I had to go back and re-read this because I didn’t remember much other than the Rastafarians in space. Though there are some anachronisms throughout the book, it’s still so far ahead of its time. AI’s, drones, cybersecurity, hacking, and virtual reality are just a few of the things Gibson really nailed. He also created and defined the cyberpunk sub-genre and for that we can all be thankful. Go read this, it’s worth it.
Peter F. Hamilton is one of the greatest sci-fi authors, in my opinion, and Great North Road exemplifies his work. This is an absolutely massive tome, but Hamilton does what he does best throughout it: weave detailed, intricate and separate stories, then bring them all crashing together only to realize how intertwined they were from the very beginning. He goes deep on all the characters so that you feel like you know and understand every aspect of them by the end of the book. Throughout the book the characters true selves are peeled back, layer by layer—it’s as much about the plot as it is about understanding the players. I love that.
An absolute must-read. There are very few non-fiction books I recommend unequivocally, and now that I think about it, this might be the only one that I recommend without preamble or qualification. I consider Start with Why to be baseline reading for anyone, anywhere. In case this wasn’t abundantly clear, you should go read this book now. And if you have read it, go re-read it. I think I’ll do the same.
This was my first Culture series book, and is so far is still my favorite. It’s a far-reaching novel with a protagonist you really want to root for, even if you don’t fully understand his motivations. He’s always in awful situations, jumping from frying pan to fryer again and again, but always has something up his sleeve to barely escape by his teeth—pun intended if you’ve read it. As I get more into the Culture series, I appreciate this book more and more. It’s an incredible adventure set in the middle of a vast universe.
The beauty of this book is thinking through the implications of long distance space travel. There’s neither hyperlight speed nor wormholes to make the trips from one solar system to the next fly by in a whirl of stars. It’s long-haul travel for the humans and other combatants. Thinking through how this affects the protagonist, his family, and his love is just as interesting as the different worlds he travels to and the aliens he fights. It’s a classic sci-fi for a reason, and apparently a series—which I just now saw. I’ll have to finish it as I thoroughly enjoyed this one.