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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Arthur siempre sabe cómo hacerte soñar y en este libro no se queda corto. Si bien tiene partes lentas, sus escenas reconstruyendo la historia son muy vívidas y emocionantes. Habiendo leído su otra colaboración con Baxter (El ojo del tiempo), esta novela en comparación sufre, quizá porque cuesta que te atrape en un principio. Sin embargo, te da mucha emoción, te hace pensar, y te sorprende en muchas partes, que es todo lo que uno espera de la ciencia ficción.
This collaboration was entertaining and terrifying in its speculation about possible applications of a technology that allows anyone to view anything anywhere present or past. In some ways the book almost felt like a collection of short stories exploring ideas such as:
- how would the ability to observe the life of Jesus Christ first hand impact a Catholic's faith?
- how would politicians cope if all their decisions and deals were made in a panopticon?
- how would a complete lack of privacy from birth impact a teenager's perceptions of sex, nudity, and shame?
The list could go on forever, and the book seemed tempted.
I thought it read more like a collection of pieces than a unified novel because the central characters were so thinly drawn. The characters were surrounded by over the top drama - murder, mayhem, and the like. Unfortunately, the lack of development made this all seem comical as the reader had almost no opportunity to develop an emotional attachment to the characters.
- how would the ability to observe the life of Jesus Christ first hand impact a Catholic's faith?
- how would politicians cope if all their decisions and deals were made in a panopticon?
- how would a complete lack of privacy from birth impact a teenager's perceptions of sex, nudity, and shame?
The list could go on forever, and the book seemed tempted.
I thought it read more like a collection of pieces than a unified novel because the central characters were so thinly drawn. The characters were surrounded by over the top drama - murder, mayhem, and the like. Unfortunately, the lack of development made this all seem comical as the reader had almost no opportunity to develop an emotional attachment to the characters.
Excellent treatment of a world with no privacy and time travel into the past. The ending was very Clarke-like; lame and unsatisfying but everything else was top-notch.
The book is based on a novel concept where a rich, egoistic billionaire invents technology to stabilize wormholes for communications. As a side effect, they discover that the cam can also look into the past. All this while, death and doom for all of humanity is only 500 years away as a massive asteroid is on an impact trajectory with Earth.
I'd say there is enough plot here to keep you busy. In all these events, the main focus of the story mostly revolves around people and how they react when the concept of privacy is shattered. A study of the past through the wormcams is also something of major interest to the people and its safe to say that if such a technology was available to me, I'd be looking into various eras to see what was happening too. There is just so much history to explore.
Some parts of history are handled quite well by the authors. There is a chapter devoted to looking at the birth of Christianity. The end of the book is pretty much devoted to looking all the way back into our origins from single-celled organisms to what we are today.
Overall the book was enjoyable even though the plot was a bit slow in some places. The concept is amazing and it's all laid out well.
I'd say there is enough plot here to keep you busy. In all these events, the main focus of the story mostly revolves around people and how they react when the concept of privacy is shattered. A study of the past through the wormcams is also something of major interest to the people and its safe to say that if such a technology was available to me, I'd be looking into various eras to see what was happening too. There is just so much history to explore.
Some parts of history are handled quite well by the authors. There is a chapter devoted to looking at the birth of Christianity. The end of the book is pretty much devoted to looking all the way back into our origins from single-celled organisms to what we are today.
Overall the book was enjoyable even though the plot was a bit slow in some places. The concept is amazing and it's all laid out well.
Excellent Science Fiction book involving instant communication and it's effect on society.
Flipping between 3 stars and 4 stars because although it was an enjoyable read, the ending was rushed. Towards the end it seemed as though the authors just wanted to throw in some crazy (but cool) scientific and anthropological theories with no thought as to how it would fit in with the rest of the story.
The rest of the book offered a less glamourous, but poignant view on past-viewing (a non-interactive version of time travel). I particularly liked the sensitive, but touching exposition of Christ's life, and the fact that some historical mysteries are best left buried.
The rest of the book offered a less glamourous, but poignant view on past-viewing (a non-interactive version of time travel). I particularly liked the sensitive, but touching exposition of Christ's life, and the fact that some historical mysteries are best left buried.
Fun read with an interesting premise. Towards the end I was running low on enthusiasm but still a unique enough premise to make it a good read
A really rough beginning, but it started to get better after page 100, once the implications of the new technology started to be explored. They discovered that you could use wormholes to look anywhere, at anyone and anything in space and eventually they were able to look back in time. There were a lot of different points of view on benefits and problems of the technology, and overall I thought it was really well explored.
The characters were also reasonably diverse and interesting in the end, although the authors' strengths clearly lie with discussing the WormCams and less with developing the relationships between the characters.
I almost gave up in the beginning, but it turned out to be a fairly worthwhile read and it definitely made me think.
The characters were also reasonably diverse and interesting in the end, although the authors' strengths clearly lie with discussing the WormCams and less with developing the relationships between the characters.
I almost gave up in the beginning, but it turned out to be a fairly worthwhile read and it definitely made me think.
The story focuses on the technological advancements brought about by a man and his family that allow at first for instantaneous communication between points but then leads to the end of privacy as the technology matures to the point where people can create wormhole cameras anywhere. Eventually, people are able to also look into the past as well.
The story is decent and raises some thought provoking questions about privacy and humanity in general. However, I found the characterization a bit on the weak side and it ended up taking a bit of the luster off what could have been an excellent story.
I prefer Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch, though to be fair The Light of Other Days deals with more than just 'past viewing' tech.
The story is decent and raises some thought provoking questions about privacy and humanity in general. However, I found the characterization a bit on the weak side and it ended up taking a bit of the luster off what could have been an excellent story.
I prefer Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch, though to be fair The Light of Other Days deals with more than just 'past viewing' tech.