is less than 1000 pages altogether. The latest WOT novel (the tenth, I think) is 1000 pages by itself... 1000 grinding, monotonous pages. And it sounds like we have to suffer through at least two more.

      Modern authors need to re-read their Strunk & White.
      • > sounds like we have to suffer through at least two more.

        Um.... no you don't.

        • You're right. I don't. Unfortunately I probably will, because I enjoyed the first five or six and want to see how it ends.

          I still watch Enterprise, too, hoping against hope that there might be a diamond in the rough.

          I should read my own sig more often, I guess.

          • Re:single book please.. (Score:5, Funny)

            by hoggoth ( 414195 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @04:36PM (#8059856) Journal
            > I still watch Enterprise, too, hoping against hope that there might be a diamond in the rough.

            Well, you got me there. I'm still watching Enterprise also, hoping one day for this:

            A hologram wavers into place in Archer's cabin.
            Archer: Daniels, it that you?
            Al: Sam, it's me. Sorry it took so long. Ziggy finally figured out why you are wasting your acting talents on this terrible show. You are supposed to rescue the only decent actor on the show, John Billingsley, from destroying his career.

      • Re:single book please.. (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Coz ( 178857 )
        Modern authors need to re-read their Strunk & White.

        I believe it was Twain who said that as a starting point, an author should take every occurrence of the word "very" and change it to "damn" - since the editors of the day would promptly remove it, thereby improving the overall quality of the writer's work.

        Strict Strunk & White makes for fairly flavorless text - but a good story can still fight its way through.

    • Re:single book please.. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by skia ( 100784 ) <skia&skia,net> on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:30PM (#8059155) Homepage
      As I recall, the Golden Age was written as one book. It was the publisher's will that it be split into three novels, perhaps in part because this was Wright's first book, and in part because it's incredibly dense reading.

      But you may be in luck. I recall hearing rumors that the three books will be combined into one volume in the near future.

      As to the Wheel of Time, there is no comparison to be made between Wright's series and that monstrosity. For one thing, The Golden Age is complete now. You can go and read the whole thing from end to end right now should you choose. For another, Wright wisely decided to finish his series before penning prequels!
      • "The Golden Age" was very much worth the effort and for me is a stand-out book of recent vintage. I was however very frustrated when nearing the end of the first book, realising that there was no way Wright could tie up all the loose ends in the few pages remaining. I didn't know it was a trilogy. Nothing on the blurb suggested that it wasn't a stand-alone. Only on the last page of the first book was there a line about the story continuing in 'Phoenix Exultant'.

        Now I don't mind reading long series if t
        • realising that there was no way Wright could tie up all the loose ends in the few pages remaining.

          *grin* Did you ever read any from Peter Hamilton ? For example The Reality Dysfunction, The Nano Flower or A Quantum murder ?

          I've been thinking what you where thinking when reading Hamilton on a few occasions. For example The Reality Dysfunction ..

          SPOILER ALERT ...

          ...is a trilogy, 3 *thick* books, 1000 pages each or more. And yet, when there's like 50 pages left you start wondering if he ain't going to s

    • I really enjoy both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but what I wouldn't give for a novel that just ended without dragging me into 3 or more books. I just don't have time to read 3 in a row and I don't have patience to wait for them to keep coming out.

      Translation: You want to read a novel that's contained within one book. A LOT of novelists (especially in the franchises) forget that LOTR was three books because it was so long--not because three volumes really helps the story. (Though, again, a lot of the second-tier

    • Re:single book please..(Vernor Vinge) (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Take a look at some Vinge stuff. Most of his works do stand independently, even though he reuses worlds and even characters. Good stuff...
    • The last bad one I read: Wheel of Time Series (OMG-will it EVER end?)

      I hope not.

  • Slightly OT; sci fi in general (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Theatetus ( 521747 ) * on Thursday January 22, 2004 @02:59PM (#8058769) Journal

    I've never liked science fiction but all my friends do. Most of the books I've read seem to just be about the technology, races and languages the author has imagined rather than using those as a medium for telling a compelling story; the tail wags the dog.

