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Solis
Charlie Outis had his brain frozen a thousand years ago, but he wakes up a slave to a machine in a world of genetically amplified neo-sapiens, andrones, and autobats--fortunately, Charlie has a plan. Original.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1994
6 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
A.A. Attanasio
47Ìýbooks355ÌýfollowersI’m a novelist and student of the imagination living in Honolulu. Fantasies, visions, hallucinations or whatever we call those irrational powers that illuminate our inner life fascinate me. I’m particularly intrigued by the creative intelligence that scripts our dreams. And I love carrying this soulful energy outside my mind, into the one form that most precisely defines who we are: story.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
September 25, 2024
This book is absolutely spellbinding.
I haven't read something as cerebral as this that combines almost all my favorite topics in both Fiction and Non-Fiction in a long while.
Set in a far future Dystopian/Utopian setting reminiscent of Alastair Reynolds, Peter F. Hamilton and John C. Wrights' Golden Age Trilogy, a millennia from now; it doesn't so much as delve into speculative musings on aspects like Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness, Post-Humanism, Eco-Terraforming, and lots of Bio-technological, Nano and Medical marvels as it weaves all these ideas into a prose full of passion on the terraforming of Mars reminiscent of Frank Herbert's for Arrakis.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in a classic work of Hard Sci-fi. My review for his other hard sci-fi offering, Centuries.
2022 Read
I haven't read something as cerebral as this that combines almost all my favorite topics in both Fiction and Non-Fiction in a long while.
Set in a far future Dystopian/Utopian setting reminiscent of Alastair Reynolds, Peter F. Hamilton and John C. Wrights' Golden Age Trilogy, a millennia from now; it doesn't so much as delve into speculative musings on aspects like Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness, Post-Humanism, Eco-Terraforming, and lots of Bio-technological, Nano and Medical marvels as it weaves all these ideas into a prose full of passion on the terraforming of Mars reminiscent of Frank Herbert's for Arrakis.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in a classic work of Hard Sci-fi. My review for his other hard sci-fi offering, Centuries.
2022 Read
September 10, 2020
A brain is defrosted in a far future era that pays it somewhat less than due respect. Helped and hindered by a rag-tag group of not-quite- less-than- more-than- almost- humans, it goes/ is taken in search of a new body, said journey taking place mainly on Mars.
There's a lot of Radix -easily my favourite Attanasio- in this : quirky folk, strange cults, sub-humans, broken people, glorious landscapes, Wonder Of It All, beautiful description, engaging characters. But this considerably thinner novel doesn't quite get there. There's a slightly rushed sense to it, especially nearer the end. There's something a bit haphazard, jumpy, about the execution, that spoils the flow of one event to the other. A pity, as, given more time and breathing space, the ideas and locales Attanasio depicts COULD have been as great, if not better, than its predecessor. I would very much like to see more set in this universe, as I think there's a lot more to be had from it - something grander and lusher. Solis just isn't quite it.
There's a lot of Radix -easily my favourite Attanasio- in this : quirky folk, strange cults, sub-humans, broken people, glorious landscapes, Wonder Of It All, beautiful description, engaging characters. But this considerably thinner novel doesn't quite get there. There's a slightly rushed sense to it, especially nearer the end. There's something a bit haphazard, jumpy, about the execution, that spoils the flow of one event to the other. A pity, as, given more time and breathing space, the ideas and locales Attanasio depicts COULD have been as great, if not better, than its predecessor. I would very much like to see more set in this universe, as I think there's a lot more to be had from it - something grander and lusher. Solis just isn't quite it.
April 23, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
4 stars
Charles Outis had his brain frozen post-mortem. A millennium later, he's reawakened - as a piece of property, first a tool for erotic fantasies, then the control for a mining machine. When he calls for help, he's answered by Munk, an androne studying humans, and Mei Nili, a disenchanted space worker. Together, they fight to reach the free city of Solis, in the hope that they can all find a place for themselves.
A. A. Attanasio's books contain layer upon layer of subtext. He's among the most intellectual of authors, without being in any way pretentious. This is a writer who uses obscure words not to show off, but because they're the rightÌýwords.
SolisÌýis an adventure story, a chase of bad guys after good guys. And it's a cautionary tale about cryonic preservation. And a consideration of what it means to be dead, to be property, to be human. Its main theme is right there in the title - a search for solace, and ultimately satisfaction.
