Rudy Rucker - The Author That Lets it Rip!

[D_Davis]

I started, Master of Space and Time by Rudy Rucker.

Mr. Rucker is totally flippin' gonzo. The first chapter of the book is called, This is the Name of This Chapter. It illustrates how the main character gets put into a state of infinite regress, like when you look in a mirror reflection through a mirror's reflection. It's totally wild the way he writes about these crazy concepts.

At one point, the main character's friend, the master of space and time, says to him, "I remember that when you showed up tomorrow you'd seen me tiny in your car."

:shock:

Present, past, and future tense, all in the same sentence.

They prove that Fred Hoyle was right, and everything in the universe is shrinking at the same rate. So, if you were to travel from the future to the past, you would be much smaller when you arrived.

The inverse is also true, and by sending a pet lizard into the future, the characters create Godzilla!

One of the characters attends the Church of Scientific Mysticism, a vaguely
Christian-like religion influenced by Einstein and Godel.

Then they open up six magical doorways into:

1. The Here and Now
2. The Microworld
3. Infinity
4. The Future
5. Hyperspace
6. Looking-glass World

All of this, and so much more, within the first 60 pages.

No one lets it rip like Rucker lets it rip, and that it's all grounded by his scientific expertise on such things as hyperspace, the fourth dimension, and geometry, it's even more fascinating.


So far, I've read:

White Light - one of my favorite books
Frek and the Elixir
Spaceland
Software
Seek!
Gnarl

I really dig this dude's style.

 

[Fried Egg]

I've also read "Software" and "White Light".

I have also read his non-fiction book: "Infinity and the mind" which is almost a kind of companion volume to "White Light". It examines the concept of transfinite numbers, different kinds of inifinity and the implications of Godel's Incompleteness theorems on the development of AI.

All mind boggling stuff.

 

[D_Davis]

I have also read his non-fiction book: "Infinity and the mind" which is almost a kind of companion volume to "White Light". It examines the concept of transfinite numbers, different kinds of inifinity and the implications of Godel's Incompleteness theorems on the development of AI.

All mind boggling stuff.

I need to read this. I've had it for a while.

White Light was the first thing I ever read by him, and it totally blew me away. I love how daring and imaginative it is. It's also incredibly entertaining and packed with a ton of thought provoking ideas.

Really good stuff.

Have you ever read his blog?

Rudy Rucker's Home Page. Writing, science fiction, Bruegel novel, cellular automata, computer games, software downloads.

I love how a dude so in touch with the future has a website straight from 1996.

He also seems like a totally cool dude.

 

[Urien]

I don't know this author, but he sounds interesting. Apart from the high concept stuff, how is the story telling, dialogue, narrative drive? Or does it all collapse into "what's going on?"

 

[D_Davis]

I don't know this author, but he sounds interesting. Apart from the high concept stuff, how is the story telling, dialogue, narrative drive? Or does it all collapse into "what's going on?"

Oh man, he's a fantastic story teller. One of the very best, IMO.

He fully focuses on the narrative first. Everything is there to push the plot along.

His weakness is definitely dialog.

Check out White Light, I can't imagine many here being less than pleased with it.

His stuff doesn't feel high concept at all, because his books are so funny and entertaining.

 

[D_Davis]

Just finished Master of Space and Time.

It's good. It's like the Stainless Steel Rat meets Dr. Seuss in Wonderland.

Pure Rucker wackiness.

While it doesn't offer up as much to ponder as in White Light, it is still an entertaining romp.

Rumors have been flying around that Gondry is attached to do a film of this with Jack Black as Harry Gerber. I don't know if this is true or not, or if people are just hoping, but I think it would be a perfect fit. I am not a huge fan of either of these two filmmakers, but the material seems to fit their styles. Black was born for this role.