SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club discussion

I'm about 40% through the book and very into it. I love the world building and and how wired everyone is. It feels like a very plausible future to me. The description of walking down the street and being inundated with e-advertisements feels horrifying and totally inevitable.

I loved the chapter describing Tor's ride on the zeppelin and how she uses the smart mob. Very cool.

I finished the book and thought it was great. It really gets into some big questions: What does it mean if we aren't alone in the universe? What does it mean if we are? What does it mean to be human? I found myself stopping and thinking about the ideas a number of times--always a good sign!

The characterization of the aliens is fascinating and something I haven't seen before. I really liked how the story kept going in directions I didn't expect.

The book was slow moving, especially in the first half but it certainly kept my interest. I would definitely recommend it.

There was an odd thing--there is a subplot about a character named Hacker that ties in to Brin's Uplift series but it had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the book and felt totally out of place.

Has anybody else read it? I know it was pricey on the Kindle but I'm glad I got it.

Donna wrote: "I finished the book and thought it was great. It really gets into some big questions: What does it mean if we aren't alone in the universe? What does it mean if we are? What does it mean to be hum..."

Thank you for that! Makes me want to read. I love the BIG questions!

NMC wrote: "I usually lurk on this forum, but I had to jump in on this. This was one of my fav books for 2012. Definitely slow-going at first, but worth it, all the way.

Regarding the dolphins...

That's a good point about the dolphins; I wasn't thinking of this as a different universe. I still think it didn't have that much to do with the rest of the story though.

Kenny wrote: Thank you for that! Makes me want to read. I love the BIG questions!

While I always like a good space opera, it's nice to read a book that really makes you stop and think.

I read this a few months ago and like it lot. Details are fading though. But it 's s contender for best science fiction in 2012 along with Kim S. Robinson and Iain M. Banks.

I agree about the dolphins. They seemed like leftovers from his Uplift books. Maybe his publishers were pushing for more books in that series and Brin tossed them in this book as a compromise.

What I really liked was Brin sticking to mostly verifiable science. If our world were to ever meet other alien worlds we'd have to meet along these lines, not space ships. I'd like to see more authors writing this type of science fiction with the big ideas and plausibility intact.

Just finished. Enjoyed the book although it took me a while to get going. I thought some of the threads were a bit pointless but I did enjoy how many of them did come together as the book progressed.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more about the dolphins!

The book looks interesting, but the $16 price tag is a bit off-putting...

Eric, if you haven't read Brin's Uplift series and you were intrigued by the dolphins you would probably enjoy that series. I remember it as a favorite from years ago.

Greg, I also liked the plausibility of the science and I think you're right about our contact with aliens being more likely with a space probe. The problem with communicating with it or understanding its message still remains. That makes me think of the Voyager space probe. I always thought it was a bit silly to send "hello" in dozens of languages. How confusing for aliens trying to figure out a language!

Bigal-sa, The book is $13.50 here in the US so I understand your hesitation...

Donna wrote: "That makes me think of the Voyager space probe. I always thought it was a bit silly to send "hello" in dozens of languages. How confusing for aliens trying to figure out a language!"

I think that would be a great story. Aliens 100,000 years from now find Voyager and try to piece together what the creatures who made it would have been like. Of course, the aliens do not resemble humans at all and their conclusions are way off mark.

As for Brin's Uplift books, I enjoyed the first two but didn't care for the third. I didn't read the second series.

Donna wrote: "Eric, if you haven't read Brin's Uplift series and you were intrigued by the dolphins you would probably enjoy that series. I remember it as a favorite from years ago."

Thanks Donna. I read all the uplift novels years ago. I was simply, while reading the scenes with Hacker early on, looking forward to a link between this book and the uplift series, obviously before I got into the rest of this book and its underlying message(s)...

I read this a few months ago. Overall I enjoyed it with certain aspects excellent (Brin's extrapolation of personal connectivity) but I was left a bit disappointed with the outcome. It must be me as others seem to really like it. I also felt the same about the Uplift series, but really really enjoyed "Earth".