Водоворот

Rifters #2

by Peter Watts, Питер Уоттс

Западное побережье Северной Америки лежит в руинах. Огромное цунами уничтожило миллионы человек, а те, кто уцелел, пострадали от землетрясения. В общем хаосе поначалу мало кто обращает внимание на странную эпидемию, поразившую растительность вдоль берега, и на неожиданно возникший среди беженцев культ Мадонны Разрушения, восставшей после катастрофы из морских глубин. А в диких цифровых джунглях, которые некогда называли Интернетом, что-то огромное и чуждое всему человеческому строит планы на нее, женщину с пустыми белыми глазами и имплантатами в груди. Женщину, которой движет только ярость; женщину, которая несет с собой конец света.

Ее зовут Лени Кларк. Она не умерла, несмотря на старания ее работодателей.

Теперь пришло время мстить, и по счетам заплатят все…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Cyberpunk, Ebooks, Dystopia, Speculative Fiction, Hard Science Fiction

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Nikola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odnoszę wrażenie, że ta książka lepiej by wybrzmiała gdyby była częścią większej powieści, a nie osobnym drugim tomem.
Prawda jest taka, że to było bardzo nudne

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edit 09.12.2019: I reread these days parts of it because it's time to finish the series and I think I'm up for Behemoth now. While reading it, I realized that, despite my anguish and horror I felt toward it, I did the book and Peter Watts injustice with my 2 stars rating. Now that I'm cooled off and had time to digest it, I could appreciated it much more than the first time. Therefore, I'm changing the rating to 4 stars. I'm keeping one for the dread it gave me.

-------

This is one crazed, twisted, fu**ed up book. Is not even a post-apocalyptic story, yet I would rather kill myself instead of living in this world. Peter Watts, you have a really sick mind. I don’t even know if I should marvel at your imagination or to thank whoever out there that you’re not a personal acquaintance of mine, lol.

Anyhow, I would rather go underwater again among the ocean monsters. The terrestrial ones scared the hell out of me.

Putting aside the setup, this was also harder to read than the first. I don’t mind, in fact, I like a book to have lots of science facts, but this one has too much. Not to mention the programming language mixed with specific terms from microbiology and genetics. Add to this the total displeasure while reading about all those psychos and your reading becomes a heavy drudge.

Don’t get me wrong, is one of a kind story, it’s just not meant to bring you joy while reading it. I’ll stop with the series for now because I definitely need something light to cheer me up.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Watts is cooler than the other side of the pillow. More fun than a barrel full of monkeys.

It’s not enough that he has produced a sophisticated, edgy, articulate and intelligent series with Rifters, but he can also add in ubiquitous social and cultural references to keep things swimming along nicely.

MWAH! [chef’s kiss]

Watts first published Starfish in 1999, the first in the Rifters series, which describes a group of DEEP water operatives who are bio-engineered to live on the ocean floor and who develop some odd behaviors as a result. Maelstrom came out on 2001 and Lenie Clark, one of the damaged rifters from the first book, walks out of the ocean after a catastrophic event sees the whole world about to fall apart.

Seems that they found something in the deep that should have stayed down there in the cold and dark.

What Watts’ has done is to not only expand his vision outward and to make it even more of a psychological thriller, but to also make it accessible. We get to know the characters and can understand many of the behavioral tweaks that make this so much fun to read.

William Gibson would love this and Watts is keeping the cyberpunk sub-genre beacon lit.

[Guillermo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a disappointing followup to the very promising first part of the Rifters trilogy - Starfish. It was a strange mix of Neuromancer for its neo-cyberpunk/hacker elements, Outbreak for the viral contagion threatening mankind, Mad Max for the anarchy that ensues in much of the world's devasated coastlines, and a little Aeon Flux thrown in for Lennie Clarke's clad in black, bad-ass, nihilistic anti-heroine cybernetic self. Unfortunately, these tasty ingredients never settled into anything other than a soup in a satisfying manner. Pity, because it's predecessor ended off on such a great cliffhanger. We were finally going to escape the sometimes claustrophobic confines of our freak crewed undersea station, and finally see the world up top. Unfortunately though towards the of this book, I was ready to slip back into my dive skin body sheath to withstand the cold, turn on the electrolysis intake machine that replaced one of my lungs so I could breath underwater, pop my eye caps back in to peer through the gloom, and recede back into the murky depths I was so familiar with in Starfish.

Maybe that's the point-I want to live in this world as much as I'd like to live in Westeros, as in I"ll pass. The world of Maelstrom in the year 2050 is a bleak bleak place. People look back fondly to the early days of the internet when it wasn't contaminated by self replicating AI viruses known as "wildlife". Not only that, but the rising seas have created a global ecological disaster and a chronic refugee problem along much of the world's coasts. Refugees that are crammed in giant ghettos called "The Strip" and are fed mood altering drugs to keep them pacified. As if that's not enough, some governments/corporations have handed over much of their decision making to AIs, since humans can't be trusted to make the right decisions without reverting to the simian-like squabbling that can sometimes hamper international affairs, especially when confronting an apocalyptic tragedy of the commons such as the one unfolding in Maelstrom. Oh and the then there's the newly discovered pathogen called Behemoth that was brought up from an undersea vent by humans and might just as well come from outerspace due to possessing a genome encoded in p-RNA instead of DNA. At least the government is sterilizing (vaporizing) large swaths of people with lasers in order to prevent a global pandemic that will not only eradicate mankind, but all DNA based life on the planet. It's a craptacular world Watts has created and it only promises to get worse and worse from here on out.

