Science Fiction

Blindsight

Blindsight

  • Downloads：1098
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-12-13 09:50:56
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Peter Watts
  • ISBN：1250237483
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Hugo and Shirley Jackson award-winning Peter Watts stands on the cutting edge of hard SF with his acclaimed novel， Blindsight

Two months since the stars fell。。。

Two months of silence， while a world held its breath。

Now some half-derelict space probe， sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit， hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam。 Whatever's out there isn't talking to us。 It's talking to some distant star， perhaps。 Or perhaps to something closer， something en route。

So who do you send to force introductions with unknown and unknowable alien intellect that doesn't wish to be met？

You send a linguist with multiple personalities， her brain surgically partitioned into separate， sentient processing cores。 You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound。 You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed。 You send a monster to command them all， an extinct hominid predator once called vampire， recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths。 And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there。

Pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world。 They may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find。

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Reviews

Seamus MacLiam ，

I really enjoyed it。

John Jackson ，

Frustrating。 Enjoyed the philosophy of mind stuff， but I couldn’t follow the action nor picture the setpieces。

Acho ，

The book is packed with ideas and for slow reading。 You read certain part， let it digest for a moment and ideas develop on their own in your head over time。 It throws you to the world where you have never been before or imagined wholly， but at the end you really can’t tell for exact what you have actually learned from the book。

Manasi ，

4。5 stars！

Anatoly ，

Tedious。

Dina ，

Как-то все непонятно。。

Lynn ，

What if consciousness/ self-awareness is a liar and all it can do is hindering & hampering？ 这本真是太好看了，虽然一直知道 reality其实是对于每个人来说的perception， 而perception中很多都是/全是illusion，但这本看下来还是开启了新的种族level看consciousness的视角

Richard ，

very interesting， had me hooked

serial_thrill_kisser ，

i will absolutely re-read this book （in physical/e-book form rather than audio） in the future in order to grasp all the ideas presented - has a huge potential for a higher rating

Paulo "paper books always" Carvalho ，

Sometimes when I Read a book， and after searching for reviews I think - what？ Was I reading the same thing？ But this book is is another level。。。。 This book I didn't understood shit - the first 120 pages are completely mess so I am wondering about the 4。01 rating。It says it's horror - where？I won't be reading the second one。 That's for sure。 With hundreds， thousands books I won't be reading the second when I didn't enjoy the first。 It's a shame。 When I read aliens and look for more horror sci-fi Sometimes when I Read a book， and after searching for reviews I think - what？ Was I reading the same thing？ But this book is is another level。。。。 This book I didn't understood shit - the first 120 pages are completely mess so I am wondering about the 4。01 rating。It says it's horror - where？I won't be reading the second one。 That's for sure。 With hundreds， thousands books I won't be reading the second when I didn't enjoy the first。 It's a shame。 When I read aliens and look for more horror sci-fi stuff this appear - BUT where？ Maybe I was disappointing because I was thinking of something and getting another？One of the things i said it was - I won't read books that I am not enjoying。 I just drop it。 There is one rating and there is one rating （not the same thing eheh）。To me， one of the worst novels of the year for me。 This and Caitlin Kiernan novels。。。 maybe they are philosophical？ And i am not？ Bah。。。 。。。more

V2k ，

125 wpm

Ash Leaux ，

this book has a LOT of concepts， all very cool， but perhaps too many for my taste。 for a book that has aliens and vampires it's odd that the central focus is on just the most boring man this book has a LOT of concepts， all very cool， but perhaps too many for my taste。 for a book that has aliens and vampires it's odd that the central focus is on just the most boring man 。。。more

Karnig ，

Stunning。 Challenging。 Rewarding。 Uranium dense with ideas。 Forces the reader to engage， empathize， humanize。 Brilliant stuff。

Tomasz ，

SF z tych trudniejszych， mocno mięsistych。 Akcja dzieje się w przyszłości， ale nie wiemy co wydarzyło się pomiędzy， musimy przystosować się do nowej rzeczywistości， co nie jest łatwe。 Zgrabnie poprowadzona， imponująco pomysłowa。

Sheila ，

Listened to the first 2 hours and then gave up。 This is a type of scifi that doesn't appeal to me。 There's a lot of things being made more complicated than seems necessary， a lot of not explaining what's going on， a lot of references to what I suppose is meant to be cool technology。 Plus I didn't find the main character interesting at all。 Listened to the first 2 hours and then gave up。 This is a type of scifi that doesn't appeal to me。 There's a lot of things being made more complicated than seems necessary， a lot of not explaining what's going on， a lot of references to what I suppose is meant to be cool technology。 Plus I didn't find the main character interesting at all。 。。。more

