Singularity's Review
Aug. 17th, 2009 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHi,
Over the weekend I finished off Singularity's Ring by Paul Melko. It's another one of those post-singularity novels so that might give you some inkling of whether or not you'd be interested.
The short form is that humanity achieved singularity in the Community...which then promptly transcended and left the Earth in chaos. Rising up out of the ashes are Pods, groups of humans who are bonded together via pheromones to think and work cooperatively and also apart. A few decades after the transcendence, Apollo Popadopulous, a pod of five young people are being groomed to command a starship that Earth will send into the Rift -- some sort of wormhole that appears to lead to other worlds.
The process of selecting the captain is a grueling one and Apllo is constantly being tested and compared to other pods who want the slot. The testing process is tough, but a series of mysterious accidents start making things a bit more deadly. Apollo must struggle to find out what's going on and how best to deal with the information he uncovers.
The book does a good job at presenting Apollo both as individuals (the first few chapters of the book focuses on each pod member's experiences) and then later as a composite whole. Humans aren't the only genetically modified creatures and there's a number of scenes where they interact with other uplifted creatures.
Overall, the book is a pretty good light read with some interesting ideas and viewpoints.
later
Tom
Over the weekend I finished off Singularity's Ring by Paul Melko. It's another one of those post-singularity novels so that might give you some inkling of whether or not you'd be interested.
The short form is that humanity achieved singularity in the Community...which then promptly transcended and left the Earth in chaos. Rising up out of the ashes are Pods, groups of humans who are bonded together via pheromones to think and work cooperatively and also apart. A few decades after the transcendence, Apollo Popadopulous, a pod of five young people are being groomed to command a starship that Earth will send into the Rift -- some sort of wormhole that appears to lead to other worlds.
The process of selecting the captain is a grueling one and Apllo is constantly being tested and compared to other pods who want the slot. The testing process is tough, but a series of mysterious accidents start making things a bit more deadly. Apollo must struggle to find out what's going on and how best to deal with the information he uncovers.
The book does a good job at presenting Apollo both as individuals (the first few chapters of the book focuses on each pod member's experiences) and then later as a composite whole. Humans aren't the only genetically modified creatures and there's a number of scenes where they interact with other uplifted creatures.
Overall, the book is a pretty good light read with some interesting ideas and viewpoints.
later
Tom