So while the ingredients for a really really good book were all there, I think Maelstrom suffered from a lack of focus, too much reliance on techno-babble, and lack of attention on characters. While I initially found myself rooting for the anti-heroine I grew to love from the first book, Lennie Clarke just does some bat shit stuff in this book. Somewhere along the line, I stopped caring about her because it was becoming clear that she could care less about her self and her actions. It's tricky to use creepy nihilistic broken people as your protagonists, because it can make it hard for the audience to care or feel any sort of investment in the story. That coupled with some incomprehensibe hard science just lost me as a reader. I ended up rooting for Behemoth to just flush the entire human race down the toilet.

Strangely enough though, I actually do want to read the conclusion to this trilogy. Maybe for the very reason of wanting to watch it all burn. To see just how bad it really is going to get. Or maybe to be surprised to find a patch of light in this cave somewhere... although I highly doubt it.

Maybe I"m being too hard on it. The second part of a trilogy is always the trickiest. It's like the middle game in chess where pieces are moved and exchanged in preparation for some sort of assault on the enemy king- some sort of resolution. Sandwiched between the opening and the endgame, it's still unknown if Maelstrom has done enough to set up a good conclusion...or if this was just a mindless shuffling of pieces that will end in loathsome draw unfavorable to all.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing with Rifters, we've jumped out of the water and taken our horribly damaged cyberpunk gene-modded abuse-victim/victimizer plague-carrying corpse-runner MERMAID with us.

Special mentions go to the gel packs that pack a horribly efficient computational punch, a 4-billion-year-old biological computer from the deepest Trench, and a death count of most of the world's population.

Woah, right?

Well, this IS Peter Watts and when he writes, he throws in ALL THE BEST SF GOODIES, making one hell of a spicy narrative soup that, in general, outcompetes and eats all the other modern SF out there. On ideas alone, he is one of the masters.

On narrative, in this case, however, I have to say it has a few weak points. It's not bad at all and I loved how Clarke became a world-destroying meme through fast-replicating viruses of a VERY old version. I loved the quest for discovery, too, regarding how she victimized and was made into a victim. And of course... ALL the rifters fit that bill. It was a major theme of the first book, where early victims, survivors, made the very best adaptations for deep-trench work.

Following Clarke above the water was almost as good as below, but not quite.

Still, this was a great setup for the future, and the devil is truly in the details. :)

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this second book of Watts' Rifters Series a couple of the fucked up people that were the heroes in Starfish leave the deep sea to come to the mainland. And they bring something with them that could mean the end of mankind.

Lenie Clarke, the mermaid of the apocalypse, is also pretty pissed, after her employer not only heavily fucked with her genes (and more), but also tried to kill her and her companions when things went wrong.

The primeval life-form that was introduced in the first book is taking over huge parts of the world and the company is prepared to do everything to stop it. No matter the cost.

There's another virus (of the artificial kind) that's spreading across the internet or maelstrom or whatever people call it now. And it also turns out that the Rifters are far from the only gene-manipulated people.

The company is trying to control everything and everyone and huge parts of the population are kept in quarantine-zones, but they are also kept in the dark about what's exactly happening. You know what that usually means. And when Lenie Clarke becomes a powerful meme, a figurehead for the resistance, shit really hits the fan.

This book somehow manages to feel very big and a little small at the same time. The ideas are definitely big and Watts paints a multidimensional picture of a world that's gone to shit. Or that's almost there at least. But he's covering so many angles that the narrative becomes extremely scattered and the plot feels almost annoyingly thin.

There's something about Watts' writing, though, that always keeps me going. And probably also the feeling that this is so much bigger and that I might just not be able (yet) to grasp everything.

Some of the particularly sciency parts again passed through my brain whole and unabsorbed. If you are very interested in biology, chemistry and computer science, though, this is dreamland for you.

I'm more interested in sociology and psychology, which are covered. And I want an engaging plot and interesting characters. Partly covered.

Like I already said in my review of Starfish, you should know that Lenie Clarke is a victim of abuse. And this time around some of that also finds its way onto the page. But above all it is the way her experiences have shaped her personality that some might find disturbing. I would describe her as a strong but damaged character. The question is whether one side gains the upper hand over the other. But no spoilers.

An often confusing, but also enjoyable read. I will pick up the next book.

All of them are available for free on the author's website, btw: https://rifters.com/real/shorts.htm


This was a buddy-read with Cathy. Yeah, really. I'm just a little late with my review.

[Negativni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volition's subconscious; the command is halfway down the arm before the little man behind your eyes even decides to move. Executive summaries, after the fact, Desjardins thought. That's all we get. That's free will for you.

Maelstrom je drugi nastavak Rifters serijala koji opisuje što se desilo nakon bombastičnog kraja Starfisha . Radnja je prebačena na kopno, a Watts je glavni lik (Lenie Clarke) na još jedno zanimljivo putovanje.

Novi likovi detaljnije prikazuju funkcioniranje korporacija iznutra, njihov sistem rada za "veće dobro". Odlična kritika trenutnog ustroja svijeta kojim vladaju korporacije koje je teško nadzirati i kontrolirati.

U prethodnom osvrtu nisam napomenuo da je ovo hard SF, što ne znači da Watts zatrpava info dumpovima, nego da se potrudio da sve podrobno istraži i da ono opisano bude znanstveno utemeljeno. Na kraju svakog romana ima odličan pogovor gdje opisuje na osnovu čega je temeljio određene tehnološke ili biološke novitete uz reference na stručnu literaturu.

