Blindsight, by Canadian author Peter Watts, is a weird, unflinchingly intense science fiction novel. Hard science fiction, in fact, very hard and in spite of, or rather because of this, it quite often reads like a surrealist thriller. On the one hand it’s about a small group of technologically enhanced people sent aboard the ship Theseus to investigate a mysterious object detected at the edge of the solar system. And through a series of flashbacks we’re given sporadic glimpses into the life of a child growing into a man after undergoing epilepsy curing surgery which left him with no capacity for empathy. This is our narrator, Siri. Chosen to crew the ship because he could observe the others, record how they act and think with becoming emotionally entangled in a way that would compromise his objectivi
But like all the best science fiction, and this is among the best of science fiction, there’s more to the story than that. Of course there is, in a novel that includes a works cited page (actually several pages, and multiple explanatory appendices). The flashbacks, and the main plot to a lesser, though still impressive, extent provide a unique and compelling look at how technology will alter our day to day lives, with a special focus on our growing ability to measure and influence the brain on the neural level. Some of the more interesting innovations are a man who had his nervous system rewired so that he could interface with the ship Theseus directly. Another is the uploading of minds the digital worlds, hardly new but still fresh given the emotional angle Watts takes with it. There’s also a profession dedicated to electromagnetically stimulating peoples brains to induce certain feelings or memories; this, appropriately enough, is the profession or our psychopathic narrator’s erstwhile girlfriend. There are also vampires, but more on them later.
However the novel’s main intellectual thrust parallels the investigation of Rorschach; Watts describes with incredible clarity and detail how external forces can influence how we perceive the world including the phenomenon known as blindsight. Blindsight occurs when a person is convinced they are blind and will maintain that they can see nothing; despite this there will appear to be no detectable neurological or physical damage and physiologically everything is working perfectly. Because there’s no damage the visual impulses are still being processed somewhere in the brain. The result is a person who is for all intents and purposes blind but who can still act as though not blind without consciously realizing it; if you threw an object at their face they would catch it easily. It is the observation of this and similar phenomena which form the basis for Watts’s aliens which I suspect are positively unique in the history of science fiction. It’s difficult to describe his thesis without giving too much away but I think it’s safe to say it incorporates consciousness, reductionism and evolution.
And even if you don’t agree with his ideas it’s still a fantastic book. However, if instead you’re disinterested or unable to parse the admittedly subtle and often only implied ideas then it is still quite good. In fact if you are completely ambivalent about science you could still easily read this as a strange, character driven thriller about a crew that every once in a while spouts scientific gibberish. Even to the dedicated hard SF fan the scientific jargon will likely become too much at times; you’ll find your eyes glazing over a paragraph here or there and hoping the plot won’t hang on these technical details (it does) or that it won’t dictate inform the characters actions for the next few pages (it will). The characters themselves are largely unsympathetic, except for the Gang and possibly Siri, but they’re more than interesting enough to make up for it. There’s Amanda Bates a soldier in charge, logically enough, of the ship’s weapons and any military operations. Her backstory provides an interesting insight into post-Singularity terrorism but otherwise we don’t really learn much about her except that she’s fiercely independent, perhaps mutinous, and has a conscience, making her positively unique in this novel. Isaac Szpindel, a biologist who rips into his nervous system to be able to work better with computers. He’s most interesting as the medium through which we interact with the Scramblers, the aliens whose existence forms the philosophical heart of the novel. There’s also the Gang, a group of personalities sharing the same mind and working as the ship’s linguists. Susan is the only really sympathetic character, and half the time she’s someone else. Lastly, there’s their fearless leader Sarasti, a vampire.
Vampire takes a moment to explain, a full read-through to understand, but even then there’s no real way to answer the question, ‘why vampires?’ Yes, technically it makes sense, but Watts was forced to do some incredibly contrived hypothesizing to make it work and the result is like a Lamborghini with a door fastened shut with duct tape; an elegant construction marred by a single jarring idea. It’s not necessary to describe here the complete justification for all the various legends surrounding vampires (though it exists, and it has its own section in Notes and References). Suffice it to say they were a species that split off from, preyed on and interbred with humans and the complete genetic sequence is still stored in our inactive junk DNA. This allowed these super intelligent and powerful predators to be brought back to modern times so that they can haunt the streets, lead world changing expeditions and generally scare everyone to death. Sarasti, of course, is more than just a vampire; he’s our vampire. The brilliant and terrifying case study in why psychopathic cannibals shouldn’t be put in positions of authority is easily the books most enigmatic character. Compounding this are the other mysteries surrounding vampires which can only be resolved by a close reading of the text.
If you’re a fan of Alistair Reynolds or Vernor Vinge then you should definitely read this book. But then again, you probably already have. For everyone else, if you can stand the weirdness, the jargon and are willing to put in the effort to fully understand what Watts is trying to say then this will be a completely worthwhile read.
One comment
Leave a reply