Algebraist - some queries

Hi. I don't really have time to read for pleasure any more, except for
reading books while walking to and from work. An efficient use of time
perhaps but I can't concentrate as much as I'd like to.

Having finished The Algebraist, there are a few queries I'd like to ask
of people who have been able to study it more carefully.

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Some of the comments I've seen have been on how telegraphed some of the
surprise twists were. I seemed to miss most. Not sure if it was the
reading environment (avoiding what's on the footpath etc) or just me.

In hindsight, the hiding the wormhole in the centre of the gas giant
was very, very, obvious, and I should have spotted that. However, some
comments suggested that it was obvious that the head gardner was an AI
right from the start. I reread just the prologue, but still don't spot
anything there that really gives the game away. Nor did I spot the
truetwin captain (I returned the book to the library and hence can't
check names) being an AI ahead of time. Was it subtle or is this a
major D'oh moment? What clues did other readers spot?

Also, I like things that are not necessarily tied up at the end. The
bit at the end with Taince and (sp?) Saluus was I thought nicely done.
I assume that what we are supposed to believe is that Saluus's small
piece of twisted metal was an AI of some sort. What else could have
killed all the Voehn (sp?) on board, and something was giving his
company an edge over other companies. Some AI? I presume that Ilen
(sp?) knew what he was up to and had to be disposed of, and that Taince
guessed this. Any other interpretations? Thinking back, I presume that
had Ilen been saved, then all of Fassin, Taince, and Ilen would have
met the same fate. Any other interpretations?

Cheers,

Ross-c

clemenr RemoveThis @wmin.ac.uk wrote in
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

> Hi. I don't really have time to read for pleasure any more, except for
> reading books while walking to and from work. An efficient use of time
> perhaps but I can't concentrate as much as I'd like to.
>
> Having finished The Algebraist, there are a few queries I'd like to
ask
> of people who have been able to study it more carefully.
>
> Spoiler space
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> Some of the comments I've seen have been on how telegraphed some of
the
> surprise twists were. I seemed to miss most. Not sure if it was the
> reading environment (avoiding what's on the footpath etc) or just me.
>
> In hindsight, the hiding the wormhole in the centre of the gas giant
> was very, very, obvious, and I should have spotted that. However, some
> comments suggested that it was obvious that the head gardner was an AI
> right from the start. I reread just the prologue, but still don't spot
> anything there that really gives the game away. Nor did I spot the
> truetwin captain (I returned the book to the library and hence can't
> check names) being an AI ahead of time. Was it subtle or is this a
> major D'oh moment? What clues did other readers spot?

Like you, I didn't realise either of the above before being told.

>
> Also, I like things that are not necessarily tied up at the end. The
> bit at the end with Taince and (sp?) Saluus was I thought nicely done.
> I assume that what we are supposed to believe is that Saluus's small
> piece of twisted metal was an AI of some sort. What else could have
> killed all the Voehn (sp?) on board, and something was giving his
> company an edge over other companies. Some AI? I presume that Ilen
> (sp?) knew what he was up to and had to be disposed of, and that
Taince
> guessed this.

I hadn't considered that. I must admit, I wondered what the point about
the bit of metal was. You could well be right.

But at the end she was questioning her role and perhaps the presence of
an AI wouldn't have been so abominable?

> Any other interpretations? Thinking back, I presume that
> had Ilen been saved, then all of Fassin, Taince, and Ilen would have
> met the same fate. Any other interpretations?

No, not really. I personally thought the suicide mission was
unnecessary. The case was weakly presented - when Taince realised
she was some sort of killing machine - although the revenge bit
was spot on. I'd prefer to have seen her eject and join the Beyonders!

--
Adrian