Beep boop - this is a robot. A new show has been posted to TWiT…
What are your thoughts about today’s show? We’d love to hear from you!
So, after listening to the interview with Andy Weir up until the name of the protagonist was discussed, several things occurred:
First, I decided to stop listening to the interview until I have read the book.
Second, I decided to put the third book of a trilogy by John Birmingham on hold, because I am concerned that no matter what I do, I’m going to trip over spoilers to Project Hail Mary.
Third, I responded to an email from Club Twit, and re-enabled my auto renewal, because listening to the beginning of the interview reminded me of my desire to help support TWIT in some financial manner because Leo and the team and the community therein have provided great entertainment and education for me over the last 25+ years.
I find I personally get nothing from the Club Twit features, as I enjoy hearing the ads, and find Discord not to be my cup of tea. Too much, too fast, too …
I need time to process thoughts, research facts, and figure out how to say what I want (and try to avoid saying something I really shouldn’t). And my observation is unless providing technical input, no one wants to hear what I say anyway.
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You’re giving your non tech input here, and I find it interesting, and I bet I’m not the only one.
Regarding Discord, I always thought IRC was way too fast for me, so that’s why I’ve felt so at home here in the community. But I like Discord too because, although it’s kind of like the chat room, the stuff that goes past doesn’t just disappear - it’s searchable.
I love both Discord and the community, but to each their own. Just know that you and all your input certainly would always be welcome in Discord if you decide to try it again.
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The real point of Club TWiT is to support everything we do. We give you some exclusive benefits because I think people want something for their money, but the real benefits include this forum, the IRC, the shows, the live stream, etc. etc. As long as you feel like you’re getting value, I’m happy!
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I lived and worked in a little town in the Australia outback called Alice Springs for over 23 years, and cannot ever call in and say I used to watch Leo on cable TV tech shows. But, I can say I have enjoyed listening to TWIT content for more than 15 years, so feel paying for Club TWIT membership is my way of saying thanks, and hoping my small contribution helps keep TWIT going strong.
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I have not read the article and it warns it’s FULL of spoilers, but for those interested Ars Technica has an article on language as it relates to the story:
Luckily I got about as far in the book as the second paragraph in that spoilered article. People, it is marked with a spoiler for very good reason. The second paragraph is enough to spoil the book, if you aren’t at least a third of the way through! So take heed of @PHolder 's spoiler marking! That was about where I had gotten to and didn’t spoil it for me, but I stopped there!
I find the book interesting, like The Martian, but I’m always at least 2 steps ahead of our hero. All the clues are there, laid out for you and the hero to discover. There are a lot of, “oh, right, that’s what that is for!” And I’m sitting here going, “well, duh!” Because I’ve seen the clues in the descriptions.
Cases in point:
- The heavy gravity. I know his brain is mush, but I’d worked that out within about 2 seconds of him saying it felt odd, when he fell.
- The propulsion system. No shocker there.
- the fairing is a label on the control screen. Then he goes outside and there is a big ring. Me, “hmm, that’ll be a centrifuge for artificial gravity then.” Him, "I’ll have to have investigate that more closely, when I get back inside.
The Martian was a bit like that, but this is much more extreme. It is like watching a crime film and waiting for the police to catch up with all the clues that have been laid out before them and which you solved 2 acts previously.
It is fun to think you are a couple of steps ahead to start with, but the novelty wears off and you want to leap forward. At the moment, everything seems predictable. It is a great story, but that little extra soupçon is missing at the moment to make it amazing. I’ll be interested to see what I think at the end of the book.
Spoiler alert, a minor inaccuracy:
in the book, Andy states that, due to the black tiles and the astrophage that Europe starts experiencing tornadoes, something which isn’t known in Europe until that point.
Sorry, Andy, we get dozens of tornadoes every year. A few years ago, we had one in our garden that took out our gazebo.
Just got the book this weekend, looking forward to reading it as soon as time allows.
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I got it on Audible, its now in my queue like 4 books away
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I’ve got about 2 hours left on Audible at the moment.
Just finished listening to the interview. Really great stuff, but I’m glad I waited until I had nearly finished the book.
To the interview:
It has bits of Ring World and The Mote in God’s Eye to it - scrith is like the carapace of the astrophage, that was my first thought, when it was described, and the talking with Rocky is reminiscent of the Moteies, the warbling voice over many octaves that man will never be able to speak. Obviously, the situation is completely different in PHM, but a lot of the ideas were familiar to me.
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