Reviews

Blindsight, by Peter Watts

jeffthink's review

5.0

My mind exploded upon finishing this book. It touches on questions like "What separates humans from machines?", "Is consciousness actually an advantageous trait?", "How arrogant are we as a species" and features vampires, alien torture, and a turing machine. Oh, by the way, this is hard scifi meaning that all of this stuff is based in the reality of the world in which we live. The prose is stilted at times, and the dialogue not the most realistic, but this book will challenge the things you think you know about the world in important ways.

rogepese's review

3.0

This is an incredibly dense book, to the point where the plot feels like little more than a vehicle for extremely thorough speculations relating to human consciousness, ego, evolution, and astrobiology. You don't need to agree with all of Watts' ideas (I didn't) to find it a thought-provoking read, but be warned that this is sci-fi as hard, substance-over-style, as they come. If you are pressed for time you might want to skip the laboured narrative and get right to the "Notes and References", where he lays out those ideas with references to the academic literature.

tomaz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

zainde's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kalinagayle's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

lukre's review

4.5

I wanted to take my time with this one, since it's a February readalong book for MDC, but wow... it just sucks you in and before you know it you're 50 pages away from the end. Awesome premise, very fast paced and full of intriguing, thought-provoking elements.
And the VAMPIRES! these vampires are possibly the coolest version of vampires I've read in a while, possibly ever. They make sense and they are scary. I'd read a whole book series just about them....
So, if you are interested in first contact and smart ways of approaching that with a sprinking of body modification and vampires, go grab this! You won't regret it.
Also, the author has made his books free on his site (not sure about the reason behind this, but thanks, Peter, you're the best) 

yearofbluewater's review

this book: maybe consciousness isn't good after all... there isn't any point to it except to cause self-obsession and psychosis... self-awareness is overrated and useless... maybe we aren't that advanced after all...

me, an intellectual: without consciousness i wouldn't be able to feel superior to other people (life's greatest joy). therefore, consciousness is good and we (i) am better off for having it.

mmgagnon186's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

hyaenid's review

4.5

Enjoyed this one a lot - lots of borderline philosophical questions about personhood, self, and identity wrapped in a hard SF shell. Occasionally it's got more ideas than it really has room for. I really enjoyed the narrator as well - I'm a sucker for a narrator who needs to believe they're objective even when they're pretty clearly not. Genuinely scary, too!

jsoberg's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5