Peter Watts thread

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The Great Scald

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« on: December 27, 2014, 11:49:34 pm »
Peter Watts is probably my favorite author of sci-fi/fantasy, right next to Bakker. Last week I finished "Blindsight", and I don't think I have been so impressed by a sci-fi book in a very long time.

"Blindsight" can be found for free here:

http://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm

"Starfish", his first book (and the first part of a trilogy), was also a really fascinating read. Not for the light-hearted, since it's far more perverted and disturbing than "Blindsight", but pretty compelling. If you liked Bakker, you'll like this. Can be found here:

http://www.rifters.com/real/STARFISH.htm

Post your own thoughts and Watts recommendations.

mrganondorf

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« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2014, 02:45:16 am »
I absolutely loved Blindsight!  Francis Buck--how is the sequel???  Cannot wait to read Rifters. 

Francis Buck

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« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2014, 07:23:22 pm »
Good to see you posting Auriga! Peter Watts has indeed become one of my favorite authors, almost entirely due to Blindsight (though I've since read the sequel, Echopraxia). I really do think people that enjoy Bakker will love PW, especially Blindsight. The story is and themes are very, well...Bakkery.

Echopraxia, I thought, wasn't quite as good as Blindsight. There's even more science in it, and the story moves at a fast pace without holding the reader's hand whatsoever. I actually think Echopraxia is meant to be a sort of "bridge" between Blindsight and a third, hypothetical installment. The overarching story does not seem complete just yet, I think.

It also has my favorite depiction of an alien species EVER. He really makes aliens seem damn scary, as they probably are in real life. I'm going to be checking out his "Rifters" trilogy eventually.

It was also a bit disheartening to realize someone had done "realistic vampires" way better than I ever even imagined in my own novella. Then again I've become accustomed to realizing just how unoriginal most of my ideas are as a young writer lol.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2014, 08:51:57 pm by Francis Buck »

Srancy

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« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2014, 02:00:06 am »
I like Watts. Echopraxia was pretty good but there were more times when his ranting didn't mesh with the story.

Alia

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« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2014, 08:29:33 am »
I really like Watts, both his books and his lectures. He came to Poland two years ago, was at two conventions, had a speech about the illusion of free will and cognitive biases. He has a great sense of humour, in a dry and wry way.
BTW "Starfish" and the rest were the first books I read on my kindle - Watts talked about how he got mad at his publisher and made his books available for free on his website, so I came home and downloaded them. And well, they are great. And wicked. And surprising.
I haven't read "Echopraxia" yet, my book backlog is too long and my husband dearest bought me Gibson's "The Peripheral" for Christmas, so that's next in line.
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The Great Scald

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« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2015, 10:47:36 pm »
I finished "Echopraxia" today.

It was, to be honest, a bit of a disappointment. It was a pretty cerebral book and full of techno-jargon, but unlike "Blindsight", it didn't have an intense storyline and a compelling cast of characters to help along the techno-babble. Instead, the protagonist was a bland dork (I can't even remember his name; this book didn't have any memorable characters like Sarasti or Desjardins) and the story didn't really go anywhere interesting.

It also felt like Watts was trying to squeeze too many scientific and intellectual concepts into this book, while "Blindsight" was so brilliant because its intellectual point was really simple: human consciousness is a fake and an evolutionary flaw. This book, though, was just sorta muddled and all over the place.

Not sure if I'd recommend it.

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« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2015, 02:38:39 pm »
I'll have to buy Watts books, I think. I can never tolerate long enough reading sessions on tablet and I never think to pick it up to continue. I usually make it til about a third way through and then stop reading for long enough to forget most of the initial narrative.
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Francis Buck

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« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2015, 07:16:44 pm »
For those who read Echopraxia, I'm curious what ya'll thought of Portia and how it may or may not relate to the Scramblers? Any thoughts?

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Phallus Pendulus

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« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2015, 03:06:57 pm »
I really liked the Rifters books as well, Watts is a genius. He reminds me of Bakker in a lot of ways, but with more scientific know-how and less black semen.