    I like Ray Bradbury, but all my sci-fi-fan friends say that's not "real" science fiction. So can anybody think of a "real" science fiction author that isn't

    • Pretentious
    • Focused on the stuff the author made up, and/or
    • Trying to make up for its bad writing by making some grand political or theological "statement"?

    I'd like to get in to sci fi because it seems like an interesting genre in principle, but I can't seem to find any authors other than Bradbury who care about writing a good book or story. Any ideas?

    • Ray Bradbury was "real" Science Fiction at the time. Today, like most of Jules Vern, it has become the past. If you want examples of hard Science Fiction(Deffinition, Take today, advance technology one step, see what happens), try "Kim Stanley Robinsons" Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars Trilogy. Also try Robert A. Heinlen and James P. Hogan. They usually stick to hard SF as well. Most of the books you see in the Science Fiction section are borderline Fantassy. Super Science (Star Trek and the like) are
      • Heinlein WAS fairly hard SF - he's now Gone. The same can be said for Dr. A. I like Robinson and Brin for the "hardness" of their SF while still telling good stories.

        Remember when all the SF stories' computer names ended in "AC" - for "Analog Computer"? At the time, that was "hard" SF - it didn't age well.

    • Re:Slightly OT; sci fi in general (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Bradbury is absolutely science fiction.

      He extrapolates "current" technology and politics to produce possible futures. Thats one reason why many people say that "SF" is "Speculative Fiction" rather than "Science Fiction". That includes many authors.

      Anybody who reckons it can't be science fiction if the captian of the star fleet doesn't shag at least half a dozen females of varios raices don't deserve to be taken seriously.

      • Actually - as much as a love Ray Bradbury's work, he is not what you would class as hard science fiction. He definatly violates the science KNOWN IN HIS TIME to make literary and story points. This is not a bad thing. He's a fantastic storyteller and author - but we're talking about genre classification.

        Me, I don't care if you want to call him 'post-modernist neo-trantorian steam-punk'. I still love his books.
    • Iain M Banks Isaac Asimov Wells (The war of the worlds) Orwell (1984)

    • Re:Slightly OT; sci fi in general (Score:4, Interesting)

      by CGP314 ( 672613 ) <CGP@NOSpAM.ColinGregoryPalmer.net> on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:25PM (#8059085) Homepage
      I too, try to like science fiction, but vastly more often than not, I'm dissapointed. The only author I like consistantly is Greg Egan.

      I think that sci-fi novels are the male equivalent of romance novels. They even have the same style cheesy covers.

      --
      In London? Need a Physics Tutor? [colingregorypalmer.net]

      American Weblog in London [colingregorypalmer.net]

    • Re:Slightly OT; sci fi in general (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Off the top of my head...

      Dune
      2001
      The Man Who Folded Himself
      The Demolished Man
      A Deepness in the Sky
      Ubik (and/or) Valis
      Tales of Known Space / The Smoke Ring / Ringworld
      Hyperion novels (4 of them?)
      Ender's Game

      uhh that's it for now...

      wait a minute. is this a troll?

      • Most of them are exactly what I'm complaining about, especially Dune *shudder*. If I wanted to switch almost entirely to a made-up language halfway through a book I would have read Tolkien. I guess 2001 was OK, and so was Canticle for Liebowitz. I just don't like how many books end up being about the technology itself rather than about the people around the technology.

        I managed to sit through the first Hyperion without too much retching, but after that it just became another book full of gadgets and lofty

        • If you just read the first Dune book, then you are missing out :) The first book is quite different than the rest of the series. The last is the best in my opinion. But it sounds like you don't like books with politics or god ... I always thought the politics were about the people.

