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December: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
The next poll will pick two books. I'd like to do it that way to keep a strong second place contender from being overlooked, and so I don't have to update the poll so often.
Discuss The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin in the comments below.
Snow Crash was written by Neal Stephenson in 1992. The novel features a bit of a Calexit scenario, and is known for popularizing the term "avatar" (paving the way for James Cameron's true magnum opus). These days, Neal moonlights as Magic Leap's "Chief Futurist". Seems appropriate.
Previously: Announcement post • Mars, Ho! • Foundation
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SoylentNews Book Club: Discuss The Three-Body Problem, Start Reading Snow Crash
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Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.
-- Spock, "The Squire of Gothos", stardate 2124.5
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 07 2018, @04:47PM (1 child)
Cixin Liu has done a credible job of creating an alien race. He has assigned them intelligence, motives, and a strange flavored psychology. He has given them some decent powers, and reasonable limitations. He's done such a good job with the aliens, we can almost forget that the story is about humans.
And, as a bonus, these humans are mostly Chinese, from the generation when China was experiencing "interesting times".
For myself, I've read accounts of the atrocities that happened during the Communist takeover. None of them have been so riveting as Cixin Liu has authored here. None have been so detailed. And, I have little doubt that his accounts are pretty true to life. The reeducation camps, the purges, the shame of not conforming - so many ways to condemn oneself to death, or worse. And, in the book, it all feels so real. Fiction, based strongly on fact, is what we have here.
And, in the purges, we find the motivation for the first signals to be sent. In effect, "We're too sick to live - come help us!" What irony, that the folk on the receiving end are in such dire straits themselves. They have little help to offer, and in fact, require all the help they can get!
The aliens are interesting, sure, but of more interest, are the number of people who betray the human race, for various reasons. Greed, vengeance, lust for power, lust for fame, gullibility - all of humankind's failings and weaknesses are put on display in this story. Equally interesting, are those people who fight in humanity's interests. It becomes a more or less typical antagonist-protagonist story between the two human factions, with the trisolarians almost taking the part of a force of nature.
The most interesting thing about the people, is how readily hordes of them fall into a new religion. It's something that I've never really thought about, but people do seem to always be ready and willing to be suckered into a new religion. Scientology, Moonies, Mormons - there are never enough religions to go around, so we are always ready to make room for a new one. In this case, millions fall under the sway of the "Lords" of Solaris.
Like any really good book, this one is written on several levels - and I'm not sure I've found them all yet.
I am anxiously awaiting the fourth book though. It's a great story as an action story alone - and I want to see what happens when the Solarins get tired of waiting to land on earth!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Friday December 07 2018, @06:39PM
I travel more than average folks do and what I see is almost universal hate of the local governments. It's not universal in a sense of what local is as some hate say state level but ok with city or vise versa, but there is some government to hate for everybody. That's why I am so pessimistic about our progress as humans at least for a foreseeable future.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.