@snewt2: Yes, presumably chai + coke. Or at least, that's how the beverage makers are marketing it. ;-)
@Dr Emilio Lizardo: "MultiReal" took about 2 years to write, and "Geosynchron" took about 18 months. At this rate, I'll be chugging out a book a month by 2020.
@Dr Emilio Lizardo: "MultiReal" took about 2 years to write, and "Geosynchron" took about 18 months. At this rate, I'll be chugging out a book a month by 2020.
@Dr Emilio Lizardo: "MultiReal" took about 2 years to write, and "Geosynchron" took about 18 months. At this rate, I'll be chugging out a book a month by 2020.
@SJ_Edwards_2.0: Are you saying that everything I say *doesn't* instantly appear on the banner of io9 in 100-point type, at the top of all Google searches, and in the ticker on CNN? I'm insulted.
@tamahome: The question wasn't deleted, Charlie Jane just moved some of the questions and answers to the other "Infoquake" book club discussion page.
And yes, you're right, tacking interesting prose on top of complex scientific ideas can be a challenge to read. But oh so worth it if it's done right...
And yes, you're right, tacking interesting prose on top of complex scientific ideas can be a challenge to read. But oh so worth it if it's done right...
@crashedpc - Eigentlich: The critical consensus from the reviews I've read seems to be that "Geosynchron" is the best of the three. Which I find amusing because I wrote that book in *such* a hurry...
@snewt2: Guess you're not gonna be throwing me any softballs, huh? ;-)
Not sure that the analogy of book-as-bio/logic-software-with-Primo's-ranking really works here... because Primo's has a definite hierarchy and authors don't. I mean, there's nothing that says you can't enjoy "Infoquake" as well as all the books by my "competitors." I dig Kurt Vonnegut *and* Franz Kafka *and* Ward Just *and* J.K. Rowling, and loving one author's works doesn't take away from any other's. It just depends what mood I'm in.
Really what you have with authors is a Possibilities 2.0-type situation, i.e. a non-zero-sum game. (Since you're reading "MultiReal," you'll get to the part about Possibilities 2.0 soon enough.)
Not sure that the analogy of book-as-bio/logic-software-with-Primo's-ranking really works here... because Primo's has a definite hierarchy and authors don't. I mean, there's nothing that says you can't enjoy "Infoquake" as well as all the books by my "competitors." I dig Kurt Vonnegut *and* Franz Kafka *and* Ward Just *and* J.K. Rowling, and loving one author's works doesn't take away from any other's. It just depends what mood I'm in.
Really what you have with authors is a Possibilities 2.0-type situation, i.e. a non-zero-sum game. (Since you're reading "MultiReal," you'll get to the part about Possibilities 2.0 soon enough.)
@crashedpc - Eigentlich: I'm not too keen on the Catholic Church's valuation system either...
@Dr Emilio Lizardo: Hey, no big deal, you like what you like and no need to apologize for it.
I wrote the very first drafts of the first chapter of "Jump 225.7" (as it was then called) in 1997 or 1998. I quit full-time work at the end of 2000 to work on the book in earnest, and finished the first draft on September 10, 2001. True story. A few days later, I started rewriting, and it grew long enough to split into three books.
I finally finished "Infoquake" somewhere in late 2004. Took several months to sell, and then another 18 months to hit the bookstore shelves (which is a typical timeline, btw).
Have I progressed as a writer? Yeah, I certainly think so. Looking back on the three, I think "MultiReal" is my favorite by a hair. But honestly, seems to me the writing is fairly consistent throughout. Who knows, maybe when I reread the whole trilogy someday I'll feel differently.
I wrote the very first drafts of the first chapter of "Jump 225.7" (as it was then called) in 1997 or 1998. I quit full-time work at the end of 2000 to work on the book in earnest, and finished the first draft on September 10, 2001. True story. A few days later, I started rewriting, and it grew long enough to split into three books.
I finally finished "Infoquake" somewhere in late 2004. Took several months to sell, and then another 18 months to hit the bookstore shelves (which is a typical timeline, btw).
Have I progressed as a writer? Yeah, I certainly think so. Looking back on the three, I think "MultiReal" is my favorite by a hair. But honestly, seems to me the writing is fairly consistent throughout. Who knows, maybe when I reread the whole trilogy someday I'll feel differently.
@mike_tulk: The cover art is 100% the publisher's decision (though I was lucky enough to have some input into the original Pyr TPB cover). Some authors don't even get to see their book's cover until it's done and headed off to the printer.
As for the change: the major bookstore chains didn't like the original Pyr TPB cover. At all. When Solaris released their MMPB version, they coordinated with Pyr to give the series something of a visual reboot. Largely to get the bookstore chains to stock more.
