Well handled post-apocalyptic setting where life after human beings goes on pretty much unfazed in the form of human-equivalent AI robots. Space travel is still rubbish even if you're a robot, underclocking your brain to get through the tedium and confinement with much less and slower awareness doesn't help that much. A brilliant conceit, but then all of Stross's conceits are brilliant. Written as a tribute to late period Heinlein novels so it's a story of sex, intrigue and labyrinthine plotting.
MASSIVE SPOILERS
I think one of the most striking things about this book is that it thinks itself outside of humanity by presenting a world where our veneration of biological life is discarded as irrelevant, because it's the way we think and our culture that defines who we are. The robots we built carry that on without us. It's the perfect set up for a post-humanity culture which doesn't agonise about climate change until the Gulf of Mexico hits a rolling boil which is an image that has stuck with me ever since. In this world the prospect of biological humanity returning means nothing good, and it's hard to root for it when experiencing a culture that has outgrown any need for us to exist.
MASSIVE SPOILERS
I think one of the most striking things about this book is that it thinks itself outside of humanity by presenting a world where our veneration of biological life is discarded as irrelevant, because it's the way we think and our culture that defines who we are. The robots we built carry that on without us. It's the perfect set up for a post-humanity culture which doesn't agonise about climate change until the Gulf of Mexico hits a rolling boil which is an image that has stuck with me ever since. In this world the prospect of biological humanity returning means nothing good, and it's hard to root for it when experiencing a culture that has outgrown any need for us to exist.
Do not get it. My friend summed this up with simply enough: It's like a book you'd get out of your high school library that you'd read age 14. McCarthy is an immensely skilled writer, but the ideas are pretty obvious and it's banal post-apocalyptic material. A morality tale that's so hoary it's got knotholes. I'll stick with his brutal westerns, thanks.
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs
Mike's Quick Capsule review: piece of shit.
A secular Jewish man follows Old and New Testaments.
Read a few other reviews if you need a list of all the things wrong with this man's project: from a secular, progressive viewpoint all you can see is a man making excuses for weary doctrine and following traditions by rote. Which is all very well, trying to determine which existing thought is enlightened and venerate cultures that help people lead moral lives is important work and I can see arguing for that. What I can't argue for is a book written by such a weaselly man: A journalist for Maxim who talks about his children as if they're immensely fragile flowers and agonizes about their safety and upbringing and his suitability to take care of them who then decides that tradition justifies inflicting ritual mutilation on his son. Circumcision is like owning a gun, it only makes sense if your culture tells you it does - if you're going to question your culture and end up agreeing with its harmful behaviours then I'm not sure your project amounts to much of value (I'm aware of circumcision showing medical benefits regarding rates of HIV transmission but I am also aware that the Western world is overflowing with condoms). The main problem with the book is that it's a boring stunt that doesn't land a decent laugh. Avoid.
A secular Jewish man follows Old and New Testaments.
Read a few other reviews if you need a list of all the things wrong with this man's project: from a secular, progressive viewpoint all you can see is a man making excuses for weary doctrine and following traditions by rote. Which is all very well, trying to determine which existing thought is enlightened and venerate cultures that help people lead moral lives is important work and I can see arguing for that. What I can't argue for is a book written by such a weaselly man: A journalist for Maxim who talks about his children as if they're immensely fragile flowers and agonizes about their safety and upbringing and his suitability to take care of them who then decides that tradition justifies inflicting ritual mutilation on his son. Circumcision is like owning a gun, it only makes sense if your culture tells you it does - if you're going to question your culture and end up agreeing with its harmful behaviours then I'm not sure your project amounts to much of value (I'm aware of circumcision showing medical benefits regarding rates of HIV transmission but I am also aware that the Western world is overflowing with condoms). The main problem with the book is that it's a boring stunt that doesn't land a decent laugh. Avoid.