Accelerando

390 pages

English language

Published April 17, 2005 by Ace Books.

ISBN:
978-0-441-01415-6
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4 stars (10 reviews)

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...

2 editions

Retrofuturistic rollercosta ride hitting home in the AI-Age of ours

5 stars

Amazing book and given it was published 2005 it is more on point than ever. The futuristic aspects from the beginning feel like only some years away from now while containing some nostalgia like terms as 'slashdoted'. And it contains cats.

#Cyberpunk #book which didn't date as well as the earlier examples it mimicked. Just an excuse for Stross to dazzle you with his wordplay. But in this day and age it's just #cringe #bookwyrm

2 stars

The book is from the mid 00s, and its pages overflow with a veritable cornucopia of outdated tropes and lackluster characterizations that might have been passable in the 90s, but now read like a relic from a bygone era. While the author's linguistic prowess is certainly on display, the result is more akin to a hodgepodge of words rather than a cohesive narrative. And let's not forget the cringe-inducing use of antiquated tech jargon, which only serves to accentuate how irrelevant to the present day the book is

The occasional sparks of creativity and imagination are certainly worth noting, and perhaps this book could have been a real contender had it been released a decade earlier. But it gets very irritating very quickly. As well as cringy ("he got shlashdotted"). I couldn't bring myself to finish it.

Subjects

  • Artificial intelligence -- Fiction
  • Science / High Tech

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