Queen of Angels
by Greg Bear · first published 1990
5mentions
3recommended by
4HN commenters
2012–2024first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Near-future detective story where a police investigation meets pervasive public data and cameras. Readers praise its thoughtful take on AI, justice and punishment, and its emotional depth. For hard sci-fi fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In a world of wonders, wealth, and "perfect" mental health, a famous poet commits gruesome murder. Why? That crime, that question, leads a policewoman to a jungle of torture and forgotten gods; a writer to the bohemian shadows of a vast city; and a scientist directly into the mind -- the nightmare soul -- of the psychopath himself.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
For those interested in considering alternatives, I recommend giving the sci-fi book "Queen of Angels" by Greg Bear a read. [1] That novel follows a police detective trying to solve a crime. A major source of tension is that all of the quasi-public data (public cameras, citizen movements, credit card…
on “America should borrow from Europe’s data-privacy law” ↗…next few decades will be a time of progress & disparity. No doubt that technology and innovation will flourish, but access to that technology and its benefits will not be well distributed. Greg Bear's "Queen of Angels" (and "Slant") set up a great example of this world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Angels_(novel)
on “Why I Believe That This Will Be The Most Innovative Decade In History” ↗If not Neuromancer (although I feel differently) then Queen of Angels (Greg Bear). It's the most fascinating take on AI I've ever read - the entanglement with the themes of justice and punishment is thought-provoking. The Turing Option (Harry Harrison, Marvin Minsky).…
on “Fastest rate of natural carbon dioxide rise over the last 50k years” ↗I'm reminded of the first time I read novels like A Clockwork Orange, or Greg Bear's Queen of Angels, where the fictional world's slang is used, but not explained.
on “Uncleftish Beholding: English minus the non-Germanic words (1998)” ↗…to see here that one part of the government is calling another part to account. But I have to think that's unusual, and I'd love to see a better balance of responsibilities here. In Greg Bear's novel "Queen of Angels", set in 2047, their solution to the conflicting needs of privacy and crime prevention was a separate organization called "Citizen Oversight". All the digital-trail data (cameras, financial records, etc)…
on “The FBI’s most controversial surveillance tool is under threat” ↗