It's fiction with actual science, which is awesome. But it's like reading a bad dream - the opposite of enjoyable and leaves you feeling 'ugh'. It takes on the horror side of fiction, but fails to be cathartic or interesting in doing so.

It's pretty close to being edifying, and the science concepts touched upon within are great, but the story itself is lacking, and meandering to the point of confusion at times. At points, one questions the logic of why certain actions are taken, for instance, deciding to explore the surface of an artifact that is actively hostile - astronauts with a death wish? When smart people do dumb things, out of character, it kills the immersion.

If you come across the book, just read the Notes and Reference section in the back of the book - you'll get all the interesting science parts without the dull and dreadful story. ( )

If you're looking for a cheerful book to read on a sunny afternoon, "Blindsight" is not for you. On the other hand, if you're in the mood for a mix of hard science fiction, horror, and existential crises, you may find that it's a real treat.

"Blindsight" is the story of the crew of Theseus, a spacecraft sent to make first contact with an alien intelligence approaching the solar system in 2087. It is narrated by Siri Keaton, a 'synthesist' who's job it is to observe the rest of the crew and report back to Earth what he sees. His sole purpose on the mission - or sole intended purpose, until the mission commander gets other ideas - is to translate what they find into terms the typical person can understand.

There's Amanda Bates, a soldier linked directly to her array of combat drones, and Isaac Szpindel, a biologist likewise so connected to his laboratory that it is an extension of his own body and senses. Susan James, the linguist, has deliberately-caused Multiple Personality Syndrome and is home to four distinct personalities. The final member of the crew is their commander, Jukka Sarasti, a genetically engineered member of a reborn species that went extinct when mankind invented right angles: a vampire. Even Siri himself is altered because of brain surgery to fix epilepsy, which left him a high-functioning autistic. He's there because the rest of the crew barely fits into the category of 'human' anymore, a necessity when the skills required to complete the mission are so specialized that only the post-human can have them. It's something that's echoed through society as industry becomes increasingly automated and the only jobs left are those that require augmented brains and bodies, one idea of many that Watts touches on.

The book is in many ways like a rollercoaster. The first half is mostly setup, as Watts constructs piece by piece the universe and the mystery of what waits for the crew, and is engaging despite the relative lack of action: like the characters themselves, readers are drawn in by the pieces of the puzzle and by curiosity about what will come next. Then everything starts slotting into place and the story expends all of the pent-up tension in a accelerating rush towards the final conclusion.

Along the way, the book discusses human nature and what it really means to be a person; the interaction and difference between intelligence and consciousness; and whether self-awareness is really worth it or an evolutionary dead end, or if free will even exists at all. Watts, a biologist by career, backs up his idea with several pages of footnotes drawn from the latest research. Even if you don't disagree with his conclusions - or perhaps the characters' conclusions, because despite his best effort Siri Keaton is no unbiased observer and interjects his own values - they're intellectually interesting. Sometimes parsing out the techno-jargon can be hard, but its worth it.

This is a book for people who like their science fiction sciency and their aliens alien.

If you like the mystery and suspense of a "first contact" novel where you are gradually figuring out the aliens right along-side the characters, you will be drawn into the novel for that.

If you have a background in cognitive psychology, you will be pulled along by a constant stream of references, speculations, and fascinating science-based extrapolations (from deliberate manufacturing of "multi-core consciousness" in one of the characters, to the subtle "Turing test" references, to the melange of cognitive disorders induced by the high magnetic field of an alien craft).

And if you like science fiction that challenges the way you look at the human condition, where we are going and how we live, the future this novel depict is vivid and detailed.

