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Postsingular$17.95 add to cart

Postsingular is far and away one of the strangest books I have ever read. Sci-fi veteran Rudy Rucker, also a mathematician and computer scientist, has created a work that combines the suspense of an action pot-boiler with the latest in reality-warping string/quantum theory.

I normally avoid the baffling tech-talk that permeates most hard science fiction, as I find I'm using more mental energy trying to define large words than actually discovering what the book is trying to tell me. Postsingular certainly has no lack of scientific jargon, but Rucker has a distinct talent for visualizing impossibilities. When he describes a swarm of nanomachines devouring Earth and replacing it with a virtual Vearth, complete with computed versions of all of us, it comes across less as technobabble than a thrilling description of the indescribable. Although completely unlike everything I have read, Postsingular reminds me most of the mind-bending early work done by Philip K Dick, J.G. Ballard and William Gibson. Rucker also manages to populate his demented world with realistic, relatable and funny characters. For anyone looking for something different, this book would definitely appeal. The sequel, Hylozoic, is now out in hardcover.