Lucas
Ok 2.5 was probably a bit harsh. I was just pissed at the writing style. The first half of the book leans heavily on magical realism, but the time-jumping narrative makes it incredibly hard to follow what's actually happening, which I found very frustrating.
But the second half of the book is really interesting, and surprisingly relevant to modern times for a book written in 1940. The eponymous invention is a machine that projects "images" of humans which are life-like to every sense, which raised some interesting "Turing test" questions about consciousness.
I especially liked the line, when referring to the machine, "It will know only what it has already thought or felt, or the possible transpositions of those thoughts or feelings"
So cool when writing can span almost a century like that
Ok 2.5 was probably a bit harsh. I was just pissed at the writing style. The first half of the book leans heavily on magical realism, but the time-jumping narrative makes it incredibly hard to follow what's actually happening, which I found very frustrating.
But the second half of the book is really interesting, and surprisingly relevant to modern times for a book written in 1940. The eponymous invention is a machine that projects "images" of humans which are life-like to every sense, which raised some interesting "Turing test" questions about consciousness.
I especially liked the line, when referring to the machine, "It will know only what it has already thought or felt, or the possible transpositions of those thoughts or feelings"
So cool when writing can span almost a century like that
I think I just really like books about a bunch of people making a lil society and how they survive together. So much so that I kinda wished that this book was longer, that it'd give more details about the world they created. But I guess that's kinda the point of the book - that over a timescale of 700 billion years, nothing is interesting or relevant or special
I think I just really like books about a bunch of people making a lil society and how they survive together. So much so that I kinda wished that this book was longer, that it'd give more details about the world they created. But I guess that's kinda the point of the book - that over a timescale of 700 billion years, nothing is interesting or relevant or special
Probably the most voraciously I've read a book in ages. The first half of the book is fantastic, great world building with a growing sense of unease laced throughout. I thought the mid to later parts of the book faltered a bit, the pacing was much faster, leaving things feeling rushed, and some subplots/story lines just felt unecessary. Also, not to get too much into spoilers, but one character definitely suffered from season 8 danaerys "character struck with grief makes very out of character choices" syndrome. The final few chapters were a return to form - the pacing slowed back down and characters felt more thought out and deliberate and more in-line with how they had been built up.
Really enjoyed it though, I read basically two thirds of it despite trying to study yesterday
Very cool I wish Oxford was real 💔
Probably the most voraciously I've read a book in ages. The first half of the book is fantastic, great world building with a growing sense of unease laced throughout. I thought the mid to later parts of the book faltered a bit, the pacing was much faster, leaving things feeling rushed, and some subplots/story lines just felt unecessary. Also, not to get too much into spoilers, but one character definitely suffered from season 8 danaerys "character struck with grief makes very out of character choices" syndrome. The final few chapters were a return to form - the pacing slowed back down and characters felt more thought out and deliberate and more in-line with how they had been built up.
Really enjoyed it though, I read basically two thirds of it despite trying to study yesterday
Very cool I wish Oxford was real 💔