For me, all three of these factors came together to make this one of my newest favorite novels. ( )

Took me a long, long time to get into this, and I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the reviews and critics do. Possibly went over my head since I didn't immerse myself enough into it. ( )

The premise: Earth was heading towards a happy utopian future until sixty-five thousand alien objects appeared in the sky and quickly burned to ash. All anyone knew about the encounter was that he aliens had just taken pictures. Now, in order to get more information on the interstellar neighbors spying on us, Earth scrambles together to prepare a crew for first contact, and the crew just might be stranger than the aliens they're getting ready to meet: a linguist with multiple personalities carved into her brain, a pacifist warrior whose career defining moment was an act of treason, a biologist who's so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound, a synthesist whose mind is literally half-gone, meant to observe the entire mission and report back to Earth, and a vampire, resurrected from the past using junk DNA and the blood of sociopaths, to command them all. It's part hard SF and part philosophical treatise.

My Rating

Worth the Cash: but with a warning: I feel this is a niche read, and it's certainly NOT for the SF newbie, not by a longshot. If I'd read this book when it first came out a couple of years ago, I think I would've been turned off at the time. But if you're a reader who's ready for this kind of text--which is certainly enjoyable with all of its ingredients, though not perfect--then I think you'll really enjoy this book. I'll happily read it again, which is a good and bad thing. Good because hey, I enjoyed it enough to WANT to read it again to catch what I missed the first time. Bad because, well, I missed stuff the first time that I need to catch the second. But in the end, I'm a very happy reader. How happy you will be might depend on the following:

1) If you're entertained by the notion of vampires in space, and not the magical, sexy kind populating so much urban fantasy, check out Watts's little mockumentary here to get a taste of not just Watts's voice (it's what you'll be reading, folks), but also so you can get a solid grasp on his vampires, which I feel is necessary to get BEFORE reading the book, rather than trying to piece it together WHILE reading the book. At least, it would've been nice for me. One warning, run-time is around 35-40 minutes or so, but the pause button and arrow functions prove to be quite useful if you have to stop the player and come back to it later. If you enjoy this video, if you enjoy the biology behind the vampires (and the snarky, tongue-in-cheek voice-over), then you've got a solid chance of enjoying the book.

2) Why not sample it for free? Admittedly, the whole darn thing is available online if you just can't afford to buy anything now, but if buying is an option, sample it first. I suggest the prologue and the first chapter at least (if not a little more), because it gives the reader a clear sense of how Watts's style varies, from very personal to more scientific passages. The link to the whole thing is here.

I enjoyed this a lot, but it should be known that I'm partial to dark, somewhat cynical views of the future and the human race, so this book makes me delightfully happy. I definitely plan on attacking Watts's backlist, and I'm very glad I finally gave this author a shot. However, I'm also glad I waited until I was ready. As I mentioned before, if I'd read him when the book first came out, I think I would've had more trouble than necessary. But still, for anyone truly interested in this, I'd say, give it a go. Sure, it's a first contact story, but it's also much more than that.

Review style: Two sections, what I liked and what I didn't. Expect spoilers in both, simply because it's difficult for me to talk about this book without talking specifics. However, bear in mind that this is the kind of book that knowing the spoilers really shouldn't affect how you read it, in fact, it may help. Yet, if spoilers bother the snot out of you, just skip the jump to my LJ.

As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Peter Watts's BLINDSIGHT

Happy Reading! ( )

While this is a great and unique first contact novel, that's not really what it's about. The setting and story are just means to the real end - an exploration of consciousness and identity. It's a truly thoughtful and thought-provoking book with a story that will keep you reading all night because you won't want to put the book down. Thoroughly recommended. ( )

This book is nothing less than a tour de force. It's definitely a harder SciFi than I usually pick up, but I saw it on the recommended shelf at one of my favorite bookstores, Elliott Bay in Seattle,and it definitely caught my eye.

Six months or so later, and I picked it off of my bookshelf to read. It's a fascinating mix of a book: very technical, to the point that I had to reread sections and frequently still felt like I only really understood 80% of what was said; not a page-turned in the sense of action or traditional suspense, but it definitely nags on your brain when you put it down and makes you want to know what happens next. It's SciFi - First Contact, aliens, futuristic society, etc.etc, but deep down it is so much more about philosophy, about what makes us human, about what this means, and ultimately whether it matters or is even a good thing.

