Enrico
Chiang is a master at packing provocative dystopias and original ideas into a few pages. This collection of some of his best short stories poses some challenging questions about how societies (ancient, present, and future) might face disruptive technologies and alien beings. One of the best science fiction books I have ever read, and one that will keep you thinking and pondering long after you have finished it.
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time is one of the best science fiction stories I have read recently, and perhaps ever.
The author interweaves the story of a colony of (very relatable) spiders on a distant planet, unintentionally uplifted and augmented by an ancient human terraforming project, with the needs of a generational ship full of humans who must find a planet to live on.
Everything happens over hundreds of years, but the narrative is very fluid and shows a great continuity, complicit with the fact that the humans on the ship benefit from hibernation technology that lets them experience only the key events of their struggle to find a new home, and sleep during downtime.
Chapters about humans and spiders alternate, often ending with important milestones or events. This makes the book a real page-turner, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat to see what other unexpected things will happen next, no matter which of the two narratives the reader enjoys more.
The most fascinating aspect of the book for me is how Tchaikovsky wisely uses his background in zoology to describe a fairly plausible evolution of the arachnids, including aspects such as religion, gender roles, social norms, and technology. There is always a reason why things evolve the way they do, and that reason follows solid rules of nature and science.
This is very intelligent science fiction, and the way the author describes the evolution of the spiders reminded me a bit of how Andy Weir described the nature and physiology of the aliens in “Project Hail Mary”.
I was a bit on the fence when the story reached a point where a conflict between the two species arose. After all I had read, it was impossible to choose a side, as I felt sympathy for both groups of protagonists, although the humans are a constant carousel of violence for centuries. The ending is surprising.
It's a 5/5 for me, and I recommend the novel to anyone interested in intelligent science fiction.
Reading this book required a little leap of faith for me. I didn't have very high expectations because of another Clarke book I had read before, Rendezvous with Rama. While that was an okay story, it didn???t really resonate with me, and I found it a bit bland. I enjoyed Childhood???s End a lot more.
The plot takes the reader on a mind-blowing and unexpected journey. It begins with a familiar sci-fi trope, aliens arriving on Earth and wanting to guide it, but the story quickly grows with surprising and seemingly unrelated events that come together beautifully in the end.
There's a clear build-up toward themes that go beyond traditional science fiction and move into more metaphysical territory. Normally, these elements aren't really my cup of tea, but Clarke does a great job of keeping the mystery alive and the story engaging, which made me want to keep reading.
The events span several decades, and the human characters each play a temporary role in moving the story forward. There isn't much time to grow attached to them, and they don???t really evolve in a meaningful way.
On the other hand, the alien characters, called the “Overlords” by humans, are a major point of interest. Even though their role is completely benevolent, the reason behind their actions stays a mystery for most of the book. Clarke slowly reveals details here and there, which helps keep the reader curious until the final moments. The Overlords are not emotional beings, but once the reader fully understands their goal, it's easy to sympathize with them.
This is definitely a captivating story, especially if you're open to science fiction mixed with a touch of mysticism. Interestingly, Clarke explains in a foreword written decades after the book was first published that the story was partly inspired by his earlier fascination with parapsychology, something he later grew almost entirely skeptical about.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and I recommend it to science fiction fans.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress tells the story of a Moon colony, Luna, whose people fight to gain independence from Earth and build their own country. The book follows how the rebellion is organized and how the characters work together to create a new political system and lead a revolution from such an unusual environment.
I really enjoyed the book, especially the story. While it includes a few familiar science fiction tropes, like the supercomputer becoming sentient, that wasn???t the part that interested me most. It???s not that I don???t like those tropes, but they felt a bit clich??. What really grabbed my attention were the other aspects and themes of the story.
One of the most compelling parts for me was the society the characters in the book created. They live in a moon colony where they???ve built a libertarian society based on scarcity. Since resources on Luna are limited, scarcity shapes both their activities and the social structure of the colony.
Another aspect I really liked was how women were treated. Because women were scarcer than men, they were considered very precious. I remember a scene where a tourist arrives on Luna and treats a female character in a disrespectful way. The people there react as if he???s committed a huge crime, and the proposed punishment for his actions was death. This strong reaction to what we might see as a crim that wouldn't deserve capital punishment highlights just how important women are in that society.
I also enjoyed the way family is structured. It???s a bit confusing, but the concept of family is tied to broader ideas of brotherhood and shared responsibility or connection between people. Relationships aren???t strictly monogamous: women can have more than one husband, and some relationships in the group resemble polyamory.
The writing style, though, can be a bit daunting. The main character doesn???t narrate the events in plain English but in a simplified form of English that???s standard in the Moon Colony. It???s not difficult to understand once you get used to it, but it does require some adjustment. I would suggest that readers first preview the book to see if they???re comfortable with this style before committing to hundreds of pages of it.
