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PaperclipPerfector  17hr ago (text post)   459 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 24, 2025

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So what are you reading? I just finished The Children of Men by P.D. James, review below. Also working on Way of Kings, Capital, and some Kant.

Didn't realize that the author of this was THE P.D. James, of thriller writing fame. I guess there is something about British authors who abbreviate there first and middle names and pulling surprisingly deep science fiction commentary that has stood the test of time (thinking of you E.M. Forster).

The Children of Men is a book about a world with ultra-low fertility, in other words, an extreme version of a world that we already live in. I had a friend's birthday party at the park a couple weeks ago (I'm getting close to 30 unfortunately), and I noticed that out of the 20 or so couples there, only one had a child. And I think this is becoming increasingly true over the whole entire world. Many of the downstream aspects of this fact also seem to be shared between James' novel and reality: the prevalence of pet parents, the lack of interest in the future of society (but a fixation on the past), and an obsession with health and safety at all costs.

Beyond the social commentary, the actual plot of the novel is a little lackluster. It centers on an Oxford Professor of History, Theo, who happens to be the cousin of the dictator of England. Theo lives a pretty unremarkable and utterly selfish life (even before the "Omega" where most men suddenly become infertile), until he becomes involved with a rebel group that wants to enact some minor changes in the governmental system, but more importantly, is sheltering a woman who happens to be pregnant. Theo's time with this group changes his inner and outer lives almost completely: it's amazing what hope for the future does to an individual, although I was left wondering at the end how much would really change in England after the birth of this child.

Having children is no basis for a moral system in of itself (this was Chesterton's critique of H.G. Wells), but it sure as hell makes constructing a society a hell of a lot easier. Unfortunately I think our world is headed to a future more similar to what James envisioned in the 1990s. People simply aren't having children: I'm guilty of this too: it's not like I'm close to being married even. And that, I think, means that this society isn't very long for this world.

Having finished Reverend Insanity for the second time, I'm left with the same void in my soul.

Of course, the easiest solution was to seek out something by the same author, Gu Zhen Ren. He wrote two other novels since RI was banned, Infinite Bloodcore (points for the name, negative points for being left unfinished) and Mysteries of the Immortal Puppet Master.

I opted for the latter, initially, I felt lukewarm on it, but I know that in Xianxia, you don't judge books by their covers, or their first 50 chapters. Yup, sure enough, it became very clear that it's a Gu Zhen Ren novel after all. The protagonist is... callous, if not as ruthless as Fang Yuan. Maybe his little nephew. There are plots within plots, excellent attention to detail, and heart wrenching stories about seemingly insignificant characters. It has the majority of my attention, even if the edges are sanded down a tad bit to reduce the risk of another ban. GZR himself stated that it's a more "mass-market" novel, with a more standard Cultivation setting. It's still pretty solid so far.

Others on my reading shelf:

  • The Simoqin Prophecy by Amit Basu. The first of a trilogy. It's my second go at them, I heartily enjoyed the first. The easiest way to describe it is Indian Discworld, with clear inspiration from Pratchett. It is often ridiculously funny, while being poignant, but I'm afraid that a significant amount of the charm is lost on Western audiences. I could swear that 70% of the character and place names are references outsiders won't get, be they incredibly dumb puns or allusions to wider Hindu mythology. You'd probably need ChatGPT to let you in on the joke.
  • Kim Stanley Robinson's The Year of Rice and Salt. I fucking hated Aurora, and I'm the process of writing a full review, but while this novel is supposedly mid, it has an interesting premise with an AU setting where the Black Death absolutely rekt Europe (even more than it did in actual history, of course).
  • I was supposed to read Claude Shannon's A Mathematical Model of Communication for an ACX book club meeting. I was too lazy to do so, went in, claimed I knew a little bit about Game Theory, was embarrassed to find out that an actual PhD in the topic was present, and then unembarrased myself by actually making (IMO) good points. I do actually know a reasonable amount, especially when it comes to practical applications such as in military history. I might have another essay in the oven on that particular topic.

I haven't read Years of Rice and Salt since I was about 16, but I remember absolutely loving it. It is an interesting exploration of reincarnation and of how "locked in" a lot of history seems to have been. It also inspired me to do an Iroquois mega-campaign in Eu4/vic2, which you will understand when you've read the book.

I also have this on my bookshelf (it's been checked out of the library for ages), so perhaps we can agree to read it September and discuss?

Sounds good! Your endorsement makes me inclined to give it a proper shot.

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