Jodo Kast Jul 13, 2008 (edited Jul 13, 2008)
I haven't seen a jointed foot (arthropod) in my condo for almost a full week, so I've been reading lately. My newest discoveries are Vernor Vinge, Greg Egan, Jack Vance, and Keith Laumer.
Vernor Vinge popularized the notion of machine intelligence and called it the 'technological singularity', in 1983. Not too unsurprisingly, Terminator came out in 1984. I've only read one of his novels, but he's definitely the futurist that Discover magazine claims he is. In Rainbows End, Vinge creates a future world where books are scarce and conventional computers are even scarcer. Using a computer is called wearing, because your clothes contain the components, while the environment provides the network via millions of nodes. Contacts are worn on the eyes to simulate a monitor. You can also silently send people messages, which is called sming.
I don't know much about Egan, other than the fact he is an Australian. It was Scientific American magazine that recommended one of his novels - Quarantine. In 2034, a shield covers the entire solar system and blocks out the stars. We don't know what's happening beyond the shield, since all probes become infinitely redshifted when they approach it, much like the event horizon of a black hole. I'm 100 pages into it and I'll be reading the sequels, for sure.
Jack Vance likes to keep a low profile. He even states he doesn't like to talk about his work and prefers that people read it, rather than review it. I recently finished The Languages of Pao and it was unlike any other science fiction. There is a system of 20+ populated planets and they naturally are at war with each other, despite the great distances. One of the planets has very advanced technology, but no women. They sell weapons to the other planets in exchange for women. A wizard (meaning - advanced technology under the skin) decides it would be easier to simply take over a planet, rather than trading for women. Instead of using brute force, he invents new languages. It seems like an odd way to conquer, but Vance pulls it off.
I've read a few Laumer novels and they can be classified as 'fun'. The Great Time Machine Hoax was amusing. Some guy finds out his rich relative left him an estate, so he goes to check it out and he finds an advanced computer. He brings along a friend and they start asking it questions. To their surprise, it answers everything. They don't realize it's actually going back in time to fetch the answers. They just think the computer is playing a big joke - at first.