          Sci-fi short stories often tend to be more about the people ... try 'Flowers for Algernon,' 'The Rocking Horse Winner,' or many of the short stories by Theodore Sturgeon
        • Maybe SF isn't your thing. Technology, alien cultures and languages are integral signifiers of the genre. Within that spectrum are a diverse variety of flavours of SF. If what you're after are people stories in an SF background, may I suggest:

          'To Say Nothing of the Dog' by Connie Willis
          It's exceedingly well written, the SFnal (time travel) aspects are very minor, not to mention funny and character-driven. Willis was voted best SF/fantasy writer of the 90's by LOCUS readers. It's a book I often lend t
        • Well to be fair it is called science fiction for a reason. Science is the intended focus. If you don't like that, well don't read it. You'll get no guff from me.

          Your friends who condemn Bradbury are twits though. "The Veldt," for instance, is pure science fiction. It is also a masterpiece as a short story.

          I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for in a story though. You want it to be about people, not gadgets, but don't want romance, fantasy, politics or religion. I'm not really sure what's left and cer

      • Ubik (and/or) Valis

        You're suggesting that VALIS (it's all caps) doesn't get wrapped up in stuff its author made up? The whole book is about Dick's raging paranoid delusions, innit?

    • Re:Slightly OT; sci fi in general (Score:5, Interesting)

      by rkhalloran ( 136467 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:32PM (#8059182) Homepage
      The problem most SF fans have with Bradbury is his generally pessimistic tone; we/they expect the genre to be basically the opposite, given it presumes we've made it to the future and expanded into space.


      That said, the Peter Hamilton and George R.R. Martin books mentioned above are good, and you might also want to look into David Brin's work.

    • Try Iain M. Banks. It Culture series is well known and I've found it very entertaining reading with well fleshed out characters and good storyline

      Or try Orson Scott Card's 'Ender's Game' and the companion 'Shadow' series (Ender's shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets) All of Card's books tend to focus more on his characters and storyline than on science. He's also written a lot of fantasy, so you might want to check that out. You can read the first chapter of some (all?) of his books on his web [hatrack.com]
    • Sounds like you would like some Ted Sturgeon. Unlike many SF writers, he never forgot he was writing about humans for humans.

      You're last bullet point was against "statements", if not for that I would recommend Ursula LeGuin, but she does get political at times. Octavia Butler is also good, but I confess I haven't read much of her work.

      Some Spider Robinson is very good, avoid his recent stuff since he seems to have crawled up his own ass ("buy my new book! it features everything you liked about the last

      • You're last bullet point was against "statements", if not for that I would recommend Ursula LeGuin, but she does get political at times. The first time I read Ursula LeGuin, it was in a college philosophy class. "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" was in the Professor's textbook as part of the section on Ethics, specifically regarding Utilitarianism. I didn't know the term, but had you asked me before I took the class to define right and wrong, I would have given the Utilitarian definition. After readi
      • You're last bullet point was against "statements", if not for that I would recommend Ursula LeGuin, but she does get political at times. Octavia Butler is also good, but I confess I haven't read much of her work.

        Butler isn't heavy on tech, but she is on statements. That what I like about her work. She's generally not as heavy handed as someone like Hienlein or LeGuin though. So she may pass muster for you. If you want to try her out I'd recommend 'Wild Seed', or 'Dawn' the first in the Xenogenesis trilo

    • I would argue that Ray Bradbury IS real sci-fi ... but that aside, you might try these authors:

      Frank Herbert: His Dune and Jesus Incident series are both very well written. Some of his earlier work isn't as polished, but those two series are great. (They do make some political statements, but the writting is good.)

      Kim Stanley Robinson: The Red/Green/Blue Mars series, Icehenge, Antarctica (set just a bit in the future on Earth ... really doesn't have much of the 'traditional' sci-fi elements, but does
    • Stephen Baxter's Manifold group of books (I believe three in all) is good hard sci-fi. Generally, they all involve fairly sweeping concepts about the progress of mankind and the evolution of the universe over billions of years. Essentially, he comes up with some story to wrap around various theories about how the universe works. For the most part, these stories work (aren't so hokey that they distract from the science). Sometimes, however, his stories (especially when they relate to contemporary US soci
    • Ray Bradbury is real science fiction, but his style is different from others autors. He doesn't care too much for tech, so most of his works could well be in the fantasy genre.

