I am a classicist (Greek and Latin) and a serious student of history. Modernity has obsessed me for the last 10 years, how it unfolds, what its implications are, whether it generates more gains than losses, whether it’s changing us profoundly and whether we can dodge it or not. Because of this interest (which I lecture on often) I am fascinated to see modernity’s gleanings in earlier times and always curious to see what other critics make of it. Because its effects will only grow down the road, the task of understanding its mechanisms and outcomes is one of extreme urgency, as these books illustrate in different ways.
This book is one of the nuttiest I’ve read in its imaginings of a modern world on steroids. The part that teases most is that its predictions might come true.
I know our smartphones and laptops have changed our world, but cures that would extend longevity ad infinitum? Neural interfaces that would connect us directly to the internet? Nanobots that would reduce the cost of goods to zero?
Because the topic of modernity has come to engross me so, the big question always is, “How far will it carry us?” The answer to which (according to Kurzweil) is much farther than you can possibly imagine and much sooner than you think. One should have one’s mind blown every couple of years, and Kurzweil does exactly that.
"Startling in scope and bravado." -Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Artfully envisions a breathtakingly better world." -Los Angeles Times
"Elaborate, smart and persuasive." -The Boston Globe
"A pleasure to read." -The Wall Street Journal
One of CBS News's Best Fall Books of 2005 * Among St Louis Post-Dispatch's Best Nonfiction Books of 2005 * One of Amazon.com's Best Science Books of 2005
A radical and optimistic view of the future course of human development from the bestselling author of How to Create a Mind and The Singularity is Nearer who Bill Gates calls "the best person I know at…
I was only 10% into this book when I had to
pause and catch my breath—so much had happened already!
I was sucked straight
in and sent on a roller coaster ride as the action ripped through the pages,
pushing the characters into precarious situations and edge-of-your-seat
cliffhangers. All this while surfing advanced technology like nano-bots and computer
brain interfaces, in a speculative fiction whirlwind, complete with secret
societies, betrayal, subterfuge, mystery, and many points of no return.
Manney’s writing is vivid, strong and doesn’t pull any punches. When I put the
book down, I had to take a deep breath and go for a walk, with my mind
expanded, and my heart racing. A triumph! Hugely enjoyable.
Scientist Peter Bernhardt has dedicated his life to nanotechnology, the science of manipulating matter on the atomic scale. As the founder of Biogineers, he is on the cusp of revolutionizing brain therapies with microscopic nanorobots that will make certain degenerative diseases become a thing of the past. But after his research is stolen by an unknown enemy, seventy thousand people die in Las Vegas in one abominable moment. No one is more horrified than Peter, as this catastrophe sets in motion events that will forever change not only his life but also the course of…
After experimenting with fictional digitized worlds for the greater part of a decade, my writing journey has led me to discover a new, never-before-tried flavour of science fiction. My name is Louise Blackwick and I am the creator of Neon Science-Fiction – a subgenre of sci-fi that combines stylistic, thematic, and aesthetic elements of Post-Cyberpunk, Cyber noir, and Nanopunk. The reading list I compiled includes five science fiction stories that both influenced and facilitated the birth of this fresh and hopefully thought-provoking new genre. I hope Neon Sci-Fi can be a stimulating new addition for science fiction readers and authors alike.
As one of the founding fathers of Nanopunk, Neal Stephenson’s writings form a straightforward bridge between Postcyberpunk and Neon Science-Fiction. His novel is a collection of exotic technologies like matter compilers, smart paper, immunity-enhancing particles, and foldable transportable mech-horses. Eventually, I found myself inspired to create exotic tech of my own (e.g. foods, arts, weapons, and technologies fully based on “Dark”, an unconstructed area of “empty space” featured somewhat heavily in my neon sci-fi novel). Stephenson’s novel also depicts an extremely globalized future, founded on molecular nanotech, rapidly assembled usable goods, and socio-cultural division. The title’s allusion to a “Diamond Age” fully based on nanotechnology (diamonds can be assembled from individual carbon atoms) is a complex commentary on economics and how an object loses its value through mass production.
And who could be smaller or more insignificant than poor Little Nell - an orphan girl alone and adrift in a world of Confucian Law, Neo-Victorian values and warring nanotechnology?