I have to say that I prefer the mass market cover. Gotta love that Stephan Martiniere artwork!
As for the change: the major bookstore chains didn't like the original Pyr TPB cover. At all. When Solaris released their MMPB version, they coordinated with Pyr to give the series something of a visual reboot. Largely to get the bookstore chains to stock more.
I have to say that I prefer the mass market cover. Gotta love that Stephan Martiniere artwork!
@♠ Final ♠: I really should know what my next project is by now, but to be honest I haven't settled on one. No contracts signed. I'm toying with an SF novel, a fantasy novel, and a contemporary novel at the moment. Whatever it is, it's probably going to be a couple of years.
I'm not ruling out returning to Jump 225, though probably not for a while. As someone suggested, I'd probably write prequels revolving around the Autonomous Revolt.
I'm not ruling out returning to Jump 225, though probably not for a while. As someone suggested, I'd probably write prequels revolving around the Autonomous Revolt.
@mkirkland: The Jump 225 world is post-scarcity in many ways -- but then again, so is ours in the West circa 2010. You and I could live just fine in any major city in America working 10 or 15 hours a week. We wouldn't starve, we wouldn't be living out on the street. So why do *we* work? What drives us to get out of bed in the morning? So we can afford iPods, high-def movies, nice dinners, etc.? Because we feel we're making a difference in the world? It's an open question, and one that everyone answers in a different way.
People aren't pirating their bio/logics because I made one assumption in my world which is probably the wildest and most fantastical assumption of them all. I assumed that these people figured out near-perfect digital security. So pirating software, hacking into bank accounts, etc would be fiendishly difficult approaching impossible. (Somewhere right now, Bruce Schneier is developing an ulcer.)
People aren't pirating their bio/logics because I made one assumption in my world which is probably the wildest and most fantastical assumption of them all. I assumed that these people figured out near-perfect digital security. So pirating software, hacking into bank accounts, etc would be fiendishly difficult approaching impossible. (Somewhere right now, Bruce Schneier is developing an ulcer.)
@Charlie Jane Anders: Honestly, I never identified with Natch all that much on a personal level. I'm much more laid back than he is. Of the major characters, my temperament's probably the closest to Horvil's. I did identify quite a bit with Jara's predicament too, though I don't think I would have handled it the same way.
But Natch definitely did take some of his characteristics from CEOs I've worked for and observed in high tech. I never worked for anyone as vicious as Natch, but I've seen a few handsome, narcissistic, ruthless businessmen with messed-up priorities in my time.
But Natch definitely did take some of his characteristics from CEOs I've worked for and observed in high tech. I never worked for anyone as vicious as Natch, but I've seen a few handsome, narcissistic, ruthless businessmen with messed-up priorities in my time.
@baldly_going: They went hand in hand. Often when I found myself stuck writing a piece of the narrative, I'd noodle around with the backstory to the world. And then often those snippets of backstory would suggest plot points or dilemmas for the characters. Multiple that by the ten years I spent working on this trilogy and you've got a nice little snowball effect.
@Log1c: I assume that there isn't a "real" Jump program in my world. Or rather, there are probably a zillion "jump augmentation" programs out there that fine-tune your movements to some small degree. So Natch's Jump program is just a fantasy.
@snewt2: Nicely put, snewt2.
@Kielen: Questioning whether Natch has got his priorities straight is definitely warranted. Obviously none of the people around him (Horvil, Vigal, Jara, etc) share his mania for Primo's ratings, and I'm sure there are all kinds of novels to be written in this world about people who don't give a crap about Primo's or the bio/logics scene.
What you have in Natch is a perfect storm of nearly unparalleled brilliance, societal pressure, and screwed-up priorities. Which isn't to say he's always wrong. As one of Natch's proctors predicts early on, he just needs to be pointed in the right direction.
What you have in Natch is a perfect storm of nearly unparalleled brilliance, societal pressure, and screwed-up priorities. Which isn't to say he's always wrong. As one of Natch's proctors predicts early on, he just needs to be pointed in the right direction.
@Charlie Jane Anders: I don't think there's much mystery to the Primo's ratings. It's really just a take-off on the whole reputation economy thing (cf. Cory Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom") (though I didn't read it until after I had already finished "Infoquake"). I don't care how far in the future you look, people are always going to need some kind of trustworthy valuation system, whether it's the Catholic Church or the New York Times Bestseller List or Primo's.
@crashedpc - Eigentlich: Man, I hear ya about having written enough tech papers. If I never see another white paper in my life, it'll be too soon.
