Tortus on 29/12/2004 at 21:10
I've heard Fahrenheit 451 mentioned, but what other books are good reads for people who like the Deus Ex story/universe? I thought the scientific ideas behind everything were really interesting and was hoping for a book that has more of that kind of thing, eg nanotechnology and augmentation.
Thanks.
Marecki on 29/12/2004 at 23:07
I'll probably get flamed for pimping the same stuff all the time, but what the hell: try the Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. It's not dark s-f, far from it in fact, but apart from being a great read, it is very nifty in demonstrating how conspiracy theorists - and participants, as a matter of fact - think. A free hint: don't make any assumptions as you read; if you become sure of something, you are bound to be proven wrong by the end of the chapter.
Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday is a must as well, if only to get the complete picture of what excerpts from DX show. This book can be found on-line, by the way.
Last but by no means last, try something by Philip K. Dick - quite a huge chunk of his impressive bibliography covers paranoia, puppet masters behind the scene of the world, multi-layered realities and so on. Dick was a master of short stories so you might want to start from them and work your way into novels.
ilweran on 30/12/2004 at 19:33
Quote Posted by Marecki
I'll probably get flamed for pimping the same stuff all the time, but what the hell: try the
Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
Excellent book, well worth reading. I seem to be buying a lot of Robert Anton Wilson books at the moment.
Quote Posted by Marecki
Last but by no means last, try something by Philip K. Dick - quite a huge chunk of his impressive bibliography covers paranoia, puppet masters behind the scene of the world, multi-layered realities and so on. Dick was a master of short stories so you might want to start from them and work your way into novels.
For some reason I paticularly like 'Ubik' at the moment, but the five volumes of his short stories would be a good start.
I'd also reccommend 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson. Far better than 'Neuromancer' by Willam Gibson which I think is very over-rated
Krahl on 1/1/2005 at 20:41
Quote Posted by Marecki
I'll probably get flamed for pimping the same stuff all the time, but what the hell: try the
Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. It's not dark s-f, far from it in fact, but apart from being a great read, it is very nifty in demonstrating how conspiracy theorists - and participants, as a matter of fact - think. A free hint: don't make any assumptions as you read; if you become sure of something, you are bound to be proven wrong by the end of the chapter.
But it's all true. You won't hear any of this on the news... because they
own the news.
Tortus on 2/1/2005 at 09:07
Hey, I thought I'd add some I found in case someone else reads this looking for suggestions. These came straight from WS in an (
http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/deusex_invisiblewar/interview.asp) interview with UGO.
1. (
http://e-drexler.com) Eric Drexler's work. This guy is a real nanotechnologist, and the FAQ on his site is a very quick and easy read. I don't even know what a molecule is, but I could understand it. He also did a book called Engines of Creation, which you can find for (
http://www.foresight.org/EOC/) free at the Foresight institute page. He is chariman of Foresight.
2. The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.
Wang on 3/1/2005 at 22:38
A movie involving "conspiracies" of a kind, is Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrik. I thought it would be some kind of drama or something, but the plot evolved to something unexpected actually...
Not exactly the Deus Ex type, but worth checking out if you're interested in conspiracies about Freemasonry and the Illuminati.
Tortus on 4/1/2005 at 05:03
Didn't anyone else think the conspiracies in Deus Ex were the weaker aspect of the story? I want to read speculative fiction about how technology might shape our future, none of this "it turns out X was behind it all" crap. It can work okay sometimes, but it's not book-worthy.
ilweran on 4/1/2005 at 13:41
Quote Posted by Tortus
Didn't anyone else think the conspiracies in Deus Ex were the weaker aspect of the story? I want to read speculative fiction about how technology might shape our future, none of this "it turns out X was behind it all" crap. It can work okay sometimes, but it's not book-worthy.
I liked the conspiracies, but then I generally do like conspiracy theories, as long as they're 'sensible'- nothing involving Diana being killed because she wouldn't marry Bill Clinton.
Wang on 7/1/2005 at 20:30
But look on the bright side: how many games have this kind of complexity in it's story, yet maintains perfectly the gameplay and the choices? Deus Ex is so perfect that it simply could not have been made...
BlackCapedManX on 10/1/2005 at 02:26
Quote Posted by ilweran
I'd also reccommend 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson. Far better than 'Neuromancer' by Willam Gibson which I think is very over-rated
Never read that, but I've been a rabid fan of Gibson, so it might be worth a look.
Also, Tortus, for stuff in a similar vein to DX, definately read stuff by William Gibson, much of whoms work is carried into games made by the former lgs and now DX and the like from isa.
