A follow-up to the Hugo Award-nominated Blindsight, Echopraxia is set in a 22nd-century world transformed by scientific evangelicals, supernatural beings and ghosts, where defunct biologist Daniel Bruks becomes trapped on a spaceship destined to make an evolutionary-changing discovery.
If you like ideas more than… writing… this may be for you!
2 stars
I continued on to this after reading Blindsight, because even though I didn't love it I had some enduring questions. An error on my part. There were more deliberate ambiguities than plot points in this book.
I won't provide a plot précis. This has some compelling concepts and big ideas, but was frankly a mess. Characters' motivations remain inexplicable even at the end of the book.
Amusingly this AMA with the author seems to boil down to "you're reading it wrong". Authors, please get over yourselves.
Peter Watts’s "Echopraxia" is a tour de force in the hard sci-fi genre. Peerlessly cerebral and phenomenally gripping, it proves to be not just a book, but a vortex that pulls you in, page by page.
The main theme echoing throughout the novel is the illusion of free will — a question that has puzzled humankind for millennia. This theme, cleverly woven into a multilayered narrative extolling a hypothetical world both fascinating and terrifying, sets a compelling backdrop for the story.
Readers seeking light-hearted, breezy reads might find themselves challenged. "Echopraxia" is not for those looking for a casual dalliance with science fiction. It is an immersion in hard sci-fi, dense with scientific concepts, philosophical ideas, and it pulls no punches when it comes to its narrative complexity. Those seeking a book as mentally stimulating as it is adventurous will appreciate what "Echopraxia" brings to the table.
Adding to the …
Peter Watts’s "Echopraxia" is a tour de force in the hard sci-fi genre. Peerlessly cerebral and phenomenally gripping, it proves to be not just a book, but a vortex that pulls you in, page by page.
The main theme echoing throughout the novel is the illusion of free will — a question that has puzzled humankind for millennia. This theme, cleverly woven into a multilayered narrative extolling a hypothetical world both fascinating and terrifying, sets a compelling backdrop for the story.
Readers seeking light-hearted, breezy reads might find themselves challenged. "Echopraxia" is not for those looking for a casual dalliance with science fiction. It is an immersion in hard sci-fi, dense with scientific concepts, philosophical ideas, and it pulls no punches when it comes to its narrative complexity. Those seeking a book as mentally stimulating as it is adventurous will appreciate what "Echopraxia" brings to the table.
Adding to the fundamental brilliance of the book, Watts provides author's notes that are equally captivating. If you can procure an edition that includes these, you’re in for a treat. They serve to enhance the depth of the narrative, making the complexities and proficiencies of Watts's mind even more accessible to us as readers.
In conclusion, "Echopraxia" is a triumphant exploration of post-humanism, neurology, artificial intelligence, and so much more. It provokes thought, raises important questions, and still manages to be a fun, engaging read. Truly, an accomplished feat in the realm of hard sci-fi.
