The Night Sessions by Ken MacLeod is included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, in the Science Fiction and Fantasy section - 9 out of 10

 

The Night Sessions by Ken MacLeod is included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, in the Science Fiction and Fantasy section

 

9 out of 10

 

Eureka – after A Series of Unfortunate Events, that is, three or four books from the aforementioned list have failed to impress this reader (his fault), finally, there is joy, liberation, back to the days when reading was an enchantment, a provocation, thought provoking and also generating the feeling that this is brilliant

 

Ergo, it is strange to find only a few lines on the Wikipedia page for what I see as remarkable, at times stupendous novel, which looks at a future that seems likely, humanity will have been through The Faith Wars, atheists control power, believers have to keep a low profile, some of the latter become frustrated and eventually, violent

Maybe a spoiler alert would be fair here, I think I will progress with ‘revelations’, if I say more a few lines down form here, then nobody will be around, no harm done, but I have read that modesty is a character strength https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/07/learned-optimism-by-martin-seligman.html and this note is not overwhelming

 

Or maybe I will be proved wrong, let us see – John Richard Campbell is one of the main characters, a very appealing one, he is religious, and debunks some ‘myths’, or maybe just throws some verities that are actually false, he has a dialogue with this woman, and he says something to the effect of ‘science has not proved the Bible wrong’

‘How about the stars, well, we do not see them really, there are rays of light that scientists interpret, and then the black holes have been ‘made up’, so that they explain phenomena that does not fit with the rest of the picture created’ so, if that is true, it does make you think, or at least it made me look for more religious enlightenment

 

Luckily, there is this fellow at the sauna, Titus, who knows a great deal, and I have subscribed to some tutoring…back to The Night Sessions, another crucial figure is John Livingston, who has called and paid for the trip that Campbell takes, all the way from New Zealand to Scotland, to preach for some isolated Christians

Among the wondrous ideas: Campbell has preached to…robots, in New Zealand, and those of them that have reached consciousness, have become interested (actually, he only preached to those in that state) and then they communicated with other robots – by now, I can spill the beans, spoiler alert again, the robots will have…their own religion

 

The novel becomes a detective story, because a murder is committed, a bomb, then a priest is killed, and two civilians (to be odd) are wounded, and it is investigated as an attack on Christians, albeit they do not know in the first place if it is fundamentalist Christians, they see that priest as apostate, or what, there are speculations

 

Graham Orr becomes a suspect, albeit we see this name, the personage transforms into a double identity, so to speak, because we have a robot, Hardcastle, who assumes, takes the identity of Orr, the latter had died in the Faith Wars, Armageddon, and Hardcastle is determined to take some revenge, plus, he has this new religion to fight for

Detective Inspector Adam Ferguson is leading the investigation, helped by, among others, a leki, a police robot, that would be dispatched at the…Atlantic Space Elevator, to try and prevent Hardcastle form destroying it, with the help of other robots, that he has indoctrinated, brought to the vision of a future for them

 

This of course brings to mind the infamous Hal, from 2001 – A Space Odyssey https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/2001-space-odyssey-by-arthur-c-clarke.html by Arthur C. Clarke, adapted by stupendous Stanley Kubrick, Hal is the computer that turns rogue, against humans, albeit the first rule…

For Robots would be to protect people, never harm a human being, the point in Night Sessions being that humans have had their chance, God has become disgusted with them, so he abandons humanity, in favor of the robots, a new ‘Chosen Group of Creatures’, perhaps that is the way they would frame it, and they act upon it

 

In the future envisaged in the book, not only there would have been intense wars, devastating, but the consequences of climate change are in evidence, waters have risen, humans have had to use a solution that is mentioned in The Economist and surely many publications, to try and crate a screen, to avoid the fatal heating

In Night Sessions, this will be the soletas, which in the terrorist plot are blown up, so that humans feel the impact, the Wrath of God, if you will, manifest through Hardcastle, Livingston (he proves to be the villain, Darth Vader) and their acolytes, Ferguson argues that the soletas will be replaced, and it will be alright

 

-          Only it won’t be

 

Because at this stage, we see that the targets include both Space Elevators, thus the job of replacing the soletas could be not just difficult, taking years, but it could be impossible, due to the consequences, and the force of these incredible enemies, and we could argue, the stupidity of the human race…yes, we have individuals that are divine https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/07/girl-20-by-astounding-kingsley-amis.html but look at how they vote, in America, France, here we had an idiot from the far right, talking about nano chips in Coca Cola, and he came first

 

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”