The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm not very far in, but I'm really liking it. KSR was the guest of honor at CapClave several years ago, and I enjoyed his panels and talks very much. He is a deeply mindful person filled with curiosity and asks important questions about what humanity has done, is doing, and will/should/should not be doing.

While I'm reading this, it's made me very thinky too, which is why I love sci fi! The concept of how empty we are is hard to grasp, and in some ways I can see some tie to metaphysics/spirituality. Not sure if I'm ready to formulate that more coherently yet!

Also the metaphor lessons are teaching me something too. And, of course, there's some puns involved, so that tickles me too.

This is the first time since Annihilation that I've not wanted to put a book down, and I think I'll be finding ways for me to sneak reading time in.

This will be my first KSR book too. I've read that it drags at times, but I'm excited nonetheless. Wondering if I should read it or listen to it.

It was also my first. I plan on jumping into his mars trilogy sometime this year as a result of liking this book.

I went with text since I'm still listening to TFS (last month's alt pick) and I don't want to fall too far behind everyone else.

It was my first as well.

Tobias wrote: "This will be my first KSR book too. I've read that it drags at times, but I'm excited nonetheless. Wondering if I should read it or listen to it."

I did the audio. It was pretty good.

My first too! Interested in the philosophy he seems to be infusing throughout the book.

Same here :) It's seems a lot of us have never tackled KSR before and like others, I have the Mars trilogy on my shelf.

I'm a little over half way and am finding the overall behavior of the people similar to those in Wool. Good stuff so far.

I have such mixed thoughts on the Mars trilogy. On the one hand its a pretty amazing achievement, an epic of utopia-building filled with interesting (at times far-fetched but always thought-provoking) physical and political science, but on the other hand sometimes it draaaaags.

My experience was that 2312 was a much tighter expression of KSR's vision, almost a condensed Mars trilogy that focused on biology rather than areology, but your mileage may vary.

This book is really not for me :P I didn't make it very far.. but I am more of a sword anyway so I'm going to just lurk the discussion this time around. Glad so many others got to discover a new author though!

First for me too and enjoying the story (about 20%). Even though I wanted to read the paper version, I ordered the audio version because I was worried I wouldn't finish the book before a trip to Europe in mid-May. I was wrong.

Brendan wrote: "but on the other hand sometimes it draaaaags."

Yeah I gave up on the Mars Trilogy after book 1 because of how slow it was. With a good edit, the Mars trilogy would probably make a good book.

Aurora is a much better read. I'm loving it so far. 33% in, It has got me hooked.

It didn't hurt that one of the biomes on the ship was named Tasmania :-) and my second home (Hobart) was the name of the village there. Cool :-)

I've just reached parts 3. I was pleasantly surprised by the different points of views in the first two parts, and I'm excited which perspective the next chapter is told through!

I first read KSR's Mars trilogy, and was really absorbed by the scope and the thoroughness with which to colonisation and terraforming project was depicted. Yes, it was on the slow and dry side, but I had the patience for it. At least then. I'm happy Aurora seems to hold to a faster pace.

I've just finished the book and have to say it was a book of two very different parts for me. I really enjoyed the first 2/3rd's - the story and characters were interesting with novel ideas and the pages sped by. The last 1/3rd however really dragged and I found myself skipping over parts to just get to the end (something I rarely do).

I think this is because the story in the last part of the book could be summarized into a couple of pages and doesn't really develop the characters or the world building much. To me it had a lot less depth than the rest of the book.

I'd be interested in what other people think.

I agree that the ending did seem a bit dragged out. However, I appreciate that the story did not end predictably and put a new slant on the 'generation ship' idea.

I enjoyed the ending, as a sort of decompression. (view spoiler)[Thematically I found the sun and ocean and healing earth a contrast to the claustrophobic, sickening ship and the deadly planet. To me, I thought it was a rebuttal to writers like Hawking, who say humanity's future does not involve earth. (hide spoiler)]

About half way through.

Enjoyed the storytelling style of the opening - the interaction of Devi with the ship's AI to coax a narrative out of it was a nice touch, I thought.

Am sometimes getting frustrated by the author's tendency to spend time demonstrating that he understands the science. Perhaps the 'hard' science lends authenticity, but I sometime think that it's unnecessary and I'd rather he was advancing the plot a little quicker and focusing a bit more on the people.

This is my first KSR book AND my first S&L book club read along!
If it hadn't been for that second point, I probably would have given up on it. I didn't really get interested in it until almost page 200, which is generally too long a lead up for me! There were interesting bits along the way (especially the first page, as I live in Earthly Nova Scotia!) but not enough to keep reading.

But it was the read for the month and so I soldiered on.

And I'm glad I did! I quite enjoyed it! So if anyone who gave up is still reading this thread, I say, give it another go.

I've read "The Years of Rice and Salt", which is KSR's take on "What if the Black Plague wiped out 99% of Europe instead of 25%". Worth reading

Well, I finished. That's all I can really say, as I was quite "MEH" on it. If this is indicative of his work, well...I'm glad I read one book but I'm done. I was only interested on the first page. Maybe the first chapter. By the second chapter I didn't really care.

terpkristin wrote: "Well, I finished."

I saw that in your review you said it reminded you of Neal Stephenson's Anathem. I strongly recommend you check out his book Seveneves if you haven't read it – it came out at the same time as Aurora, and covers a lot of the same themes. Perhaps you'll like it better.

Incidentally, I'm about 75% into Aurora and really liking it.

Hmm. I really disliked my last two Stephenson books (Anathem and Reamde). I'm kind of leery of trying another. A shame, as I really loved his older stuff.

I'm in part 5 now. Still enjoying the book and finding the narrative style (ship's) quirky.

Or, do KSR's books all read like this?

Leesa wrote: "I'm in part 5 now. Still enjoying the book and finding the narrative style (ship's) quirky.

Or, do KSR's books all read like this?"

I've read the Mars trilogy (plus The Martians) and The Years of Rice and Salt before this. Unfortunately, because this is his introduction to some people, Aurora is my least favorite.
The Mars books were similar with the info-dumps but the characters were more engaging the Rice and Salt book was different but my favorite of his that I've read so far.

My first KSR also. It's definitely an intellectual story vs. an adventurous one, but that's kind of restful sometimes, and helps you feel like you reclaimed some IQ points after reading some teen angst! ;)

Fresno Bob wrote: "I've read "The Years of Rice and Salt", which is KSR's take on "What if the Black Plague wiped out 99% of Europe instead of 25%". Worth reading"

That was my only previous KSR read too, and I really enjoyed it. Would recommend it to anyone intrigued by KSR but who wasn't convinced by Aurora. It's got more pace to it, and not being an sf novel it doesn't get as bogged down in technicalities. Plus a really interesting alternative history.