Attanasio is almost always a smooth, highly visual writer. His concepts wanders toward the mystical, while his characters are down-to-earth regular folks. His prose tends toward the dense and philosophical. It's always perfectly readable, but always leaves me thinking there's some higher meaning floating just out of reach, that Attanasio is just slightly (or greatly) smarter than I am. Yet it's not frustrating or offputting. Attanasio is simply one of the very few writers who've managed the art of intelligent writing.
Despite his obvious skill, Attanasio seldom makes the leap from very good to extraordinary, from "that was a fun and mentally challenging story" to "I will remember that story and think back on it for years". His concepts are perhaps on such a high level that they don't resonate easily with our needs-focused brains. That rule applies to SolisÌýas well. The characters are likeable; their quest is urgent and comprehensible; they react like regular people. But the broader concepts they deal with are a step or two removed from everyday existence; they're intriguing, but hard to internalize, and they never quite reduced themselves to concrete conclusions. It suggests Attanasio has found a balance that makes the reader think, rather than just accepting clever aphorisms, but it also makes the book harder to catalog. Re-reading SolisÌýafter many years, my mind offered "That's the book about ... Well, it's about ... There was something... It was pretty good."
It is pretty good. It's about quite a lot of things. If you let it, it will make you think. If you're looking for simple adventure, that's in here. Mostly, though, it works, as much Attanasio writing does, as a sort of journal by someone who's out there searching for the same existential answers the rest of us are, but writing it down much, much better.
March 8, 2019
Roughly 3.5 and I absolutely need to reread it at some point.
Reading half of it before vacation and the other half on my way back were two different reading experiences and I'm not sure if it was because of the book or because of me.
I liked the first part ok. While the first few pages are written weirdly and might put some people off, they are meaningful in the context of this future. I needed some time to get into the writing and the characters, but I'm really into the tropes used here (like the android who wants to understand humans) and the questions presented (like, what actually makes someone a human being?)
In the first half, I felt action scenes and other conflicts were much more present than these aspects but picking the book up again later on, I discovered that it has all the elements I ought to really like. Discovering this I was able to enjoy reading it much more. However, I'm not sure yet how much I like the ending.
It's not a book that will appeal to everyone but there is definitely an audience that would really like it
Reading half of it before vacation and the other half on my way back were two different reading experiences and I'm not sure if it was because of the book or because of me.
I liked the first part ok. While the first few pages are written weirdly and might put some people off, they are meaningful in the context of this future. I needed some time to get into the writing and the characters, but I'm really into the tropes used here (like the android who wants to understand humans) and the questions presented (like, what actually makes someone a human being?)
In the first half, I felt action scenes and other conflicts were much more present than these aspects but picking the book up again later on, I discovered that it has all the elements I ought to really like. Discovering this I was able to enjoy reading it much more. However, I'm not sure yet how much I like the ending.
It's not a book that will appeal to everyone but there is definitely an audience that would really like it
March 20, 2012
As always, Attanasio's incredible diction is a two-edged sword, dazzling the reader with a command over vocabulary that's almost scary but distancing us somewhat from the meat of the narrative. I think someone needs to take an Attanasio novel and arrange the text on the page as free verse.
April 3, 2024
This book was a big surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting it to be so gripping and fast-paced. Yes, it’s very much hard sci-fi, but it also manages to be an enjoyable adventure.
Solis opens like a hard sci-fi book, full of tech terms and futuristic jargon. The writing feels dry and unappealing. But this is just a precursor, a starting point to get us up to date and prepared for the story about to unfold.
Moving further into the book, the hard sci-fi feel remains, but we’re ushered into a more action-based journey, a quest really. This switch grabbed my attention and kept me enwrapped through the entire read. This presents a juxtaposition to this book’s readability. On one hand, you have rather intellectual prose, (this author loves his thesaurus) and on the other you have a pure boy’s-own adventure story. The two shouldn’t easily fit together, considering normal convention; however, they really do work here.
The cast of characters is small, three main characters and a handful of secondary bit parts joining the trek as the story unfolds. A diversely intriguing main cast, each grappling with their own inner turmoil. There is an androne (robot), a human and a one thousand-year-old, previously cryogenically-frozen, brain. All striving for a meaningful reason to exist, striving for something more.
Despite being published in 1994, Solis doesn’t feel dated in the slightest, sitting perfectly with most current science fiction books being released today. I’d even propose it places above many. Attanasio successfully avoids the common pitfalls of jargon, item and place names, which can quickly feel outdated and corny by modern standards, thus dating work prematurely. Each moniker employed feels well-considered, fitting and logical, feeling ageless because of it.
Unfortunately, I felt let down by the ending. The finale was rushed, jammed into the last three or four pages. Everything had built up to this point, with the hopes and dreams of all these characters in the balance. I was expecting these anticipated resolutions to be more involved.
The epilogue also came across as a lacklustre attempt to tie up one final loose end. After being so enthralled and enamoured by how the author managed to weave such an ‘old-fashioned� adventure amongst hard sci-fi he lost a lot of credibility in the very end by shoehorning in these eagerly awaited elements.
More reviews? Sure, just head on over to
Solis opens like a hard sci-fi book, full of tech terms and futuristic jargon. The writing feels dry and unappealing. But this is just a precursor, a starting point to get us up to date and prepared for the story about to unfold.
Moving further into the book, the hard sci-fi feel remains, but we’re ushered into a more action-based journey, a quest really. This switch grabbed my attention and kept me enwrapped through the entire read. This presents a juxtaposition to this book’s readability. On one hand, you have rather intellectual prose, (this author loves his thesaurus) and on the other you have a pure boy’s-own adventure story. The two shouldn’t easily fit together, considering normal convention; however, they really do work here.
The cast of characters is small, three main characters and a handful of secondary bit parts joining the trek as the story unfolds. A diversely intriguing main cast, each grappling with their own inner turmoil. There is an androne (robot), a human and a one thousand-year-old, previously cryogenically-frozen, brain. All striving for a meaningful reason to exist, striving for something more.
Despite being published in 1994, Solis doesn’t feel dated in the slightest, sitting perfectly with most current science fiction books being released today. I’d even propose it places above many. Attanasio successfully avoids the common pitfalls of jargon, item and place names, which can quickly feel outdated and corny by modern standards, thus dating work prematurely. Each moniker employed feels well-considered, fitting and logical, feeling ageless because of it.
Unfortunately, I felt let down by the ending. The finale was rushed, jammed into the last three or four pages. Everything had built up to this point, with the hopes and dreams of all these characters in the balance. I was expecting these anticipated resolutions to be more involved.
The epilogue also came across as a lacklustre attempt to tie up one final loose end. After being so enthralled and enamoured by how the author managed to weave such an ‘old-fashioned� adventure amongst hard sci-fi he lost a lot of credibility in the very end by shoehorning in these eagerly awaited elements.
More reviews? Sure, just head on over to
February 7, 2023
Hard boiled sci fi book with shiploads of spirituality, metaphysics, and... psychology of the brain bereft of accompanying body. I found it quite hard to follow at times, but great atmosphere and writing.
March 21, 2011
Cute. A fun read. Light stuff. A short story puffed into a novel, but fun nonetheless. Reads like an older generation of SF--says 1970s.
I figured someone was a Maat. I just guessed wrong.
I figured someone was a Maat. I just guessed wrong.
February 8, 2024
I'll be honest, I didn't particularly love the very ending but I did thoroughly enjoy the whole rest of this tale. It didn't really seem to dwell on the philosophical aspects but instead carried on like a tremendous adventure in the far future, far forward enough as to be essentially an alien landscape.
October 8, 2022
Wanted a light, quick, fun book to read, and remembered enjoying this one in college. Set in a far future where humans are no longer the dominant species but coexist alongside posthumans and AIs, it tells the story of Charles Outis, a cryonically frozen man from our time, who is revived from the dead only to be tortured and enslaved, used as a piece of cognitive machinery, until he manages to send a distress signal. This is picked up by Munk, an "androne" (AI/robot) designed for deep space heavy labor, but whose posthuman creators have imbued him with an inexplicable fascination with humanity. Enlisting the help of a human named Mei Nili, who grieves the loss of her family in a terrible accident (made all the worse because, other than such accidents, humanity has cured death), Munk rescues Charles, who at this point is just a disembodied brain in a capsule; the book tells the story of their journey as they struggle their way to Solis, a free city on Mars, where Charles will be safe from the agents who are trying to recapture him, and Munk and Mei Nili will be able to start new lives after forfeiting their careers in order to rescue him. Along the way, they pick up other travelers who join them on their journey, and we get to see glimpses of what life is like in the far-future cities.
