Just when you think you have a grip on what’s going on, he adds a twist that keeps things from being predictable or cliched. Throughout, Watts does an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension, making you feel wonderfully uncomfortable.
Only a few of the characters’ backstories are addressed though, and that felt like a missed opportunity.īut at the same time, Blindsight is a real page turner. The characters were rich and lifelike, with actual personalities that go beyond describing their roles on the team. Commanded by a vampire, Siri is joined by a linguist whose brain has been constructed to house multiple personalities a biologist who can interface with his equipment cybernetically and a soldier who can command a horde of killer drones. What was left was someone who could glean a world of information from a person’s smallest gesture but was unable to experience true feelings or emotions. As a child half of protagonist Siri Keaton’s brain was removed to treat chronic epilepsy. Likewise, characters would have a-ha moments that I as the reader didn’t share, leaving me to just shrug and move along.Ĭharacterization is both a strength and a weakness here. Occasionally though Watts would touch on a subject and then move on without exploring it, which could be frustrating and a little disjointed. While it’s clear he’s using the voices of the characters to deliver his philosophy, it doesn’t come across as forced or pedantic. Many of these themes are explored through dialogue and exposition, which to Watts’ credit works well. Sometimes there was too much going on thematically – it felt like Watts was trying to cram 50 pounds of philosophy into a 30-pound bag. