| The Algebraist | |
 |
|
| Author | Iain M. Banks |
|---|---|
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Orbit |
| Publication date | 2004 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 534 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-84149-155-1 |
| Preceded by | Raw Spirit |
| Followed by | The Steep Approach to Garbadale |
The Algebraist, a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, first appeared in print in 2004. Iain Menzies Banks (born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish Writer. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Orbit Books is a British publisher which specialises in Sci-Fi and Fantasy books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Raw Spirit In Search of the Perfect Dram is a Nonfiction book by Iain Banks, first published in 2003 The Steep Approach to Garbadale is a Novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 2007 A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Iain Menzies Banks (born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish Writer. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2005. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year Winners of the Hugo Award for best science fiction or fantasy Novel, along with all the nominees are presented here
Contents |
Plot introduction
The book largely focuses on the Dwellers, a species of gas-giant inhabitants. Dwellers are a fictional Species featured in The Algebraist, a Science fiction novel by Iain M A gas giant (sometimes also known as a Jovian planet after the planet Jupiter, or giant planet) is a large Planet that is not primarily It covers in passing their reactions to invasion, assisted and witnessed by a human xeno-ethnologist.
Plot summary
The action of the novel takes place in 4034 A. D. With the assistance of other species, humans have spread across the galaxy. In centre-stage Banks portrays the human Fassin Taak, a Slow Seer at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers. The Beyonders have cut the system of Nasqueron's star (Ulubis) off from the rest of Mercatoria civilisation by destroying its portal, and the local Mercatoria adherents await the delivery of a wormhole connection from a neighbouring system via sub-lightspeed travel.
The Dwellers, a hyper-advanced (and ancient) post-civilisation, lead an almost anarchic existence based on kudos, and inhabit the majority of gas-giant planets in the galaxy. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Kudos is a program used mostly in schools for young people deciding on their career choices and what qualifications they may need to get reach careers Dweller defence against exceptional threats comes via a largely-secret defence 'club' that operates defensive machinery when attacked (reminiscent of the AI cabals described in some Culture novels such as Excession). The Culture is a Fictional anarchist, socialistic, and Utopian ref> The State of the Art - Banks Iain M Excession, first published in 1996 is Scottish writer Iain M Banks ' fourth Science fiction Novel to feature The Culture
The Mercatoria (a complex governing hierarchy, combining many species with semi-feudal overtones) orders Taak to enter the Dweller-inhabited gas-giant Nasqueron to trace the "Dweller List" of coordinates, and the mathematical transform, that they hope will reveal the Dwellers' secret interstellar portals. In Mathematics a transform is an Operator applied to a function so that under the transform certain operations are simplified Meanwhile, the Archimandrite Luseferous of the Starveling Cult, in loose alliance with the Beyonders, sets out to invade the Ulubis system from the Cluster Epiphany Five Disconnect, to possess the secrets of the Dweller portals for themselves. A Mercatoria fleet hurries to defend Ulubis against the Starveling Cult ships and their Beyonder allies.
The Dweller society, which tries not to get involved with "Quick" species such as those of the Mercatoria, generally hides the existence of its portals. ("The Quick" designates all species of sentient beings who experience life at around the speed human beings experience it, in contrast to "Slow" species, who experience life at a much slower temporal rate. Dweller individuals live for millions of years, and the species has existed for billions. )
Having learnt that the coordinates list merely listed all Dweller-inhabited planets, and that the transform equation sums to zero, Taak deduces that the Dweller wormholes lie at the very centres of the gas-giants themselves, where the space-time curvature becomes flat (as the wormhole technology requires). Although certain elements of the Dwellers try to stop him, he succeeds in escaping with this information.
Meanwhile the Archimandrite Luseferous, attempting to force the Dwellers to his will, so angers them that they unleash devastating anti-matter weapons on his fleet's largest ship. With a Mercatoria battle-group soon arriving in the system, the remains of his fleet beat a hasty retreat.
The novel ends with the location of the Dweller portals having been made public, though what changes this will mean for the Quick and the Slow remain to be seen.
Literary significance and criticism
It follows the interaction between different but predominantly feudal human civilisations, the Nasqueron Dwellers, and artificial intelligences. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed
The central theme of the Culture novels - interference by 'progressive' societies in more 'primitive' societies - becomes an issue here too, as does the influence of interstellar travel mechanisms in shaping space-faring civilisations and the mutual adaptation of artificial intelligences and biological species.
The Algebraist introduces a fictional religion called "The Truth", similar to Nick Bostrom's simulation argument. Nick Bostrom (born Niklas Boström in 1973 is a Swedish philosopher at the University of Oxford known for his work on the Anthropic principle Simulated reality is the proposition that Reality could be simulated—perhaps by Computer simulation —to a degree indistinguishable from "true" Reality Banks' following novel Matter, incidentally, takes the opposite side of the same argument. Matter is a novel from Iain Banks, under the name Iain M Banks
Release details
- First edition hardcover: The Algebraist, Iain M. Banks, London: Orbit, 2004 ISBN 1-84149-155-1 (UK)
- Night Shade Books published the novel in the U.S. in September 2005. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the (ISBN 1-59780-026-0)
External links
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic