wwhyte's review
3.0
This is an enjoyable enough murder mystery set at a convention of people who believe in The Singularity, life everlasting through mind upload, etc. I was a little disappointed that although the book grapples with some of the big questions (or at least some of the questions that rich tech bros consider big), it came down on the other side of those big questions from the tech bros but its argument was basically "eh, it's stupid, innit"; the lead character was dismissive of both the substantive arguments of the community she found herself in, and (to a lesser extent) the emotional need that community had to believe in those arguments. It seemed too much like picking on easy targets and not enough like engaging with the debate. I will say that in fairness the book, as opposed to the lead character, seemed to take the emotional engagement of the Singularity community with their beliefs serious, but the persistent facetiousness of the lead character in response to those arguments was a bit alienating. And I don't even necessarily agree with the Less Wrong community; I just would like my characters in books to be something other than sideshow freaks.
This is a more negative review than my star rating; it's a well-constructed mystery, and the resolution is emotionally and logically satisfying. But inside it is a much better book that takes its material more seriously while ending up in the same place, and is much more fulfilling for it.
This is a more negative review than my star rating; it's a well-constructed mystery, and the resolution is emotionally and logically satisfying. But inside it is a much better book that takes its material more seriously while ending up in the same place, and is much more fulfilling for it.
cultureulterior's review
1.0
As a satire, it feels a bit less friendly than Sharyn McCrumb's "Bimbos of the Death Sun" did. Perhaps it is because of a certain coarsening of the discourse over the past 30 years?
More...