03-01-2018, 05:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-01-2018, 06:12 AM by stevebowers.)
Spoilers.
My interest in this book has always been largely due to the various types of sophont described within.
The Orphan Yatima is a kind of procedurally-generated mind, drawn entirely from generalised mental characteristics ( as opposed to minds that are created from the traits of specific individuals); both kinds of minds could be described in more detail in OA if we wish. These inhabitants of the 'polises' are generally virtual in nature, although they can adopt physical bodies at times.
Statics are ordinary humans, who seem to be quite low-tech and even luddite in nature. Another kind of biont described is the Exuberant; the equivalent of various augmented and bio-modified clades in OA . Finally there are humans that have uploaded themselves into robot bodies; Gleisners (these are something like the Temporary Bodies and Incarnates in OA, although the Gleisners seem to use the robots as Permanent rather than Temporary homes).
Wang's Carpets are another really interesting concept, an alien one this time; they apparently originated in a short story by Egan in 1995.
I might cook up a polity based on the Gleisner concept one day, although we have used the idea in various forms in a number of articles already.
My interest in this book has always been largely due to the various types of sophont described within.
The Orphan Yatima is a kind of procedurally-generated mind, drawn entirely from generalised mental characteristics ( as opposed to minds that are created from the traits of specific individuals); both kinds of minds could be described in more detail in OA if we wish. These inhabitants of the 'polises' are generally virtual in nature, although they can adopt physical bodies at times.
Statics are ordinary humans, who seem to be quite low-tech and even luddite in nature. Another kind of biont described is the Exuberant; the equivalent of various augmented and bio-modified clades in OA . Finally there are humans that have uploaded themselves into robot bodies; Gleisners (these are something like the Temporary Bodies and Incarnates in OA, although the Gleisners seem to use the robots as Permanent rather than Temporary homes).
Wang's Carpets are another really interesting concept, an alien one this time; they apparently originated in a short story by Egan in 1995.
I might cook up a polity based on the Gleisner concept one day, although we have used the idea in various forms in a number of articles already.