Came across it browsing the site of Fantask, my fav SF bookstore in Copenhagen, then ordered the ebook. Older novel, from 2012, 575 pages. Three centuries from now the earth is still reeling from climate collapse but has in the mean time actively spread out through the solar system. Politics and trade between the various planets and bodies in the solar system, and a group of quantum computer based AIs in humanoid shape are bent towards a dangerous interpretation of a human service demand made of them. Some of the notions in this book, such as rewilding return in The Ministry for the Future that was published 8yrs on.
Tag: sf
Bridge by Lauren Beukes
Another good one by this South African writer, this one mixing a body snatching drug/parasite activated by psychedelic images and sounds with the multiverse. In the middle the story stretched a bit long I thought, but fun enough to finish. The notion of a multiverse serial killer was fun.
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
E bought it at the great Fantask book store in 2021 while in Copenhagen. Fantask is one of my favourite bookstores. This was an enjoyable story about time travel, focusing on the psychological impact on time travelers in combination with a whodunnit with a twist. None of the paradoxical stuff time travel stories usually suffer from. Not very well written however, which is the most grating at the start, further on the story carried me forward. Liked the introduction of so called genie objects, items that are given by an older time traveling self to a younger self, which in turn at some later stage are then handed gifted to a later self. No previous existence but circle of causality still intact. The objects have various oddities due to probabilistic aspects.
The Fractured Dark by Megan E. O’Keefe
Part 2 of the Devoured Worlds trilogy (see The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O’Keefe for part 1). Enjoyed it but kept thinking this sounds too easy, too happy-ending. When the twist came it wasn’t a big reveal because of it. Looking forward to part three in May 2024.
36 Streets by T.R. Napper
Bought October 2023, came across it on the website of Fantask, my favourite bookstore in Copenhagen. Originally published January 2022. Set in Hanoi, Vietnam it is a very gritty cyberpunk novel based in a near future where China is occupying northern Vietnam. Memories, altering them, pushing them on you, how far can you go before you are no longer human or capable of human feelings? Enjoyed this one by T.R. Napper very much.
Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The third book in The Final Architecture trilogy. At 44% in I thought I was in the final stage of the book, and it just kept going at speed until the end. The world building by the author is impressive. Really enjoyed this big space opera in three books, and this ending.