I u prvom dijelu je bilo malo cyberpunka, a ovdje je glavna preokupacija autora nešto što bi se moglo nazvati divljim svijetom interneta budućnosti (kako to naslov sugerira: maelstorm - a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil), svijet inteligentnih kompjuterskih virusa, komada koda koji se poput genetskog koda razmnožavaju, mutiraju i evoluiraju uz podražaje okoline. U vanjskom su svijetu mutacije genetskog koda prespore, ali u kompjuterskom svijetu i sekunda je puno vremena, pa je istražio kako bi iz samih gena mogla proizaći inteligencija bez potrebe za mozgom (swarm intelligence). Svidjelo mi se kako je ta poglavlja pisao iz POV jednog od tih kodova; izbjegavao je kompjuterski žargon te pisao kao da se radi o životinji koja se probija kroz opasnu okolinu punu predatora. Ipak za bolje razumijevanje nije loše barem osnovno poznavanje strukture mreže i njeno funkcioniranje.

Osmislio je i kontrolu ponašanja korporacijskih agenata pomoću parazitskog genetskog modifikatora ponašanja nazvanog Guilt Trip koji pomaže u smirivanju (ili točnije rečeno blokiranju) savijesti nakon teških odluka. Zanimljivo je bilo pratiti radnju viđenu očima tako promijenjenog lika.

Maelstrom, je odličan nastavak u kojem je Watts prikazao vjerojatnu tmurnu budućnost prema kojoj se kotrljamo bez predomišljanja.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book of Revelations written by a bad tempered unholy lovechild of Brunner, Triptree Jr., and Bester (and to continue this horrible metaphor, foster cared for by Gibson and Egan). These are truly the end times. At least for anything human. But, then most of the cast barely is, so they continue on. This is bleak stuff. Primeval microbes, climate refugees, malevolent dolphins, phosphorescent cancerous seals, quarantines with flamethrowers, invented personalities, internet nasties, and smart gels. Like Bunner’s Sheep Look Up, it’s depressing how plausible the scenarios in this book are based on current advancements of our fragile global status. This book does what sequel should do, in that it castes new light on the events of the previous book, as events and even personalities are given a flip.

[Adela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25* Dalej wciąga, ale już nie ma tego świetnego klimatu co pierwszy tom. Tęsknię za głębinami 😞

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to the first Rifters novel, Starfish. Difficult. Lenie Clarke comes to shore and with her the apocalypse, of a sort (two sorts, actually).

The first half of the book was confusing. Multiple viewpoints with different agendas, some of them of the artificial kind. I was pretty lost. Cyberpunk meets the apocalypse meets a revenge story and.... it was a mess. I skimmed some of the more indecipherable parts. I contemplated to DNF, but my curiosity kept me going. It was a case of „what the hell did I just read“, but it had its moments.

A plot finally coalesced about two-thirds into the book and it was pretty slim. This book is more about the noise than about the red thread. The ending was satisfying enough. I might even pick up the third book at some point.

★★¾☆☆

All three book of this trilogy can be downloaded for free from the author’s website, plus a bunch of short stories: https://rifters.com/real/shorts.htm

PS: I just downloaded the third book and got a glimpse at the first line of text. I am definitely willing to give it a try.

[Chris Berko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was kind of ambivalent about starting this because of how polarized the other reviews are. Seems like a love it or hate it kind of thing. I fall in the love it category. Yes, it is different than the first book in that it is more story driven than a character study but damn hell I love where the story goes. Im not a rainbows and sunshine all the time type of person and I dont always need a happy ending so this book hit on all cylinders for me. The twists and revelations were surprising as well as fitting and I did not think I was cheated or feel that the author copped out on previously established truths, for me it was definitely a logical expansion on where the narrative was already headed. Bleak, dark science fiction that takes place entirley on earth with monsters we created ourselves. Top notch entertainment if you ask me.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maelstrom, the second book in the Rifters saga, is a much better outing than the the first (Starfish), but as this does not seem to be a popular opinion here, I need to explain it. Starfish for me was a real roller coaster-- both of ideas and quality. In fact, Starfish seemed like two large novellas grafted together, each of varying quality and focus. Maelstrom, on the other hand, was a very focused novel (and for Watts, that is really saying something).

Maelstrom picks up right where Starfish left off and contains some familiar faces-- Lenie Clarke and Ken Lubin, 'rifters' from the doomed power plant nuked by the GR corporation, both managed to survive the blast and comprise something similar to lead character roles here. Watts does not write character driven fiction and as a result none of the people in the text are really developed in much detail. We also have a 'newbie' Achilles Desjardins in a feature role; he works as a 'lawbreaker, or someone super tweaked to handle emergency situations and make life or death calls. Finally, we have our old favorite corpse Patricia Rowan (corpse being the 'common' name for corporate executive) from GR. Perhaps the other main character is a malware program in the net, or the 'Maelstrom' as it is called now, which keeps adapting. Finally, we have a 'bot driver' who goes to the scenes of disasters (natural or otherwise) to help direct help as necessary, remotely flying around in her 'botfly'.

In any case Lenie finds herself basically washed up off the coast of Washington/Oregon with the 'Refs', or refugees, all primarily from Asia, who fled their homes only to be placed permanently in camps along the coast line of the former USA. She becomes something of a legend there, a mermaid, who traverses from ocean to the shore to eat. Unknown (perhaps) to Clarke, she is carrying the 'bug'-- Behemoth-- that was located in the rift where she worked at the Beebe station. In a way, Behemoth is the driver of the novel, as it is basically a 'nanobe'-- a very primitive microbe that basically lives to eat. Unfortunately, it is very good at it and basically out competes every living organism on Earth. Watts developed this idea at the end of Starfish and it is this doomsday bug that the GR is desperately trying to contain. Unlike normal bacteria and even viruses, Behemoth has no natural enemies; it is basically a relic, an alternative form of life that never made it ashore for evolution to work its wonders billions of years ago. Yet, it is much simpler than DNA based organisms and if it had made it ashore, live on Earth would be vastly different. Lenie, our poor, sexually abused survivor, sets off to find what remains of her family somewhere in Michigan, leaving a trail of bodies and devastation in her wake. It seems that the modifications rifters went under serves to slow their susceptibility to the bug...

