Science Fiction

Firefall

Firefall

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  • Create Date：2021-09-02 09:54:46
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Peter Watts
  • ISBN：178669610X
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Summary

This is the Omnibus edition of Blindsight and Echopraxia 。

February 13， 2082， First Contact。

Sixty-two thousand objects of unknown origin plunge into Earth's atmosphere—a perfect grid of falling stars screaming across the radio spectrum as they burn。 Not even ashes reach the ground。 Three hundred and sixty degrees of global surveillance: something just took a snapshot。

And then。。。 nothing。

But from deep space， whispers。 Something out there talks—but not to us。 Two ships， Theseus and the Crown of Thorns， are launched to discover the origin of Earth's visitation， one bound for the outer dark of the Kuiper Belt， the other for the heart of the Solar System。

Their crews can barely be called human， what they will face certainly can't。

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Reviews

kinga_cha ，

3。75

Kahn ，

When I asked in passing in a Sci-Fi lovers group what people thought of Firefall， "hard Sci-Fi" was the phrase that came back repeatedly。 It wasn't a phrase I'd heard before， or could claim to understand。I do now。 Set in 2085， which isn't as far into the future as you might think， Earth gets visited by aliens and decides to visit back。 With a raft of disparate characters， and a vampire for luck， Watts weaves backstories and modern science with ease creating a world we at once know and don't know When I asked in passing in a Sci-Fi lovers group what people thought of Firefall， "hard Sci-Fi" was the phrase that came back repeatedly。 It wasn't a phrase I'd heard before， or could claim to understand。I do now。 Set in 2085， which isn't as far into the future as you might think， Earth gets visited by aliens and decides to visit back。 With a raft of disparate characters， and a vampire for luck， Watts weaves backstories and modern science with ease creating a world we at once know and don't know。 Somehow he also manages to great the exact feel of 70s sci-fi classics such as Silent Runnings and Alien - that cold， still atmosphere， that steady pace。 You can almost feel the space ship around you。 But the "hard" bit is hard， if you're not a science guy。 Like me。 Watts clearly knows his stuff。 And you need to know his stuff too， because it's dense and plentiful。 There are things going on in here way above my pay grade and it's not often you find yourself itching for a reference book to try and understand what it is you've just read。 I wouldn't describe this as an easy read， but the effort you put in will bring its rewards。Plus he quotes Suzanne Vega and Jethro Tull。 Which is cool。 。。。more

Stefan Lischewski ，

Firefall #1 Blindsight: Yeah！Firefall #2 EEchopraxia: Neah！

Alex Smith ，

BlindsightIn the year 2082 sixty-five thousand objects of unknown origin fall through the atmosphere of Earth， burning。 A ship and crew are hastily assembled and dispatched toward the estimated source， and what follows is one of the most original and compelling first contact stories I’ve ever read。 The crew is composed of the bleeding edge of humanity; people that have willingly partitioned their brains into distinct selves， people so augmented they can see x-rays。 A literal vampire captains the BlindsightIn the year 2082 sixty-five thousand objects of unknown origin fall through the atmosphere of Earth， burning。 A ship and crew are hastily assembled and dispatched toward the estimated source， and what follows is one of the most original and compelling first contact stories I’ve ever read。 The crew is composed of the bleeding edge of humanity; people that have willingly partitioned their brains into distinct selves， people so augmented they can see x-rays。 A literal vampire captains the ship， an extinct predator brought back from the pleistocene， hyper-intelligent and controlled by their dependence on drugs that mitigate the seizure inducing effect of intersecting right angles （or the ‘crucifix glitch’）。One of the things I enjoy about science fiction is how through the alien， both in the sense of the futuristic and the other， it can explore reality in ways that may otherwise be difficult。 Talking about this book is difficult without spoiling too much of the story， but it asks excellent questions about the nature of consciousness and what it means to be human。 Dense with ideas but still very readable for such hard sci-fi， and while some language did stick out a bit awkwardly， overall it’s a definite recommendation from me。EchopraxiaEchopraxia is set around the same time as Blindsight and follows events on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system。 While the story in Blindsight served to explore and embody the ideas of that book， I didn’t find the same complementary relationship in Echopraxia。 Here the plot seems more to be a way of jumping from idea to idea with nothing seemingly particularly fleshed out or cohesive to me; it was actually a bit confusing overall， really。 There’s definitely some interesting stuff here that somewhat builds on Blindsight in terms of free will and the nature of existence， but I’d probably suggest picking up Blindsight standalone。 They clenched around the world like a fist， each black as the inside of an event horizon until those last bright moments when they all burned together。 They screamed as they died。 Every radio up to geostat groaned in unison， every infrared telescope went briefly snowblind。 Ashes stained the sky for weeks afterwards; mesospheric clouds， high above the jet stream， turned to glowing rust with every sunrise。 The objects， apparently， consisted largely of iron。 Nobody ever knew what to make of that。 。。。more