I am interested in sci-fi novels on a few different levels. On one level, I simply enjoy a good story, and this was a good story: the plot was simple, but the action was fast-paced, and the world-building kept it from getting boring. Plus I'm a big fan of Attanasio's distinctive writing style.
On another level, though, I am interested in sci-fi because of the predictions it makes about the future. I've been getting increasingly interested in AI safety and AI alignment, and I've noticed that, when discussing these issues, people often draw on intuitions that they've built up by reading science fiction. Also, I've seen plenty of forum posts where people ask for good intros to AI safety, only to be recommended works of science fiction; there seems to be a canon of science fiction (including Vinge and Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect) that people draw on when thinking of AI safety.
Yet I cannot help but notice that science fiction inherently contains many biases. In particular, all science fiction is fundamentally limited by the following constraint: it can only explore futures which are compatible with telling a good story. This means that the future must have humans, or minds which are close enough to human that we can tell stories about them. Scenarios where intelligent life is completely wiped out, or where humans are supplanted by some intelligence far beyond us, do not make for a good story, unless we are telling the story of the final days of humanity before that future came to be.
Less dramatically, a work of science fiction needs to keep a lot of things the same as in our day, in order for the book to be comprehensible (particularly for a short book like this which doesn't have thousands of pages to spend on worldbuilding). So it's normal to see science fiction futures which contain corporations much like the ones we have today, with similar economic pressures (even though the corporation is a relatively recent invention!). Of course, some science fiction experiments with replacing the corporate economic structure; other science fiction experiments with replacing the family (nuclear or otherwise) with other ways of bringing new humans into the world; other science fiction messes around with the human physical form or mental experience. But a single sci-fi novel can only change so many things without scaring readers away. (Plus, in order to change some aspect of our society and our era, the author must recognize it as a dimension along which things can differ; the more something is taken for granted as a fundamental part of society or the world, the less an author will experiment with changing it. Part of science fiction's job is to seek out these dimensions and experiment with tweaking them. But there is much which remains underexplored.)
Lastly, science fiction is biased toward stories which are compatible with current human values. We like narratives which involve a triumph of kindness, or loyalty, or bravery, or autonomy. If future societies have vastly different values to ours, they will be very unfulfilling to read about, and therefore underrepresented in science fiction.
Anyway, none of this is about Solis specifically. But it was all on my mind as I sat down to read Solis. And, as a result, I tried to take note of the assumptions Solis was making: what did it change about the future? What did it leave intact? What sort of underlying assumptions did the story rely on, wrt how bodies and minds work? How much should we view Solis as a plausible prediction of the future, vs. a fun story which is narratively satisfying but is unlikely to occur?
So I'll list some thoughts on that below (contains some spoilers). The above digression was mainly just to provide context on why I'm including this stuff at all.
As a last note, when I first read Solis back in college, I remember thinking of it as a particularly horrifying future. So when I picked up the book again, I expected to read something Moloch-devoured, where most of humanity lives in misery. I was therefore surprised to discover that, as weird futures go, this one seems remarkably pleasant. Life in the world of Solis seems good for most of humanity, most of the time. It's strange to think that this future frightened me back when I was in college. I was clearly much more innocent back then.
I am interested in sci-fi novels on a few different levels. On one level, I simply enjoy a good story, and this was a good story: the plot was simple, but the action was fast-paced, and the world-building kept it from getting boring. Plus I'm a big fan of Attanasio's distinctive writing style.
On another level, though, I am interested in sci-fi because of the predictions it makes about the future. I've been getting increasingly interested in AI safety and AI alignment, and I've noticed that, when discussing these issues, people often draw on intuitions that they've built up by reading science fiction. Also, I've seen plenty of forum posts where people ask for good intros to AI safety, only to be recommended works of science fiction; there seems to be a canon of science fiction (including Vinge and Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect) that people draw on when thinking of AI safety.