      Also, he has written a lot of literature which is not science fiction, but, for some reason, this angers some fans. I don't understand this, as Asimov, for example, wrote a lot of works which were not science fiction.

      By the way, if you don't want something Pretentious, focused on the stuff the author made up, and/or trying to make u
    • David Brin. I believe David Brin to be one of the best hard science fiction authors writing today. Stong, complicated stories, engaging characters, set against backdrops of highly imaginative projections of our universe. About the only novel that could have been better put together would be "The Postman" which I have not been able to read more than once. His Uplift series is particularly brilliant. Richard.
    • Well, if you don't like them, you don't like them; I won't try to convince you that your taste is wrong. However, your stated reasons for disliking SF seem odd.

      Personnally, I find that SF is usually more concerned about a good story than other genres. A typical non-SF novel (at least these days) seems far more concerned with the minutia of human relationships than any "story." Not that there's anything wrong with that. To pick a random example, I read "High Fidelity" last week. Excellent book. Howeve
    • OK, I want to introduce you to one writer I really love, who also is a great fiction author, the only writer I know who's equally enjoyable and skilful at both.

      But first let me bash up your little list, which to me seems inappropriate for judging fiction books:

      Pretentious?
      I don't care how an author sees himself, as long as I enjoy the writing.

      Focused on the stuff the author made up?
      Well, that's fiction writing for you. I don't see why you would read fiction from a writer who isn't focused on his universe
    • Try Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga--ripping good yarns which, although they take place in a science-fiction setting, really aren't driven thereby. Alternatively, David Weber's Honor Harrington series is wonderful.
    • Check out "Grass" by Sheri S Tepper. I've got to get round to reading some of her other stuff, but "Grass" is stunning if you're into character-driven stuff.

      Grab.

  • Huxley meets Heinlein meets Neo (Score:5, Funny)

    by southpolesammy ( 150094 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:00PM (#8058788) Journal
    "The Brave New Moon is a Harsh Matrix..."

    or something like that....

  • What happened to standalone books? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by MarcoAtWork ( 28889 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:02PM (#8058823)
    nowadays it seems most writers embark on these loooooong series (that usually start blowing by the 3rd book), I know it's easier to just continue regurgitating the same stuff, but come on, show some originality!

    Notable example was the Erikson fantasy series (Malazan book of the fallen) which had a great 1st, good 2nd, ok 3rd and IMHO bad 4th (House of Chains IIRC) book. Notable exception to the rule is Martin's series that's still going strong (dying to read A Feast for Crows)

    For people looking for some good standalone sci-fi books look no further than John Varley, one of my favorite authors.

    • Comfort Food Re:What happened to standalone books? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by StefanJ ( 88986 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:11PM (#8058922) Homepage Journal
      People read books for different reasons.

      Sprawling SF or F series fill a need that many people feel. They want a comfortable place to escape to. Fictional comfort food.

      These are steady sellers, and some publishers favor them. Dedicated readers will keep buying them, out of a sense of loyalty or completeness, and forgive the occasional "dud."

      Different strokes for different folks.
    • I like Stephen Baxter's Manifold series [amazon.com] for this reason. So far he has 3 books with the same characters and general setting, and with similar far-reaching ideas (distant future vs. distant galaxies vs. distant evolutionary lines), but each book is based in a separate "parallel universe" so you can read each one individually and not be lost. At the same time, it's "comfort food reading" as someone else said, if you've read the previous books you already know what many of the characters' personalities are,
      • and if you like one book you'll probably like the others. Alternatively, if you hate one book, you'll hate 'em all.


        Not true, I really enjoyed Time, thought Space was excellent, and hated Origin. The first two explored the question "Are we alone?" and explained why either answer was really, really, bad. The third was a bunch of monkeys beating on each other pointlessly. What is it with the English and sadism anyway? (Iain Banks is even worse)

    • I agree. Recently I found Alastair Reynolds, and read three of his books (Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Chasm City) two of which are the first of a trilogy.

      I raved about this bloke and the series to everyone who would listen. And then his third book in the series came out. What a waste of money!!

