The Sword and Laser discussion

This book seems one massive session of free association. The narrative makes it clear that a computer system is involved, so my initial take is of a simulation that is malfunctioning while trying to tell a single story. People and situations get switched around, genders change midscene, but the relationships remain the same as the story progresses.

I'm at about the 15% mark. I'll hide spoilers as a courtesy. I'm not sure even disclosing the entire plotline would constitute a spoiler, the way this book is structured. Comments welcome, but please also note where you are in the book and hide spoilers.

(view spoiler)[People have commented on the code, but is it really an issue? I've done coding but am not particularly good at it. The computer sequences pretty clearly indicate an ongoing series of failures. That should be obvious to anyone who's used a computer, as in, anyone reading the book. Maybe it's more complex later on.

Free associations: The scene where Thomas first appears to offer solace/advice, as the brunch with the gay gym group breaks up, was so much scene change after scene change that I free associated to YMCA and wanted to dance around with a boa singing "No man, does it all by himself! ... just go there, to the YMCA. I'm sure they can help you today!"

Lots of sensory impressions, sights, sounds, smells. A little too much mention of poop and pee for my liking, but it's important to the author. Do I really need a discussion of how the narrator enjoys the smell of poop? Apparently, but...bleah. *nose wrinkle*

This could easily be an alternate-universe story. It reminds me of the universe-switching in Heinlein's "Job: A Comedy of Justice". The unreliable narration and ambiguous reality are definitely reminiscent of Philip K. Dick. I can see why it received an award. (hide spoiler)]

At about the 25% mark,

(view spoiler)[getting a Revolt in 2100 vibe, especially with the Virgins being mistreated. Of course that goes up to the obvious end, and then...*director hands* scene. (hide spoiler)]

At the 55% mark, yep, this is one weird story. I'm not sure what tale it is trying to tell tho. It's telling a coherent narrative overall while using less than coherent segments, but the thrust of the plot is unclear. For that reason I'm enjoying it less than, say, Job: A Comedy of Justice.

One part stuck out as particularly odd. (view spoiler)[Hector / Helen decides to sacrifice herself because Antoine/tte saw her "as she really was." I suppose a sacrifice made story sense at that point, and I'm sure Hector / Helen will be back. However, the plot point made me flash on the "kill your gays" trope, where the gay characters always (well, used to always) die. I don't think the author intended this. Reminded me of the trans character in Sandman who winds up dead when a building collapses. Neil Gaiman was called on that and said he didn't specifically intend to kill a trans character, just that death could be pointless and people died unnecessarily.

Anyhoo, in a book of odd disjointed plots that still make a complete narrative, this one stuck out as being out of place. (hide spoiler)]

Just got to the 60% mark, and...

John (Taloni) wrote: "At the 55% mark, yep, this is one weird story. I'm not sure what tale it is trying to tell tho. It's telling a coherent narrative overall while using less than coherent segments, but the thrust of ..."

Yeah, that stuck out to me too, and not in a good way. In a book where the characters switch genders between segments, having one iteration of one character be explicitly trans (view spoiler)[ and then killing them off via an act of self-sacrifice (hide spoiler)] just seems... unnecessary.

Aaaand...done. So, the whole thing (view spoiler)[was an analogy for colonization and colonizers? I can see the British army doing as the early Krestge did and the later scholars being appalled.

Somewhat reminiscent of Vance's Dying Earth books as humanity left for more hospitable realms while some remained to, well, die.

I'm not quite sure what I think. Well, the Jungian in me wants to acknowledge Antoine as the undifferentiated Animus at the end, encompassing the internal male Adrianne's outer female. While the conclusion of the plot is clear enough, I'm still fairly confused as to what the author intended to accomplish. I don't feel a sense of closure. Perhaps that's the point. (hide spoiler)]

The book feels like a loosely connected set of really short stories. I think the author waited to make a bunch of points and used this mechanism to hit on them all. One of the consistent themes was (view spoiler)[ the sense of loss and mourning as the Antoine character kept losing the Adrianne character (might be reversed, as it's been a bit since I finished). I consider the underground city and alien trying to understand the left behind global computer as the real story, so to me the loss of home is the underlying story, and, hence, the European colonialism theme. It'shard to nail down with all the other themes involved. (hide spoiler)]

Richard wrote: "The book feels like a loosely connected set of really short stories. I think the author waited to make a bunch of points and used this mechanism to hit on them all. One of the consistent themes was..."

Yes so in this scenario, (view spoiler)[ the alien just isn't smart enough to figure out the code and the imaginary creator of the code ... fixes it and goes away? Or the alien thinks of it that way? It kind of messes with the ending to bring those crazy aliens in. I was more on board with the angels in how "real" it felt. But it's the characters who aren't real.... (hide spoiler)]