The GR corporation has tried to contain the bug; anything that came into contact with the doomed Beebe station has been cleansed by fire with no small amount of lives lost in the process. This is not even mentioning the nuke that destroyed Beebe station and generated massive tidal waves that swamped the planet. Achilles, nicknamed 'Killjoy', is basically drafted by GR (his employer) to track the emergence of the bug and take measures to stamp it out. Killjoy is tweaked in a variety of ways, but the most alarming is that he has been 'guilt tripped', where he becomes compelled to take any action necessary to achieve the 'common good'. His tweaking may result making decisions where millions die, but may, on the other hand, save the Earth. Killjoy does not know at first he is tracking the spoor of Lenie, but there definitely seems to be a vector of infection...

Watts builds a deeply troubled world here, with all kinds of out of control genetic mutations floating around and new ones emerging all the time. Sections of the population are almost constantly being quarantined for various reasons (feels pretty familiar today) and civilization is riding a very thin line between progress and devastation. Global warming entailed massive changes in land use and humanity as a whole is one step from disaster. This should sound familiar to anyone who has read Blindsight. Watts does dystopia very well to be sure! This bleak backdrop gives Maelstrom a very atmospheric feel, albeit a very depressing one. Again, perhaps this is another of Watts' signature tropes.

In any case, Watts shifts POVs endlessly throughout the book yet he manages to keep focused on the plot as it evolves (good editor?). This is not an optimistic book to say the least, even given that it is a apocalyptic novel, but if you are a fan of Watts, you should enjoy this. The description of the Maelstrom almost has a Tron like feeling to it of early cyberpunk, even given the 'head cheese' servers and such. This part did not really do much for me, but it plays an important role in the text nonetheless. There are some other similarities to Blindsight as well-- the speculations on consciousness for example and also free will (especially given the 'guilt trip' mod). Like his other work, we are also treated to a wealth of ideas that makes reading Maelstrom a bit of a mental workout. 4 buggy stars!

[Альфина · Rating 4 out of 5]

ну Уоттс как всегда: придумал ворох невероятно интересных идей — и слепил из них не пойми что. химия совести, интернет как биосфера, победа простых организмов над сложными — пожалуй, набор идей в «Водовороте» даже круче, чем в «Ложной слепоте».

и происходит с эти слепящее ничего. история Лени интереснее всего — особенно меня зацепил эпизод, где она встречается с мужиком и его дочкой и ей даже в голову не приходит, что он может *не* насиловать её, она толком и не понимает эту мысль, когда ей пытаются втолковать. но такой яркий эпизод там один. а остальное — роуд-муви с не слишком интересными героями, которые появляются на одну-две сцены и исчезают, не оставив яркого впечатления.

Дежарден — самый интересный персонаж: садист с той самой химически созданной совестью, который вершит судьбы мира на её поводке. он вроде как расследует одну из ключевых загадок книги (что же такое Лени как информационное явление)... что могло бы стать интересным детективом, если бы ответ нам не показывали в самом начале, демонстрируя мир «глазами» той самой программы, что несёт Лени-мем по Водовороту!

Питер, блин, Уоттс! либо трусы, либо крестик! либо вы сразу нам это рассказываете, либо накручиваете вокруг этой разгадки интригу! а не то и другое сразу!

Любин — единственный герой с понятным квестом, поэтому читать про него увлекательнее всего. но его мало.

ну и у моего любимого фантаста по-прежнему проблемы с описанием эмоций, поэтому сюжет Су-Хон получается скорее пересказом её сюжета. и в самые ответственные моменты — при интересных столкновениях персонажей! — переживания их тоже до читателя докатываются с трудом.

ну и в целом у «Водоворота» сильный синдром второй части — заканчивается книга довольно-таки ничем. но пачку звёздочек всё равно поставлю, больно уж идеи хороши.

[Lorina Stephens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maelstrom by Peter Watts is the second book in the Rifters series, continuing the story of Lennie Clark, a deeply psychotic woman, part machine, who is the unwitting victim of psychological manipulation and a plague-carrier.

While the first book, Starfish, proved innovative and incisively written, that innovation and incisive writing failed in Maelstrom. There are pages and pages of technical exposition which slows the narrative, angst and violence which for the most part seems gratuitous and without justification. In fact, the narrative becomes so obscure that for two thirds of the novel I was unsure of exactly what was going on.

The world building which began in Starfish greatly diminishes in Maelstrom, offering nothing new to the already overdone SF dominion of dystopia. There was no sense of environment, of place. There was a great deal of burning and mayhem.

Was I sufficiently invested to continue Watt’s journey into the third book, Behemoth? Not really. Overall a great disappointment from a writer I previously touted as being a star in the firmament of Canada’s SF writers.

[Made by Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Jola (czytanienaplatanie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

W drugiej części „Trylogii Ryfterów” Petera Wattsa wychodzimy z oceanicznych głębin na powierzchnię, a wraz z nami wynurza się złowieszczy Behemot, prymitywny mikrob, który może zniszczyć znany nam świat.

„Wir” to kontynuacja mrocznej i napisanej z olbrzymim rozmachem „Rozgwiazdy”, a jej znajomość jest nieodzowna, by zrozumieć ten skomplikowany świat przyszłości i motywacje bohaterów. Zagłębienie się w fabule jest dość trudne, w moim odczuciu trudniejsze niż w części pierwszej. Różne wątki, perspektywy, mnogość bohaterów i specyficzna naukowa terminologia nie ułatwiają, ale początkowa uważność odwdzięcza się historią fascynującą i skłaniającą do refleksji.

