Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Bruks kills himself when he realizes he was taken over by Portia. Portia manages to continue firing his brain cells and takes over his broken body and walks towards civilization. [[GainaxEnding Humanity will be forever be changed]].]]
to:
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Bruks kills himself when he realizes he was taken over by Portia. Portia manages to continue firing his brain cells and takes over his broken body and walks towards civilization. [[GainaxEnding Humanity will be forever be changed]].]]
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to itself. Maybe.]]
to:
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens It strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to itself. Maybe.]]
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
* [[spoiler: KillEmAll: Of all the Bicamerals, zombies, vampires, and in-betweens that crew the ''Crown of Thorns'', not one survives to the end.]]
to:
* [[spoiler: KillEmAll: Of all the Bicamerals, zombies, vampires, and in-betweens that crew the ''Crown of Thorns'', not one survives to the end.end, including Bruks.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* GinaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to itself. Maybe.]]
to:
* GinaxEnding: GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to itself. Maybe.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 33 (click to see context) from:
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to itself. Maybe.]]
to:
* GainaxEnding: {{Expy}}: Valerie is one for Jukka Sarasti from ''Blindsight'', although way more unnerving. And not [[spoiler:entirely working with the rest of the ''Crown of Thorns'' crew]].
* GinaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to itself. Maybe.]]
* GinaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to itself. Maybe.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 33 (click to see context) :
* {{Expy}}: Valerie is one for Jukka Sarasti from ''Blindsight'', although way more unnerving. And not [[spoiler:entirely working with the rest of the ''Crown of Thorns'' crew]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Bruks, the whole damn time. Not even killing himself stops him from being manipulated.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
obsolete name. likely misuse. character bashing
Deleted line(s) 61 (click to see context) :
* XanatosSucker: [[spoiler: Bruks, the whole damn time, even after he kills himself.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 31 (click to see context) from:
** In a somewhat darker case, [[spoiler: one of Valerie's zombies wakes up as she's being eviscerated by one of ''Portia's'' tentacles.]]
to:
** In a somewhat darker case, [[spoiler: one of Valerie's zombies wakes up as she's it's being eviscerated by one of ''Portia's'' tentacles.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 31 (click to see context) from:
** In a somewhat darker case, [[spoiler: one of Valerie's zombies wakes up as she's being eviscerated by one of ''Portia's'' tentacles.
to:
** In a somewhat darker case, [[spoiler: one of Valerie's zombies wakes up as she's being eviscerated by one of ''Portia's'' tentacles.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** In a somewhat darker case, [[spoiler: one of Valerie's zombies wakes up as she's being eviscerated by one of ''Portia's'' tentacles.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* [[spoiler: KillEmAll: Of all the Bicamerals, zombies, vampires, and in-betweens that crew the ''Crown of Thorns'', not one survives to the end.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
* UpliftedAnimal: [[spoiler: Bruks, in ''Echopraxia'', from a certain point of view]].
to:
* UpliftedAnimal: [[spoiler: Bruks, in ''Echopraxia'', from a certain point of view]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* MacGyvering: After ''Crown of Thorns'' is forced to shed its engines in order to avoid pursuit, the Bicamerals manage to pull together, with parts left on board, a ''working fusion reactor''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 18 (click to see context) from:
* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: The Bicameral Order has one, on account of the massive number of revolutionary patents they have their name on. Case in point, they were able to purchase [[CoolShip ''Crown of Thorns'']] - a top-class interplanetary freighter - for three times its market price, with what amounted to pocket change.
to:
* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: The Bicameral Order has one, on account of the massive number of revolutionary patents they have their name on. Case in point, they were able to purchase [[CoolShip ''Crown ''[[CoolShip Crown of Thorns'']] Thorns]]'' - a top-class interplanetary freighter - for three times its market price, with what amounted to pocket change.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Moore's rationalization for [[shutting down the ''Icarus'' array, the source of one fifth of the world's energy, after it becomes all too obvious that it's been irreparably infested by ''Portia''.]]
to:
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Moore's rationalization for [[shutting [[spoiler:shutting down the ''Icarus'' array, the source of one fifth of the world's energy, after it becomes all too obvious that it's been irreparably infested by ''Portia''.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AIIsACrapshoot: Discussed. Bruks's wife was a "cloudkiller"; it was her job to pull the plug on AI networks that had become too smart for their own good. She eventually came to the conclusion that [[ItCanThink they were genuinely sapient]], and quit soon after. However ... there was another class of AI, one so superhumanly intelligent that it achieved sapience and kept right on going, until its mind was incomprehensible to its creators. Those, Bruks says, [[ParanoiaFuel "worried her."]]
