Scan barcode
A review by eviljosh
Aristoi by Walter Jon Williams
5.0
It's rare that I read something different enough to be considered unique, but the society and culture painted in this book is something I've never encountered before.
The world building is truly stupendous. A distant future humanity, scarred by the accidental destruction of Earth, rebuilds a new civilization. One of the core values of this civilization is that information must be free, but technology has become powerful enough, dangerous enough, that it can only be wielded in all its glory by gods. So the Aristoi are created, gods among men, to play the role of the divine (though perhaps they are are best viewed as philosopher kings).
Williams describes the Aristoi, saying: "Without doubt she would achieve the rank of Ariste: the long-latent synthesis, the tumbling-together of ideas, had begun. The integrative thinking of the Aristoi, wherein each thought, each skill and idea, began to expand and multiply and reinforce the other." Describing their relationship to the rest of humanity, an Aristos states: "We dominate humanity because we can't help it, and because the others couldn't stop it even if they wanted to."
The result is a society that is simultaneously a techno-utopia and a radical authoritarian dystopia (fascism without the nationalist connotations), made all the more frightening because the thought of disobedience to an Aristos is literally inconceivable to the vast majority of indoctrinated humanity.
This marvelous world building creates a set of main characters (Aristoi and their senior bureaucrats) that is simultaneously fascinating, desirable, and appalling. They believe they are superior and entitled...nearly godlike...and the reader has a hard time disagreeing, while all the while rebelling against such a notion notion as anathema to our current liberal society based upon the notion that all are created equal.
Combine that with the strange psychology of the characters (the society believes that multiple personalities - inner demons - are to be encouraged, named, and treasured, in order for multifaceted individuals to fully unlock their true potential), and this book is well worth reading.
The world building is truly stupendous. A distant future humanity, scarred by the accidental destruction of Earth, rebuilds a new civilization. One of the core values of this civilization is that information must be free, but technology has become powerful enough, dangerous enough, that it can only be wielded in all its glory by gods. So the Aristoi are created, gods among men, to play the role of the divine (though perhaps they are are best viewed as philosopher kings).
Williams describes the Aristoi, saying: "Without doubt she would achieve the rank of Ariste: the long-latent synthesis, the tumbling-together of ideas, had begun. The integrative thinking of the Aristoi, wherein each thought, each skill and idea, began to expand and multiply and reinforce the other." Describing their relationship to the rest of humanity, an Aristos states: "We dominate humanity because we can't help it, and because the others couldn't stop it even if they wanted to."
The result is a society that is simultaneously a techno-utopia and a radical authoritarian dystopia (fascism without the nationalist connotations), made all the more frightening because the thought of disobedience to an Aristos is literally inconceivable to the vast majority of indoctrinated humanity.
This marvelous world building creates a set of main characters (Aristoi and their senior bureaucrats) that is simultaneously fascinating, desirable, and appalling. They believe they are superior and entitled...nearly godlike...and the reader has a hard time disagreeing, while all the while rebelling against such a notion notion as anathema to our current liberal society based upon the notion that all are created equal.
Combine that with the strange psychology of the characters (the society believes that multiple personalities - inner demons - are to be encouraged, named, and treasured, in order for multifaceted individuals to fully unlock their true potential), and this book is well worth reading.