W centrum wydarzeń ponownie znajduje się Lenie Clark, zmodyfikowana biologicznie ryfterka, która wychodzi z głębin oceanu stając się niespodziewanie zarówno legendą i idolką tłumów, jak i zagrożeniem wpływającym na losy całego świata. Kluczowym motywem powieści jest walka z systemem, a Lenie staje się symbolem tej walki, postacią, która balansuje na granicy między bohaterką a antybohaterką, anarchistką i wyzwolicielką, postacią niosącą zemstę i jednocześnie uwikłaną w osobiste dramaty.

Jednym z najbardziej fascynujących aspektów książki jest sposób, w jaki władza i system starają się kontrolować informacje i eliminować wszelkie zagrożenia, zarówno fizyczne, jak i ideologiczne. Autor sugestywnie przedstawia świat, w którym wszelkie niewygodne fakty są wymazywane, a ludzi, którzy mogą stanowić zagrożenie dla porządku, czeka likwidacja.

Niosące coraz większy chaos wydarzenia w świecie rzeczywistym, wydają się nierozerwalnie związane z tymi ze świata wirtualnej sztucznej inteligencji, w którym trwa równie bezpardonowa i bezwzględna walka o przetrwanie.

Tak jak wspominałam, Watts nie ułatwia czytelnikowi zadania, zmuszając go do pełnego zanurzenia się w świecie pełnym technologicznych zawiłości i głębokich psychologicznych motywacji postaci. Dla wielu czytelników może stanowić to wyzwanie zarówno ze względu na złożoność terminologii, jak i ilość wątków splatających się w tej powieści. Czy mimo to będę Was zachęcała do poznania tej historii? Zdecydowanie tak, bo pokazuje przyszłość, w której technologia i biologia są nierozerwalnie splecione, a ludzkość stoi na skraju zagłady. To wymagająca, ale też niezwykle satysfakcjonująca opowieść o zemście, manipulacji i walce o przetrwanie.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 54%. Life is too damn short. Starfish was an often-unpleasant read which nonetheless succeeded due to the originality of it premise and its focus on a few interesting scientific ideas. Maelstrom is just unpleasant. It reminds me of the shift from Watt's later Blindsight to Echopraxia, as a claustrophobic, highly focused first novel is followed by a more expansive, far messier sequel. There's a lot of science here, more focused on the CS and information science side of things (Achilles is basically a fancy data scientist for hire), but it lacks the force of Watt's other writing about biology and consciousness. Honestly, it all felt a bit like generic cyberpunk. The portrait of modern North America with its refugees and quarantines feels prescient, but again, other writers have been here before. I might still have powered through despite all this if it weren't for Lenie Clark. In this book she goes from being damaged-but-interesting, to being genuinely awful to spend time around. While Achilles and Sou-Hon were mostly boring as PoV characters, I came to dread Lenie's chapters. Here is Lenie wandering Canada. Here is Lenie attacking a father and daughter. Here is Lenie undergoing some gratuitous sexual violence. Fun times. This kind of nihilist setting and plot can work (Parable of the Sower comes to mind), but here it felt more gratuitous than meaningful. The rise of Lenie-as-meme / rifter chic similarly never felt fully convincing to me either. Maybe a plot finally picks up in the second half (and I've already read some spoilers about twists and such), but honestly I was too tired to find out. I still adore Watts, but this is my least favorite of his books.

[A. Redact · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep coming back to ideas in this book. Most recently, I was struck by the parallels between Watts's prediction of permanent refugee populations housed off the coast of the United States on constructed sand bars, and the emerging problem of refugees displaced by climate change. Watts's vision of the management of hopeless refugee populations (some displaced by anthropogenic weather patterns) by faceless bureaucracies feels disturbingly prescient.

In general, I think Watts has written one of the most fully realized speculative accounts of what a biopolitically managed world might look like. Technocratic administrators manage the world's populations as a cluster of data points, with little to no accountability. They scorn the idea that one can or should differentiate between the various forms of energy expressed by human, animal, and plant life, see it all from a systems theoretical perspective, as a single entity to be optimized. Weather patterns; individual, group, and government behavior; economics and ecological change, are all viewed through a single,instrumentalized schema.

I don't know if Watts is familiar with Foucault, but if not, he has arrived at many of the same conclusions about the present and future of power qua biopower.

That said, the book is mostly a vessel for interesting ideas. The character, plotting, etc are all middling at best.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worth successor to Starfish and (for me anyway) a great page-turner. I was a bit disappointed at first to see that Lenie would again be our protagonist, or whatever Watts thinks passes for a protagonist. I've enjoyed these two books of his that I've read so far because I appreciate an author not pushing me to automatically root for their version of the "good guy". I could complain that Watts pushes a little hard on the "see how complex this character is?" - having a traumatic back-story doesn't automagically make someone interesting - but if that's the biggest complaint I can muster after two books then he's doing just fine.

My favorite thing, honestly, is the science. I know I mentioned this in my review for Starfish but the more sci in my fi, the better. It's not Hawking or anything, the reader doesn't have to take notes and think about taking advanced university courses just to understand, but still ... there's very little hand-holding. I mean, look, in this passage:

Jen had even spent a night in a pacifier, from which they'd all learned a timely lesson in the importance of pre-game nourishment: POWs didn't get fed for at least the first twelve hours—bad enough in any case, but worse when you'd gotten yourself all 'dorphed up for the party. Cranking your BMR really brought on the munchies.

