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jeriendhalSummary: At the beginning of the 21st century, Manfred Macx (no, that's not a typo) is on the bleeding age of the Accelerated Age, popping off six paradigm altering ideas before breakfast each day and giving them away for free, trading them for gifts rather than monetary payment. Unfortunately Pam, his ex-fiance, ex-dominatrix and very peeved IRS agent is after him to start making a profit off his ideas and pay the United States government taxes like he ought to be.
Frankly, he really should have been paying more attention to his toy cat.
Review: I hate to knock![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
autopope, given the troubles he's got currently, but unlike Halting State this one failed to grab me. It's a classic Big Ideas novel, postulating a headlong rush towards the Singularity so fast that it starts leaving even the post-human, computer augmented humanity behind. Which is all fine and well, except of course in telling a tale about humanity being outpaced by their creations, who have evolved beyond human comprehension, you spend a lot of time with people who are basically humans with bits added on talking about things the reader doesn't even understand. Why does the Singularity have to involve dismantling planets to create "computronium" for the AI's that help humanity? More importantly, well the hell would we ever create AI's without enough control to shut them off when they decide humans are obsolete?
It doesn't help that the book is a pasteup from a series of short stories, so the plot line is choppy and the characters sketchy. Frankly, it was also hard to feel much sympathy for Amber (Manfred and Pam's daughter byquestionable consent rape) and her friends and the story didn't so much end as stop.
I'd recommend against buying it, except it's actually available for free.
Frankly, he really should have been paying more attention to his toy cat.
Review: I hate to knock
autopope, given the troubles he's got currently, but unlike Halting State this one failed to grab me. It's a classic Big Ideas novel, postulating a headlong rush towards the Singularity so fast that it starts leaving even the post-human, computer augmented humanity behind. Which is all fine and well, except of course in telling a tale about humanity being outpaced by their creations, who have evolved beyond human comprehension, you spend a lot of time with people who are basically humans with bits added on talking about things the reader doesn't even understand. Why does the Singularity have to involve dismantling planets to create "computronium" for the AI's that help humanity? More importantly, well the hell would we ever create AI's without enough control to shut them off when they decide humans are obsolete?It doesn't help that the book is a pasteup from a series of short stories, so the plot line is choppy and the characters sketchy. Frankly, it was also hard to feel much sympathy for Amber (Manfred and Pam's daughter by
I'd recommend against buying it, except it's actually available for free.
