Levi Hobbs > Recent Status Updates

The whole Grand Inquisitor passage feels really profane to me.

Is Father Zossima ever gonna die? Totally kidding but seriously he’s been dying for almost half the book.

Alyosha, you poor, sweet child.

I love how Dostoevsky pulls off both being a genuine Christian but also subjecting its practices to scrutiny. Seems like he really wrestled with his faith in a quest for truth.

Dmitri is just too ridiculous to be remotely relatable, unfortunately.

Interesting how Fyodor, one of the most repugnant characters in all literature, shares a first name with the author.

The whole Russian Elders thing is a fascinating study in mob-religious psychology.

Wow, this family hella messed up.

What a whirlwind blend of ancient Sumerian, hacking, the metaverse, mind viruses…

I love the insights about the ways that different subcultures interact with the metaverse, the types of avatars they buy, the houses they build with code, all of it.

"Hey man...want to try some Snow Crash?" Lol.

I love the description of The Street, the circular enormous strip where millions of people live and interact in the Metaverse.

Here we have it! The origin of the word "metaverse." And it's so bad-ass.

I never thought I'd say this, but that was the most thrilling, high-stakes pizza delivery I have ever read about.

A mafia-run pizza delivery company run by "Uncle Enzo"...priceless.

"There's only four things we (the U.S.) do better than anyone else:
music
movies
microcode (software)
high-speed pizza delivery”

People in LA living in shipping containers because they can't afford anything else cuts too close to the bone.

LOL The hero/protagonist’s name is Hiro Protagonist...but he's a bad-ass and it just works!

The cyberpunk vibes in this are incredible. This is more cyberpunk than Neuromancer, than Ready Player One, than The Matrix.

Governments can only ever imagine enemies they're used to. They are terrible at realizing when they're looking at something new.

Humans competing with machines for jobs...a reality made even more brutal in physically demanding jobs, like bodyguarding.

Divya doesn't just write realistic characters, she writes realistic relationships between family members, co-workers, spouses, ex-commanders...everyone.

Refugee crises, politics in military, AI unemployment, gig economy labor exploitation, the predatory healthcare industry...this book is packed with juicy controversial topics.

I love seeing the flavor of how biotech could interact with the culture of India in different ways than in the U.S.

Super interesting idea where biotech enthusiasts like Nithya can make and augment their own nanobots to inject in people's bodies on workbenches in their homes.

I love how Welga's necie Carma pulls out this totally other, sweeter side from our former marine bad-ass.

Welga Ramirez is kick-ass.

I gotta say, the Machinehood is a bad-ass name for a fictional terrorist organization.

Welga's betrayal backstory at the hands of a politician when serving in the marine corps is a fascinating backstory that feels so realistic, and I've never seen that done before.

The intensely performative gig economy where people livestream their lives through AR, trying to live off donations in their digital tip jar...oof.