Ultima

This one was a satisfying end to the duology as long as we go along with the premise that the past is always full of options and the future always ends in death.

I'm talking universal death under the theory that there is a finite number of universes in a multi-verse, meaning that somewhere along the line the bubble is going to pop when it runs up against the wall. It's a very fascinating theory and it even makes a ton of sense because infinite is a very irrational number.

So what does this mean for this story? It means that none of us have as long as we think we have. It's the universal equivalent of random death. It can happen at any time. It can even happen to whole universes at any time.

This is scary. It also means that the story frame show more of massively parallel intelligences toying around with space-time effects in order to tweak the universe's beginnings or any small factor afterward is really just a last-ditch effort to find a way out of the exploding-bubble mess.

On a human scale, we were introduced to weird things happening such as alternate timelines re-writing the universe with the exception of the people going through the Hatches on these remote planets, each of whom remember everything about their old universe.

In this novel, the whole alternate timeline angle is taken all the way, giving us a Roman Empire that never ended, an Incan civilization that succeeded and colonized worlds, too. Each one is just another subtle tweak attempting to give humanity that one small glimmer of hope, that tiny little edge.

So what's the real theme of the novel, then? Curiosity is really big. So is the simplicity of wanting a journey. None of it is easy, of course, and it's a real trip to see Roman Legionnaires get pummeled by the Incans, but the real treat has got to be the inclusion of the AIs.

I don't know. The novel sets out to demonstrate tons of options that always narrow down to the last single choice, or no choice. He succeeds perfectly.

Me, personally? I think it's a perfect expression of fatalism. No hope. Surrounded by endless hope, super-intelligences dreaming up new realities, and yet, all of it is for nothing. It's rather scary.

Good book, but still rather scary. show less

Not as good as its predecessor [b: Proxima|17983396|Proxima|Stephen Baxter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375157355s/17983396.jpg|25216071], but I avoided the audiobook this time because the last time it was just that bad. Reading this on paper was a lot easier than listening to that awful fake accent.

The story is about characters who kind of get transferred into an alternative reality after a catastrophic event at the end of the first book - they end up in a world where Rome never fell, and Imperial Rome lasted into the modern day. That's completely ludicrous, in a word, but "Romans in space" is interesting as high-concept sci-fi, so I let that slide. It gets even more batshit further into the novel, though: they later end up in a show more world where Inca is the dominant culture, and they've relocated off-world to a spinning tube in the sky... yet the inhabitants are mostly described as primitive farmers and superstitious. Then the world ends with a sudden heat-death when they travel to Ultima, which is actually the same as Proxima - the concept was explained and backed up with some statistical reasoning (apparently it's a real thing), but I didn't buy the argument. Just as in the earlier book, they have to circumnavigate to the dark side of the planet for some reason.

Also, I didn't like several of the characters. There wasn't really any character development over the novel, and the Romans were entirely interchangeable except for one with a distinctive tic - which he only develops in the later chapters.

I much preferred Proxima's storyline. I got into it near the end, though, and read about a third of the book in one sitting, more than usual. So it certainly has its ups and downs. show less

The sequel to Proxima – did you see what he did there? Proxima: nearest; Ultima: furthest. Where the first was near-future sf, this one drags in Baxter’s other great interest, alternate history. It seems that the Hatches which allow for easy travel over interstellar distances (instantaneous for the traveller, but light-speed is not violated), also trigger “resets” of history – or shift the protagonists into alternate histories. In the first, the Roman Empire makes it into space but despite making use of “kernels” (magic energy wormhole-y type things) as a power source, it doesn’t appear to have progressed much beyond the first century CE. And then it’s an interstellar Aztec Empire, which also uses kernels and has built show more a giant fuck-off O’Neill cylinder but still runs pretty much along the same lines as it did when Cortés stumbled across Tenochtitlan. It’s quite an impressive sustained act of imagination, but not in the least bit plausible. The book also suffers from juvenile characterisation – a running joke involving a lead character, a grizzled Roman legionary – wears thin soon after the third mention but Baxter keeps it going right to the bitter end. There’s lots of clumsy exposition, and a central premise that doesn’t really convince. Baxter has done much better than this, and it all feels a bit by-the-numbers and banged out over a quick weekend. Disappointing. show less

This is a sequel to the author’s Proxima, and while I have read some reviews that said it can be read as a stand-alone work, I strongly disagree. In any event, why would you ever want to read book two of a series before reading the work that preceded it?

I enjoyed Proxima and looked forward to reading this book, right up until the last couple of pages of Proxima, where an introduction into Ultima was presented. Unfortunately, my premonition was verified. In Ultima, the concept of alternate histories was advanced, a notion that I sometimes find very compelling. In this case, however, the alternative histories which were advanced were so absurd, that I couldn’t work my way past them.

MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. You see, in the first show more alternate history, the Roman Empire never falls, but instead proceeds into the realm of space exploration. The problem is, they never advance beyond their turn of the millennium (First Millennium) technological or cultural proficiency. They just fly around in spaceships, essentially habitats which model ancient Roman cities, guided by Arab navigators (no computers), carrying lances and short swords and utilizing slave labor. Believe me, it is as ridiculous as it sounds.

The next alternate history posits an Incan civilization that ultimately conquers the world and also advances to the level of space exploration, again without any additional technological or cultural advancement. The have constructed a space habitat of the following dimension: A cylinder 3,000 miles long and 400 miles in diameter. Okay, a bunch of Incans, wearing colorful feathers, sacrificing virgins, with no obvious technology, travel the stars and construct an impossible piece of complex engineering.

These absurdly implausible plot constructs destroy what is otherwise a very original and thoughtful work. Loaded with hard science fiction and sometimes very challenging philosophy and astrophysical theory (wormholes, frictionless slide/tunnels, energy kernels), the story continually gets bogged down in frustratingly stupid scenarios. It is a sometimes inconvenient character trait that I am unable to simply look past such absurdities, but instead allow them to destroy my enjoyment of what could otherwise be an enjoyable reading experience. If you are able to suspend disbelief, you might enjoy this sequel. show less

I like alternative histories, it is a completely unmined field of novel entertainment, if done right. This one is done terribly wrong. Apparently the Romans have both constructed spaceships but those appear still like rowboats completely with chain anchors. The poor crew has resort to using parchment because their charts aren't digital, even though consoles light up in the background. If that wasn't enough the writing is so convoluted with ever changing perspectives that I had to go back every few sentences to make sure I had read everything correctly.

I couldn't follow the story. It's like watching a pro ball game - you could have a long afternoon nap after the first inning, and when you wake up, the game is still going and the score's still even. A lot is going on, but nothing.

As others have said, it starts slowly, but the pace picks up considerably in the second half of the book.

A must read if you liked the first one; solid world building as always. I only wish people would just let Titus finish one of his stories, guess that was never meant to be, heh.