Watts just expects the reader to already have 'basal metabolic rate' stored in their heads as BMR and if not, to be able to glean it from context. It's a small thing, but it's how I want to read. I'd rather be two paragraphs lost in dense jargon (jargon that means something, that is) than spend one sentence irritated at the author for thinking I'm so clueless that I need to have everything explained to me.

In short, yeah, another winner. On to the third book!

[Bill Purdy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one benefits a great deal from Watts' decision to open up the world, so to speak. And, since Beebe Station was destroyed by a nuke in Starfish, he really had no choice but to bring the story to the surface. Here, a hate-filled Lenie Clarke takes a walk across North America, er, "N'Am," leaving a literal trail of death and destruction in her wake. Other characters are trying to either help her, to stop her, or to exploit her. That's pretty much the plot, right there.

Watts' view of the near future remains bleak and cynical (I'd be disappointed if he had a change of heart, frankly), heavily populated with skeevy characters whose motives are never even slightly altruistic. As with Starfish, Watts throws out "ideas," big and small, at a relentless pace. In the hands of a lesser writer, it'd be overwhelming. But Watts juggles this stuff with remarkable ease. Don't tackle the Rifters books if you like happy endings (or happiness at all, really), though... the closest you get to happiness in this universe is "smug satisfaction," perhaps. Or "revenge." Don't say I didn't warn you.

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Weird but compelling. Even by Peter Watts’ standards, and weird but compelling is his
brand.

Sometimes his use of language was confusing here.
For example, he used “magged” (meaning frayed),but then used “mag” as a verb. Huh? A neologism, I guess.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I loved the first book, but I was underwhelmed by the sequel. The worldbuilding was good, but the character development and story were just okay.

[Gancu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Druga część trylogii Ryfterzy, Wir, stanowi ambitną, lecz nieco rozczarowującą kontynuację obiecującej Rozgwiazdy. Watts przenosi nas z klaustrofobicznych głębin podwodnej stacji na powierzchnię świata w 2050 roku — ponurego, dystopijnego koszmaru, w którym ludzkość staje w obliczu nie tylko globalnych katastrof ekologicznych, lecz także zagrożenia ze strony dziwacznych wirusów AI i przerażających, nieziemskich patogenów. Choć autor buduje atmosferę jak z cyberpunkowych klasyków, a wizja nadciągającej apokalipsy jest intensywnie pesymistyczna i momentami fascynująca, to jednak Wir sprawia wrażenie zbyt rozproszonej i przesyconej technologicznym żargonem powieści, w której narracyjny impet znika pośród złożoności fabuły. W Rozgwieździe był piękny balas pomiędzy fabuła a technologicznym żargonem. Niestety tu fabuła traci.

Watts bez wątpienia wie, jak tworzyć dystopijne światy i wrzucić czytelnika w samo ich serce. Rok 2050 w Wirze to chaos i zniszczenie: topniejące lodowce podnoszą poziom morza, zalewając wybrzeża i generując masy uchodźców stłoczonych w gigantycznych gettach, gdzie korporacje i rządy, rządzone przez bezwzględne AI, podają im substancje psychoaktywne, by utrzymać spokój. To świat, w którym Behemoth – tajemniczy, pradawny patogen wydobyty z dna oceanu – grozi wyginięciem całego życia opartego na DNA. Watts zasypuje nas technologicznymi smaczkami, od żelowych komputerów biologicznych po wątki genetyczne i wirusologiczne, ale jednak Wir wydaje się czasem bardziej połączeniem idei niż spójną, wciągającą opowieścią.

Postać Lennie Clarke, bohaterki znanej już z Rozgwiazdy, niestety traci w tej części swój impet. Choć Clarke, cybernetyczna antybohaterka, jest nadal pełna mrocznego uroku, to jej nihilistyczne, destrukcyjne zachowania stopniowo odpychają czytelnika. Jej desperacja i chłodny dystans, które intrygowały w pierwszym tomie, teraz raczej zniechęcają, co utrudnia głębszą więź z bohaterką. Watts balansuje na granicy – wykorzystuje postaci o złamanych charakterach, ale tym razem zabrakło czegoś, co pozwoliłoby czytelnikowi naprawdę zaangażować się emocjonalnie.

Ostatecznie Wir pozostawia mieszane uczucia. To niewątpliwie ambitna powieść, która eksploruje mroczne zakątki ludzkiej natury i jej wpływ na technologię oraz społeczeństwo. Watts nadal imponuje świeżymi pomysłami i odważnymi, spekulatywnymi konceptami – jego wyobraźnia jest niemal bezgraniczna, a wizja dystopijnego świata pełna intensywnych szczegółów jest bardzo ciekawa. Niestety, historia sama w sobie nie zawsze angażuje. Czytelnik kończy powieść z nadzieją, że trzeci tom w pełni rozwinie napięcie i złożoność fabuły, przekształcając poszatkowane motywy Wiru w bardziej spójną konkluzję trylogii.

Wir to intensywny, choć momentami męczący seans wypełniony mrokiem i pesymizmem. Dla fanów brutalnych, technologicznych dystopii, warto po nią sięgnąć ��� choć bardziej z ciekawości niż z przyjemności. 3.25/5

[Charlie Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Premise/plot: 4.5
Pathos: 3.5
Themes: 4.5
Aesthetic/prose: 3
Impact: 3

Overall rating: 3.7

This book goes ham on the hard science, and at times it's a bit much. Certain parts felt like the science was less smoothly integrated into the story and more like reading the glossary of a science textbook. This was something its predecessor, Starfish, executed waaay better.

Even the non-science writing was a bit inconsistent at times, particularly in the first half. I found myself rereading certain paragraphs and still having no clue what was being described. And I read Pynchon.

