William

disappointing

Revisado: 01-03-25

This truly feels like an aside from the story introduced in "To Your Scatterred Bodies Go." This thing is noticeably light on content and new ideas. The recording is also dragged down by numerous technical and editing errors.

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A real improvement for Yahtzee

Revisado: 03-13-19

Funny, engaging, and builds a compelling world - focusing entirely only on wackadoo outliers makes both the socially conscious and the socially contrarian seem like idiot monsters though. Unfortunately, I'd say the author's association with the truly awful culture of aggrieved white gamer dudes still peeks through. The female protagonist shows progress though.

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Trite

Revisado: 09-12-18

Action hindered by Yahtzee's awkward reading. Uninterested in what makes sci-fi compelling. Misogynistic. Funny though.

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A better future

Revisado: 12-01-17

The title doesn't refer to the world of the novel, but to the future of sci-fi as a genre. Ms. Zettel presents a more inclusive world, exposing not just compelling hypotheticals but also a diversity of people, viewpoints, and cultures.

This book WILL get you outside your cultural bubble, if you give it a chance.

History rhymes though, we should remember the first modern work of science fiction can be credited to Shelley's Frankenstein. The new Prometheus was also a story that chafed at the edges of cultural norms. It wasn't just great because it explored the cultural ramifications of conquering death, and Fool's War didn't just postulate about the potential form and politics of machine sentience. Both books have real insight into what it is to live a meaningful and good life.

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Severely Outdated and Self Absorbed

Revisado: 03-11-16

Would you try another book from Hermann Hesse and/or David Colacci?

I read Siddhartha and liked it. After this, I am leery of investigating Hesse's other work. Colacci did an acceptable job.

What could Hermann Hesse have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I have read Hesse's Siddhartha. It was engaging and interesting, especially as a consideration of an adult Westerner's interpretation of Eastern Gnosticism. The Glass Bead Game is widely praised though not particularly widely known today. I expected a thoughtful philosophical text that mused on the role of education and intellectualism in repelling the rise of fascism.

Instead, I read a long-winded diatribe utterly convinced of its own cleverness. And it was, frankly, boring. I would like to say that this view is the result purely of my contemporary diet of literature where sliding narrative, constructed framing devices, and aside discussions of ideological issues are relatively commonplace. These things are all practiced in Star Trek for Gods' sake. But I cannot. Hesse did not invent, nor did he perfect these techniques.

Hesse's fascination with Eastern mysticism becomes outright fetishism in this text, with a seeming endorsement of the I-Ching as a problem solving tool. The general idea of greater emphasis on enshrining rational thought in society is defeated by the pointless and Pyrrhic death of the main character, halfway through the book. The codas are pointless and preachy, effectively repeating the main story three times! He should have stopped navel-gazing at some point and taken some sort of stand or argued some hypothesis.

If the book is neither purpose-driven, nor entertaining, the only reason to read it is historical curiosity.

What aspect of David Colacci’s performance would you have changed?

None

What character would you cut from The Glass Bead Game?

The 3 extra lives of Knecht

Any additional comments?

More than I care to take the time to discuss here.

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