Black Man
Winner of the 2008 Arthur C. Clarke Award Published as Black Man in the UK and Thirteen in North America Carl Marsalis is a traitor, a bringer of death, a genetic freak and an unwelcome reminder of all that is dark in the human psyche – he in every sense of the word a Black Man. And right at the moment he’s beyond the UN’s jurisdiction, banged up in a Florida jail for financing an illegal abortion. So when the US police call, Carl cuts a deal. The 13s are genetically engineered alpha males, designed to fight the century’s last conflicts. But men bred and designed to fight are dangerous to have around in peacetime. Many of them have left for Mars, but one has returned. Somehow he survived the journey to Earth, and now a series of brutal slayings has erupted across America. Only Carl can stop him. And so begins a frenetic man hunt and a battle for survival. And a search for the truth about what was really done with the world’s last soldiers.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
7mentions
5people
2017–2022years
29% recommend71% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I would kind of consider the stand alone books Black Man/Thirteen, Thin Air (two books, same universe) and the Altered Carbon trilogy by Richard Morgan "hard" sci-fi to an extent - and be aware that the TV series, while entertaining, butchered much of the political content in the books.
- Many great recommandations already. I'd recommend Sterling as well, perhaps "Islands in the net" if you can get hold of a copy. Or "holy Fire". Stephenson's "Diamond Age", "Snowcrash". I read Singh's (non-fiction) "Codebook" before giving "Cryptonomicon" a shot - ended up not finishing it. Do recommend Singh.
Right now I'm reading Atwood's Madd Adam triology - it's shaping up to be some of the best dystopien sf I've read in a long while.
And for something a bit different I stumbled across in a thrift shop: "Canal Dreams" by Ian Banks.
Oh, and Gibson's latest: "The Peripheral".
Second the recommendedation for Richard Morgan, especially "Thirteen / Black Man" and "Broken Angels" (I accidentally started with this, book two of a triology, but actually think it stands well.on its own. The lack of exposition in the first chapter turns it in to a bit of a mystery book (who is this main character anyway?)).
Finally, a must-read (preferably the sci-fi masterworks edition with a foreword by Gibson): Alfred Bester, "The Stars My Destination / Tiger, Tiger".
- I found Altered Carbon significantly different from and more thoughtful than the TV adaptation, as I commented here a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16348681
Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon books (as well as his Black Man, published as Thirteen in North America) are very angry and bleak in tone, from what I recall. (But they were not angry at technology itself, the way the characters of the Altered Carbon TV series were; in-universe characters weren't trying to eliminate the cortical stack in the books.) They also have some spectacular action sequences, which is probably why they were picked up for TV. They have some horrific tortures (both in VR and out of it), much worse than shown in the TV adaptation, which is why I haven't re-read them like I did Neuromancer.
- As featured in Richard Morgan's Black Man aka 13. And upcoming Thin Air.
- This is an excellent discussion.
I especially love this comment:
> I believe for example if it wasn’t for biases and unequal opportunities, then the higher ranks in science and politics would be dominated by women. Hence, aiming at a 50-50 representation gives men an unfair advantage. I challenge you to provide any evidence to the contrary.
Because arguably that's where gender differences highlighted in Damore's memo point :)
I'm reminded of Richard Morgan's Black Man aka 13. He argues that men basically don't play well in groups ;)
- > I'm reminded of Richard Morgan's Black Man aka 13. He argues that men basically don't play well in groups ;)
Damore would be a perfect example of that. There is a time and a place for your beliefs, but the workplace isn't that. ;)