But dang it, the plot and premise in this slays pretty hard --the stakes escalate and the scope widens considerably and I know I will finish this series. Also, the wide coverage of themes and questions leaves plenty to mull over.

The 3ntropy Patrol 4 Lyfe

[Sashko Valyus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Найкраща частина з трилогії. Значно розширює і деталізовує світ. Віруси, мутації, технології. Все дуже актуально

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

W pierwszym tomie trylogii o ryfterach, „Rozgwieździe”, Peter Watts ustawił poprzeczkę niezwykle wysoko. Książka przytłaczała klaustrofobicznym klimatem, zachwycała psychologią postaci i fascynowała nieznanym światem podmorskich głębin. Gradacja napięcia w końcowym fragmencie powieści i pozostawiające czytelnika z wieloma pytaniami zakończenie budziły natychmiastową chęć sięgnięcia po kontynuację – „Wir”. Na szczęście, kolejne dzieło Kanadyjczyka, choć różne od swojego poprzednika, nie zawodzi.

Ku rozpaczy licznego grona odbiorców musimy pożegnać się z podwodnym światem i mrocznymi głębinami, zamieszkiwanymi przez budzące strach i odrazę niezwykłe stworzenia, o których się mieszkańcom powierzchni nawet nie śniło. W zamian otrzymujemy nie mniej przytłaczającą wizję stojącego w ogniu zachodniego wybrzeża Ameryki Północnej. Apokalipsa wydaje się być coraz bliżej, a jej nieuchronnym zwiastunem jest nie kto inny, jak dobrze znana wszystkim ryfterka Lenie Clark. Nic zaś nie motywuje do działania równie skutecznie, jak poczucie krzywdy i pragnienie zemsty.

Tym razem Watts zdecydował się na prowadzenie kilku równoległych wątków, które splatają się ze sobą. Podobnie jak w „Rozgwieździe”, szczególną uwagę poświęcił psychice bohaterów – pisarz w niezwykle wiarygodny sposób potrafi zaprezentować cele, motywacje i tok myślenia postaci, a także oddać ich skomplikowane, targane moralnymi wątpliwościami i cieniami przeszłości osobowości. W „Wirze” znalazło się także miejsce dla podejścia socjologicznego i przyjrzenia się ludzkim masom, które stanęły na progu zagłady. Powieść uzupełnia cyberpunkowa nuta – wielkie korporacje o niemalże nieograniczonych wpływach oraz tytułowy Wir, globalna sieć o niezwykłej naturze.

Styl autora nie skrzy się bogatymi metaforami; jest raczej konkretny, prosty. Momentami naturalistyczny, momentami naukowy. Duży nacisk został położony na terminologiczną stronę powieści, szczególnie z zakresu biologii. Obco brzmiące pojęcia, typu ‘endocytoza receptorowa’ czy ‘trójpeptydowy glutation’ mogą nieco zbijać z tropu, ale wystarczy okazać nieco zaufania pisarzowi, a w swoim czasie objaśni on większość mechanizmów, które rządzą wykreowanym światem. Czytelnicy żądni bardziej szczegółowej wiedzy znajdą na końcu książki wyjaśnienie dotyczące naukowych podwalin oraz spis źródeł, które zainspirowały Wattsa.

„Wir” niestety nie jest pozbawiony błędów, choć nie są one obecne w książce z winy autora. Ci, którzy wzdrygali się w czasie lektury „Rozgwiazdy”, podobnie zareagują podczas zapoznawania się z jej kontynuacją. Co prawda druga część trylogii jest wolna od ogromu wpadek typograficznych, ale od strony językowej nie prezentuje się dużo lepiej. Literówki, budząca zgrozę interpunkcja oraz inne błędy wszelkiej maści – od „nieczęsto” zapisanego oddzielnie, przez „mi osobiście” na początku wypowiedzi, po „poddawać w wątpliwość” (miast „podawać”) i „odnośnie” (zamiast „odnośnie do”). Włos się jeży na głowie.

Trylogia ryfterów to pozycja obowiązkowa dla fanów science fiction, w której ‘science’ gra pierwsze skrzypce, a ‘fiction’ staje się wizją prawdopodobną i niepokojącą zarazem. Z przeniesieniem akcji na powierzchnię autor poradził sobie znakomicie, podobnie jak z kreowaniem i prowadzeniem swoich nieszablonowych bohaterów. Pozostaje mi tylko zachęcić wszystkich do zapoznania się z prozą Wattsa i wyczekiwać na zwieńczenie cyklu, „Behemota” – licząc na to, że pisarz po raz kolejny zaskoczy udaną zmianą klimatu, a nad poprawnością polskiego wydania nie trzeba będzie załamywać rąk.

---
Zarówno tę recenzję, jak i wiele innych tekstów znajdziecie na moim blogu: http://oceansoul.waw.pl/ Serdecznie zapraszam!

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maelstrom is the second book in Peter "Blindsight" Watts' Rifters trilogy.

Straight out of the door I took issue with it because I really thought that Starfish was good enough to be left where it was at the conclusion. The character arcs had progressed nicely, the plot had come to a satisfying conclusion and you were left with the feeling that things could be taken forward, but were better left up to you for how you think they'd go.

That said, he does make a very honourable stab at convincing you that this isn't a wink-wink "trilogy" like the Matrix or anything like that. There's some excellent bits and bobs in there about his perceived future of artificial life on the internet, a great reveal that completely overhauls how you look at Starfish altogether and that same semi-poetic, fourth-wall-piercing misanthropy that colours all of his work. In this one, though, this was as much a weakness as a strength, especially when he tried to speak from the experience of a female abuse victim (which even though he has worked in shelters is a pretty tall ask and made me feel really uncomfortable in places) and have her pursue a crusade of vengeance against all fathers.

