ihatemusic

An older hard SF classic, and the brand new KSR. QUARANTINE - Greg Egan (1992) (...) What starts as a detective set in 2067 quickly turns into a head spinning novel about the possible existential effects of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics – more specifically the consciousness caus...

I have a few more to add. All of these have been reissued fairly recently in the new series lay-out. Some of them aren't coupled to their older versions on Discogs, so that's confusing. Most of these can be ordered new from Amazon.fr, or amazon.co.uk or Honest Jon Records. Greece - Grand chant octot...

A few to add: An Anthology of South Indian Classical Music (by L. Subramaniam) 4 cds, fantastic, varied. I'd say this is in the same league as the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 4cd set. Japan - Nagauta - Ensemble Kineya Kabuki theater music, very dramatic & expressive. Vocals, lutes, flute & some drums. Jap...

Two classics... A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ - Walter M. Miller Jr. (1959) (...) At the same time, much of these questions are only interesting for readers that adhere to a belief in a personal god yet struggle with injustice & sorrow. If you don’t believe in god – or if your particular belief system ma...

This year's Hugo winner A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE - Arkady Martine (2019) Arkady Martine’s debut novel just won the 2020 Hugo and is shortlisted for the Clarke, so indeed, it has all the hallmarks of what people seem to like: a picture of a sprawling throne on the cover, and a “glossary of persons, pla...

Third post in my long reads on my reread of the Dune series: CHILDREN OF DUNE - Frank Herbert (1976) “The landscape which met their gaze was beyond pity, nowhere did it pause – no hesitations in it at all.” There is something relentless to Children of Dune. It was the most difficult hurdle yet in my...

A deserved classic - don't be fooled by the movie! THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS - John Wyndham (1954) (...) Whatever Wyndham’s soldier status, there is an amount of carnage & corpses in The Day of the Triffids – although generally subdued, and mainly visible out of the corner of the eye. Death might not ...

Strange, weird new novel of Harrison,the first in 7 years. THE SUNKEN LAND BEGINS TO RISE AGAIN - M. John Harrison (2020) https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587253025l/49201192._SY475_.jpg (...) But this is a review, so I have to tell you something about the beaut...

SOLARIS - Stanisław Lem (1961) (...) It’s curious that our relation to alien intelligence isn’t upfront in the movies, but then again, maybe it is not. I thought the strongest suit of Solaris was the character of Harey – or ‘Rheya’ in the translation I read. She is quite an invention. How would you ...

Just reviewed a brilliant, overlooked novel about 2 physicists entangled in corruption, mid-life crises, institutional incentives, technological inevitability, the end of the Cold War, nuclear bombs & the Star Wars missile defense program, existential risks & accelerationism. Based on true events, w...

THE GODS THEMSELVES - Isaac Asimov (1972) (...) The title comes from a quote from a Friedrich Schiller play: "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain", and it is a clear indication of what Asimov wanted to do with this book: issue a warning against human vanity & stupidity. The central...

4 new SF posts on Weighing A Pig: EXHALTATION - Ted Chiang (2008) (...) This time the main focus is on neuroscience, and the debate on the classic boxological Theory Of Mind: do our brains have representations of their content inside their brains, or not? The Nobel Prize winning research by Kandel a...

A NEW FAVORITE!

GREG EGAN - SCHILD'S LADDER (2002)

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I used to think the Culture of Iain M. Banks represented the creative pinnacle of imagining a transhumanist future, but consider that position revised: it seems Egan has picked up the baton a long time ago.

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Full review here.

My analysis of the Dune series continues... another 4500+ word article on Dune Messiah, focusing on the differences with Dune, the ties with Nietzschean Eternal Recurrence and, yet again, prescience and determinism. DUNE MESSIAH - Frank Herbert (1969) (...) I’ll try to keep this text under 5000 word...

Fantastic book on human development. BECOMING HUMAN: A THEORY OF ONTOGENY - Michael Tomasello (2019) (...) Tomasello’s scope is large. He ties the development of human cognition and human sociality together, resulting in synthesizing insights about social norms & moral identity. This in not only a c...

I posted a massive, 7000+ word review of Lord Of The Rings on Weighing A Pig, focusing on a pet peeve of mine: bullshit on free will & moral choice in literature. There's also some talk on the book vs. the movies. The link is here, if you're interested: https://schicksalgemeinschaft.wordpress.com/20...

I just reviewed Dexter Palmer's new, third novel: Mary Toft; Or, The Rabbit Queen . Do check it out if you like historical fiction. His previous book - a near-future Jonathan Franzen - Version Control was my best read of 2016. (...) Altogether, the book’s philosophical foundations didn’t satisfy my ...

Any takers?

I tackled the big one this time... a 5500 word write up of the second time I read Dune. DUNE - Frank Herbert (1965) (...) I have long held the suspicion that what underlies big parts of literature is the way we relate to us being determined. At a basic level, everybody understands that reality is de...

Of course the 3 CD set with Sachiko M, Toshi Nakamura and Otomo Yoshihide is spectacular as is Cloud. All of those have the incredible restraint and tension of the best small form improve but they also have those restrained buildups and almost explosions of sound. ALL quiet from Rowe can be a strug...