Singularity Sky — Charles Stross
Rating: 4/5
Charles Stross’s Singularity Sky is an interesting novel. Combining concepts from both hard and soft science fiction, and plot formulas from old-time space opera to the modern concept of Singularity (as originated by Vernor Vinge), the result provides an interesting look at the consequences of almost unimaginable future shock from the perspective of both the totally clueless and those that understand what is happening.
In science fiction, the term “Singularity” refers to a period of extremely rapid, unpredictable technological and societal change: the ultimate future shock. The word “Singularity” is meant to conjure up the image of an undefined point on a graph of a mathematical function. For example, the simple function y = abs(1/x), when graphed, is undefined where x is equal to zero, since division by zero is illegal. When graphed, this function rapidly shoots off to infinity on the y axis as x gets closer and closer to zero. This particular function, once x passes zero and goes negative, comes back from infinity equally rapidly, behaving normally from then on. That point on the graph where x is equal to zero is a singularity: a point where the behavior of the function is undefined and the rates of change are enormous.
In some respects, the term “Singularity” is a bit misleading. There are actually several possible ways of looking at a Singularity and its aftermath. If the Singularity reflects a point of unimagninably rapid change, it’s unrealistic to expect that everything would just go right back to the way it was before. If the society experiencing a Singularity doesn’t return to its initial conditions, the term “Discontinuity” might be better. Everything changes in one moment and nothing is ever the same again.
Another possible type of Singularity event is as a period of unimaginably rapid change, followed by a return to relative normalcy afterwards. If the Singularity was caused by external forces, and once those forces are removed the changes are unable to persist on their own, you might have this second type.
Charles Stross incorporates both versions of Singularity in this novel. At some time in the novel’s past, humanity managed to perfect instantaneous transmission of information via quantum entanglement. According to special relativity, this is (mostly) equivalent to time travel. Once humanity built a computer capable of transmitting information into its own past, it quickly bootstrapped to near-godhood, declared itself the “Eschaton”, and instantaneously shipped nine-tenths of the population of Earth off to myriads of new worlds within a radius of about 1000 LY. Obviously, Earth would never be the same. This is the first type of Singularity, and the ongoing ramifications of the Eschaton’s existence serve to set the constraints of Stross’s milieu.
The novel revolves around the effects of the second type of Singularity, as invoked by the Festival, as it blossoms for a short period of time on Rochard’s World, one of the most backwards colony worlds inhabited by humankind. It starts as the planet experiences a rain of telephones from the sky, heralding the arrival of the enigmatic “Festival”. The telephones promise to grant wishes in exchange for entertainment. As the oppressed underclass of Rochard’s World get some of their more grandiose wishes granted, it becomes obvious to the power structure in the colony that the Festival, and more specifically the Singularity that the Festival is inducing on the planet, is a threat to the very structure of their society. They immediately call for help to their capitol world, and a fleet is dispatched to attack the Festival. Of course, the admirals and ministers at the capitol have no idea what they are dealing with. They hatch a risky and extremely dangerous plan to hit the Festival at a point of weakness, a plan that other forces are determined to undermine.
One of the difficulties of writing — at least somewhat believably — about Singularity events is that almost by definition there’s no way to adequately imagine all of what might happen during one. And indeed, much of the hyper-advanced technology Stross includes is described metaphorically or functionally, as a primitive might explain a chainsaw or a helicopter. Technology closer to current levels of understanding is described much more completely, in as hard a fashion as possible.
Another problem with Singularity fiction is that as individual humans experience exponential growth of their cognitive abilities and perceptions, it becomes harder and harder for the author to describe their motivations and thought processes adequately, let alone make the readers care deeply about the characters. Stross avoids this problem through the deus ex machina of the Eschaton, which forbids certain types of causality violations and thereby keeps humanity from completely transcending. In addition, setting the novel in the New Republic, which is reactionary with technology to the point of Luddism, ensures that the major characters will be approachable by merely human readers.
Stross’s characters are believable and sympathetic, with motivations that are unclear enough to be interesting but alluded to enough to avoid irrelevancy. His space travel and combat scenes are well-written, with extensive detail and dramatic tension. Some of the combat scenes seemed a bit long, but this is a minor issue. The high-tech espionage aspects were exceptionally well done and provided the main focus for the latter half of the novel.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read. It’s very refreshing to see an author write thoughtful science fiction that deals with the full potential hinted at by the most modern scientific research. As all Singularity authors seem to have to do, he uses a plot device to shield readers from the full impact of the extreme future shock of the setting, but as plot devices go, the Eschaton is outstanding. I recommend this book without reservation to anyone that likes hard science fiction.