The Algebraist.

[swestrup]

I just finished reading The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks. Its one of his non-culture science fiction works. It was pretty good, but I did have some troubles with it. Namely

1. The description of the main aliens of the novel left out some crucial information making it hard to figure out what they looked like. (They are dumbell shaped, but I could never consistently figure if they were axis vertical, or axis horizontal)
2. The book is about a search for a secret. A secret that I missed because the correct answer was one of my first assumptions which I then abandoned after being told that the entire galaxy had been working on solving the riddle for the last two million years. I mean, COME ON!
3. The secret is the exact same one that I plan to spring on some players in a Role Playing game scenario I've been working on for some time. Its not an important secret (it never occured to me to be a big secret) just an interesting surprise. So, once again I feel less original than I might.

Comments

[ims.livejournal.com]

I had a similar problem (2) with Inherit the Stars - I forget who it's by now: hundreds of the top experts on Earth were supposed to have been working on a problem, but not only did I figure out the first problem ages before they did, I solved the second problem before anyone in the book even noticed it was a problem. Which made for a very dull read.

[swestrup]

Inherit the Stars was by James P. Hogan. And yeah, the mystery there was not too terribly mysterious.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_grey_knight/]

Um, most 'science fiction' tends to be more on the fiction side of things these days - it's not like the writers are on the cutting edge of scientific discovery (except maybe second or third hand)- they are story tellers, marketers, and if a trivial thing sounds better as a mystery of the ages, that's how it's going to be sold.

As for that RPG game, did you get a look at the software links I sent?

[swestrup]

Iain M. Banks is one of the few writers left doing real Hard SF these days, and the physics fact he used was valid, just not as strange or as obscure as he may have thought. Then again, I don't know when in his career he wrote the Algebraist. It may have been one of his first novels. *shrug*.

I did have a brief look at the software links you sent, but didn't check it out in detail. Have you tried the software?