It's fascinating to me when things in my life overlap. I've been thinking a lot lately and readin online about the concept of awareness and consciousness, and Blindsight definitely hits that concept right on the head and drives it home for several hundred pages. It's not an optimistic book, but it will make you think, and then make you think about thinking, and I think that is always a good thing to be said, maybe the best thing, about any book.

3.5 of 5 stars. I liked it, but the technicality made it a bit too inaccessible to merit 4 stars. I don't give out many 5s. ( )

Good stuff by Peter Watts. Blindsight is a solid scifi book for those who like hard science fiction: stories that are based at least in part on hard science.

Blindsight focuses on a first contact scenario. The location, the ship, and the aliens are all unique, and first rate. The experience is scary and tense throughout. The ending is a bit boring, but how do you end a book like this?

The narrator is a strong character, and manages to convey a good sense of the time (2082), and the conditions. At the same time, the reader is rarely left in the dark about the goings on.

A tour de force! ( )

Interesting and different first contact novel.

Note for non-native English readers: I'm quite used to reading books in English, but still I had a hard time with this one. Had to re-read a lot of passages to understand them completely and correctly. ( )

Strange book of first contact told from the point of view of a zombie on a ship captained by a vampire.

Nominated for the Hugo and I can see why. The book feels like 2082, written in a literary style.

If you like books with action, this one really isn't for you. However, if you enjoy reading first-person narrative that explores the nature of humanity you might enjoy this. I spent most of my time skipping forward in hopes of seeing the vampire in action. Watts does a good job of making them quite creepy. ( )

Imagine Arthur C Clarke and William Gibson get together in a room to write a book together and Blindsight is what you would end up with. I read this book on vacation at the lake and it robbed me of almost two full days of what could have spent outside. It was worth it. I found the science believable, which is pretty incredible considering the “vampires in space” aspect to the story, and I enjoyed the narrative.

Like Gibson Watts immerses you in terminology that he relies on context and imagination to define, launching you forward in time with thin spidery links to our present-past that give you just enough to build up the world as you go. Much like Arthur C. Clarke or Orson Wells work, the story is a direct and fast paced narrative of extraordinary circumstances in a natural and believable tone. Hard to go wrong for me with a mixture like this.

There are some areas of the story that get bogged down in what I thought was too much introspective. It gave me a lot to think about when the book was over, but it's hard to balance the philosophy with keeping the plot moving at a good pace. There are enough gaps that need filling that I would recommend reading this in a short time period. Even over a few days at the cabin I found myself having to flip back and rework out what I was reading.

Despite those areas of the story that were dragged under by too much introspection this was a great read. ( )

I've had the free downloaded version of this book kicking around the house for a little while now made a couple of false starts at reading it, but finally (thanks to a huge cock-up in my workplan ;-) I'm through it.

So, we have vampires in space, scary aliens, virtual reality/singularity, a lot of infodump on neuroscience and a lot of reflection on the nature of intelligence and sentience. Personally, I don't buy the central argument - but as a sentient being I would say that, wouldn't I?

Having said that, I found Blindsight to be an ejoyable and educational read. There are a number of things that are wrong with the book. There are shockingly large chunks of exposition and science dump. There is a fair amount of world building of some aspects of the Blindsight universe and arguably not enough of others (I would have liked to get a better understanding of what Heaven is, the chronology around it, its social impact and particularly the war that seems to be going on around it). I didn't form any intense personal bonds with any of the characters - it's difficult when they keep referring to the reader as "baseline". ;-)

But none of these things managed to detract from my enjoyment of the book as a whole. I found my inner geek again, so much did I enjoy some of the exposition and science dump. There is enough said about Heaven to hold the story together and arguably saying any more would have unfocussed the effort (maybe there's a spin-off novel in there somewhere). And the characters are such that you don't *have* to bond or empathise with them for the book to work - they are deliberately set apart from humanity on a number of levels. Add to that a plot and pacing that really work and you have a pretty good SciFi novel.

Oh, and if all that in-story science dump wasn't enought for your inner geek, there's a good 20 pages of actual science, footnotes and all, at the back. Read for extra credit. It makes me want to find a library and look up some of his references, as they sound fascinating. ( )

I read this book entirely online (http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsigh...) during down time at work (don't tell my boss).

