Accelerando (2005) - Hacker News

philipkglass

If you liked Accelerando (and I sure did!), you may also like Stross's Palimpsest and Glasshouse [1].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palimpsest_(novella)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasshouse_(novel)

The rougher The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect by Roger Williams is also worth trying:

Also A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, and Ken MacLeod's Fall Revolution series. The latter can be read out of order; I read The Cassini Division before any of the others. Excession by Iain M. Banks is also one of my favorites, though it has a significant learning curve if you haven't read any of his Culture books before. All of these have things to say about runaway technological change and superintelligence. They all have a high "sensawunda" index, for those who recognize this old SF fan term.

[1] I have read and enjoyed most of Stross's output, but it has a lot of thematic variations and someone who loved Accelerando may not care for e.g. Rule 34.

cstross

/me: waves

Be aware that this novel is a cautionary tale, not some kind of technological utopia.

And for a contrarian take, I co-wrote another novel with Cory Doctorow, "The Rapture of the Nerds", which is also a free download here:

https://craphound.com/rotn/download/

(I'm currently working on another singularity-themed SF novel, this time a far future space opera, but there's no ETA to publication—it won't be ready for print before 2024 at the earliest.)

loxias

This book was THE ONE that made me realize, far FAR later in life than my peers, (my early 30s) that reading fiction -- that horrible chore you were forced to do in high school -- can be fun. You never forget your first time.

A close and long time friend* kept pushing it on me, saying gibberish like "intelligent space lobsters!!" while I rolled my eyes at him.

Finally, I gave in and agreed to read a few chapters. I ended up not putting the book down for hours.

After that, it was undeniable I had managed to acquire yet another addiction. ;-)

Quickly it progressed, intentionally alternating between "books my friends think I will like"** and "things from the canon for a well balanced diet". A Fire upon the Deep, Foundation series, Halting State***, Rendezvous with Rama, Snow Crash, Permutation City, Dune, Diaspora, Schild's Ladder... ... and then a friend handed me Player of Games, then Excession. Wow.

Luminous.

Dark Integers.

I worry that I've only been enjoying written fiction for fun for a few years, but, because I am surrounded by aficionados, am already spoiled by having experienced "the best of the best" :)

*Thanks, Gene :D That was a gift that keeps on giving almost 10 years later.

**being a nerd, many of my friends are scifi book experts, you know the sort, shelves and shelves of books.

***Thanks, kcr <3 for knowing how much I love $TROPE, I hate spoilers, and not telling me more than "just read it".

richardhod

Do please note that Stross is quite well known not to a fan of the idea of the Singularity, and that his book should not be taken as a manual for the future, and rather as a cautionary tale and fantastically creative techno future

hyperkewb

This is one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time. The explorations into autonomous corporations comprised primarily from software as some of the main economic and legal actors was quite interesting.

e12e

The "splash"-page might be a better link (eg: there's an epub version, not to mention a few interesting paragraphs about the origins of the book - of particular interest to the hn crowd):

https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/acceler...

annadiru

There is so much to love about this book. I read it twice, back to back. It's probably one of the more concept-dense books you'll read from the period, but unlike lots of scifi lit stross wrote a very solid story that's worth reading in it's own right.

Another good book by Stross that doesn't get much love is Saturn's Children. it has the same inventivness and story-telling prowess. the most outrageous elements of the story are the very glue that make the whole thing more tractable.

chadcmulligan

For any fans Stross is quite active on reddit https://old.reddit.com/user/cstross. I was pleasantly surprised when I mentioned one of his books and got a reply from him, he seems very happy to talk about his craft.

XorNot

1. Definitely read this.

2. Be careful when you start because for me it was a solid 3 solid late nights because I couldn't put it down. The most electrifying read I've never had.

jes5199

I read this again, a couple years ago. The assumption that increasing MIPS alone would drive societal change felt quaint, like it was an idea from the 1990s preserved in a time capsule.

But things have gotten strange since then, and tech is changing fast again. I can no longer dismiss this book’s conceits as pure fantasy.

bdheifjsn

I don't think the lack of coherency is a problem I think it's part of the experience of being an obsolete meat machine that is getting a direct injection of the future right into your brain. If you feel slightly confused about the rushed pace of the story good because that's how everyone else is feeling experiencing it, it's a wild ride, you're not entirely sure what's going on but it sure is simulating.

Also another relation, I see qntm's RA as a more recent rewrite of this story but with a rather different ending.

r00fus

Definitely a seminal book on the nature of unbounded AI feedback loops and how disastrous that ends up for the meat.

BLKNSLVR

Upon frequent recommendations via HN, I found a copy in a second hand shop whilst on holiday in Perth. Once I'm done with Permutation City (by Greg Egan - who, conincidentally is from WA) Accelerando is top of the reading list.

helloworld11

Probably been recommended here many times before, but for fans of these, I'd recommend Permutation City, by Greg Egan too. It's one of the most existentially depressing sci fi (or any kind) of books I know of, but it's damn good.

_jal

Structurally, the book is a mess. But it is a narrative disaster much like Snow Crash, in which it doesn't matter because you're so busy trying to integrate all the mind candy you don't notice until a re-read.

I feel like there are other science fiction books like this - overstuffed with lovely things to think about, from an author who is either inexperienced or doesn't care about the craft side. (In this case, Charlie was a fairly fresh author, he's improved a lot.)

Some of Greg Egan's writing fits that, but I'm having trouble thinking of other authors.

senectus1

LOVE this book. its one of those books that "blew my mind" when I read it.

Incidentally, The good Author himself reads and posts here :-)

pixelpoet

Best work of fiction I've ever read, the fuller continuation of my posthuman thinking that began with Ghost in the Shell.

Communitivity

I can't recommend this enough. Stross predicted DAOs, and if you look between the lines you can see hints of cryptocurrency, if I remember right (it's been years since I read it - it's time for another read). The book also explores what it means to be human in an age of Centaur systems combining man and machine, and when people can upload their minds then then download into different bodies.

yurymik

It seems to be a third book in a series. Do you need to read Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise before this one?

joshka

I have a vague recollection of reading parts of a novel something like this in comments on slashdot around the early 2000s, was this released that way?

All I recall about it was it was 3 parts, pre-singularity, singularity, post-singularity or something like that.

spiritplumber

https://stefangagne.com/floatingpoint/ Something to the same tune, written by the dood who did "Sailor Nothing".

thom

Vivid memories of downloading and reading this (in one of its earlier forms before 2005) over a couple of days of commute on my HTC Typhoon smartphone. Definitely felt the future beginning to arrive.

cafard

A friend chose Accelerando as his household's choice for the neighborhood book club. I enjoyed it, but it was otherwise unpopular.

Haga