      The whole series is leading up to a massive climax which jsut never comes, the entire storyline is wrapped up in the epilogue after the end of the third book, which jsut seemed to be a secondary arc th

  • whoooosh (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by guet ( 525509 )

    No advancements can eliminate differences in the abilities of men, or the differences in how men value the abilities of their fellow man (which is what causes inequality of prices and hence of incomes).

    The sound of the 200 years since the industrial revolution, Marx & Engels, Smith, colonialism, rushing by unheeded. Things are just a *little* bit more complicated than this. If I hadn't read this kind of simplified 'libertarian' nonsense so many times on the internet I wouldn't believe people still ga

    • Re:whoooosh (Score:3, Funny)

      by M. Silver ( 141590 )
      So the differences between incomes in the first world and the third world are dependent on differences in abilites??

      "Abilities" at the scale of nations would have to include things like geography, natural resources, and so on. Why not?

    • Re:whoooosh (Score:4, Informative)

      by oob ( 131174 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @04:28PM (#8059784)
      Guet, if you haven't read his stuff already, I think you will enjoy Ken MacLeod's [blogspot.com] books.

      Dystopian near-future Science Fiction written by a Scottish ex-Trotskyite programmer with degrees in Zoology and Biomechanics.

      MacLeod is an astonishing writting talent and I think you will enjoy the political aspect of his books.

  • The Libertarian myth that people will arrive at their appropriate station in life due to their own merits always amuses me. It becomes positively hilarious when you actually talk to them and realize they live in Lake Wobegon: where all the children are above average.

    Regardless of ability, poverty will result simply as a result of random chance. As long as there is an independent probability of a negative result there will be winners and losers, regardless of ability. In a large enough population there

    • But a truly smart investor wouldn't put all of his eggs into one basket like that.
    • They didn't buy earthquake insurance. They should have ensured that they had enough funding to do so before undertaking such a risky business venture as mining. It's their own fault.
    • "The Libertarian myth that people will arrive at their appropriate station in life due to their own merits always amuses me."

      So then you prefer the Liberal myth that one can only achieve success by suckling at the taxpayer teat?

      "Regardless of ability, poverty will result simply as a result of random chance."

      Victimhood has always been a classic cop-out used by lazy people to justify their sloth.

      "As a quick example, two investors mine some resource that's only available near fault lines."

      An irrele

      • So then you prefer the Liberal myth that one can only achieve success by suckling at the taxpayer teat?

        No, I prefer the myth that I am the chosen one; specially favored among all creation.

        An irrelevant and unrealistic example. That implies that the investors have no other investments besides the risky one to choose from.

        For all the posters who take analogies too literally, a little research would probably have clued you in that I was referring to recent results in economics and finance which indicate

    • Re:Roots of Poverty (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Slider451 ( 514881 )
      I think you're trying to make it too complex. Circumstance (economic depression, natural disasters, etc.) certainly affects opportunity. But the poverty of third world nations doesn't disprove the concept of merit-based success.

      All else being equal (which is the environment portrayed in most Sci-Fi novels) people do go as far as their desires and talents will take them. Janitors are cheap because nearly everyone can be a competent janitor. Network architects are not cheap because their skills are rare. Sup
      • All else being equal (which is the environment portrayed in most Sci-Fi novels) people do go as far as their desires and talents will take them.

        Which is of course probability is well - in this case, the lottery of genetics supplying their desires and talents.
    • "The Libertarian myth that people will arrive at their appropriate station in life due to their own merits always amuses me."

      This myth that you talk about is not libertarian, it's liberal. The assumption that life has to be fair. The assumption that a meritocracy has to be fair. That's a liberal idea. And indeed, this assumption is very "amusing".

      When two investors invest in mines in an earthquake area. They're taking risks. I don't want to make their lives fair and risk-free for them. I don't want to he

    • Quicker examples: Bill Gates and Larry Ellison. Granted, these guys have some business accumen, but they are nowhere near superior enough to justify the $50 billion premiums they have received... methinks it has more to do with "luck" than "talent".
  • > The signals received by the body or remote bodies are processed to be acceptable to the person's particular preferences. If a person doesn't like to see advertising, their mind eliminates the advertising from their vision

    I have set my Sensefilter to remove any further discussion of Mr. Wright's books, which don't sound interesting at all.

