Accelerando

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This book can seem disjointed at times, and the sheer profusion of ideas the author throws at the reader can seem to be overwhelming at times. This is one book you would do well to read with one hand hovering over a Wikipedia search box so you can understand what is going on. There are more ideas in throwaway remarks in a single chapter than most entire sci-fi books. The characters are underdeveloped, but they aren't the real stars of the story.

The universe takes centre stage in this book, as humanity evolves to something beyond human, and eventually makes even its enhanced superhuman descendants obsolete. It starts with a world recognisably our own, ahead by a few years, with technology that is a logical extension of our own. As each of the nine chapters begins, the world has changed, technologies have moved on, and the characters are increasingly left behind. They are replaced by their descendants who are better adapted to the bewilderingly fast pace of change in their lives. In the first chapter, the focal character Manfred is riding fifteen minutes ahead of the cutting edge, the most forward-looking futurist in the world. By the fourth chapter he's considered an anachronism, unwilling to accept the alterations necessary to compete in the new world. By the start of the seventh chapter, it isn't even possible for humans to participate in the new economy since we simply can't adapt fast enough, and are exiled to ghettoes on the outer planets, wealthy, powerful, and intelligent compared to the reader, but grovelling in squalor and ignorance compared to the incomprehensible intellects that dominate the inner solar system.

The story is vague, it lacks drive for the most part, and each chapter is only tenuously linked to the previous (and next) one. This is understandable as it was originally written as nine short stories which happen to take place in the same universe, just at different points in time. It is jarring, and this can cause alienation in the reader, as by the time you have got to grips with the changes in the world the chapter ends, and you're left struggling to comprehend the author's vision in the next chapter. On the other hand, this is also felt by the characters, and their struggle with the new is a theme throughout the book, so the author is effective at conveying this sense to the reader. There is also a sense of humour running throughout the book. The first chapter has a memorable resolution to the copyright issue we face today that I particularly enjoyed.

I highly recommend this book, if you can cope with the constant barrage of ideas. At times it can feel like hard work, so I can't recommend it to everybody, but I found it more than worthwhile.