Absurdly surreal, and
surreally absurd, The Rapture of the Nerds: A Tale of the Singularity, Posthumanity, and Awkward Social Situations is a challenging book to summarize. A
collaborative effort between digital-era demigod Cory Doctorow and science
fiction juggernaut Charles Stross, the novel is, at times, humorously poignant;
at others, more humorously profane. It is a farcical caricature of an
impossible future, populated by the warped result of modern humankind's
metaphysical spaghettification after passing through the pinpoint opening of
the Technological Singularity. Though clearly meant to be a comical look at
technologically advanced humanity pushed to every extreme, it may also just as
soon be prophetic.
The concept of the
Singularity is difficult to comprehend, not for its content but rather its
import. It is by its very definition unknowable, or at least the moment at
which the unknowable trumps all. There's simply no telling what life beyond the
event horizon will entail, and it's into this gap that the acid trip nightmare
of The
Rapture of the Nerds is thrust. Resonating throughout the length
of the novel is a palpable sense of “Why not?”, as the transhuman race—or
rather what’s left of it, after billions have transcended into the networked
nanocloud that has usurped much of the solar system—eke out varying forms of
existences in what can only be described as a partially successful
post-apocalyptic world. Holographic genies, inflatable buildings, biohackers, churches
of sexual perversion, vending machine gender re-assignments—all this and more
await the reader who braves this ridiculously ingenious romp through futurity.
In the aftermath of a
friend’s party, protagonist Huw Jones awakens to a roaring hangover, in a
bathtub that almost certainly wasn’t a bathtub when he passed out. A
neo-Luddite of the highest order, Jones lives in a home without electricity at
a time when others live in houses that rearrange themselves on a regular basis.
Much of the night before is a blur, and aside from the unexpected bathroom Huw
is surprised to find a fresh tattoo he doesn’t remember wanting, and before his
first cup of coffee discovers that the woman he spent the evening flirting with
is now a man. On the heels of this illustrious introduction Jones receives word,
much to his excitement, that he’s finally been selected for jury duty—an
opportunity to reject one of the many suggestions beamed down to Earth from the
cloud, and a chance to speak his principled mind in general. It soon becomes
apparent, however, that jury duty will be one of the last things Jones ever
looks forward to.
The story picks up quickly
from there, and the authors seem content to maintain a harried pace throughout
the remainder of the novel. From the object of his jury’s attention to the mystery
of the tattoo stems a mad dash in which Jones is torn between escaping various
nefarious forces and running toward the completion of a mission for which he
would never have signed up—had he been given any say in the matter, that is. In the end, the relentlessly insane future of
humanity may well depend on the actions of its least willing participant.
The Rapture of the Nerds is a perfect novel for its time, as humanity
collectively nears the precipice from which we will inevitably leap into the unforeseeable
future. While the authors do, at times,
explore the philosophical quandaries which surround the topics of transhumanism
and the Singularity, the story focuses more on the titular “awkward social
situations” to great amusement, and no small amount of perplexity. Peppered
with pop-cultural references and cyberpunk jargon sure to please numerous
subsets of the scifi community, and with prose crafted of jagged conceptual
clusters which flow poetically, if jarringly, with all the graceful fluidity of
an avalanche, the novel may not necessarily be the best choice for the
uninitiated reader’s first foray into the genre. However, when all’s said and
done, even those least familiar with science fiction—but possessed of a taste
for the ridiculous and borderline-obscene—should find The Rapture of the Nerds
to be a fulfilling and amusing excursion into one of literature’s most absurd
futures yet.
This review originally appeared elsewhere in October of 2012
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