    Hey, what happened to that Slashdot thread I was reading? Oh well, what was I doing?

  • I loved the series. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Leareth ( 25555 )
    I was turned onto it by a local bookseller who is friends with the author and had read advance copies.

    I think it is a little misleading to call it Space Opera, because only the setting is such.
    No other Space opera even begins to touch on some of the issues addressed within.

    These include (but not limited too) what is truth, thought and humanity; ethics both of culture and individual; societal responsibility and individual responsibilities as well as human right vs societal rights; the nature of consciousne

  • Some thoughts on Poverty and this Book (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ewanrg ( 446949 ) <ewan.granthamNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Thursday January 22, 2004 @03:59PM (#8059504) Homepage
    Let me start with the obligatory link to a program [blogspot.com] designed to help address the problem of poverty in these current United States.

    With that out of the way, as one of the other posters has shown there are a number of factors that lead to poverty in the current world. There is no reason to believe in the kind of future that this trilogy describes that any of those factors would still apply. In fact I've been very disappointed that the author seems to allow people to "edit out" advertising but doesn't seem to consider that you can "edit out" knowing about people better or worse off than you. IOW, in that society why would I care to know I wasn't rich?

    With all that, I'd have to give these titles more of a mixed review. I think that the author has spent a fair bit of time coming up with some cool ideas. However, as with much of the genre, the characters seem dedicated to giving an excuse for the author to expound on the ideas than to actually giving us well-rounded characters who might make us learn or feel something new about the human condition.

    Just my .02 worth.

  • serious literature (Score:3, Funny)

    by xyr0 ( 678756 ) on Thursday January 22, 2004 @04:24PM (#8059764)
    sci fi books that are published as a series usually suck. i dont want to read 3 or 4 or even more books that are written the same way over and over and deal with topics in a pseudo-like way.

    if you want to find out about humans, society and such, serious literature is the way to go.

  • I loved the Golden age trilogy but I couldn't help wondering if the ending of transcendence was meant to reflect what is happening in Iraq now and was a form of propaganda. It talked about the golden age was over and how everybody would be drawn into a LONG war where certain liberties would have to be taken away to protect the greater good from the "ENEMY".

    I don't know, maybe its just me but with other scifi entertainment(star trek tv and games, knights of the old republic,etc) having propaganda mixed in I

  • Fantastic Series! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Wire Tap ( 61370 ) <frisina@NOspAM.atlanticbb.net> on Thursday January 22, 2004 @05:01PM (#8060105)
    I just got to the end of "The Golden Transcendence" and what a marvelous journey this trilogy has been. Hints of influence by authors like Gene Wolfe and David Zindell resound through the series, and a distinct flavor of Wright's background in law shines through in very well-composed ways.

    The hero of this story, a cyberneticly advanced individual named Patheon - many of the citizens of Wright's world use mythological and historical titles - who, in the first book, discovers that there are great portions of his memory - and life! - missing. Creatures from other planets visit, and often challenge, Patheon, tempting him with wealth, threatening him with violence and mind-rape, and informing him of hidden political struggles.

    It is very difficult to say much more about the story without giving away some fundamentals of the story, but it's safe to highlight some of the issues touched on in the series:

    Mortality
    Free Will
    What makes something 'alive'
    Space-colonization
    Love
    The venerable "Captain Kirk" problem - are you still yourself after you teleported? In this story, it was more along the lines of "Who are you after you have been ressurrected?"

    The sereis is a fantastic read, and I reccomend it to anyone who enjoys hard science fiction. While I would not consider this work _hard_ Sci Fi, it goes a bit past medium-soft. It's good stuff!
  • Sensefilters sounds suspiciously similar to what Prof. Steve Mann in MIT has been proposing. See http://wearcam.org/ [wearcam.org]

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