Maurynne Maxwell ，

I was so excited about a mention on Twitter I ordered the omnibus version。 You know how some authors begin their books with quotes？ Believe them when they tell you who they are: of all the quotes in the world that reference the philosophical concept of “is reality merely an illusion of consciousness， a dream”， the author picked serial killer Bundy to quote。 I gave it 40 pages & then realized I should pay attention to the folk wisdom above， believe them when they tell you who they are。 I’m not ev I was so excited about a mention on Twitter I ordered the omnibus version。 You know how some authors begin their books with quotes？ Believe them when they tell you who they are: of all the quotes in the world that reference the philosophical concept of “is reality merely an illusion of consciousness， a dream”， the author picked serial killer Bundy to quote。 I gave it 40 pages & then realized I should pay attention to the folk wisdom above， believe them when they tell you who they are。 I’m not ever going to enjoy a book by an author who chose that person to quote。 Wasted 20 bucks， but I’m glad I put it down。 。。。more

João Trindade ，

https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=VkR2h。。。 https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=VkR2h。。。 。。。more

Pat ，

Firefall is a two-in-one edition containing Blindsight and its sequel Echopraxia。In one sentence: Blindsight is very good and Echopraxia is very bad。 BlindsightIn the not-so-distant future a grid of lights appear across the sky。 Is it a alien species spying on Earth？ Humans send a ship to a distant brown dwarf to see if they can find who/what is responsible for the light show。 They do find life， but it isn't anything like the little green men one would expect。 The aliens are so utterly inhuma Firefall is a two-in-one edition containing Blindsight and its sequel Echopraxia。In one sentence: Blindsight is very good and Echopraxia is very bad。 BlindsightIn the not-so-distant future a grid of lights appear across the sky。 Is it a alien species spying on Earth？ Humans send a ship to a distant brown dwarf to see if they can find who/what is responsible for the light show。 They do find life， but it isn't anything like the little green men one would expect。 The aliens are so utterly inhuman that they force the ship's crew to challenge their understanding of what it means to be an intelligent and a conscious being。This is "hard" sci fi， so naturally the best aspect of this book is the exploration of scientific questions。 However， I have come to associate hard sci fi with physics （basically， books about space ships traveling at near light speeds and space time folding in on itself）。 It was refreshing to read a hard sci fi book that instead engages with biology。 Peter Watt's probing of consciousness reminded me A LOT of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti。 Although， in this novel Watts frames consciousness more of a mistake/glitch whereas Ligotti frames it more as a burden/curse。 Regardless， after reading this book I had to spend a lot of time alone sitting on a park bench staring off into space and thinking about life。 EchopraxiaThis is the third sci fi series I have read where the author has an amazing first half but then ABSOLUTELY BOMBS the second half。 （See The Hyperion Cantos and Ender's Game）。The beginning of this book is VERY confusing。 But that's okay， because the main character is also confused！ He is a biologist doing research out in the desert where he gets caught up in some kind of turf war。 He then gets dragged into in a religious temple。 Then hauled off into space？ Oh I guess it's not just the beginning that is confusing， it's like that the whole way through！ And， wait 。 。 。 how does this relate to Blindsight？ Your guess is as good as mine。Don't read this book。 。。。more