Well, not quite alone. Because Nell has a friend, of sorts. A guide, a teacher, an armed and unarmed combat instructor, a book and a computer: the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is all these and much much more. It is illicit, magical, dangerous.
Highly relatable domestic strife sucked me into the stay-at-home dad’s plight before ratcheting up into world-shattering stakes.
I love how grounded in reality the suspense is. First, in the characterization, then in the technology, which never became too technical. This all confirmed for me why Michael Crichton is the master of the techno-thriller.
The chilling premise is just as big as Jurassic Park, but given this year’s advances in artificial intelligence, much more credible to me and all the more worrisome.
In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles—micro-robots—has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive.
It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour.
Every attempt to destroy it has failed.
And we are the prey.
As fresh as today's headlines, Michael Crichton'smost compelling novel yet tells the story of a mechanical plague and the desperate efforts of a handful of scientists to stop it. Drawing on up-to-the-minute…
Garreau’s book highlights the promise and peril of enhancing our minds, our bodies—and what it means to be human.
In this, the 21st Century, AI, cloning, robotics, mind-enhancing drugs, computer chip implants, and bio-engineering pose the stark alternatives of a real-life Utopia or a Brave New World where the very definition of what it means to be human comes into question. Collectively, these scientific breakthroughs will produce “the biggest change in 50,000 to our environment and ourselves as human beings".
Garreau has managed to put these complex concepts into everyday terms and anecdotes that lay people can understand and grasp the consequences of.
Taking us behind the scenes with today’s foremost researchers and pioneers, bestselling author Joel Garreau shows that we are at a turning point in history. At this moment we are engineering the next stage of human evolution. Through advances in genetic, robotic, information, and nanotechnologies, we are altering our minds, our memories, our metabolisms, our personalities, our progeny–and perhaps our very souls. Radical Evolution reveals that the powers of our comic-book superheroes already exist, or are in development in hospitals, labs, and research facilities around the country–from the revved-up reflexes and speed of Spider-Man and Superman, to the enhanced mental…
I’ve been fascinated with the theme of Identity since I was young. Identity influences so many of our decisions and how we live our lives. In a thriller setting, novels allow readers to see how identity drives our best and worst impulses and showcase what humanity itself is. I always add elements of this theme into my books, as I did with I Was an Evil Teenager, but Identity proved to be the story that solidified this theme as a driving force for my storytelling. I am also a book blogger and have been honored to read and explore many novels from established and indie authors within this genre and theme.
I love any genre that incorporates noir thrillers, bringing that iconic 40’s era detective mystery that showcases the mysterious figures and identities that the detective has to uncover. That was the promising theme that brought me to this book by Alan McGill. The author greatly impressed me with this story, as the futuristic, sci-fi setting only helped elevate the noir storytelling style.
The clown killers in this story haunted me as they came up against the protagonist, and the identity of the mysterious woman hanging on the edge of the main character’s periphery will add a depth of personal conflict that I, as a reader, found so engaging.
In the future, Las Vegas is nearly destroyed. Rebuilt under a dark cloud that blocks all sunlight, Sin City takes on a whole new meaning. Beneath the neon, The Pagliacci Serial Killers are on the loose and a new drug called “Colors”, infused with nanotechnology, is killing thousands. Violence erupts as the mutant population take to the streets to protest working conditions and the disappearance of their loved ones. Big Tech, the wealthy elite, and corrupt politicians attempt to cover it up. They can’t allow anything to interfere with the elections, profits, or their plans. Can hard-nosed detective Alton Cold…
I love dystopian novels because they allow us to explore our fears and follow those pesky what-ifs floating around our heads to their most extreme conclusions. Often, when I talk to people about dystopian literature, their minds go straight to the classics such as 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, or Fahrenheit 451. While these are timeless and amazing books, there have been so many ground-breaking dystopian novels written in the past five years that you won't want to miss.
I adored this fast-paced near-future dystopian book by debut author Tal M. Klein. Prepare to be thrown into an innovative world where teleportation is the primary means of travel, and people don't think twice before taking advantage of this convenience. Though, as we soon find out, maybe they should.
