Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another one I tried to get through but it just wasn't for me.
This was pretty good. They were trying a little too hard to be funny.
Download for free at http://craphound.com/rotn/download/
Download for free at http://craphound.com/rotn/download/
Rapture of the Nerds is well intentioned and very creative but weakly plotted and disjointed. The novel feels like a summary of a 3 or 4 book series, jumping from one plot to another scarcely before the previous one is established.
Frankly I think Stress and Doctorow were determined to fit as many of their clever ideas about the singularity in the book as possible and the plot serves (and suffers) only as a pack mule for their speculations.
If you want to play with some cool ideas about the singularity, pretty good. If you want a plot that doesn't feel as if it were cobbled together after most of the book was written, look elsewhere.
Frankly I think Stress and Doctorow were determined to fit as many of their clever ideas about the singularity in the book as possible and the plot serves (and suffers) only as a pack mule for their speculations.
If you want to play with some cool ideas about the singularity, pretty good. If you want a plot that doesn't feel as if it were cobbled together after most of the book was written, look elsewhere.
2.5 stars. Creative, with clever wordplay, but it just was not my cup of tea.
A satisfying Singularity narrative full of nerdy in-jokes. If you don't care for jargon, look elsewhere.
Probably not the best introduction I could have had to Cory Doctorow's work, considering this is a co-written novel. Set in future space time, the main character, Huw, finally gets his longed-for chance to serve on a jury that will dictate whether or not certain scientific/robotic/other things should be allowed to be released into the general post-singularity world. But it's a tale of the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence. The luxurious accomodations the jurors are supposed to be put up in turns out to be a hovel where the guests have to work in order to stay; the decision making is a fait-accompli, not a democratic process. and then there is the irrevocable role Huw is thrust madly into, and the byzantine manipulations that happen to him as a result.
I got the feeling while reading this that the authors were trying for something like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it falls rather short of it. I'll give Doctorow another try -- on his own next time.
I got the feeling while reading this that the authors were trying for something like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it falls rather short of it. I'll give Doctorow another try -- on his own next time.
I had a difficult time getting into this book. I violently disliked the first 1/4 to 1/3... it seemed much too clever, too self-impressed and too random and chaotic... but there were enough interesting ideas to push me through. Once it settled down a bit and settled into a comprehensible plot (or maybe I just got more used to the writing style), there was a lot to like. Huge, amazing ideas, one after another, make for a wild ride.
Part Heinlein, part Hitchhiker's, part Hawking...
It was a little over my head in parts. It was rapid and maddening. It is a good length, as any longer and I'd have given up. The character development rang hollow, as the characters aren't really themselves after being in the Cloud. It was a confusing rush, basically.
It was a little over my head in parts. It was rapid and maddening. It is a good length, as any longer and I'd have given up. The character development rang hollow, as the characters aren't really themselves after being in the Cloud. It was a confusing rush, basically.
I have read and enjoyed a few Stross books before, but never any by Doctorow, so was looking forward to this one.
Huw is infected with a technovirus, and his hope to be part of a tech jury defending against the singularity patent office is cut short. He is dragged over to America, which has a really odd version of the church there, and returns to the jury knowing he is the last hope for the universe.
It is packed full of ideas, from parallel memories, uploaded humans, gender changes and a mix of sophisticated tech and steampunk tech. All good stuff, or so you would think, but the characters and the plot really didn't work for me. Some of the time I wasn't completely sure what was going on, and I didn't really get the whole point of it in the end.
Huw is infected with a technovirus, and his hope to be part of a tech jury defending against the singularity patent office is cut short. He is dragged over to America, which has a really odd version of the church there, and returns to the jury knowing he is the last hope for the universe.
It is packed full of ideas, from parallel memories, uploaded humans, gender changes and a mix of sophisticated tech and steampunk tech. All good stuff, or so you would think, but the characters and the plot really didn't work for me. Some of the time I wasn't completely sure what was going on, and I didn't really get the whole point of it in the end.