The Blog I Never Use

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge

Read Vinge, read Vinge: If you want to know what the future of technology is going to look like, open up Rainbows End and yes, the apostrophe is intentionally truant.

Robert Gu and his grand daughter, Miri are having some issues. After nearly dying from complications associated with Alzheimer's, Robert is back and ready to resume his stunningly successful career as a poet and professor . . . well, almost ready. You see, Robert is in a new world full of virtual realities, and he has has lost his edge, his killer instinct, and --most importantly-- his natural ability to compose poetry. Frightened and in shock, Robert strikes out and emotionally eviscerates Miri, living up to his cruel and heartless reputation.

Forced onto the road to redemption, Robert is confronted by Mysterious Stranger who pops in with the offer of a lifetime: take non-violent action against a book shredding information company and get your poetry back. What could go wrong . . . other than global mind control, a catatonic Daughter- in- Law, an attack on American soil by his marine son, the destruction of the UCSD library, charges of treason, and failing his class presentation with his lab partner, Juan? Plenty, including Miri's death, if he doesn't do something to stop it, and quickly.

My one objection: the time-line: Vinge places the story only 18 years in the future, but many of the breakthroughs seem much farther away than that (especially the medical breakthroughs), while others (wearable hardware) might very well develop beyond the stage in which he pictures them by 2025.

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(I wrote this post for the title --yes, I know that "RE:" is pronounced ray, but it looks like it should sound like "revenge," and that's funny enough for me)