Re: Read any good books lately?

From: Anthony Garcia (agarcia@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM)
Date: Fri Aug 13 1999 - 15:31:13 MDT


I'm suprised no one has mentioned Ken MacLeod's _The Cassini Division_
now out in hardback in the USA. This is a remarkable novel. It deals
with several issues of Extropian ethics with such familarity that I
would expect that Mr. MacLeod has been lurking on the Extropians
mailing list for years.

The novel has some plot/logic problems. For example, the author never
bothers to explain how the economic system of his Solar-system-wide
anarchosocialist society actually *works*. Gee, I wonder why? But,
overall it's interesting and entertaining reading. It touches on a
variety of Extropian and libertarian ideas, and even includes an
amusing spoof of L. Neil Smith's North American Confederacy.

The viewpoint character is vehemently anti-transhuman, so it's
interesting to see through her how and why opposition to the
transhuman attitude might express itself. I suspect MacLeod shares
than a few of his character's attitudes, given the way in which he
writes them.

An excellent novel, strongly recommended for Extropian/transhuman
readers.

-Anthony Garcia
agarcia@neosoft.com



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