Natalia Piekielniak ，

Totally over-intellectualized book with neither a plot nor interesting characters whose fates we would want to follow and care about。 I don't understand where all this admiration comes from， the book is incredibly boring， the characters are infantile and their dialogues are artificial。 If this were my first sci fi book， it would probably effectively discourage me from the genre。 Huge wasted potential。 Totally over-intellectualized book with neither a plot nor interesting characters whose fates we would want to follow and care about。 I don't understand where all this admiration comes from， the book is incredibly boring， the characters are infantile and their dialogues are artificial。 If this were my first sci fi book， it would probably effectively discourage me from the genre。 Huge wasted potential。 。。。more

Paddy ，

I’m marking this as “Finished” as this edition contains two books: “Blindsight” and “Echopraxia”。 I completed “Blindsight” sometime in November but thought I had updated this。 Obviously not！BOOK ONE - “ECHOPRAXIA”:I found it enjoyable and well paced， but in its early stages it did frustrate as it can be a little hard-going due to its Hard Sci-Fi setting - although it should be said that it never felt like a long， slow slog。 Just as things feel like they’re starting to overwhelm， it changes gear I’m marking this as “Finished” as this edition contains two books: “Blindsight” and “Echopraxia”。 I completed “Blindsight” sometime in November but thought I had updated this。 Obviously not！BOOK ONE - “ECHOPRAXIA”:I found it enjoyable and well paced， but in its early stages it did frustrate as it can be a little hard-going due to its Hard Sci-Fi setting - although it should be said that it never felt like a long， slow slog。 Just as things feel like they’re starting to overwhelm， it changes gear again and rewards you for sticking around。 I think that this is due to the obvious fact that if there is one thing that Peter Watt’s is an expert at， it’s in knowing how to expertly handle pacing。 Finally， I have to give kudos to Watts for being brave enough to never coddle the reader。 He doesn’t just play with big ideas - he plays with huge ideas， and challenges the reader to come along for the ride。 If you do so， the reward of placing your trust in him is worthy of your time。In a genre with so many authors， so many stories， so many over-used tropes and somehow still bursting with new ideas and worlds to explore， it’s not often you walk away from a book feeling “pleasantly” surprised by the unexpected tale you found within。“Blindsight” is a novel that is asks some big questions， doesn’t spoon-feed you the answers and as hokey as its synopsis may seem， it somehow feels possible。 If that doesn’t speak to Watt’s talent as an Author， I don’t know what does。Not for everyone， but one of those rare books that you can’t finish without it having left some kind of lasting impression on you at its end。 To me， that can only ever be a good thing。 Peter Watts is this generation’s Arthur C。 Clarke。***I’ll update this review at a later date when I decide to revisit Watt’s work and read “Echopraxia”。 。。。more

Dorian ，

If you like books with never-ending dialogue and under-explained technical detail， then this is the one for you。

Paul Muad'Dib ，

Za wiedzę， która pozwoliła

Lena （Sufficiently Advanced Lena） ，

Blindsight is for sure a 5 stars。 What an incredible book。 But Echopraxia。。。 I don’t know。。。 it would have liked it better it was a story outside this universe。 Blindsight was just too good and the companion didn’t make it justice。 Echopraxia gets something like 3。75 ， I’m not really sure how I feel yet Still I can’t wait to keep reading more from Peter Watts

Paul Dorman ，

An awesome read。 Ruined all other science fiction for me。 I still haven't found anything better to enjoy。 An awesome read。 Ruined all other science fiction for me。 I still haven't found anything better to enjoy。 。。。more

