03-15-2014, 10:30 AM
(03-15-2014, 07:25 AM)stevebowers Wrote: I'm not sure that Lockstep is as practical as some of his other work - there seems to be little advantage to this use of cryosleep, but perhaps something similar might be useful.
While I haven't read it yet, Lockstep was serialized in Analog magazine and in the latest issue Schroeder lays out his case for why this application is so useful as well as some of the tech used in the story (not cryosleep per se but some of the other stuff). I've only skimmed the article at this point, but it sounds interesting.
As far as recommended books:
Reality 36 and Omega Point, both by Guy Haley - Set in the next couple hundred years, there's AIs, wild tech, cyborgs and virtual realities, not to mention an attempt to create an Omega Point of sorts. Not post-singularity fiction, more like 'the singularity is going to arrive any day now' fiction.
The Quantum Thief and The Fractal Prince, both by Hannu Rajaniemi - A post-singularity future in which Jupiter was imploded into a black hole at the moment of Singularity (yes, it's a double-entendre in this future world) apparently to be turned into some sort of ultimate computer substrate. Meanwhile the Founders create a solar system spanning empire by copying themselves millions of times and sharing memories between the copies while they seek to defeat quantum uncertainty or the like using their moon sized ISOs. And a giant walking city strides across the surface of Mars.
The books are billed as hard science by Charles Stross, although there's nanotech and femtotech both (and in the past he's not said great things about nanotech - perhaps another indication that 'hard science' is often in the eye of the beholder..). Anyway - a really good read. Interesting enough in one book there is a brief mention of an 'angelnet' which is basically just like ours. I rather wonder if the author has been reading OA...
A little older, but definitely worth the getting are The New Space Opera vol 1 and 2. Two whole collections of big thinking SF, much of it what we would deem OA relevant, or into transhumanism/post humanism themes.
Hope this helps,
Todd