I'm probably the only one who liked the Rifters trilogy better than Blindsight...the idea of a sci-fi horror story with non-self-aware aliens is cool, but the techno-geekery and pedantic detail was a bit much for me






Francis Buck

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« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2015, 03:02:30 am »
I really liked the Rifters books as well, Watts is a genius. He reminds me of Bakker in a lot of ways, but with more scientific know-how and less black semen.

I'm probably the only one who liked the Rifters trilogy better than Blindsight...the idea of a sci-fi horror story with non-self-aware aliens is cool, but the techno-geekery and pedantic detail was a bit much for me

That's definitely understandable. Blindsight is dense as fuck with the techno-wankery, but I love it for that reason (among many others). I would place the first Rifters book close to Blindsight for sure though. I enjoyed the second installment, but haven't read the third yet as I found myself a bit "Watted-out". Need to get around to it though for sure.

The Great Scald

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« Reply #10 on: July 25, 2015, 06:59:55 pm »
I'm probably the only one who liked the Rifters trilogy better than Blindsight...the idea of a sci-fi horror story with non-self-aware aliens is cool, but the techno-geekery and pedantic detail was a bit much for me

The futuristic tech stuff in Blindsight is incredibly dense, like Buck said, but it's an important part of the setting. That far into the future, a lot of our everyday technologies are gonna be very different - and that has to be described somehow in the narrative. I think Watts said in the book's post-script that he didn't want the setting to be all familiar and contemporary, but rather a good approximation of what the future world in 2100 will be like.

Mind you, almost all of Watts' techno-wankery is just extrapolations of current existing tech. (Well, apart from the Pleistocene vampires.)

I would place the first Rifters book close to Blindsight for sure though. I enjoyed the second installment, but haven't read the third yet as I found myself a bit "Watted-out". Need to get around to it though for sure.

Starfish was the best of the Rifters books, for sure. The second and third are still good books, but not on the level of the first.

The third one is also the most disturbing of the three. Lots of grimdark, lots of sadism and torture, very unsympathetic characters. If you enjoyed the Ramsay Bolton scenes in ASOIAF, you'll really enjoy this one.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2015, 07:07:03 pm by Auriga »

Anasurimbor Phallus

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« Reply #11 on: November 24, 2015, 07:42:33 pm »
The third one is also the most disturbing of the three. Lots of grimdark, lots of sadism and torture, very unsympathetic characters. If you enjoyed the Ramsay Bolton scenes in ASOIAF, you'll really enjoy this one.

The torture scenes in Rifters were too much for me. One of the few things I wish I could literally un-read. I loved the dystopian world setup in the first book (reminded me of the video game Syndicate) and the Fugitive-style chase plot of book #2, but because of very disturbing events in the third book I don't recommend the series to anyone I know.

Now Blindsight was awesome; I can't remember the last time I was so engrossed in a book. The central theme that consciousness could be an evolutionary dead end was something I had never before come across in scifi. Very very cool and original explanation for vampires. The high-suspense plot was excellently paced too, with unsettling reveals; the "Chinese box" sequence and the saccades reveal were very tense and scary.

Echopraxia was also good, but I think it suffered a bit since the protagonist (and by extension the reader) was intentionally kept in the dark for most of the book. No one ever told that guy anything useful. I seldom wish for more exposition in a novel but this one could have used a couple scenes where everyone sits down and just discusses what the fuck is currently going on. Also, the vampires went from being very cool and superhuman in a plausible way in the first book, to basically demigods in Echopraxia. The stuff they could pull off in this book just broke my suspension of disbelief and made them ridiculous instead of sinister.


Anasurimbor Phallus

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« Reply #12 on: November 24, 2015, 07:50:11 pm »
For those who read Echopraxia, I'm curious what ya'll thought of Portia and how it may or may not relate to the Scramblers? Any thoughts?

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