Yet I cannot help but notice that science fiction inherently contains many biases. In particular, all science fiction is fundamentally limited by the following constraint: it can only explore futures which are compatible with telling a good story. This means that the future must have humans, or minds which are close enough to human that we can tell stories about them. Scenarios where intelligent life is completely wiped out, or where humans are supplanted by some intelligence far beyond us, do not make for a good story, unless we are telling the story of the final days of humanity before that future came to be.
Less dramatically, a work of science fiction needs to keep a lot of things the same as in our day, in order for the book to be comprehensible (particularly for a short book like this which doesn't have thousands of pages to spend on worldbuilding). So it's normal to see science fiction futures which contain corporations much like the ones we have today, with similar economic pressures (even though the corporation is a relatively recent invention!). Of course, some science fiction experiments with replacing the corporate economic structure; other science fiction experiments with replacing the family (nuclear or otherwise) with other ways of bringing new humans into the world; other science fiction messes around with the human physical form or mental experience. But a single sci-fi novel can only change so many things without scaring readers away. (Plus, in order to change some aspect of our society and our era, the author must recognize it as a dimension along which things can differ; the more something is taken for granted as a fundamental part of society or the world, the less an author will experiment with changing it. Part of science fiction's job is to seek out these dimensions and experiment with tweaking them. But there is much which remains underexplored.)
Lastly, science fiction is biased toward stories which are compatible with current human values. We like narratives which involve a triumph of kindness, or loyalty, or bravery, or autonomy. If future societies have vastly different values to ours, they will be very unfulfilling to read about, and therefore underrepresented in science fiction.
Anyway, none of this is about Solis specifically. But it was all on my mind as I sat down to read Solis. And, as a result, I tried to take note of the assumptions Solis was making: what did it change about the future? What did it leave intact? What sort of underlying assumptions did the story rely on, wrt how bodies and minds work? How much should we view Solis as a plausible prediction of the future, vs. a fun story which is narratively satisfying but is unlikely to occur?
So I'll list some thoughts on that below (contains some spoilers). The above digression was mainly just to provide context on why I'm including this stuff at all.
As a last note, when I first read Solis back in college, I remember thinking of it as a particularly horrifying future. So when I picked up the book again, I expected to read something Moloch-devoured, where most of humanity lives in misery. I was therefore surprised to discover that, as weird futures go, this one seems remarkably pleasant. Life in the world of Solis seems good for most of humanity, most of the time. It's strange to think that this future frightened me back when I was in college. I was clearly much more innocent back then.
February 23, 2017
I read this book because it was the March 2011 selection for the Hard SF group at yahoogroups/goodreads. Compared to some of the books I've read earlier this year, it was quick and easy.
Solis starts from the severely impaired point of view of Mr. Charlie, as he comes to consciousness 1000 years in the future, after his brain was frozen upon his death in our own time. I enjoy being thrown into a setting that seems non-sensible at first, and having to puzzle out what is going on, so this was a great hook.
It soon becomes clear that Mr. Charlie is at the center of a property dispute between various post-human groups, all of whom would agree that he is not one of the legitimate parties. Attanasio gives a tour of his far-future solar system and settles in on a quest for Solis, a more-or-less retro human enclave on Mars. The setting of the story is too far-future to be given serious analysis with regard to known science. At times I felt like I was reading a Kilgore Trout novel full of outrageous concepts and characters, given with little or no justification. New and weird characters continue to be introduced, well into the second half of the story, which detracts from the original and interesting characters of Charlie himself, Mei Nili, and the androne Munk (who gets involved because he was programmed to be fascinated by archaic humanity).
Overall, I give the story a medium rating. It has a lot of interesting concepts that should have been better developed.
Solis starts from the severely impaired point of view of Mr. Charlie, as he comes to consciousness 1000 years in the future, after his brain was frozen upon his death in our own time. I enjoy being thrown into a setting that seems non-sensible at first, and having to puzzle out what is going on, so this was a great hook.
It soon becomes clear that Mr. Charlie is at the center of a property dispute between various post-human groups, all of whom would agree that he is not one of the legitimate parties. Attanasio gives a tour of his far-future solar system and settles in on a quest for Solis, a more-or-less retro human enclave on Mars. The setting of the story is too far-future to be given serious analysis with regard to known science. At times I felt like I was reading a Kilgore Trout novel full of outrageous concepts and characters, given with little or no justification. New and weird characters continue to be introduced, well into the second half of the story, which detracts from the original and interesting characters of Charlie himself, Mei Nili, and the androne Munk (who gets involved because he was programmed to be fascinated by archaic humanity).