One issue I had with the book was that many things are simply explained through dialogue or plain descriptions, instead of using a “show, don???t tell” approach. I enjoy books where readers can discover things on their own, but in this case, everything is laid out clearly. Another thing that slowed down the pace for me was that one specific character often explained the political ideas of the Lunar Society, but not through conversations. Rather, this character simply expressed his thoughts in long, essay-like monologues. While political discussions aren???t inherently bad, this approach felt a bit heavy-handed and slowed the overall pace of the book.
Most of the book focuses on how the fight and war against Earth is conducted. While war combined with science fiction is not my favorite mix, I have to say that the events in the story are adventurous and well narrated.
This book can be interesting for people who enjoy political intrigue, space wars, and the social aspects of how a society living with scarce resources could be shaped through anarchism and libertarianism to assure mutual respect and prosperity.
This was the first book I read by Kurt Vonnegut, and I loved the writing style. It reminded me a little of Douglas Adams??? sarcasm, but darker and more existential.
What I really enjoyed was the absurdism that runs through the entire story. The plot is wild and unpredictable, but it feels like that craziness is just a tool to explore deeper ideas, especially about how people relate to religion and the idea of fate. I???m glad Vonnegut took this approach, because the book is full of thought-provoking ideas about how we live and what truly matters in life.
I also appreciated how the story focuses on Malachi Constant, a character who is deeply unlikeable in many ways. Watching how he changes and suffers throughout the story makes the reader reflect on big questions about human nature, free will, and the meaning of suffering. His journey through the solar system is both cruel and fascinating, and it adds to the book???s dark but clever view of life.
This was one of the most thought-provoking and emotional books I???ve read in recent times. I???m really glad to have discovered this author, and I can???t wait to add another of his books (probably Cat???s Cradle) to my to-read list.
Reading 1984 by George Orwell is an enlightening act of masochism.
Through Winston Smith's grim experiences in his dystopian world, Orwell offers more than a warning about the future. The Party dehumanizes the novel's population by promoting values that our society often embraces willingly. This realization is jarring.
Some of the Party's doctrines enforced on the masses include ignorance, rejection of rationality, and impoverishment of language. Ironically, as Orwell says, the masses “can be granted intellectual liberty because they have no intellect.”
Winston attempts to resist the oppressive, controlling structure by embracing simple human values, such as loving someone and acknowledging reality. He does so with the full knowledge that his actions will lead to pain and demise, and that the power of the all-knowing Big Brother is immense.
Orwell's depiction of this world is magnificent. Despite being published in 1940, the language is modern, reinforcing the perception that it is a contemporary story. Some of the scientific ideas, such as shaping the cognitive abilities of the population by simplifying and redefining language, are relevant today in the concept of “linguistic determinism.” This concept appears in other science fiction works, such as Ted Chiang's “Story of Your Life,” though in that case, the effect on people is positive.
1984 is an eye-opening punch in the gut, and it needs to be read.
Having watched 2001: A Space Odyssey so many times, I find it difficult to review the novel. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially since I loved the film. I'm still trying to figure out how much I like Clarke's writing style.
The plot revolves around a mysterious monolith that contributes to the evolution of the human race, as well as the voyage of a group of astronauts toward Saturn to learn more about this phenomenon. The astronauts travel on a ship controlled by the supercomputer HAL 9000.
It was interesting to see how Clarke presented the events depicted in the film. The film leaves more to the imagination, leaving readers with open-ended questions. The book does that too, but it also provides explicit, rational explanations for why HAL 9000 malfunctions. In the final chapters, the author provides long, detailed descriptions of what astronaut David Bowman experiences.
I don't think Clarke is particularly good at conveying a sense of wonder and awe through meticulous descriptions, but that's just my personal preference. At least two full chapters felt slow because there was no interaction or dialogue, and the descriptions of some environments were almost inconsequential to the plot. Fortunately, they weren't too long, and the slower pace was rewarded with a great ending.
I give the novel four out of five stars. It's a fascinating and mysterious story that you might enjoy more if you haven't seen the movie.
A rather dark short story about the painful compromises humans must make to survive in an alien society ruled by the Tlics.
I didn't notice the “horror” tag before reading it, and generally horror is not my cup of tea, but it's a thought-provoking tale of a single, very Alien event that uses gore to illustrate the social struggle between two races who want to survive.
The only puzzling note comes from an afterword by the author, who says she couldn't understand how some readers thought humans were enslaved in the story. I'm one of those readers, and I really believe that the humans only had a choice between being treated like animals or being forced by powerful political and social norms to become reproductive vessels for the Tlics. So I think my interpretation of the story made it even darker than the author intended.