Blindsight

Well, I didn't like this book and couldn't finish it (which is a rarity for me). I'll tell you why. First, let me say that Peter Watts is a terrific wordsmith. Crisp, clear well put together writing. I also liked the concepts. Very clever, creative and philosophically interesting.
Now unfortunately, the criticism. There are endless and unnecessary allusions to technological items and concepts that have no function in the story except possibly to express that the author is on the cutting edge and must show it. Oasa emitters, the noosphere, synthesist, meme management, Parker Spiral (with a tesla reading of 11.2! is that bad?) Necker cubes and
even allusions to game theory. And this is only in the first few chapters. How many of you are familiar with games theory? It is highly technical mathematical probability based grid analysis constructed to find a nexus to win a zero sum game. It served as an adjunct (though incorrectly described) to a decision in the story. It was not necessary to invoke games theory in this story to augment the simple decision the characters needed to make with their own wetware.

In a Star Trek TV show you may have heard something like 'Captain it's engineering!... The plasma conduits have failed and the plasma flux must be re-routed to the warp coils.' We all know there are no such things (at least at present), but also sense correctly this a literary prop to let us know there is an emergency. In Blindsight, I questioned many, if not most of these
props, and felt they were not really relevant or necessary in this way.
What I felt as I read, reminded me of reading an essay by a professorial author who in describing his concepts, laces his text with arcane phrases in foreign languages simply to let you know he is a professor. As if the subtlety and clarity of his own understanding won't permit expressing these nuances in plain English. I know this is harsh, but when reading Blindsight, I felt sort of like I was constantly being pimped in this way, and for me, it really got in the way of the story. A good tale is a good tale, and really doesn't need this kind of embellishment.
If you take this book on, just be aware that you are in for quite a lot of this technobabble.
In fairness, I am going to read other books by Mr. Watts to see if the concepts are devoted the imaginative and complex situations he can obviously create, but without the other Baggage.

A WONDERFUL, utterly incredible work that left me both awed and horrified. Alien contact premise aside, Watts has presented completely logical, plausible arguments that prompt readers to entirely re-think the nature of consciousness and humanity's place in the universe. This book is a difficult read that will require revisiting, but is well worth the effort.

Not one for me. Might appeal more if you are a hardened Sci-Fi fan. I found this tough going.

Peter Watts writes a huge story that asks more questions than it answers
It's a book I read almost at one sitting and I will read again
in a few months time ,it's well worth it

Outstanding novel that deals with practical issues of consciousness and mind/brain theory in a compelling and original story. Absolutely unique characters that draw the reader in. Watts describes a rather bleak future where humanity endures an awkward technological adolescence where flesh/machine integration is far from perfect and has has profound societal implecations.

Will someone PLEASE upload the rest of his work here? He has made several more novels available on his website in HTML/PDF/MOBI format - surely someone could do a quick eReader convert/

Cerebus clearly didn't know what what going on because they weren't paying attention. Reasoning for vampires are given in-story, and the woman in question has FOUR personalities, not two.

If you like fiction that changes the way you look at the entire world, you will like this. If you enjoy the very idea of metacognition, you will love this book.

Watts should have taken the Hugo for this one. He imbues inherently unappealing characters with charm. The story has plenty of momentum to carry the metaphysical questions. His aliens are genuinely alien. Blindsight is the most original and absorbing book I've read in years.

This is not a book for everyone.

It is science fiction on a very sophisticated level, with an interesting combination of classical science fiction elements of the days of Clarke, and the flow (or rathernot) of Gibson's cyber-punk.

This book is highly complex, non-linear, and does not treat its audience as children.

You're going to need to put in some effort to finish it because it is fairly long. You can't read bits and pieces on the bus and expect to follow along. yet the experience is worth it.

Without giving too much away I will say only that the ending is classic and though provoking.

Possibly the most underappreciated work of fiction on this site.

And those of you who've read it - nag your local bookstore to order some print copies.

This book is poorly written I didn't know what was going on half the time. I had to go back and try to figure who was who. We for some reason have Vampires, and a lady with two personalities.

Strange characters with no explanation for being strange. Don't waste your time.

Rather interesting book, but the end is quite a bit disappointing.

No idea why the author had to drag (genetically re-engineered) vampires out of the science fiction writers dirt box - it's not as if they were a necessity for the story.

I.

Ponderous and pretentious, and the story isn't worth the trouble.

Blindsight is amazing. Who is Peter Watts? I've never heard of the guy, never heard of Blindsight and yet it's one of the best SF's i've read in years. Read it!!

Excellent read. Peter Watts has meticulously researched cutting edge techniques across several disciplines, believably futurized and woven them into an amazingly readable hard science fiction novel. His ngaging characters hold true to their various core beliefs and individual natures. A mixture of amazement, amusement, horror and action. highly recommended.

I must give full points here. This is state-of-the-art science fiction even the late Mr Lem couldn't have written better. In fact, this story can easily go as sequel to Lem's Fiasco and other contact stories from Lem like Eden or The Invincible, with the difference that Watts has the technology right, and this story is in the solar system. Not that Lem's technology was wrong, but Watts' is modern, and he explains where he got his from. Even more interesting are Watts' references at the end of the book which filled my to-read list a lot. Thanks to the author for releasing with a Creative Commons licence!

OK the excerpt is dry as 3 day old turkey, but after reading a good chunk of this book it is actually pretty good.