Added DiffLines:
* BadassNormal: Rakshi calls Bruks "Roach" not as an insult, but rather because baseline humans are damn near indestructible - that is, at least, they're invulnerable to the various hacks and exploited glitches an augmented human might fall victim to.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Moore's rationalization for [[shutting down the ''Icarus'' array, the source of one fifth of the world's energy, after it becomes all too obvious that it's been irreparably infested by ''Portia''.]]
-->'''Moore:''' "Enemy territory. Couldn't be helped."
-->'''Moore:''' "Enemy territory. Couldn't be helped."
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* TheSingularity: It's gotten to the point that people known as Bicamerals, with all their augmentation, have even merged Religion and Science, with their scientific discoveries being closer to divination more than anything else.
to:
* TheSingularity: It's gotten to the point that [[HiveMind a group of people known as Bicamerals, with all their augmentation, the Bicameral Order]] have even brains so heavily modified that they seem to have merged Religion religion and Science, science, with their scientific discoveries being closer to divination more like divine inspiration than anything else.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: The Bicameral Order has one, on account of the massive number of revolutionary patents they have their name on. Case in point, they were able to purchase [[CoolShip ''Crown of Thorns'']] - a top-class interplanetary freighter - for three times its market price, with what amounted to pocket change.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 38 (click to see context) :
* NotGoodWithPeople: Rakshi Sengupta, of the "grumpy" variety.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* NotGoodWithPeople: Rakshi Sengupta, of the "grumpy" variety.
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* TeamPet: Dan Bruks is so out of his element, he might as well be this in ''Echopraxia'', at least initially.
to:
* TeamPet: Dan Bruks is so out of his element, he might as well be this in ''Echopraxia'', at least initially.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Bruks kills himself when he realizes he was taken over by Portia. Portia manages to continue firing his brain cells and takes over his broken body and walks towards civilization. Humanity will be forever be changed.]]
to:
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Bruks kills himself when he realizes he was taken over by Portia. Portia manages to continue firing his brain cells and takes over his broken body and walks towards civilization. [[GainaxEnding Humanity will be forever be changed.changed]].]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 2,3 (click to see context) from:
'''''Echopraxia''''', by PeterWatts, is a sequel to the novel ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}''. Set at roughly the same time as ''Blindsight'', ''Echopraxia'' takes place, at first, on a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
to:
'''''Echopraxia''''', by PeterWatts, is a sequel to the novel ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}''.'''''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'''''. Set at roughly the same time as ''Blindsight'', ''Echopraxia'' takes place, at first, on a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echopraxia-by-peter-watts_2198.jpg]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
''Echopraxia'', by PeterWatts, is a sequel to the novel ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}''. Set at roughly the same time as ''Blindsight'', ''Echopraxia'' takes place, at first, on a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* DeerInTheHeadlights: To look into a vampire's eyes is to remember what it's like to be prey.
* DoingInTheWizard: In the novel, Vampires are not supernatural but rather are explained as an extinct subspecies of humans that evolved to prey on normal humans in ancient times. This explains the persistent myths and stories about them: these are a kind of racial memory. Many of the qualities of Vampires are given logical, scientific explanations as well. See OurVampiresAreDifferent below.
* DoingInTheWizard: In the novel, Vampires are not supernatural but rather are explained as an extinct subspecies of humans that evolved to prey on normal humans in ancient times. This explains the persistent myths and stories about them: these are a kind of racial memory. Many of the qualities of Vampires are given logical, scientific explanations as well. See OurVampiresAreDifferent below.
Added DiffLines:
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampires turn out to have been an ancient HumanSubspecies adapted to prey on us. They existed millenia ago, before recorded history. Since they were predators, they had to have superior pattern-matching skills (all the tricks of autistic savants plus more) and general intelligence, better night-vision and the ability to put themselves into suspended animation (since, being apex predators, they had to give our populations time to rebound else they would hunt us to extinction). Unfortunately, the super-intelligence comes at a cost: their super-charged pattern recognition tends to get overstimulated when [[WeaksauceWeakness intersecting right-angles take up too much of their visual field]]. Basically, their brain ''glitches out'' and they have [[BrownNote fatal epileptic seizures]] whenever they see anything with corners - thus explaining the origin of [[CrossMeltingAura the myth about them being weak against the cross]]. When humans invented architecture, the vampires all died out. The modern-day resurrected vampires have to take "[[AppliedPhlebotinum Anti-Euclidean]]" drugs to enable them to survive.
