This is one of the books that I can’t really tell anything else, because the fun is in exploring the “onion” of concentric plots. What I can say is that the book pulls it off very well, without stretching your disbelief – you do get wrapped up in the story very deeply.

Another thing – this isn’t a “classical” science fiction novel. Although it’s pretty heavy on technology, I think the book is very readable by someone that would enjoy a classical political fiction novel.

My only criticism perhaps is that some things are over-explained (perhaps it’s the price to pay to make the story more accessible to non-geeks… ). I also loved the double meaning of the title, which only becomes clear by the end of the book. I recommend it highly.

I might be getting slightly blasé, but I felt the grand finale didn’t live up to the journey that the book is – perhaps because the story itself is so rich in its settings.  Even if you already know something about India, this book will totally immerse you in a very believable atmosphere – there’s a helpful glossary of Indian terms in the end of the book, but it doesn’t cover anywhere near all the terms encountered in the book – having access to the internet while reading the book for some clarifications will make the story more understandable in its intricacies.

The book felt perhaps a bit too long – some characters are just there to make the setting more understandable as a whole, or to explain the motivations of other characters.  Perhaps a few glimpses of the thought processes of the aeais (AIs – Artificial Intelligences) without breaking the main secrets of the story would make it more interesting – using some kind of unreliable narrator device, it might even add to the beautiful complexity of the book.

I enjoyed it as an experience, and I felt that I might have learned some things about what makes India what it is, and what it might eventually be in the future.  It’s a book to be read with concentration, as it demands attention from the reader/traveler.  Perhaps like India itself.

In the past few years, the discovery rate of exoplanets (planets in other solar systems beyond our own) has increased a lot, using indirect methods, such as measuring the wobble of the solar system’s star caused by the gravitational interaction with such a planet, or by measuring the decrease in brightness if the planet’s orbit puts it between its sun and us.  With the understanding that science and technology will keep the ever increasing rates of growth, it can be postulated that it will be possible, within the next 50 years, to image directly such planets, down to a resolution that would permit very detailed observations – down to the level we achieve with satellites imaging our own earth today, or better [note: what would the possible resolution limits be?  Considering multiple viewpoints from the sun's orbit].

Considering that light moves at a maximum speed, when we’re seeing a planet, say, 2000 light years from us, we’re actually recording what happened twenty centuries ago.

Now imagine, that the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI) bears fruit, and that the civilizations we find have accomplished the same radio-optical astronomical achievements as us, probably even in the past – they might have a recording of our own planet, from their viewpoint, of all, most, or some of our history, depending on when they achieved this capability, on their interest of recording, studying, and storing such views, and their longevity as a civilization.

Now the possibilities for the story become two-fold: a) there is no faster than light (FTL) transmission of information, therefore we would have to wait a long time to communicate and exchange data with our far away neighbours; or b), we could have some kind of instant communication medium that would permit us to trade our histories (or any other info) with each other without delay.  Both possibilities open different story structures and rhythms.

There are lots of different possible stories based on these basic premises.  Who controls the image acquisition hardware and software?  Who “owns” the images?  What will guarantee the veracity of arriving (and departing) information?  What impact will our “true” history have on us and our institutions?  How will the “alien” histories we watch impact us?

I’m not really sure (as far as I know) if anyone has had this idea and developed this or a similar concept before.  If you think it’s an original concept, feel free to use it, commercially or not, within a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

I have some ideas, if I was a writer, that I could use. They’re not complete frameworks of anything immediately writeable – they sound more like a lunchtime spiel a scriptwriter would give a film producer to try to sell “the next big thing”. As such, I don’t know if they’re crap or not, and I don’t have the availability in my life at the present moment to invest time and effort to know if I could be a writer.

So, I’ve decided to put some of those ideas and fragments here, to see if anyone likes and wants to use them, within a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. I rather have my ideas brought to life by others than having them rot away in my brain!

Ingredients

• 4 parts of Accelerando
• 3 parts of 1984
• 3 parts of Cryptonomicon
• 1 part of Pleasantville
• 1 part of The Tunnel Under the World
• 2 parts of Use of Weapons

Preparation

Start by pouring two parts of Accelerando, plus one part of 1984, mix gently with the stove on low. Check that it doesn’t have any clumps and add a part of Cryptonomicon. Keep mixing while adding one part of Pleasantville, let it simmer for a while. Add one part of The Tunnel Under the World, increase the temperarature, mix vigorously while adding two parts of Accelerando, two parts of Cryptonomicon, and one part of Use of Weapons, raise it to a boil and add two parts of 1984 and one more part of Use of Weapons, turn the fire off and let it cool down.

Serving

It’s better served in one go, saving some portions for later is not advised.

I think this recipe worked really well, it’s the first book in ages that I’ve read in a single weekend. It suffers from a few predictable plot twists, but which don’t detract from the book’s brilliance. I recommend it, especially if you’ve already read Accelerando, as the universe in question has a lot of common points.