Overall, I give the story a medium rating. It has a lot of interesting concepts that should have been better developed.
September 7, 2011
There was much to like about this book that started with a strong premise. A man has had his brain cryogenically frozen to hope to see the future and the progress that has been made. Things don't go a planned as he becomes property and used by different fractions in a world that is not what he expected.
There is a kind of parallelism to the Wizard of Oz in that grouped with others who all have some problem they seek a city that will take them in and give them what they need. In fact the main character is like the Scarecrow in "If I only had a brain", the problem is that he "Only has a brain" and wants a body to go with it. Another character is like the tin man in that it is a cybernetic creature. A girl character can even be seen as kind of a Dorothy, but I probably exceed the limits of this parallel. Most of the novel was quite interesting in the route they had to take and the encounters along the way. Though the ending left me unimpressed and it kind of fizzled. Looking at some of the reviews, I was not the only one to think that.
There is a kind of parallelism to the Wizard of Oz in that grouped with others who all have some problem they seek a city that will take them in and give them what they need. In fact the main character is like the Scarecrow in "If I only had a brain", the problem is that he "Only has a brain" and wants a body to go with it. Another character is like the tin man in that it is a cybernetic creature. A girl character can even be seen as kind of a Dorothy, but I probably exceed the limits of this parallel. Most of the novel was quite interesting in the route they had to take and the encounters along the way. Though the ending left me unimpressed and it kind of fizzled. Looking at some of the reviews, I was not the only one to think that.
February 7, 2011
To say that this book is odd would be an understatement. Following a brain in a jar, or "wetware," it shows an interesting look at humanity's future. With much genetic manipulation, organic computers made of human brains, and a rogue Martian colony, Attanasio puts forward some interesting ideas about what humans may become and how they may lose themselves to their technology. While the ideas expressed inside this book are interesting, the pace of the novel is unfortunate. Starting out strong with robots and defrosting brains, the book ending seemed as though it was rushed. I do not know if Attanasio had a deadline to meet, or if there had been a page limit, but the book seemed to suffer for it.
October 8, 2012
Solis is everything you can hope for from a great science fiction novel: a brilliant mix of action/adventure and big ideas/cutting-edge tech. A.A. Attanasio is a writer's writer, using language in surprising, beautiful ways. Bravo.
May 24, 2020
I am not a fan of science fiction but this 1994 far future adventure on a populated Mars held my interest. The author's penchant for an abusive overuse of obscure adjectives and nouns was annoying, but his imagined evolution of the human race seemed thoughtful.
March 19, 2016
Very good. Can a robot become a human? The Prelude was hard going but once I got into the story it was great.
July 16, 2023
The first fifteen pages of the Prelude, before we get to Chapter One proper, had me wondering if this was going to be Attanasio’s weirdest book yet - and he has quite the vivid imagination! It starts right off with the inchoate erotic imagery of a non-corporeal brain having a wetware dream. The dream is punctuated by barely intelligible outside commentary, and the reader is left wondering ‘what the heck is going on here?� I’ve put a post-it on the cover telling me to skip the Prelude on my next read. If you don’t care for psychotropic non-proprioceptive mentation (back atcha Triple A!) I would suggest you simply skip the first fifteen pages � you will miss nothing in terms of storyline.
Once the book begins properly, we are in the hands of a true master: fast-paced action, vivid characterization, and some of the finest prose I’ve read in any genre. Beautiful and poignant passages abound. Here is one example, at a moment of dying:
“His life had been an explosion, cooling at the edges to the pixel dust of memories. The void that surrounds those memories in fractal diminutions. . .�
The story is multi-faceted, but a major theme is the definition of emergent consciousness and what it means to be human. There are also some interesting ideas, such as the use of psycholfacts (psychokinetic olfactory manipulators) which seem plausible to me. But this isn’t really hard science, as the whole construct of the Martian city is highly questionable, even for a thousand years advancement from now. We have marble tile flooring imported from Earth, walnut tree-lined lanes and cottages with gardens, all highly unlikely given what we know about the cost of moving mass around in space. But this is all just fanciful stage dressing. The main action revolves around the characters and their epic journey to self-fulfillment.