There are so many fun tidbits in this novel such as nanotechnology and genetically engineered mosquitoes that help clean the air. You'll also find plenty of nostalgic references for fans of books such as Ready Player One. Prepare for engaging characters, unique worldbuilding, thought-provoking philosophical questions, and plenty of twists to keep you guessing.
Dubbed the “next Ready Player One,” by former Warner Brothers President Greg Silverman, and now in film development at Lionsgate.
"Featuring themes similar to Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, the dense sci-fi feel of a Michael Crichton thriller and clever Douglas Adams-like charm, the book posits an intriguing future that is both inviting and horrific." ―Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
It's the year 2147. Advancements in nanotechnology have enabled us to control aging. We’ve genetically engineered mosquitoes to feast on carbon fumes instead of blood, ending air pollution. And teleportation has become the ideal mode of transportation, offered exclusively by International Transport―the…
Strange moon dust...Earth faces destruction…people must evacuate, but where can they go? This is hard science fiction, which I devoured with relish before that dust devoured me.
The story is so real and plausible that I became caught up with the principal characters when everybody realized Earth faces doom. Broad in scope, the novel touched something deep within me when I considered the scenario. How would I make peace with myself and others when staring at death?
That is what this book brings into sharp relief: family against family, nation against nation, eager to exploit the ‘final solution’ against an enemy. Yet, amidst looming chaos, there is hope for mankind to conquer the Solar System…if it survives—an enchanting read.
Showering Earth with radiation and bizarre particles that wipe out all the crops and half the life in the oceans.
Suddenly, the ground itself begins melting into pools of dust that grow larger every day. For what has demolished Venus, and now threatens Earth itself, is part machine, part life-form - a nano-virus, dubbed Moonseed.
Four scientists are all that stand between Moonseed and Earth's extinction, four brilliant minds that must race to cut off the virus and save what's left of the planet.
I got involved in Zen Buddhism in 1966 because Shunryu Suzuki was a Zen Buddhist and the San Francisco Zen Center which he founded was where I went to meditate with others free of any heavy trips, not pushing a rigid belief system, just learning to include stillness and silence in our lives so that we can feel and hear what the cosmos has to say to us.
Dogen is one of the great original minds from all of Japanese history and human history. This book contains an ocean of Dogen’s profound writing. One can return time after time to delve into new layers of wisdom.
These pithy and powerful readings provide a perfect introduction to the teachings of Zen master Dogen—and will inspire spiritual practice in people of all traditions
Eihei Dogen (1200–1253), founder of the Soto School of Zen Buddhism, is one of the greatest religious, philosophical, and literary geniuses of Japan. His writings have been studied by Zen students for centuries, particularly his masterwork, Shobo Genzo or Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. This is the first book to offer the great master’s incisive wisdom in short selections taken from the whole range of his voluminous works.
Monsters and magic have always had a hook on me, ever since I was just a kid going through a stack of Stephen King paperbacks that I was definitely too young for my brother to have given me – not that many would call his work “fantasy” exactly, despite the amount of vampires ghosts and magic that say otherwise. Urban fantasy, blending those elements with the familiar world we know, is a particular favourite of mine. So much so, that I wrote my own! Granted, the urban area in question is 19th-century Paris, but I say that still counts.
This is high-caliber space fantasy in the realm of Star Wars or Dune. It brings together a grizzled holy warrior having doubts about his faith with a naïve and sheltered princess in a brutal world ruled by absolutely vile overlords. The perspective switches between the two of them. The warrior – Drin – grapples with whether the church’s mission to fight evil brings it to use methods too similar to the evil it fights. Meanwhile the princess – Anais – has to come to terms very quickly with the reality of life outside the palace when slavers invade her home and abduct her off-world.
After years of fighting for justice with his deadly nanotech, Templar Drin abandons his post, crash landing on a desert world controlled by a tyrannical alien empire. Its inhabitants are forced into slavery, broken where a once-proud race cultivated its lands.
For the first time in Drin's life, he has no backup, no support, none of his brothers.
He stands alone against evil.
Drin must face overwhelming odds to liberate millions of slaves from their captors and bring faith to a downtrodden world. But in his way stands the most dangerous…
