Reading a Good Book
Dec. 26th, 2006 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHi,
So I just finished up Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder.
The basic gist of the story is that a young woman lives on a small ringworld. Her life is regulated by her implants that build a virtual reality around her. On top of this, there are numerous societies sharing the ringworld, all of whom interact with it differently depending on the technological "settings" for their culture. So Livia sees lives in a high-tech Victorian society with flying cars while invisible primitives live alongside them in a deep primeval forest.
One day her ringworld gets invaded and Livia must travel out from the ringworld, back to the inner solar system where the mass of humanity lives in an even more virtual reality than hers in hopes of finding someone who can stop the destruction of her world's cultures.
It's a very good book, jam-packed with a lot of speculation and discussion about reality and technology and free-will. Fans of Asher and Banks et. al. will probably find this to be a pretty good read too. Sadly, the back cover proudly announces that this is a top pick of Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine which really seems to be the kiss of death for a book marketed as sci-fi. Luckily, it's not a bodice ripper and while there are some romantic elements, it surprises me that this book excited fans of that genre enough to garner such a commendation. Perhaps I'm simply moderating my realty and not seeing the romance novel inside it.
At any rate, it was a fun read and it also prompted a lot of thinking about the issues raised in the book, so I'd certainly keep an eye out for it.
later
Tom
So I just finished up Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder.
The basic gist of the story is that a young woman lives on a small ringworld. Her life is regulated by her implants that build a virtual reality around her. On top of this, there are numerous societies sharing the ringworld, all of whom interact with it differently depending on the technological "settings" for their culture. So Livia sees lives in a high-tech Victorian society with flying cars while invisible primitives live alongside them in a deep primeval forest.
One day her ringworld gets invaded and Livia must travel out from the ringworld, back to the inner solar system where the mass of humanity lives in an even more virtual reality than hers in hopes of finding someone who can stop the destruction of her world's cultures.
It's a very good book, jam-packed with a lot of speculation and discussion about reality and technology and free-will. Fans of Asher and Banks et. al. will probably find this to be a pretty good read too. Sadly, the back cover proudly announces that this is a top pick of Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine which really seems to be the kiss of death for a book marketed as sci-fi. Luckily, it's not a bodice ripper and while there are some romantic elements, it surprises me that this book excited fans of that genre enough to garner such a commendation. Perhaps I'm simply moderating my realty and not seeing the romance novel inside it.
At any rate, it was a fun read and it also prompted a lot of thinking about the issues raised in the book, so I'd certainly keep an eye out for it.
later
Tom