I can always count on learning at least one new word with each book I read by Attansio. In one book I learned ‘proprioceptive awareness� - and that has stuck with me for decades. In this one I learned ‘peristaltic motion� � resembling digestive movement.
This is a real tour-de-force of fiction, with a most satisfactory ‘justice is served� ending!
Once the book begins properly, we are in the hands of a true master: fast-paced action, vivid characterization, and some of the finest prose I’ve read in any genre. Beautiful and poignant passages abound. Here is one example, at a moment of dying:
“His life had been an explosion, cooling at the edges to the pixel dust of memories. The void that surrounds those memories in fractal diminutions. . .�
The story is multi-faceted, but a major theme is the definition of emergent consciousness and what it means to be human. There are also some interesting ideas, such as the use of psycholfacts (psychokinetic olfactory manipulators) which seem plausible to me. But this isn’t really hard science, as the whole construct of the Martian city is highly questionable, even for a thousand years advancement from now. We have marble tile flooring imported from Earth, walnut tree-lined lanes and cottages with gardens, all highly unlikely given what we know about the cost of moving mass around in space. But this is all just fanciful stage dressing. The main action revolves around the characters and their epic journey to self-fulfillment.
I can always count on learning at least one new word with each book I read by Attansio. In one book I learned ‘proprioceptive awareness� - and that has stuck with me for decades. In this one I learned ‘peristaltic motion� � resembling digestive movement.
This is a real tour-de-force of fiction, with a most satisfactory ‘justice is served� ending!
September 11, 2024
In the far future, a cryonic human brain is resuscitated and put to work as “wetware,� managing an asteroid mining operation. Not the utopian future this human had envisioned. But don’t worry, his distress signal is received by a robot (“androne�) whose odd counter-programming makes him curiously empathetic toward humans. The androne recruits a woman asteroid miner with a troubled past, and together they “go rogue� and rescue the brain (now known as Mr. Charlie). Fleeing competing post-human factions (who want the rare brain for their own profit), our heroes seek to reach the free city of Solis on Mars, where they hope Mr. Charlie will be given a new body.
The great science fiction master Theodore Sturgeon famously advised everyone to “ask the next question.� I think this advice especially applies to authors seeking to write intelligent science fiction. In this regard, Mr. Attanasio not only asks the next question, but the next, and the next.
Solis is a deep, satisfying novel, and a wild ride. Sturgeon would be proud.
The great science fiction master Theodore Sturgeon famously advised everyone to “ask the next question.� I think this advice especially applies to authors seeking to write intelligent science fiction. In this regard, Mr. Attanasio not only asks the next question, but the next, and the next.
Solis is a deep, satisfying novel, and a wild ride. Sturgeon would be proud.
July 17, 2020
An entertaining story of a brain, the former Charles Outis, now Mr. Charlie, who awakes from cryogenic storage to learn that even 1000 years in the future his seeming destiny is mindless drudgery as a millenarian proletarian for some mega corporation.
His anguished cry out to the heavens is heard by Munk, an android with a Pinocchio complex. Along with a handful of other characters, none too interesting, the search for, liberation and incarnation of Mr. Charlie ensues.
At Mount Seleya, correction Solis (honest mistake there are some similarities after all), Charlie’s quest ends with a new body. A Maat ex machina intervention, however, leads to a peculiar twist in how both Munk and Mr. C get what they need.
His anguished cry out to the heavens is heard by Munk, an android with a Pinocchio complex. Along with a handful of other characters, none too interesting, the search for, liberation and incarnation of Mr. Charlie ensues.
At Mount Seleya, correction Solis (honest mistake there are some similarities after all), Charlie’s quest ends with a new body. A Maat ex machina intervention, however, leads to a peculiar twist in how both Munk and Mr. C get what they need.
December 8, 2023
Perhaps the most concise review I have for this book is: fine. Attanasio has successfully constructed a very alien transhumanist future for humanity that the reader buys into relatively quickly. The whole book feels like an exploration of that world, with new revelations around each corner! However, Solis suffers from a terminal lack of coherent plot and over use of the present tense. Technically there is a plot, but it’s barely coherent. Technically there are characters, but they’re very much servants of the plot. To top it off, the entire book seems to be a long string of sentences like “character X is Y. The dunes are Z. Now, X is Q.�
In short, the concept and world are very interesting. The plot, characters, and prose leave a lot to be desired. On balance, it’s fine.