Wow. This was definitely a wow book. I loved the characters. Every single one of them was incredibly interesting. In the not-so-distant future, a small group of mental freaks is sent out to the edge of the solar system to investigate a possible alien presence. The narrator, Siri, underwent a hemispherectomy as a kid (had half is brain removed) and as a result lost his empathy entirely. To compensate, he can all but read minds just by looking at body language and facial expressions. How cool is that? And he's just the beginning of the mental quirks in this crew. The aliens, when we finally meet them, are physiologically very cool. Oh, and did I mention this ship (which is alive) is captained by a vampire?

The story incorporates flashbacks from Siri's past to illustrate how dystopian human society has become and to help raise the question: is sentience a help or a hindrance to intelligence? Is sentience an evolutionary dead-end? Very cool things to ponder. (But in the end--does it matter? Even if sentience is standing in the way of intelligence, it seems life would be very boring without it and I'm not about to give it up! Oh wait, did that just prove the point?)

Towards the end I thought the author went a bit over the top with the sentience versus intelligence bit. Crazy things were happening that somehow made Siri understand deep things, but only made me confused. If it wasn't for this part, I would've given the book five stars.

The ending was my kind of ending: it definitely comes to a close, but nothing is wrapped up neatly. I love that. ( )

In 2082, Earth is visited by thousands of alien probes that self-destruct after photographing the planet. Some traces of the source are found and a mission is sent to a giant, dark planet out beyond the Oort cloud. The mission is crewed by humans with various augmentations that place them well beyond what is normal for baseline humanity and captained by a vampire, a member of a predatory human subspecies that has been resurrected from ancient DNA. The crew finds an alien station orbiting the planet, and eventually finds some of the inhabitants. What they discover about the aliens leads to some disturbing conclusions about the future of humanity.

This is one of the best science fiction books that I have read in a long time. The hard SF science components are worked into the story well without a need for huge infodumps. The main theme about the nature and usefulness of consciousness is very thought-provoking. It is all combined with a story with lots of action and interesting characters. ( )

The blurb on the cover of the paperback edition that calls this "one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read" is not far off the mark.

BLINDSIGHT is a sort of Scientism manifesto, not so much story as thought experiment/theory of consciousness complete with footnotes and bibliography. The style of writing is fun to read, but needlessly opaque, probably in an effort to intimidate and impress the reader. I re-read many passages several times, trying to understand just what was happening, but often I wasn't able to put it together. Science Fiction, in order to sound convincing, often leaves a lot of explication out (because to leave it in would dissolve the dream of a narrative told by someone living in the future, who'd no sooner feel the need to explain a piece of futureware than we would, say, an elevator); but here the leaving-out leaves the reader (me, at least) scratching his head and wondering just what the hell is going on. Not a good thing in a narrative! But if your intent is to look smart, and cool, this sort of thing may work for you. For me, it just left me feeling that I was missing quite a bit of story, and would not read this author again, since I do like to know what's going on. It's not that I don't like to work at a book, or think; far from it. Perhaps I'm just not smart enough to read this author. Oh well. 

The book tries to make an argument that consciousness is not necessarily "optimal". We see an alien race which, we are to believe, is vastly superior to us, despite (or rather, because of) its lack of our brand of consciousness. Consciousness just gets in the way of efficiency, seems like. That's the book's point, anyway. I don't buy it, just like I don't buy the very popular sci-fi trope of "uploading consciousness", etc. I don't believe we are machines who think we have souls. Rather, we our souls inhabiting machines. Can a soul be uploaded? I don't think so. 

The book kept my attention, despite its shortcomings. But I won't be going out of my way to read Watts again. Not Peter, anyway. : ( )

http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

While Alastair Reynolds borrowed from the Muppets with his Pigs in Space, it seems that Peter Watts may have gone for Colin Wilson's Space Vampires, instead. Reynolds is someone I think you can compare Watts to in tone, although the first person type retelling style of this also brings to mind Robert Charles Wilson's Spin.

