What are you reading? All New / All Improved Dec 2017 Edition.

R

Random Bystander

First Post

• Dec 8, 2017

• #21

Kramodlog said:

The singularity. In our day and age of dematerialization, hyperconnectiveness, mass information and burgening AIs, the singularity is part of the zeitgeist.

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If by "singularity" you mean a point beyond which civilization is somewhat unimaginable to previous civilizations, this has already happened at least a half-dozen times.

This presents an obvious problem in creating fiction set after the change... Although that is no reason not to try.

 

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R

Richards

Legend

• Dec 8, 2017

• #22

I believe the "singularity" referenced earlier refers to the ability to "download" a person's personality into a computer, thus allowing an electronic copy of that person live potentially forever.

Johnathan

 

R

Random Bystander

First Post

• Dec 9, 2017

• #23

Richards said:

I believe the "singularity" referenced earlier refers to the ability to "download" a person's personality into a computer, thus allowing an electronic copy of that person live potentially forever.

Johnathan

Click to expand...

A matter of modern versus classic definitions, as I understand it.

 

Kramodlog

Naked and living in a barrel

• Dec 9, 2017

• #24

Richards said:

I believe the "singularity" referenced earlier refers to the ability to "download" a person's personality into a computer, thus allowing an electronic copy of that person live potentially forever.

Johnathan

Click to expand...

Concept of an artificial intelligence that would improve itself rapidly and surpass human intelligence. The best representation I've seen was by Charles Stross in Accelerando. He depicts three generations who live through the singularity.

His depiction is rather pessimistic. any intelligent race who reaches the singularity inevitably leads to the solar system behind turned into a huge computer (a variation of the Dyson Sphere) with the sun powering it. To have life in the flesh, you need to be in a system with low energy and little metal.

 

trappedslider

Legend

• Dec 12, 2017

• #25

So i checked out a book from the library based on it's title alone, "Kill the boy band"

 

Ralif Redhammer

Legend

• Dec 14, 2017

• #26

Just finished The Shadow Rising, of the Wheel of Time. Good stuff. Getting a bit tired of the antiquated views on gender relations, though. But one of the things I love about good epic fantasy is when the author builds an intricate world, then does something that upends your expectations, shocking the reader (see also The Red Wedding, Shelob seeming to kill Frodo, etc.)

Taking a brief break from the Wheel of Time read with Holmberg’s The Master Magician. Curious to see the repercussions of the events of the last book.

 

Blue

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal

• Dec 15, 2017

• #27

Ralif Redhammer said:

Just finished The Shadow Rising, of the Wheel of Time. Good stuff. Getting a bit tired of the antiquated views on gender relations, though. But one of the things I love about good epic fantasy is when the author builds an intricate world, then does something that upends your expectations, shocking the reader (see also The Red Wedding, Shelob seeming to kill Frodo, etc.)

Click to expand...

I think that was my favorite book in the series.

Though you aren't at the end of upending things - that is something the series does. Status quo is not sacred.

 

Ralif Redhammer

Legend

• Dec 15, 2017

• #28

Awesome, looking forward to it! It's that cold shock of "wait, did I really just read that?" moment that makes for such compelling reading.

Blue said:

I think that was my favorite book in the series.

Though you aren't at the end of upending things - that is something the series does. Status quo is not sacred.

Click to expand...

 

trappedslider

Legend

• Dec 19, 2017

• #29

Working my way back through Uncle Rick's demigod universe and i'm on Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

 

Ralif Redhammer

Legend

• Dec 19, 2017

• #30

The Master Magician was a quick read, but a satisfying end to the trilogy. Curious to see if the optioned movies will ever get made. Now it’s back to the Wheel of Time, with The Fires of Heaven. Restricting myself to only one-book breaks between each one is hard, but I know that if I don’t keep at it, I’ll end up lost in the web of characters, plots, and places.