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A review by zimb0
Echopraxia by Peter Watts
4.0
What a strange, crazy read. A read filled with the reader wondering if they're missing something or if it is by the author's design. In the case of Echopraxia, the best comparison to Blindsight is found in the afterward pages. As Watts said in his Reddit AMA, this is more like a sidequel than a sequel. Same universe, linked characters but it is most certainly its own thing and attempts to pose its own questions to the reader; again, read the afterward to best understand the linkage here.
This wavers between a 4 and a 5 and in lieu of having half-stars, a 4 will do. This book is a masterwork in how the sciences are able to penetrate philosophy in today's day and age. Not mere armchair philosophy, but philosophy backed by theory and research in related fields. The characters are alive and breathing, all with their own tracks with each their own arch's, vendettas, and quests for knowledge. I highly recommend this novel to anyone missing the science fiction of days past, which concerned itself more with making the reader ponder a question. I'd even venture to say you need not have read Blindsight to delve into this, though, Watt's short-story "The Colonel" is a must, check it at Tor.com.
This wavers between a 4 and a 5 and in lieu of having half-stars, a 4 will do. This book is a masterwork in how the sciences are able to penetrate philosophy in today's day and age. Not mere armchair philosophy, but philosophy backed by theory and research in related fields. The characters are alive and breathing, all with their own tracks with each their own arch's, vendettas, and quests for knowledge. I highly recommend this novel to anyone missing the science fiction of days past, which concerned itself more with making the reader ponder a question. I'd even venture to say you need not have read Blindsight to delve into this, though, Watt's short-story "The Colonel" is a must, check it at Tor.com.