A vampire spaceship captain type. Yep, that is right. It doesn't seem dumb, either.

After some non-human contact, a ship is built to go and investigate. The crew are an odd bunch. Add a multiple personality linguist, a guy with half a brain, and a non-conventional soldier to the mix, among others.

When they find them, they struggle to understand their brand of consciousness and use of senses, which is where the title comes from.

Violence is done.

The endnotes for this book are extensive, a fair bit of work done there, and well worth a look after you have finished the book.

Almost another tweener this one, 4.25 perhaps. Rounding up is fine given the work put into the post novel text.

http://freesf.blogspot.com/2007/04/blindsight-peter-watts.html ( )

Strong transhumanist scifi. Probably the only singularity-based novel with vampires. The ultimate reveal is not as good as the build up, but then it almost never is. You can read it free here.
(1.15.07) ( )

When I picked this novel up I wasn't sure that I should respect it for being anymore then some haunted-house story in outer space. What you get is a grim meditation on the question of whether Humanity has hit the glass ceiling of its own evolutionary fitness. Remember that the truth will set you free, not make you happy. ( )

Along side the human race live vampires - humanoids who became extinct during the Pleistocene era and have been resurrected by modern science. Their predatory habits are kept in check, but their special DNA and vast intelligence aids humanity as it ventures into space.

On Feb. 13, 2082, a shower of lights fills Earth’s sky. The media dubs them Fireflies. They prove to be a signal from an alien source. An exploratory ship is prepared and sent to search for its origin. A crew assembles and includes the story’s narrator the synthesist Siri, a scientist decked out with extensions so grand he hardly looks human, Communications expert Susan James whose brain carries 4 personae, Major Bates the only military member, and the vampire Sarasti, commander of the mission. No one dares challenge his authority! Except for one at a crucial moment.

Their ship Theseus takes them past the edge of our solar system to meet up with a species both belligerent and smart. The crew is on their own. There is no contact with earth from this distance, But their is contact with the nightmarish alien ship which Siri, describes thusly,

Imagine a crown of thorns, twisted, dark and unreflective, grown too thickly tangled to ever rest on any Human head. Put it in orbit around a failed star whose own reflected half-light does little more than throw its satellites into silhouette. Occasional bloody highlights glinted like dim embers from its twist and crannies; they only emphasized the darkness everywhere else.

It is huge, and it is growing fueled by particles from the giant, dying sun it orbits.

Susan James uses her communication skills to ping the other ship. It quickly answers and dubs itself Rorschach. A friendly exchange turns ugly as Theseus approaches. Rorschach warns - stay away! Sarasti ignores the warnings, and as soon as it is feasible he has the crew takes a shuttle down to Rorschach. The nightmare escalates.

Watts's descriptions of the most technical subjects is sheer poetry. Each character is fully formed and reacts believably to the most bizarre situations. Siri makes difficult but important changes within himself in order to survive ever changing scenarios. The author has crafted an imaginative first contact, space adventure all the while educating the reader with a fascinating blend of philosophy, psychology, evolution, quantum mechanics, astronomy, and so much more. Quite a feat, Mr. Watts!

James Schellenberg & David M. Switzer have an in depth interview with Peter Watts on their Challenging Destiny site. At the time of this interview Watts was working on Blindsight. ( )

Damn. I guess it had to happen eventually.

2082. Firefall - 65,536 objects envelop the earth in a perfect grid, burning up in its atmosphere. Cameras. But whatever took our photo with our pants down doesn’t want to to talk, or to be found. By chance, some obscure comet is found to have the peculiar property of transmitting a signal to somewhere outside the solar system. A manned ship is dispatched, but is too late - the transmitter destroys itself along with the comet upon detection. Scanning the sky in the direction of the transmission yields a destination more than half a light year away from home. Not the time to chicken out.

http://lifeinsilico.wordpress.com/200... ( )

This book blew my frickin' mind. This is the reason I love science fiction. ( )

A weak storyline, but good character building and better endnotes save Watts' Blindsight from a low rating. ( )