Bob Knight ，

Just couldn't get into it Just couldn't get into it 。。。more

Michael ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I'm a sucker for anything vaguely horror related in space， so willing to overlook some nitpicks about prose to give this one the highest honor。 Watts is a PhD in a science field， and it shows for ways both good and bad- a little too much nerdy hard sci fi stuff in here， but also a wide range of knowledge that allows him to delve deeper into the possibilities presented by evolution and the nature of consciousness。 There's plenty of interesting angles on consciousness in here， but they can all go I'm a sucker for anything vaguely horror related in space， so willing to overlook some nitpicks about prose to give this one the highest honor。 Watts is a PhD in a science field， and it shows for ways both good and bad- a little too much nerdy hard sci fi stuff in here， but also a wide range of knowledge that allows him to delve deeper into the possibilities presented by evolution and the nature of consciousness。 There's plenty of interesting angles on consciousness in here， but they can all go in a textbook if the imagery and the vibes of this don't come together。 Luckily， they do- the ever expanding crown of thorns of the alien spaceship， the hallucinations lurking in the shadows of the crew's explorations， the tentacled aliens stalking them and experimented on- they all， along with the slow trickle of discoveries， create an atmosphere of horrified curiosity that carries the reader through and becomes even more effective when that atmosphere turns inward on the crew and their motivations。 The future of Blindsight is one of increased technology， humans literally getting brain surgery to make them less human， to remove unpleasant memories， turn their processing into a supercomputer and in the process remove their capacity for human emotions， sex had solely online and never in the flesh， humans going to the "Heaven" of an online server and leaving their body and their friends and lovers behind。 Vampires are real， and have been tamed to serve human needs- but their consciousness is not like ours， having no sense of past or future， no real sense of self。 Despite their attempts to remove it， humans have their consciousness， are still trapped to the almighty "I"， even in light of their efforts to distance themselves surgically- and this proves to be a weakness against the alien crawlers， who have no consciousness but are remarkably intelligent， all the brain power devoted to maintaining a self-image loosened to cultivate collective intelligence， to problem solve at levels we cannot comprehend。 The humans have no hope to overwhelm the intelligence once forced to come into conflict with it- the end is only them suicide bombing the alien ship， mutually assured destruction by two types of brain that cannot make sense of the others- the human attempt at language and communication a hostile attack for the aliens， the alien layout totally incomprehensible to the human brain。Of course， the end has our protagonist making his way back to Earth， his humanity restored in hostile fashion by the crew， only to discover that humanity has been overtaken by the vampires， their consciousness remaining their undoing as the higher evolved vampires overtake them on the planet， leaving Siri （yes， that's the protagonist's name） the lone human， the last conscious being floating along in space alone。 It creates an emotional moment， the last being feeling the end for human connection alone in space， and an interesting juxtaposition: our protagonist， who imploded relationships and desired to return to what he was before surgery triumphantly understanding what it was to be human again， feeling again and regaining a purer form of consciousness all while humanity as a whole has seemingly gone extinct due to that same consciousness。 It's a swirl of mixed emotions， one that evokes how I imagine Watts feels about consciousness: a horror， a beauty， the possibilities for beauty and connection and cruelty and pain all colliding。 Doing so evocatively at the close of a novel that is compelling on a storytelling basis as well is an impressive feat。 。。。more

Ryan Moulton ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Great ideas， quite a page turner， uneven execution and plotting。The most compelling idea is that intelligence without consciousness might be common， and that such intelligence might view the communication of conscious entities as a mind virus。I didn't find the description of different modes of consciousness to be that compelling， partly because of the way he tries to make his characters interact naturalistically without any of the didacticism that would clue the reader into the details of what t Great ideas， quite a page turner， uneven execution and plotting。The most compelling idea is that intelligence without consciousness might be common， and that such intelligence might view the communication of conscious entities as a mind virus。I didn't find the description of different modes of consciousness to be that compelling， partly because of the way he tries to make his characters interact naturalistically without any of the didacticism that would clue the reader into the details of what they're thinking， but also partly because I don't think the author has the cs background to reason through what the consequences of such different modes of consciousness would be。 A lot of the "clues" don't make much sense in retrospect。 。。。more

Dan ，

F****g masterpiece。

Bryan House ，

This book reminds me of when you find a 3 year old twizzler from Halloween。 If you happen to eat it， it's rock hard - all the dense， and you won't continue to eat it。Like an idiot， I continued and muched on the impossibly hard rock that someone somewhere considers to still be a piece of candy。 Inaccessible and dense is an understatement as I had to take notes to follow the plot。 I love annotating books， but this book I had to annotate in order to remove the irrelevant constant word salad jargon。 This book reminds me of when you find a 3 year old twizzler from Halloween。 If you happen to eat it， it's rock hard - all the dense， and you won't continue to eat it。Like an idiot， I continued and muched on the impossibly hard rock that someone somewhere considers to still be a piece of candy。 Inaccessible and dense is an understatement as I had to take notes to follow the plot。 I love annotating books， but this book I had to annotate in order to remove the irrelevant constant word salad jargon。As I got near the end I just imagined everyone as a shirtless Henry Cavill - it helped me finish this hot mess。I'm so happy for you if you enjoyed this book。 Go off with your big brain。 Love that for you。But me？ No。Pardon me while I go read a picture book to cleanse my soul 。。。more

