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dr_mitch
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- dr_mitch
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Finished my reread. It prompted me to read October Man, a linked book set in Germany, by the same author.
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I'm shocked and stunned I had never heard of this game. I know dart cricket, but that's completely different. Maybe I'll work it into a Liminal supplement. Thank-you Richard.
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Today I cobbled together a website. https://mitchesterarms.com/
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> @Apocryphal said: > (Quote) > 5pm EST Important clarification. ;)
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Next week, same time?
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No real difference - it's just that if there are more than say 6 or so people, we'll be spread out over different virtual tables, otherwise it will get unwieldy. You should be able to see who's there when you click on a link before you join. I think…
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I'm *always* happy to read more LeGuin.
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@WildCard that's a really interesting take. I think that is the element from which a dystopia could be drawn - the absolute ease of pretty much everything, the lack of need to struggle for, well, everything, and the corresponding lack of meaning. …
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I don't think Gurgeh's ennui was being stoked. But it was certainly observed, which made him especially suitable. He probably wasn't the only game player being observed by a long way.
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Actually, yes, that's it @RichardAbbott. It's a relatively _safe_ way to intervene if things go wrong.
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I think that's what Contact has calculated. But there's a risk they could be wrong. One of the later Culture novels, Look to Windward, is about consequences when they should get it wrong. Come to think of it, Use of Weapons also involves careles…
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Well, I think in this book I don't believe in coincidences any more. A fine point that I hadn't thought of.
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Funnily enough, earlier this year I reread Asimov's robot novels, finishing with Robots and Empire where the zeroth law was introduced. In terms of self-driving cars, from my understanding the big problem is whether the car should risk harming t…
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I suspect the Minds take a long view as well. Will thinks be better in the immediate aftermath? Probably not. Will things be better in say a hundred years? Probably yes. And there is a case for benevolent intervention. To me the disturbing thing …
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Yes, if Mahrin Skel was a set-up, Chamlis is complicit. I don't want to think that as I quite liked Chamlis, but the conclusion is inescapable.
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@clash_bowley that's *precisely* what I was trying to get at with this question. I assume the Minds have thought about it considerably, but even the Minds are not infallible.
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I like the idea of a spy novel. I also really like the idea of a monthly book spinning out from a previous monthly book (Brave New World made me want to offer the Culture as a contrast/antidote).
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It has only just occurred to me that Flere-Imsaho as Mawrik-Skel on the Orbital was potentially already working for Contact and performed the blackmail as a way to recruit Gurgeh not for his own ends, but with the story of being booted out a cover s…
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One thing I noticed this read is that this is the most unambiguously pro-Culture of any of the novels. In all of them the Culture is on the side of the angels, but it's still somewhat ambiguous. I agree fully that Mindjammer is very Culture-like.…
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I liked Gurgeh. Flere-Imsaho was fun, both in his original identity and in his new identity hiding his abilities (still taking what, with hindsight, was some relish in manipulating Gurgeh). For me a high point was when Gurgeh was on the verge of giv…
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Arguably the Minds can be thought of as angels. Hmmm...
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Excession is interesting. I didn't much like it when I first read it, but on a reread I found it far better. Not so much for the main story but the smaller stories and characters out there. As for the universal presence of machine intelligence, a…
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For what it's worth, I've read the book a few times and found it quite satisfying.
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For me it's definitely utopian. Effectively unlimited resources makes it almost easy. And there are very few constraints on freedom. There's also plenty of art going around, and people seem able to find purposes. There's no starvation, disease, etc.…
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Oho, that's superb!
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@RichardAbbott I really liked the Gurgeh vs Nicosar game, and the way Gurgeh felt a profound connection with Nicosar, like they were making art together - and Nicosar felt nothing of the kind.
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@NeilNjae right, there's three levels I can think of here. There's Gurgeh, the game player extraordinaire. Who goes on to play Azad. There's Flere Imsaho playing Gurgeh. And then there's the Culture playing Gurgeh and the Empire of Azad. The game…
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Better late than never, the questions are up! https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/86-%28february-2020%29-the-player-of-games-by-iain-m-banks
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Yes, I think Jemisin cares about consistency in geography and technological detail about as much as Tolkien cared about plausible economics. It does grate a little, as fantasy readers are used to some sort of geographic consistency in fantasy, even …
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I suppose the other thing is trying to pick things people will enjoy for monthly picks. Generally I pick things which I think are good, and hope other people will think are good, often books I've read some years ago that I remember as being good, an…