Ashley ，

Stunning world building， but not strong on the happy， joy， joy fun front。

marie ，

ive already logged blindsight （which is the first half of firefall， it being bs + echopraxia in one） but i own this version physically。 plus i didnt like the second half quite as much， so here goes。 still a 5/5。

Peter ，

4。5 first book， 3。5 for the second。 Really good， difficult story about how the mind works （or doesn't）， consciousness and free will， disguised as a SF novel。 The afterword with 150 scientific references explaining everything makes me want to read it again soon， so I'll probably understand what happened better！ 4。5 first book， 3。5 for the second。 Really good， difficult story about how the mind works （or doesn't）， consciousness and free will， disguised as a SF novel。 The afterword with 150 scientific references explaining everything makes me want to read it again soon， so I'll probably understand what happened better！ 。。。more

Keith Stevenson ，

Too full of its own cleverness。

Svxrt ，

Har läst första halvan。

Colin ，

Firefall is an omnibus collection of Blindsight and Echopraxia - two novels by Canadian sf author Peter Watts， and set in the same universe， that deal with a cataclysmic first contact event。After the titular Firefall event， in which the Earth was surveilled by an unknown force using a grid of spaceborne objects that created a terrifying visual spectacle seen by millions， the planet embarked on a concerted effort to seek answers。 The ship Theseus， staffed by Earth's best and brightest， embarked o Firefall is an omnibus collection of Blindsight and Echopraxia - two novels by Canadian sf author Peter Watts， and set in the same universe， that deal with a cataclysmic first contact event。After the titular Firefall event， in which the Earth was surveilled by an unknown force using a grid of spaceborne objects that created a terrifying visual spectacle seen by millions， the planet embarked on a concerted effort to seek answers。 The ship Theseus， staffed by Earth's best and brightest， embarked on a journey to the Kuiper Belt to investigate a mysterious signal - the story of Blindsight。Meanwhile， back on Earth， a clandestine expedition is led by a coterie of cognitively-enhanced monks to the centre of the solar system to investigate similar anomalies originating from Icarus， a space station that taps on the sun's energies and beams power to fuel Earth's post-scarcity economy。When first released， Blindsight was rightly regarded as a tour-de-force， a work of considerable imaginative power and philosophical weight。 It was one of the seminal works to really try to simulate the posthuman experience， of being surrounded by people whose cognition and sensoria were technologically enhanced to the point of permanent divergence from the human baseline。 Watts describes people who split their personalities to benefit from parallel multi-core processing， doctors who treat their surgical robots as extensions of themselves， and information processing specialists with implants in their brains to allow them to process informational typologies with a kind of synaesthetic abandon。Then there's also the vampires， perhaps Watt's most original contribution to the annals of sf ideas to date。 He posits that vampires were a real subspecies of human cannibals that evolved neural structures to excel at hunting and lateral thinking， but who existed as solitary hunters who developed the ability to hibernate for long periods of time in order to avoid decimating their main source of food。 However， they evolved with a debilitating maladaptive trait - developing seizures whenever their visual cortices were subjected to right angles - the crucifix glitch， which drove them to extinction just as baseline humans were coming into their own。 In the brave new world of the 2090s， vampires have been resurrected by mankind to act as their strategists， and one serves as the expedition commander of the Theseus mission， leveraging on their unique cognitive gifts。 It's an interesting take on how to explain the origins of vampire mythology and incorporate it into a future history。The thematic core of Blindsight is mediated through its strange， starfish-like aliens - aliens that exhibit intelligence without sentience， purposefulness without a sense of 'I'。 Indeed， written in 2006， the book was quite prescient about the possibility - only now becoming more and more apparent， that advanced AI algorithms can perform feats of intelligence once thought to be the preserve of sentient organisms。 But Watts pushes this even further - he posits that consciousness， as an epiphenomenon， is perhaps in itself an unnecessary evolutionary maladaptation - introducing doubt， self-consciousness， and response lag to processes that otherwise would perform just fine， if not better， without it。This ties into the entire premise of blindsight - a real phenomenon where the conscious mind cannot perceive visual input but the hindbrain still reacts to the raw visual data with reflexes that precede and preclude conscious impulse。 It also manifests in protagonist Siri Keeton's core competency - as a information processing specialist who doesn't need to consciously analyse the information he receives， but leaves it to implants that allow him to bypass consciousness and only derive conclusions from the abstract topologies that his augmented sensorium creates。In that sense， there is a very strong thematic sensibility running through Blindsight - one which， in the best tradition of science fiction， raises mind-expanding possibilities amidst the backdrop of a wickedly evocative science fiction milieu。 It's certainly not for the initiate to sf - it bandies around elements of the genre like a clown juggles chainsaws， and gets almost absurdly technical at times。 But Watts writes beautifully and the bounds of his imagination know only the limits of what is describable by the outer limits of scientific plausibility。Unfortunately， Echopraxia， written almost a decade later， is a shadow of its illustrious predecessor。 Watts overdoes his complexity shtick in this offering， driving the wagon off into a singularity of techno-verbiage。 The thematic thrust - which， ostensibly is that of the fact that free will is an illusion - does not find as much purchase， and the narrative lurches from one scene to another through the disbelieving eyes of as baseline a human as they come - with the concomitant confusion that ensues when posthuman supergeniuses and implacable aliens face off in a multidimensional chess game。One of the annoying things about Echopraxia is how Watts writes his posthumans。 They're described as being so fiercely intelligent to the point of omniscience， and Watts treats them as such。 This leads to plots where the inexplicable or the illogical is just passed off as being part of some greater intellect's recondite stratagem， which the baselines are not equipped to even apprehend。 Even at the end of the book， it's not immediately clear to the protagonist what his little expedition was all about， apart from a few vague speculations。 Watts is content to let the whole "too advanced for our understanding" thing explain the weirdness of the plot。That's not to say there aren't any good ideas - the worldbuilding is arguably slightly better than Blindsight， and again stuffed with enough ideas to fill a while other sf trilogy。 Whether it's hive-mind ascetics who induce tumours in their brains to bootstrap their intelligence into posthuman proportions， weaponized tornadoes， or self-replicating intelligent ooze， Watts never disappoints in that department。 But it's a shame that Echopraxia doesn't seem to soar quite as high as Blindsight did in synthesising its many ideas into a thematically sound whole。I give Blindsight: 4。5 out of 5 scramblersI give Echopraxia: 3。5 out of 5 Bicamerals 。。。more

