Souls in the Great Machine
by Mcmullen, Sean · first published 2000
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Science fiction about a society that runs entirely on mechanical computers, exploring what it would mean to be part of such a machine; a good pick for readers who enjoy speculative ideas about computing and society.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
1st printing (per number line) of first mass market edition.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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I found Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen to be an interesting take on this.
on “Collapse OS – bootstrap post-collapse technology” ↗City - Clifford D Simack All of Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois Bujold Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh Stand in Zanzibar John Bruner Adiamante - LE Modesitt Jr Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen Known Space series by Larry Niven and ALL of his collaborations with Jerry Pournelle Midshipman’s Hope by David Feintuch Gateway - Fredrick Pohl Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗Greg Egan as great! Two other Australians you might try are: Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman, about what it's like to be colonized. Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen, about what it's like to be part of a computer.
on “Permutation City (1994)” ↗This makes me want to reread “Souls in the Great Machine” again http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312872569/
on “Mining Bitcoin with pencil and paper: 0.67 hashes per day” ↗Not exactly that, but Souls in the Great Machine explores a society that relies entirely on mechanical computers. Good book.
on “Mechanical computer relies on kirigami cubes, not electronics” ↗I remember part of a book, "Souls in the Great Machine", on a post-apocalyptic fantasy Earth, where a "librarian" ran a computing device composed of hundreds of people working machinery together. She set up a duplicate computer to make sure the results always…
on “Why It’s So Difficult – and Costly – To Secure Chips” ↗"Dirk cats" were featured in the sci-fi series starting with Souls in the Great Machine, another convergence to a saber-toothed feline.
on “Crabs evolved at least five times from separate groups of crustaceans (2021)” ↗