Quote from one of the six stories of the Overclocked compilation by Cory Doctorow. Download them for free (in a variety of formats) here. If you’ve never read anything by Cory, it’s a great place to start. You’ll understand the title if you ever read Asimov.

The book is basically the story of the next one hundred years, as lived by the several generations of the Macx family. Sounds traditional, cozy even? Forget about it. It’s probably the most information dense book I’ve ever read. I was familiar with almost all concepts in the book, which scared me a bit. I didn’t know I was this close to lunacy (lunacy in its best form, of course).

This is the best singularity book ever. While most authors don’t manage to face the singularity itself, Stross handles it beautifully head on. It’s also very diverse, putting a whole lot of sciences back into science fiction – besides the usual extrapolations on physics, there are also deep incursions into economics, medical science, sociology, computer science, law, and political science. Stross does have a very diverse background – my kind of guy.
The book is already available as a hardcover, or you can download it for free (although the author encourages you to buy a paper version if you enjoyed the electronic version).

The only shortcoming of the book is that in transforming the several stories into book chapters, some explanations (which make sense in separate stories) should have been condensed. As it stands, there is some (not much) needless repetition.

Banks manages, without describing Azad completely, to make you get into the game, which is amazing. Another thing I like about Banks is that nothing is black and white, there are no completely evil or good characters or societies. You can relate to the choices of each side within their own set of values, which makes for a very believable story line, both in terms of logic and emotion.

And the acerbic humor always makes me laugh. The exchanges between Gurgeh and the Contact drone Flere-Imsaho are very funny. And of course the ships’ names are priceless – I find myself chuckling uncontrollably whenever a really funny one comes up.

Like all other books in Banks’ Culture universe, there’s no specific order you should read them in. If you never read any of them, this is a good a start as any (and it’s a small one at only 309 pages). You’ll probably find the writing style a bit difficult at first, just by the staggering amount of information, but trust me, once it “clicks”, you’ll be hooked for life.

If you are (were?) a fan of the Firefly/Serenity universe, it does give you a good insight into what was intelligent adult television, and why Fox decided to cancel it. It includes a pick of the favorite moments (and behind the scenes) by actress Jewel Staite, who played Kaylee on the show and on the movie.

Although it stands as an individual novel, Reynolds has left all the room in the universe (literally) to spin as many stories as he wants from it, with two immediately possible story lines (I’m not going to spoil them for you…). I hope he does return to this universe – I’m sure we’d all enjoy it. It could also be (in the right hands) great material for a TV show or a movie.

The first book, Pandora’s Star, begins with the creation of wormhole technology (with a very memorable scene), and ends with the whole setting for the drama to unfold, with the threat of the Primes already in full swing. The second book (and I recommend that you read them in a row), Judas Unchained, picks up the action, and it develops the characters further, with some not-so-shattering plot twists (I expected some more surprises). It kind of drags in the middle, but the last third of the book makes it worth it. And no deus ex machina ending this time!

I liked the story, although I don’t think it’s for everyone. A bit too many characters perhaps, it makes it difficult to become 100% immersed in the storyline, it could be shorter also. It could explore more the characters from the “evil” side (what would the Starflyer’s perspective feel like?). There’s also the cul-de-sac of the SI “character” – it feels Hamilton had other plans for it and didn’t include them in the conclusion (perhaps there will be further stories on this universe?). On the other hand, I really like Hamilton’s notion that the concept of economics is relevant to science fiction – the lack of which sadly makes a lot of science fiction irrealistic, and he does create a vast and interesting canvas with the seamless integration of the old and the new, with what defines us as human.

Within his science fiction novels, there is also a division, between his Culture novels, and all other isolated works (off which The Algebraist is part, although it has been hinted that other books in this same universe might follow).

The non-Culture novels are perhaps a bit less difficult to get into, because the Culture novels (although each book is a whole individual story) are filled with cross-references. You can read the Culture novels in any order – but each time you re-read a book, new references will become apparent. It’s a multiple Matryioshka style of writing. I can’t begin to imagine what his notes look like, to get all those cross references together.
The Algebraist also differs from the Culture novels as the protagonists are descendents of humanity – in the Culture novels, the pan-galactic civilization is not a result of the future of humanity (they co-exist with us – read the The State of the Art, a short story collection, in which the main story explains this connection).

The story in The Algebraist starts in 4034 AD – humanity is scattered throughout the stars, and the main protagonist is a human called Fassin Taak – a student of the Dwellers, an apparently anarchic galactic civilization of beings that inhabit gas giants. Everything is contemplated on this book – the relationship between more and less advanced civilizations; organic vs. artificial life forms; the shaping of societies by the availability of FTL travel. It goes ten different ways at the same time, while at the same time being able to maintain a concise narrative. Something Iain M. Banks is famous for.