Black Moon Cat ，

#1 Первая мысль: "Больше всего похоже на оригинальное "Путешествие Нильса с дикими гусями"， только по современной науке"; мысли эта хорошо коррелирует с осознанием пугающей невозможности отслеживать реальность исследований， всенарастающий информационный коллапс из-за генерации мусорного контента в чудовищных количествах с одновременной смертью текстового поиска。 И как художественной литературы， ценность книги примерно та же。Читала сразу после "Концепции лжи" Бессонова， и сравнение не в пользу "О #1 Первая мысль: "Больше всего похоже на оригинальное "Путешествие Нильса с дикими гусями"， только по современной науке"; мысли эта хорошо коррелирует с осознанием пугающей невозможности отслеживать реальность исследований， всенарастающий информационный коллапс из-за генерации мусорного контента в чудовищных количествах с одновременной смертью текстового поиска。 И как художественной литературы， ценность книги примерно та же。Читала сразу после "Концепции лжи" Бессонова， и сравнение не в пользу "Огнепада"。 Подростковая философичность。 Примерно с тем же посылом можно Евангелион посмотреть。 И делать это надо в те же 17+-3 лет， тогда ещё хорошо получается сложность формы принимать за глубину мысли。Первая история наиболее полна по содержанию， и та -- переусложненное рассуждение на очевидные （взрослому） темы。 Стоит ли городить загадочный сюжет ради вопроса， написанного в пределах первых двух страниц любой качественной буддистской， к примеру， литературы？Совершенно выпущен из виду вопрос ценностей。 По определению я знаю， что большинство моих представлений ложно; шокирующим и парализующим жизнь открытием этого факт не является。 Но это тоже неочевидная истина， которая приходит со взрослостью。В результате имеем довольно странного кадавра: книжка для подростка по целям -- но не по опыту， не сможет понять。 Тогда же， когда понимания хватит。。。 Внезапно чарующая иллюзия волшебства распадается на дым и зеркала。Финальный пассаж насчёт ненадёжного рассказчика， впрочем， очень меня порадовал тем， как элегантно возвращает фокус внимания。#2-4Будто автор картину превращает в цикл， добавляя взгляды: из той же точки -- в другие стороны， на те же истории -- с других сторон， происходящее в то же время -- но в других местах и с другими героями。。。 Создаёт забавное ощущение наблюдения за романизацией повести -- в процессе。 В целом же， авторские фанфики остаются фанфиками， и не все из них способны дорасти до самостоятельных произведений。 Этим вот не удалось。#5 в процессе 。。。more