Added DiffLines:
* UpliftedAnimal: [[spoiler: Bruks, in ''Echopraxia'', from a certain point of view]].
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:Bruks gives one to Jim Moore, Siri's dad, over him now being worried about Siri's well-being when it had been his partial zombie-ism, the augmentations and hemispherectomy that he got to counter the effects that made him the best suited Synthesist for Theseus. Not to mention that the reason why Siri got infected was because his dad was the actual target]].
-->'''Jim''':''He's out there because he's the most qualified for the mission. Full stop. Anyone in my place would have made the same decision.''
-->'''Dan''':''Sure. But we both know '''why''' he was the most qualified''.
* XanatosSucker: [[spoiler: Bruks, the whole damn time, even after he kills himself.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:Bruks gives one to Jim Moore, Siri's dad, over him now being worried about Siri's well-being when it had been his partial zombie-ism, the augmentations and hemispherectomy that he got to counter the effects that made him the best suited Synthesist for Theseus. Not to mention that the reason why Siri got infected was because his dad was the actual target]].
-->'''Jim''':''He's out there because he's the most qualified for the mission. Full stop. Anyone in my place would have made the same decision.''
-->'''Dan''':''Sure. But we both know '''why''' he was the most qualified''.
* XanatosSucker: [[spoiler: Bruks, the whole damn time, even after he kills himself.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Copied over tropes from Blindsight page
* ApocalypseHow: In ''Blindsight'', Siri suspects that by the time he [[spoiler:returns to Earth, the vampires would have exterminated humanity and taken their places as rightful owners of the world.]] But the ending to ''Echopraxia '' suggests [[spoiler:Siri's vision did not come to pass quite like that. What happens to humanity will depend largely on how you define "humanity", and also where you draw the line between success and suicide.]]
** There's also a potential ZombieApocalypse in progress, although not one that will threaten the new powers-that-be, and it's not elaborated on very much in the book.
** There's also a potential ZombieApocalypse in progress, although not one that will threaten the new powers-that-be, and it's not elaborated on very much in the book.
* BigDamnHero: [[spoiler: Jim Moore saving Dan Bruks from an enraged Rakshi, then Valerie saving Bruks from a crazy Jim Moore]].
* CameBackWrong: In ''Blindsight'' it's established that this happened to Siri, Jim Moore's son. In order to cure his severe childhood epilepsy and save his life, Siri's parents agreed to have a radical hemispherectomy performed on him, literally cutting out half his brain. The kid that came out on the other side is demonstrably not the same - emotionless, without natural empathy. In ''Echopraxia'' it's revealed [[spoiler:the reason he developed epilepsy in the first place was because he had been infected by the zombie virus while still in the womb; an innocent bystander in a bioweapon attack that was intended for Jim Moore.]]
* CharacterTics: Valerie clicks her sharpened teeth together. Revealed later as [[spoiler:the method she used to implant a suggestion into the people around her that enabled to use a variant of the Crucifix Glitch on humans]].
* CosmicHorrorStory: ''Echopraxia'' deals in part with [[spoiler:the theory of the universe being a simulation; with The Laws of Physics being basically the OS and God being a ''virus'' that breaks it. Also, there's no such thing as Free Will.]]
* CameBackWrong: In ''Blindsight'' it's established that this happened to Siri, Jim Moore's son. In order to cure his severe childhood epilepsy and save his life, Siri's parents agreed to have a radical hemispherectomy performed on him, literally cutting out half his brain. The kid that came out on the other side is demonstrably not the same - emotionless, without natural empathy. In ''Echopraxia'' it's revealed [[spoiler:the reason he developed epilepsy in the first place was because he had been infected by the zombie virus while still in the womb; an innocent bystander in a bioweapon attack that was intended for Jim Moore.]]
* CharacterTics: Valerie clicks her sharpened teeth together. Revealed later as [[spoiler:the method she used to implant a suggestion into the people around her that enabled to use a variant of the Crucifix Glitch on humans]].
* CosmicHorrorStory: ''Echopraxia'' deals in part with [[spoiler:the theory of the universe being a simulation; with The Laws of Physics being basically the OS and God being a ''virus'' that breaks it. Also, there's no such thing as Free Will.]]
Changed line(s) 16 (click to see context) from:
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're cybernetically enhanced human soldiers who have had their brains rewired from maximum efficiency and the ability to turn off conscious thought, leaving no room for second thoughts or emotion.
to:
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're cybernetically enhanced human soldiers who have CyberneticsEatYourSoul: The Bicamerals are basically walking brain tumors.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Bruks kills himself when he realizes he was taken over by Portia. Portia manages to continue firing his brain cells and takes over his broken body and walks towards civilization. Humanity will be forever be changed.]]