Kacper Cichosz ，

I was lost so many times while reading this book。 There were so many abstract things happening that sometimes it was tough to wrap my head around it。 Near future spaceship with vampires， one body with 4 different persons living in it （it took me way too long to realise this） and some other synthetic people。 Trying to understand how it is to not have consciousness。。。 It wasn't a bad book， I just felt stupid while reading it。 I was lost so many times while reading this book。 There were so many abstract things happening that sometimes it was tough to wrap my head around it。 Near future spaceship with vampires， one body with 4 different persons living in it （it took me way too long to realise this） and some other synthetic people。 Trying to understand how it is to not have consciousness。。。 It wasn't a bad book， I just felt stupid while reading it。 。。。more

Kamal Singh ，

Vampire， space travel， first contact ！！！ It lets you observe and think from outsider as Siri。 A difficult book to follow， full of technical/nerdy jargons。 Not advised if new to sci-fictions， but a must read ！

Caleb Cavazos ，

1st read November 2021I found the book to be very i’m entertaining and at some points made me question the nature of our existence but it’s not far removed from some of the work of Ted Chiang， who I think is a bit smarter to tackle some of these questions。 I definitely was drawn to to book by the presence of vampires and i was not disappointed， this was my favorite character by far。 I definitely want to read again。

TheSenate ，

I loved this book more that I thought I could。 This is a must read book。 This would have to be the archetypal hard science genre story。 That which all others could only hope to follow。

james wells ，

I just can't。 I just can't。 。。。more

Shashwat ，

It was a little heavy for my tastes， and too many splits for me to properly follow the story。The concept is very interesting， but I couldn't appreciate it well enough。 It was a little heavy for my tastes， and too many splits for me to properly follow the story。The concept is very interesting， but I couldn't appreciate it well enough。 。。。more

Gavin Smith ，

I have had this sitting on my Kindle for a couple of years now and had pretty much forgotten all about it。 Basically， I buy too many books！ I can't believe it took me so long to get around to something that was， apparently， tailor made for my exact science fiction tastes。 I loved this。 Loved it so much I kind of want to just start reading it all over again but I've already started on Echopraxia so that re-read will have to wait。 （Incidentally， I am actually reading the Firefall omnibus edition o I have had this sitting on my Kindle for a couple of years now and had pretty much forgotten all about it。 Basically， I buy too many books！ I can't believe it took me so long to get around to something that was， apparently， tailor made for my exact science fiction tastes。 I loved this。 Loved it so much I kind of want to just start reading it all over again but I've already started on Echopraxia so that re-read will have to wait。 （Incidentally， I am actually reading the Firefall omnibus edition of these books， but I want to review them separately。） I most enjoy science fiction when it gives me some combination of the following tropes: a strange （brave？） new world to explore， interesting character dynamics that extend from the new world， organic exposition of the characters and world building that doesn't feel like a character from a novel explaining things to a reader of a novel， a tight， focused story， and most importantly， some examination of what it means to be human in the HERE AND NOW。 I like my science fiction settings to be a device for examining the real world， rather than the focus of the plot。 Blindsight delivers on all of this by the bucketload。 Peter Watts does a fantastic job of building the world incrementally， which both informs and mystifies very effectively。 The character interactions of the group are consistently fascinating， with multiple different characters "twinning" off of each other in interesting ways。 The novel's investigation of consciousness and free will is both intelligent， insightful， and terrifying。 While the plot DOES have huge， world-shaking ramifications， we are only witness to an extremely focused part of it。I haven't summarised any of the plot here， which I am not really in the habit of doing anyway。 Blindsight is best read blind。 Just jump in and explore。 。。。more

Laci ，

I don't think it's very well written， but the book plays with some rather exciting thoughts around human consciousness。 I don't think it's very well written， but the book plays with some rather exciting thoughts around human consciousness。 。。。more

Daniel ，

The non-linerarity of the Arrhernius balance present in the heavy-atom tunneling that carries the preexponetial low-temperature ambient radiation can't equate for how fucking terrible this book is。 Fuck！ Shit！ The non-linerarity of the Arrhernius balance present in the heavy-atom tunneling that carries the preexponetial low-temperature ambient radiation can't equate for how fucking terrible this book is。 Fuck！ Shit！ 。。。more

Elliott ，

DNF 15%

Reference

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

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

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