Blindsight

By: Peter Watts

Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith

Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in 2082, Peter Watts' Blindsight is fast-moving, hard SF that pulls readers into a futuristic world where a mind-bending alien encounter is about to unfold.

After the Firefall, all eyes are locked heavenward as a team of specialists aboard the self-piloted spaceship Theseus hurtles outbound to intercept an unknown intelligence.

©2006 Peter Watts (P)2008 Recorded Books LLC

You'll just have to imagine you're Siri Keeton

I had read multiple reviews of this book that said it was dark, and it is but only in a nihilistic, deterministic way--it was not that depressing to me, but maybe it should have been. Either way, I could hardly resist the quirkiest character ensemble since the Wizard of Oz. The crew selected to make first contact consists of a biologist so interfaced with hardware that his wetware is now buggy, a linguist with surgically induced Multiple Personality Disorder, a military officer with too much empathy for her enemies, and a designated observer who comprehends more with his one remaining brain hemisphere than most do with both. The mission commander is a genetically resurrected vampire and the ship is captained by an AI.

They are off to see some truly alien aliens whose actions are less scary than their implications. The book is a study of consciousness, sentience, and the Chinese Room concept. This is definitely hard SF with lots of scientific concepts and terminology, but most of the time you can grasp the science from context when it is not explained outright. That was not a big deterrent for me and I actually learned a great deal.

The Peter Watts website also has some interesting end notes.

Intelligent and Fun

I chose to give this book a 5 star rating because I couldn’t put it down. I found the science part just as interesting as the fiction part. The science was heavy, which I like, but I did have to slow my normal listening speed down a bit to keep up. I also liked that some mythology was woven into the story. And the performance was excellent - Smith really made the creepiness of one of the characters extra creepy. Will definitely check out more of Peter Watt’s books!

Ending was a little rushed

The ending was a little rushed, and the plot could have been developed more, but overall an entertaining read. I feel like authors today spend too much time trying to set up the next story rather than telling you this one. About 1/4 of the book could have been cut out - it was repetitive or setting you up for a story that isn't being told yet. The writing was excellent, just wish the story telling was better.

Makes you think

An excellent book about the nature and purpose of consciousness, empathy and human connection. On one side there's the religious explanation for sure, but even that leaves room to wonder about the mechanics of it all, and Peter Watts has an interesting take. Sure, there are aliens in this book - great ones, at that - but that's not where this book shines. It's Watts' philosophy and take on what it means to be human, his imaginative characters and world-setting, and his writing style. T. Ryder Smith's narration in the audiobook version was excellent. I absolutely enjoyed this book and it blew my mind. If you're intrigued by ideas from books like Thinking, Fast and Slow, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, you'll enjoy this one.

Great hard science fiction

Manages to weave current science into a powerful story with an interesting perspective. The characters are well defined, not cookie cutter supporting cast. Leaves enough doubt to keep you reading. Worth a reread, and not much is.

Terrible audio

Any additional comments?

I'm not sure if it was the tonation of the narration, the production quality, the content, or all three combined, but the audio had a quality that begged the listener to tune out. Try as I might, I couldn't keep my focus on the book. I gave up after listening for a couple of hours and realizing I still had no idea what was going on.

Thought provoking

Very interesting and thought provoking concepts are explored in this story. It's a future where people with mental disorders or brain defects are not only "fixed" but also enhanced beyond "baseline" humans, at some expense to their humanity. On top of that there is the existence and integration of a mythical bloodline, first contact, and an interesting solution for long-distance multi-year space travel.

The story is told as a first person narrative about a first contact with an entirely unfathomable entity. The character's purpose on the mission is to be the equivalent of an embedded reporter, but with the added responsibility of translating the actions of the enhanced humans on the mission into baseline understandable terms. Exactly what this means is hard to explain, because the reader is only human. :-) Although he is enhanced himself, his abilities permit him to straddle both sides of the situation... And this struggle of understanding his ability is one of the themes.

The narrator does a great job of evoking the character's tone. The narrating character's enhancement makes him emotionally stunted, so the narrator reads the story in a fairly monotone voice. In my opinion this really adds to the story and makes the character's behavior more understandable. It really makes him stand out as apart from normal humans.

Definitely one of my favorite stories.

Gets better with each listen

This is probably my favorite book of all time, but it may have taken 5 or so listens to reach that point. it also may have ruined much of SF for me. luckily I have the job type where I can put in 50 hours a week listening.

I don't want to talk about the story much but I would press the listener to finish it and analyze it for some time. I think it may even come off as oddly written to most and it certainly was difficult for me.

I think it's crucial to listen as if Siri is actually speaking, not Watts. I see a lot of stuff written about how the author must have problems but I truly think he was able to write from this bizarre perspective of a man with half a mind and no thoughts of his own (I found Siri far to relatable for my comfort).

t. Ryder Smith does an absolutely phenomenal job. though initially strange (all new books sound weird at first) his voice is soothing and I often listen to it to focus on work. He smoothly reads sentences that I can only mentally stumble through.

the best I can say is this book will not appeal to everyone, but if you have an open mind it's certainly worth a credit and 12 hours.

absolutely marvelous

captivating characters; lucid, complex, effortless prose; even explores the nature of conscious identity. if you haven't read this, read it.

Good!!

I loved this book. Cool characters, amazing concept on consciousness and self awareness. The ending was satisfying.