Its only been 2.6 megaseconds since I uploaded my consciousness into Accelerando, and the reality matrix he’s provided has forked its own independent operating system in my brain.
[If that sentence frightens you immensely, you should avoid Charles Stross. But if runaway geekery and brazen post-singularity visioneering titillates you even just a little, pick up Accelerando. Now.]
Many others have already commented or reviewed this challenging but fun book. Read some here, here, and here.
Accelerando is Stross’ latest attempt to encompass the singularity, to show us how we’re approaching it and what may happen after all the speculation becomes academic. As a story Accelerando breaks under its own weight, though I’m inspired to seek out some of the individual shorts from which Stross drew the bulk of the novel to see how the parts work on their own. My guess is that, independently, they are spectacular.
As usual, Stross is at his surest when exploring economics and the implications of a post-scarcity economy. His treatment of ideas, bandwidth, credibility and reputation as the most important currencies of the future is believable, and can already be seen (with only a little bit of squinting) in action on the internets today.
If you’re up for some futureshock, throw on the mirrorshades and nudge yourself close to Accelerando’s event horizon. None of my instances or autonomous search ghosts have found a better introduction to the Rapture of the Nerds or its implications for a posthuman future. Stross depicts a future “reality” that, for all its strangeness, is eerily similar to our current meatspace world; a universe both bleak and inspiring, consistently alien yet utterly human.
Further reading:
- Download the full text of Accelerando
- A Tough Guide to the Singularity
- Accelerando Technical Companion
Technorati: singularity stross science fiction