So not as good as Starfish, which wasn't as good as Blindsight, but still a damn fine SF novel.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A darker, more sinister follow-up to Starfish. Sequels are tricky, and this one succeeds hard, sci-fi and otherwise.
The second read just confirms my opinion of Watts being (one of) the best science fiction writers out there.

[Ziggy Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You're like any other mammal, Doctor. Your sense of reality is anchored in the present. You'll naturally inflate the near term and sell the long term short, tomorrow's disaster will always feel less real than today's inconvenience."

OK, just needed to throw that in before I started reviewinating. Oh yeah: like I mentioned previously, this book was provided for free (the whole trilogy is available at no cost btw) by the author, so many thanks for that. The links on goodreads are dead but if you want a copy, go to his webpage. That's worth a star right there, particularly in April/May 2020 (hey if you can't appreciate a free book about the world ending while the world may in fact be ending, you need to re-evaluate your priorities... but, um, I'd do it quickly if I were you...).

As with book 1, I'm not really sure how to rate "Maelstrom". Just like last time, 3 1/2 stars would be my average impression, even though I don't THINK AT THIS MOMENT MAYBE POSSIBLY that I enjoyed this one as much. And I say that even though I think this book was much better written and cranked the suspense up another notch. But without my Guilt Trip acting up (just read it), I'm giving it 4 stars because I think if you go around saying 2 books are each 3 1/2 worthy, you should make your average reflect that. That's not a sell out, it's just deserved. Anywho, I did kind of miss the whole 'living at 3 kms undersea' aspect of everything being so horrible and had to deal everything being so horrible mostly on land, which naturally, I'm more familiar with.

Once again, Watt's story may be one of the most intriquing and original scifi books I ever read – noting that reading it during the COVID-19 pandemic may be one of the worst decisions I've ever made. I did not see, well, really ANY part of this story-line coming despite my heightened sense of doom and gloom. And I say this particularly as the above quote hit me in the gut just after once again seeing a gathering of utter idiots waving their big guns and tiny dicks around, protesting the governors of their states trying to save their thankless and useless lives. But I digress only slightly.

This series is truly mind-boggling, mind-hurting (brain not working so guud) and both horrific and horrifying if there's enough difference there for you to distinguish. There is some really horrible shit that goes on and has gone on before to get us to this point and I'm not just talking about the whole 'common good' bits in terms of climate change and worse. And just let me confirm: there's no doubt anymore but this is HARDCORE CYBERPUNK, which I have mentioned before is not a genre I get into. You just can't anthropomorphize the workings of the Interweb and/or artificial intelligence like this and not think so, no matter how big a fan you might be of refined cheeses.

Even with that in mind, I will say that Watts' inventiveness in creating a whole host of specialized humans was pretty cool, even noting the HUGE reveal about (some of?) our Rifter friends. And the manipulative aspects of getting Person X from point A to point B are pretty wild. Still, it is... uncomfortable that there remains not even one sympathetic character in all this, no matter how widely you want to define the term 'victim'. Everyone is an asshole by the end of the day, with or without supplemental help in being so. And the crimes committed by or against them don't help in any way with that. It's all just nasty as hell.

In conclusion, just as with Book 1, I definitely had to pace myself and spent more than what I'd consider a relaxing amount of time really understanding what the hell was going on throughout. But I will say Watts brings it all together better at the end of this story in a more, if you will, traditional way (it's not really). And unlike the doubt that I had at the end of Book 1 in terms of continuing, I'm all in now on the final chapter of the trilogy. Not that that feels any more reassuring to me at this stage but it's not like I have to go to work tomorrow (or the next day or the next...) so let's dive in! Pun intended.

[Dea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this is going to be all over the board, though if I don't get it down now I am not going to be able to coalesce it into anything even remotely coherent.

First, I am uncomfortable with the level of cognitive dissonance displayed by Lenie. Her entire character is built around being an innocent victim, yet she feels nothing at perpetrating hurt on other people who while may not be innocent certainly are not ones who did anything to deserve her personal ire. Even when she learns the truth, she does not even entertain the idea that she had become the monster who had created her. Not once does she pause and wonder if she hurts people because she wants to, and just finds convenient reasons to make it palatable.

Second, Desjardins's character made me uncomfortable. I couldn't quite figure out if his perversion was there as a mouthpiece for Watts to scold the so-called Puritans or if he was just an illustration of another sort of monster. If he was a monster why was his choice of victims women and not children? Would it not be more fitting for it to be children? Or would child victims make him impossible to empathize with, while women, virtual or not, are more acceptable brutalization targets? People will forgive you if you beat a woman, but not a child.

Third, the corporate bad-guy being the only logical empathetic character that shows any remorse. I did not expect it, and not sure if it was intentional on the part of Watts, but Rowan is the only one I felt was the good guy. She is built as this all controlling unfeeling corporate overlord that wouldn't think twice about feeding millions of people to the recycler, and yet she is the only one to ever show remorse. She makes hard choices, maybe not always correct ones, and she displays remorse and guilt. She doesn't even have the benefit of an excuse that others use, that she has been programmed to make those choices a certain way, and yet somehow she is still the evil overlord.

Fourth, the incompetence of those in power is staggering. With all that power and all those technological advances at their disposal and yet they get caught with their pants down again and again. Simply unbelievable.

So I don't know how I feel about this book. On the one hand the spreading infection and the attempt to deal with it is fascinating. But on the other the continued violence towards women and the insistence that everything that makes us human also infringes on our freedom leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I would not say I enjoyed it. I would not say I recommend it to others. I intend to at least try the third book, but without much enthusiasm.