#931 in Literature & fiction books
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Reddit mentions of Echopraxia (Firefall (2))
Sentiment score: 3
Reddit mentions: 3
We found 3 Reddit mentions of Echopraxia (Firefall (2)). Here are the top ones.
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Features:
Specs:
Height | 8.14 Inches |
Length | 5.759831 Inches |
Number of items | 1 |
Release date | June 2015 |
Weight | 0.7 Pounds |
Width | 1.01 Inches |
I love it. I often assign it as reading in my philosophy of technology classes. It's one of the better philosophical stories out there, and sets the stage for a great discussion of the relationship between computation, information, entropy, science, and intelligence.
If you liked the story, you'd probably also enjoy the novel Blindsight by Peter Watts, and its follow-up Echopraxia, two of the other best sci-fi/philosophy blendings I've ever read.
//This is a summation of several months of recent reading...it sounds like a lot, but it isn't as much as it sounds like.
Just finished reading The Phantom Toolbooth to my 5-year old for the 3rd time (first time was more to $spouse when the kid was still nursing, but I'm counting it anyway). It's an awesome book to read when you are a kid, and doubly-awesome to read aloud to a kid.
For me, I recently finished The Founding Fish by John McPhee (one of my favorite writers).
I just started reading Rust: The Longest War which seems good so far (similar in style to McPhee).
I've also recently read:
All as part of some sort of Amazon Prime Kindle deal. I can't really recommend any of them. The first two are formulaic in the extreme, and because everyone is the best supersoldier/pilot/captain/hacker ever, and there's no question they will "win," and I just didn't care. I couldn't finish the 3rd, although it wasn't bad; I just wanted to read something else. I honestly can't remember anything about the 4th, it was that bad. The last one (Columbus Day) didn't suck.
Also from Amazon:
Most of the Amazon Prime Kindle selections are the first of a series, and while I like a good series as much as the next guy, I'm not going to bother with any of them, except for Columbus Day and Meta. Maybe.
I mistakenly read Echopraxia for the second time, but it's good enough that I didn't mind. It has some pretty creepy parts, but I like what I've read of Peter Watts so far, and it's a fairly deep book in parts, so a second read wasn't a waste.
The local library has some Terry Prattchet as a digital loan, so I read one or two Discworld books too.
Anyone have any suggestions for a good biography of Eisenhower?
Things I've read, or reread, recently that might be interesting:
[Echopraxia] (https://www.amazon.com/Echopraxia-Peter-Watts/dp/0765328038) by Peter Watts.
"Sequel" to Blindsight, but it doesn't really matter if they're read in order or not. Echopraxia is full of interesting ideas - Vampires (cloned pre-stone age apex predators with superhuman intelligence), technology-enabled hive intelligences, military zombie soldiers, amidst the backdrop of civilization cannibalizes itself in a battle between post-human factions.
It's also difficult to follow, with it's perspective being that of an unmodified human who is functionally incapable of understanding the motivations and actions of the various super-human intelligences that are the driving forces of the story.
The author's background as a biologist add a level of veracity to the story, and the research is near-peerless.
If you like complex hard-science fiction, with a side order of philosophy of mind, you may love this book. If you don't, it might be a huge miss.
[The Fifth Ward: First Watch] (https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Athe+fifth+ward%3A+first+watch&keywords=the+fifth+ward%3A+first+watch&triggered-weblabs=SEARCH_SPELLING_122845%3AT1&ie=UTF8&qid=1509561625) by Dale Lucas
Pure escapism. One part detective story, one part middle-earth style fantasy. Elfs, dwarves, orcs and murder.
The writing was solid enough to carry the book, and it was a fun read.
[Easy Strength] (https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Strength-Stronger-Competition-Dominate/dp/0938045806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509561859&sr=1-1&keywords=easy+strength) by Dan John & Pavel Tsatsouline
An easy enjoyable read, with a lot of useful information and anecdotes if you're interested in coaching.
This rekindled my interest in kettle bells for GPP, and has given me a bit to think about regarding programming and athletic development.
It's also made me interested in reading more of Pavels stuff - Pavels writing style made me basically discount him the when I glanced at one of his books in the past, and I suspect I need to re-evaluate that impression.