In short, the concept and world are very interesting. The plot, characters, and prose leave a lot to be desired. On balance, it’s fine.
March 24, 2024
This is nothing less than an incredible vision of our potential future. If some biochemists dedicated themselves to developing even half of the processes imagined by A.A. Attanasio here, we could have an amazing society with greatly extended lifespans in great health. The story is rather thrilling too!
August 1, 2024
Attanasio is a god. Another mind-f*ck full of amazing scifi, characters and heart.
I deliberately try to space out reading his novels to avoid future decades of having nothing new-to-me to read by him --- but I failing.
I deliberately try to space out reading his novels to avoid future decades of having nothing new-to-me to read by him --- but I failing.
September 29, 2020
I come back and reread this book now and then. I really enjoy the scope of thinking way beyond a lifetime. It's also a fun adventure that is easy to read.
March 13, 2023
Check out my review for this book (and much more!) on my Substack, Timeless - With Felix Purat!
June 28, 2024
With a blend of sci-fi and philosophical/spiritual ideas, this would almost fit right in with Attanasio's Radix books.
December 3, 2018
“Mr. Charlie� died in the ancient past, and had his body frozen in hopes of being reanimated in the future. What happened to him (or, more precisely, his brain) in the far future wasn’t at all what he’d hoped for, and his situation gives rise to an interesting story with a number of quirky plot-twists. An unlikely partnership is formed between an androne named Munk and a jumper, Mei Nili, whom Munk persuades to help him in rescuing Mr. Charlie. They have a number of interesting adventures and near escapes while trying to get Mr. Charlie to the free city of Solis, where they hope they’ll all be admitted and given what they need. This is the kind of story that’s just fun to read. I suspect a lot of the actual science fiction wouldn’t hold up much under scrutiny, but I decided not to worry about that and to simply enjoy it. And an interesting surprise at the end simply left me laughing.
August 4, 2015
I read this book many years ago when I was working in a factory after graduating high school not knowing what I should be doing with myself. It is one of a handful, along with Ender's Game, Treason, some by Issac Asimov, and a dozen or so other SciFi books that sparked the passion for philosophy and literature that would guide my life for decades after.
That being said, I cannot remember it well enough now to be sure it doesn't have anything to it I would now consider any fatal flaw. What I can recall quite vividly is that it has a lot to say about the collision between technology and humanity. The characters and events present a fluid, almost surrealist commentary on the question of what it means to be human.
That being said, I cannot remember it well enough now to be sure it doesn't have anything to it I would now consider any fatal flaw. What I can recall quite vividly is that it has a lot to say about the collision between technology and humanity. The characters and events present a fluid, almost surrealist commentary on the question of what it means to be human.
March 16, 2011
The book provides some interesting ideas on future tech, views of possible future societies, raises questions about personhood & consciousness, and does so in a reasonably hard SF framework.
The societies we see don't tend to be so appealing. The conclusion of the book rests more on the good guys / bad guys thread of the book than the above elements which interested me more. But as you can see, I still felt it deserved a good rating and would recommend it to those who want more than space adventure, good vs. evil, or a futuristic backdrop to their SF.
The societies we see don't tend to be so appealing. The conclusion of the book rests more on the good guys / bad guys thread of the book than the above elements which interested me more. But as you can see, I still felt it deserved a good rating and would recommend it to those who want more than space adventure, good vs. evil, or a futuristic backdrop to their SF.
May 8, 2008
Interesting story about a man who dies during our times and his brain is cryogenically frozen and he wakes up in the far distant future and his brain is the CPU of a mining station orbiting in the adteroid belt and his further adventures and quest to become whole again. He send a message for help the only way he know s how with Radio waves and an android heres him and comes to his rescue. BTW, radio waves are no longer used anymore for human communication. Very fun I have read it twice.
September 7, 2013
This is an amazing book. It is a true SciFi story, exploring the human psyche and the meaning of what being a human is, presented in crisply described potential future. The author has a prodigious vocabulary and a mastery of the written word.
However, you may find yourself wondering why he seems to be rushing the story at the end, as I did and some other reviewers on here have. Given all that I still recommend the book.
However, you may find yourself wondering why he seems to be rushing the story at the end, as I did and some other reviewers on here have. Given all that I still recommend the book.
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