Which book are you reading now? Volume XIV

[Birdjaguar]

It's not like it can actually be tested. If

Spoiler :

you mean the dimensional stuff

That and more.

Spoiler :

using quantum entanglement for ever present sophisticated communications

In any case the books are great fun.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

That one aspect was not realistic at all but was useful for the narrative.

Spoiler :

I think he could have worked around the light speed limitation though. Omnipresence is still immensely powerful even if it is delayed by four years.

 

[abradley]

Hating America
A History
Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin
Reviews and Awards
"But America... represents a special type of challenge to the world. That challenge has been recognized, feared, resented and finally hated, as Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin amply illustrate in their fascinating study: Hating America: A History."—The Washington Times -

"[A] wise, pungent, and (given its negative subject matter) enjoyable study."—Daniel Pipes, New York Sun -

"Hating America treats fairly, and exhaustively, an issue that will challenge America for years at home and abroad."—Charlotte Observer -

"A multifaceted national portrait.... This book provides entertaining glimpses of a nation that may have invented public relations to combat its own image problem."—Publishers Weekly -

"In this comprehensive and compelling yet disturbing analysis, Barry and Judith Colp Rubin, authors of a superb biography last year on Yasser Arafat, delve deep into American history to uncover the roots of an omnipresent global phenomenon."—Miami Herald -
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hating-america-9780195306491?cc=th&lang=en&#

Just started re reading it, it covers the anti Americanism from well before the revolution, one item is the Europeans thought American had an unhealthy climate causing the people to up grow sickly and short, so when Jefferson (6ft 2in) was invited to a elite dinner he'd bring his 6ft American friends along to show the snobs how wrong they were.

The book covers the various hates starting with pre colonial through to 1960s, depending on the different eras the hates would be based on different supposed reasons he explains what they were and why they were wrong.

 

[tjs282]

Working my way down The Pile...

I finished The Other Hand over a couple of days: it's well-written but pretty depressing.

Past Tense was read in a single day (not quite a single sitting!) yesterday, so I'd rate it as one of the better Reacher books.

Started Other Minds this morning, looks like it's going to be interesting (even if @Kyriakos would probably di(smi)ss it for its simplemindedness... )

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The Dark Forest is the second book in The Three Body Problem trilogy by the Chinese author Cixin Liu. This story continues the arc of humanity's first contact with aliens. The story in this book was as delightfully unpredictable and clever as the first book in the series. The prose and analogies are beautiful and direct without being overwrought. As I mentioned before, the dialogue is stilted but the story is written at such an epic scale that it fits. The characters are not meant to be deep studies in the human psyche but devices for moving the plot forward. This is a hard line to toe because it is so easy to overshoot into exaggerated, boring melodrama with these types of characters but the overall plot is compelling enough that the characters are subsumed within it without dragging down the book.

Spoiler Plot Summary :

The book is set in the 200 years following the immediate first contact and break down of relations between Earth and the Trisolarian aliens from the Centauri star system. At the end of the previous book, the Trisolarians had arrogantly announced their intention to irradiate mankind and conquer the Earth since their own planet was dying due to an unstable orbit about a triple-solar system. When they announced this, the Trisolarians also planted a series of robots on the Earth the size of protons and these machines stopped humanity's scientific advancement in fundamental physics a bit beyond where we are now. This had the effect of making it impossible to catch up to Trisolarian technology to resist their fleet which is traveling toward the Earth with an arrival time of around 2450 AD.

In response, humanity decided they could only counter the Trisolarians in strategy and not technology. To that end, they appointed a handful of humans to become Wallfacers. The Wallfacers were tasked with devising strategies and deceptions to defeat the Trisolarians. There were given nearly infinite resources to accomplish their plans and were never allowed to disclose their strategy. Indeed, it was assumed that if they disclosed their strategy that this act itself was a deception. One by one, these Wallfacers failed to deceive and defeat the Trisolarians. Most of their plans were centered around suicide tactics or escaping the Earth and most failed to achieve any lasting good. The Wallfacers were also allowed to hibernate for long stretches so they could 'fast forward' to the next phase of their plan, which is how they managed to span the 200 years of the book's setting.

Luo Ji was one of those Wallfacers and he used his status to put a hex on another star. Using a giant antenna and the sun, Luo sent a message out into the cosmos with coordinates to this other star. Nothing happened. An advanced probe from the Trisolarian fleet then arrived in the solar system around 2250 and wiped the floor with humanity's combined fleet and then proceeded to block off the sun from certain frequencies of radiation. The sun had been used as a transmission enhancer and in this way messages could be sent between stars. At that moment, people realized that the star Luo Ji had hexed prior to the sun being sealed had been destroyed.

The universe is filled with civilizations who will act to destroy any other intelligent life reflexively, even if they are not evil, out of self preservation. The Trisolarians are not evil either but felt forced into a corner and thus exemplified this pattern.. Luo Ji had a backup transmission system built which did not rely on the use of solar amplification to send messages and he threatened to send out the coordinates of Trisolaris. Thus, the Trisolarians agreed to stand down their fleet, end all blockades of the solar system and transfer all of their technology to the Earth. Humanity would then be expected to rescue the Trisolarian fleet which had been redirected into deep space and was out of fuel. Eventually, it is expected that humanity will peacefully resettle the Trisolarians within the solar system.