Nick Imrie ，

I put this book down， went into the kitchen where my boyfriend was making tea， threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck。 “We're animals！” I told him。He looked at me suspiciously。 “Are you saying I smell？”Of course not， but how to explain to him that I just spent hours in the world of Firefall: an intensely cerebral place where everybody is fixed on the zero-sum struggle for survival plotted through game theory and the ruthless manipulation of minds， brains， genes， and bodies by be I put this book down， went into the kitchen where my boyfriend was making tea， threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck。 “We're animals！” I told him。He looked at me suspiciously。 “Are you saying I smell？”Of course not， but how to explain to him that I just spent hours in the world of Firefall: an intensely cerebral place where everybody is fixed on the zero-sum struggle for survival plotted through game theory and the ruthless manipulation of minds， brains， genes， and bodies by beings who have augmented， tweaked， upgraded， and uploaded themselves to such exalted states of intelligence that us mere baseline meat-sacks cannot possibly hope to understand them。 A place where consciousness itself might be nothing more than an evolutionary dead-end， doomed to be superseded by those who have not wasted precious mental processing power on ephemera like love or music。 They only have rational kin-selection and pattern recognition。How pleasant to come back to the body and be intensely grateful for the capacity for pleasure and the appreciation of beauty。I first read Blindsight （part 1 of this duology） when I was a teenager， and it totally blew my mind。 At that point I hadn't even heard of Oliver Sacks， and I was fascinated and horrified by the litany of brain malfunctions that could so easily destroy what we think of as ourselves。 I was perturbed by the idea that free will is an illusion， and we're all， as Siri Keeton puts it， a homunculus behind our own eyeballs。 I've got to admit that I'm a lot more relaxed about it now。 He says homunculus; I prefer the term aristocrat。 While the plebs of my sub-conscious busy themselves with tedious functions like digestion， locomotion， and daily routine， here sit I， the brahmin of my self， weaving it all together into a tidy narrative and occasionally directing some executive function。Over a decade later， Blindsight is still an excellent book。 I know less now than I did then， and I'm still frantically googling to keep up with the text， which bombards you with technical terms， some real， some plausible-sounding Wattsian inventions。 The characters are still opaque to me， and they only really come in two types: the hardbitten， foul-mouthed realists and the foolish， naïve optimists。 This can be tiresome， especially in Echopraxia （part 2） where the main character is inexplicably ungrateful for having his life saved and spends most of the book in a sulk that the super-intelligent mind-hive isn't paying him more attention。The sameness of the characters suggests that Peter Watts can't really imagine what it's like to be another human being。 Nowhere is this more evident that in Echopraxia where he gallantly attempts to write a character who believes in God， and doesn't even come close to making them seem plausible。 In the afterword he cheerily acknowledges this。 His extremely interesting list of references includes plenty of papers on why belief in God is nothing more than a neurological glitch， but no theology。 The strange thing is， that despite being unable to write people， he writes some of the best aliens I've ever encountered。 Nobody else even comes close to showing how inhumanly different another intelligence could be。Because of the utter foreignness of the aliens， both these books have a very satisfying twist。 You won't understand why anything is happening until the end when you'll be like， “Wait？ What？ That's their motivation？” Unfortunately， it means that for most of the middle of the book nobody's actions will make any sense。 But it's well-worth keeping faith and persevering for some of the best explorations in fiction of consciousness and free will。 。。。more

