Paperback, 448 pages
Published Aug. 27, 2006 by Unknown.
The Singularity. It is the era of the posthuman. Artificial intelligences have surpassed the limits of human intellect. Biotechnological beings have rendered people all but extinct. Molecular nanotechnology runs rampant, replicating and reprogramming at will. Contact with extraterrestrial life grows more imminent with each new day. Struggling to survive and thrive in this accelerated world are three generations of the Macx clan: Manfred, an entrepreneur dealing in intelligence amplification technology whose mind is divided between his physical environment and the Internet; his daughter, Amber, on the run from her domineering mother, seeking her fortune in the outer system as an indentured astronaut; and Sirhan, Amber's son, who finds his destiny linked to the fate of all of humanity.
For something is systematically dismantling the nine planets of the solar system. Something beyond human comprehension. Something that has no use for biological life in any form...
The book is heavy with technobabble that's quite dated by now, as others have already mentioned. I didn't even manage to read through the first story before having to give up. Sad, as it looked like this book got some interesting ideas.
Might give it a new go in the future if I find the patience to handle the crazy.
Das erste Buch von Charles Stross, das ich gelesen hab - und bin begeistert. Alles Andere als leichte Kost, hab ziemlich lange dafür gebraucht, aber ist es wert.
Die meisten Ideen kennt man eigentlich schon aus anderer SciFi, aber Stross schafft es die noch um ein Stückchen weiter zu denken - oft mit überraschenden Ergebnissen. Dazu Unmengen an Referenzen und Anspielungen, trotzdem nur selten solch längliche Erklärungen wie man sie von Neal Stephenson kennt.
Und bisher erstaunlich gut gealtert - das Buch stammt von 2005 - und hat als ein zentrales Thema KI - was jetzt -18 Jahre später - gerade ein Hype ist.
Und die Katze :)
Kurz: Ich will mehr davon.