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: Bruks. He realizes that the hacked Portia is taking over him and decides to walk off the cliff. Sadly, while he dies, his body still lives on. [[GainaxEnding Maybe that was for the best]].]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler: Bruks stabs Valerie after the two become friendly, well as friendly as a lion can be to a lamb; of course, Bruks hadtheir brains rewired already been taken over by Portia, which Valerie herself infected him with]].
* {{Expy}}: Valerie is one for Jukka Sarasti frommaximum efficiency ''Blindsight'', although way more unnerving. And not [[spoiler:entirely working with the rest of the ''Crown of Thorns'' crew]].
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable theability glitches in Vampires. Maybe humanity will survive after all, but at a great cost to turn off conscious thought, leaving no room itself. Maybe.]]
* HaveYouSeenMyGod: [[spoiler:''Echopraxia'' is half this. The entire purpose of the Bicameral's mission with the ''Crown of Thorns'' is to find God...whom they believe has taken up residence on the Icarus.]]
* HiveMind: The Bicamerals work like this.
* NoodleIncident: Averted. [[spoiler: It is revealed halfway through that Dan Bruks was tangentially responsible forsecond thoughts or emotion. an incident that killed Rakshi's wife that involved an encephalitis variant outbreak.]]
* [[MagicVersusScience Religion vs Science]]: A running theme in ''Echopraxia'', where one of the arguments is that Science must be taken as an act of faith, for even though we can replicate the same experiment over and over and quantify many of the constants in the universe, we do so in the belief that they will not change tomorrow.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Bruks kills himself when he realizes he was taken over by Portia. Portia manages to continue firing his brain cells and takes over his broken body and walks towards civilization. Humanity will be forever be changed.]]
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: Bruks. He realizes that the hacked Portia is taking over him and decides to walk off the cliff. Sadly, while he dies, his body still lives on. [[GainaxEnding Maybe that was for the best]].]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler: Bruks stabs Valerie after the two become friendly, well as friendly as a lion can be to a lamb; of course, Bruks had
* {{Expy}}: Valerie is one for Jukka Sarasti from
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Portia is a parasite. Valerie hacks Portia and infects Bruks with it. Strengthens him and plans to use him as a vector to create a sort of upgraded humans and to disable the
* HaveYouSeenMyGod: [[spoiler:''Echopraxia'' is half this. The entire purpose of the Bicameral's mission with the ''Crown of Thorns'' is to find God...whom they believe has taken up residence on the Icarus.]]
* HiveMind: The Bicamerals work like this.
* NoodleIncident: Averted. [[spoiler: It is revealed halfway through that Dan Bruks was tangentially responsible for
* [[MagicVersusScience Religion vs Science]]: A running theme in ''Echopraxia'', where one of the arguments is that Science must be taken as an act of faith, for even though we can replicate the same experiment over and over and quantify many of the constants in the universe, we do so in the belief that they will not change tomorrow.
Added DiffLines:
* OhCrap: It's revealed in the prologue that not only can Valerie ignore the Cruciform Glitch, but she has come up with a way to induce it regular humans, essentially flipping the table between vampires and humanity.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're cybernetically enhanced human soldiers who have had their brains rewired from maximum efficiency and the ability to turn off conscious thought, leaving no room for second thoughts or emotion.
* {{Shoutout}}: ''Echopraxia'' gives a shout-out to VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft, during the discussion of simulating pandemics in a virtual environment, something that accidentally happened in real life when pandemic researchers took at look at the Corrupted Blood Incident [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood_incident]], even calling it explicitly as such.
* ShownTheirWork: The back of the book has a lengthy "Notes and References" section explaining the various RealLife science items that inspired Watts to write the story.
* TheSingularity: It's gotten to the point that people known as Bicamerals, with all their augmentation, have even merged Religion and Science, with their scientific discoveries being closer to divination more than anything else.
* TeamPet: Dan Bruks is so out of his element, he might as well be this in ''Echopraxia'', at least initially.
* {{Transhuman}}: In the year 2082, you're either transhuman or you're obsolete. Baseline humans are physically and mentally unable to keep up with those who have received augments. The majority of the characters in the novel have some kind of augmentation.
** In an aversion, Dan Bruks, is the least augmented person so far, and he gets called Oldschool and Roach.
* TriggerPhrase: [[spoiler: Valerie is able to implant a hypnotic suggestion on baseliners that emulates the Crucifix Glitch vampires suffer from.]]