So here's the thing - the story is completely self-contained. Cixin could have ended the story with this book but there is another entry in the series. When I picked up this sequel, I had a notion that I knew where the plot was going to go based off the last book. The author practically slapped me in the face with how unimaginative and boring my ideas for the plot were. This book came out of left field with respect to the previous book and kept me guessing all the way through. I have no idea how the trilogy will wrap up.

Spoiler Literary Critique / Central Metaphor :

The book opens with a scene of an ant exploring the area around its mound. As it is doing this, the woman who first contacted Trisolaris is explaining to Luo Ji her ideas for how cosmic civilizations interact with each other and this ultimately leads to him devising his weapon of mass destruction-by proxie. Cixin focuses on the ant as it journeys around the cemetery grounds where it lives and opens up the fantastical world of the ant for the reader. In this way, he places the entire story in context, how against the realities of the wider universe, humanity is an ignorant, unimportant feature. Yet, as unimportant as the ant is, its kind has been around for millions of years and seen everything significant in Earth's history.

I get the sense that Cixin is comparing the fundamental drives of the human species with that of the ants. Our drive to grow and prosper is fundamental to all higher life so in that sense we part of an immutable cycle of the cosmos. Just as there are many species of ants covering the world yet they are all basically the same, so are there many essentially identical intelligent species across the cosmos. We are insignificant as a species, yet immutable and eternal in the sense of the role species like ours play in the cosmos. The Earth will always have ants until it no longer exists and there will always be intelligent species until the heat death of the universe.

It is quite a beautiful and thought provoking analogy.

The book ends essentially in the same spot, with Luo returning to the grave yard where he had that conversation some 200 years in the past. By the end of the book, I had completely forgotten about the Prologue and I quite enjoyed how Cixin tied it together. It was a bit forced, but not really when taken into context of the fundamental metaphors that the book presents to you.

I have about two dozen page markers with scenes I wanted to touch on here but it would be a sin to pluck them out of context.

 

[Takhisis]

You can always start a new thread for that.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I am strongly tempted. However the book is due back today and it's a long bike ride to/from the library. I have to leave now to make it before closing. This is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read and I lament not being able to put it in my book collection.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I am strongly tempted. However the book is due back today and it's a long bike ride to/from the library. I have to leave now to make it before closing. This is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read and I lament not being able to put it in my book collection.

Well Hobbs, hang on to your hat. Death's End keeps up the pace. And it has even more space science stuff. I have 200 pages to go and still have no earthly idea where things will end. Cheng Xin is still with us though!

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Can you remind me of who that character was?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Can you remind me of who that character was?

Oops. She is a Crisis Era character, but is new in Death's End. You will here her long tale inn this book, but it goes all the way back to the beginning. She is not part of the first two books.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Central Banks Into the Breach by Pierre Siklos is about the expanded role central banks around the world have taken in the response to the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, marked by a shift from price stability to systemic stability via expansion of their balance sheets. The author cautions against these institutions becoming almost the sole actor in economic reforms, pointing out the risk of overburdening caused by various problems such as poorly-defined policy goals, and the loss of independence by straying too close to either government or the markets. Central banks must learn to cooperate while allowing exceptions in multinational economic agreements. While the book touches on important subjects, it is marred by poor organization and shallow analyses.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I had no idea Isaac Asimov was such a prolific and creepy groper:
https://www.publicbooks.org/asimovs-empire-asimovs-wall/

This isn't a secret or anything but I had not heard of it before, or at least I don't remember reading it.

 

[Kyriakos]

I had no idea Isaac Asimov was such a prolific and creepy groper:
https://www.publicbooks.org/asimovs-empire-asimovs-wall/

This isn't a secret or anything but I had not heard of it before, or at least I don't remember reading it.

It could be Al Franken ^_^

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It could be Al Franken ^_^

From what I've read, Asimov had a much more malicious intent and approach. Franken was a lip kisser and hugger. Asimov was snapping women's bras so hard they were breaking and pinching butts so they bruised. He was constantly cruising to pick up women for sex as well. People learned to avoid him or build in shielding behaviors when he was around which was not the case with Franken. Franken also spent a career in show business where (according to investigate journalists that investigated him) lip kissing and hugging are so common it is practically a learned behavior. He also (according to those same journalists) instantly reformed when called on it and did not relapse that we know about.

But yes, that picture could just as easily be of Franken.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I just downloaded Babylon's Ashes and Persepolis Rising from The Expanse series. I can't remember where I left off the series - I think I may have read Babylon's Ashes already - so I went ahead and downloaded both of them.

 

[Takhisis]

I had no idea Isaac Asimov was such a prolific and creepy groper

This was considered acceptable, if not standard, behaviour and still is, to a lesser extent. Cultural attitudes don't die fast.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Nearly finished with Eric Nylund's Halo: The Fall of Reach, the 2010 edition released close to the game Halo: Reach. It chronicles the tale of the game series' main character John-117 as he is inducted into the SPARTAN-II program, becoming what many know as the Master Chief. It is essentially a prologue for the first game Halo: Combat Evolved, both originally released in 2001, and fleshes out the characters and worldbuilding for the games. The book is a breezy read with lots of good action, but still has breathing room for character development and exposition that reveal the larger story of the Human-Covenant War and the development of equipment that have become standard by the time the games cover.

The 2010 edition has corrections and an Adjunct with short text materials like intercepted communications that provide further detail and connections to other Halo media. Unfortunately, there are a number of significant conflicts with the game, such as Reach falling in 2542 instead of 2552. Supposedly there was a 2011 re-release that fixed all that.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Nearly finished with Eric Nylund's Halo: The Fall of Reach, the 2010 edition released close to the game Halo: Reach. It chronicles the tale of the game series' main character John-117 as he is inducted into the SPARTAN-II program, becoming what many know as the Master Chief. It is essentially a prologue for the first game Halo: Combat Evolved, both originally released in 2001, and fleshes out the characters and worldbuilding for the games. The book is a breezy read with lots of good action, but still has breathing room for character development and exposition that reveal the larger story of the Human-Covenant War and the development of equipment that have become standard by the time the games cover.

The 2010 edition has corrections and an Adjunct with short text materials like intercepted communications that provide further detail and connections to other Halo media. Unfortunately, there are a number of significant conflicts with the game, such as Reach falling in 2542 instead of 2552. Supposedly there was a 2011 re-release that fixed all that.

I read that way back when it originally released and I thought it was pretty good military sci-fi in its own right. I don't remember having to know a lot about the game's lore to enjoy it either as I did not actually get to play Halo until much later.


-----------------

I'd love to have dinner with Cixin Liu and pick his brain. He seems like a really smart guy.

There is this passage in Death's End (the finale to The Three Body Problem trilogy)

Spoiler :

Gravity was the first stellar-class warship built after the Doomsday Battle. Deterrence-Era spaceships were no longer constructed along fixed body plans. Rather, most large spaceships were constructed out of multiple modules that could be assembled into various configurations. But Gravity was an exception. It was a white cylinder, so regular that it seemed unreal, like a basic shape dropped into space by mathematical modeling software, a platonic ideal rather than reality.

If the crew of Bronze Age [another, more primitive ship alongside Gravity] had seen the gravitational wave antennas on the Earth, they would have recognized Gravity as an almost perfect replica of them. Indeed, the entire hull of Gravity was a large gravitational wave antenna. Like its twins on the Earth's surface, the ship was capable of broadcasting gravitational wave messages toward all corners of the universe at a moment's notice. These gravitational wave antennas on Earth and in space comprised humanity's dark forest deterrence system against Trisolaris.

[brackets are my editorializing]

What I love about this scene is that Liu is able to predict the technological progression of humanity in discreet steps. Bronze Age is designed in a manner similar to current warships, with a discrete, non-changeable body plan and fixed layout. The next step in spaceship design progession is to make everything modular and interchangeable. All of this is kind of bog-standard Sci Fi prediction.

What makes Liu shine is the way he puts forth Gravity as an intermediate step in the chain. Gravity has features in its design which are specific to this exact moment in humanity's alternate future. It is this way primarily because it is a major plot device in the story but at the same time, it takes a special sort of genius to put together this technical progression chain and do it in such a succinct manner. If I had tried to do the same, I would have probably written an entire chapter of technical spam, yet Cixin does it here in two paragraphs that tell you all you need to know. The passage somehow manages to leave some room for your own imagination without making you feel wanting. It is also a coherent, logical projection into the future which is also non-obvious. To me his modular design makes a lot of sense, but I never would have predicted that myself.

Cixin is also a master at massively disappointing you and then pulling everything back and making things right in a very satisfying way. I'm half way through the book and it's so good I had to actively choose to come here and talk about it instead of reading more. It's addictive and I can't put it down.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I just downloaded Babylon's Ashes and Persepolis Rising from The Expanse series. I can't remember where I left off the series - I think I may have read Babylon's Ashes already - so I went ahead and downloaded both of them.

I started Persepolis Rising last night (turned out I had read Babylon's Ashes) and right away I'm thinking "huh."

Spoiler :

Huge time-jump. Even if the crew of the Roci had no swashbuckling adventures in all that time - an unlikely proposition - we missed a great deal of the characters' lives. I'm even struggling a little with the idea that they're all still together on the Roci after all that time, that nothing in the intervening years altered the landscape. I'm certainly curious to see where the story goes that explains that decision by the writer(s). Maybe the opening chapters are some kind of "flash-forward", or even a clever 3-1-2 story of some kind.

 

[Birdjaguar]

@hobbsyoyo I'm down to the last 50 pages and the wild ride continues.No clue as to how it will end. He has some very clever stuff going on.