Richard Marshall ，

Full of pseudo science that is grounded in natural laws but which may or not become fact。 Well developed narratives that are admittedly blurred by the science overlay but an enjoyable read nonetheless。

Michael Rawling ，

AwesomeUnbelievably brilliant work of sci-fi that is highly recommended for plot， writing quality， style and most strongly， the ideas！ If you like sci-fi this is a must read

Readbane ，

It's one of those books that makes me think， and one of those books that make me a bit melancholic， which means that it all in all is a very good experience。 It's one of those books that makes me think， and one of those books that make me a bit melancholic， which means that it all in all is a very good experience。 。。。more

DB LeConte-Spink ，

Heavy with concepts and extrapolations - mind candy for those attuned to such pleasures。

Carl Barlow ，

A compendium of two connected novels， being Blindsight and Echopraxia。Blindsight was not written to make friends。 It's concept heavy， it asks you to sympathise with very broken people （often so broken it's hard to call them people）， the author's voice is often so loud you can't but help think he likes it's sound too much。。。 and the italics！Echopraxia， though， is a more polished affair altogether - much more the novel， much more accessible。。。 much less italicisation。Both are promoted as novels of A compendium of two connected novels， being Blindsight and Echopraxia。Blindsight was not written to make friends。 It's concept heavy， it asks you to sympathise with very broken people （often so broken it's hard to call them people）， the author's voice is often so loud you can't but help think he likes it's sound too much。。。 and the italics！Echopraxia， though， is a more polished affair altogether - much more the novel， much more accessible。。。 much less italicisation。Both are promoted as novels of first contact。 That drives the basic plots， certainly， but they are really explorations of human Mind， of consciousness， of free will （or utter lack of it）。 As such， both are fascinating （though Echopraxia is the more entertaining）， will linger with you after completion， and -and more importantly- will invoke a Desire to Know More。Watts is a well read man， and has something to say。 He gets almost boorish saying it at times， but he is damn well worth listening to。 。。。more

Kjartan Bergsson ，

Loved it。 Read it in record time could not put it away。One of few book I regret finishing。

Joyce ，

It wasn't the book， it was me。 It wasn't the book， it was me。 。。。more

The Dragon Reads （Joyce） ，

It's not the book， it's me。 It's not the book， it's me。 。。。more

Scifimoth ，

DNF at page 610。 Whilst it is jammed-packed with great science that kept me reading so close to the finish， the writing is not enjoyable - in fact it's barely readable。 I liken it to a long journey on a corrugated gravel road: constant jarring vibrations。 Except in this case you can stop the journey at any time， because it ceased being worth it。 I just got tired of trying to follow what was going on; the introduction of concepts， bio-technology， physics， etc。， and events is unforgiving to the re DNF at page 610。 Whilst it is jammed-packed with great science that kept me reading so close to the finish， the writing is not enjoyable - in fact it's barely readable。 I liken it to a long journey on a corrugated gravel road: constant jarring vibrations。 Except in this case you can stop the journey at any time， because it ceased being worth it。 I just got tired of trying to follow what was going on; the introduction of concepts， bio-technology， physics， etc。， and events is unforgiving to the reader; for me the rewards dwindled。 You have to admire the 50 pages of scientific references at the end。 Give this author some more experience in honing his writing skills （hopefully more forgiving of his readers） and he will be a SF powerhouse。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Firefall

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Firefall&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Firefall&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0