-->'''Valerie''':[[spoiler:"Imagine Christ on the Cross."]]
----
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're cybernetically enhanced human soldiers who have had their brains rewired from maximum efficiency and the ability to turn off conscious thought, leaving no room for second thoughts or emotion.
* {{Shoutout}}: ''Echopraxia'' gives a shout-out to VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft, during the discussion of simulating pandemics in a virtual environment, something that accidentally happened in real life when pandemic researchers took at look at the Corrupted Blood Incident [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood_incident]], even calling it explicitly as such.
* ShownTheirWork: The back of the book has a lengthy "Notes and References" section explaining the various RealLife science items that inspired Watts to write the story.
* TheSingularity: It's gotten to the point that people known as Bicamerals, with all their augmentation, have even merged Religion and Science, with their scientific discoveries being closer to divination more than anything else.
* TeamPet: Dan Bruks is so out of his element, he might as well be this in ''Echopraxia'', at least initially.
* {{Transhuman}}: In the year 2082, you're either transhuman or you're obsolete. Baseline humans are physically and mentally unable to keep up with those who have received augments. The majority of the characters in the novel have some kind of augmentation.
** In an aversion, Dan Bruks, is the least augmented person so far, and he gets called Oldschool and Roach.
* TriggerPhrase: [[spoiler: Valerie is able to implant a hypnotic suggestion on baseliners that emulates the Crucifix Glitch vampires suffer from.]]
-->'''Valerie''':[[spoiler:"Imagine Christ on the Cross."]]
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
''Echopraxia'', by PeterWatts, is a sequel to the novel ''Literature/Blindsight''. Set at roughly the same time as ''Blindsight'', ''Echopraxia'' takes place, at first, on a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
to:
''Echopraxia'', by PeterWatts, is a sequel to the novel ''Literature/Blindsight''.''Literature/{{Blindsight}}''. Set at roughly the same time as ''Blindsight'', ''Echopraxia'' takes place, at first, on a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
''Echopraxia'', by PeterWatts, is a sequel to the novel ''Blindsight''. Set at roughly the same time as ''Blindsight'', ''Echopraxia'' takes place, at first, on a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
to:
''Echopraxia'', by PeterWatts, is a sequel to the novel ''Blindsight''.''Literature/Blindsight''. Set at roughly the same time as ''Blindsight'', ''Echopraxia'' takes place, at first, on a rapidly deteriorating Earth.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
[[redirect:Literature/{{Blindsight}}]]
to:
It's the eve of the twenty-second century: a world where the dearly departed send postcards back from Heaven and evangelicals make scientific breakthroughs by speaking in tongues; where genetically engineered vampires solve problems intractable to baseline humans and soldiers come with zombie switches that shut off self-awareness during combat. And it’s all under surveillance by an alien presence that refuses to show itself.
Daniel Bruks is a living fossil: a field biologist in a world where biology has turned computational, a cat's-paw used by terrorists to kill thousands. Taking refuge in the Oregon desert, he’s turned his back on a humanity that shatters into strange new subspecies with every heartbeat. But he awakens one night to find himself at the center of a storm that will turn all of history inside-out.
Now he’s trapped on a ship bound for the center of the solar system. To his left is a grief-stricken soldier, obsessed by whispered messages from a dead son. To his right is a pilot who hasn’t yet found the man she's sworn to kill on sight. A vampire and its entourage of zombie bodyguards lurk in the shadows behind. And dead ahead, a handful of rapture-stricken monks takes them all to a meeting with something they will only call “The Angels of the Asteroids.”
Their pilgrimage brings Dan Bruks, the fossil man, face-to-face with the biggest evolutionary breakpoint since the origin of thought itself.
----
!!This book features the following tropes (Warning: spoilers below):
* AllThereInTheManual: [[http://www.rifters.com Watts's site]] offers a lot of interesting in-universe background material, such as the full text of ''The Bicameral Threat'', a fictional report to the Holy See that is quoted at the beginning of several chapters.
* AudienceSurrogate: Daniel Bruks spends much of the first act being as confused as the reader - transhumans have a hard time explaining themselves to baselines.
* CrapsackWorld: Just like in ''Blindsight'', things are going to hell in a hand basket.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They're cybernetically enhanced human soldiers who have had their brains rewired from maximum efficiency and the ability to turn off conscious thought, leaving no room for second thoughts or emotion.
* MetaphoricallyTrue: Moore pulls this on Bruks early on.
-->'''Bruks:''' "You said we were in orbit."
-->'''Moore:''' "We are. Not around Earth."
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
[[redirect:Literature/Echopraxia]]
to:
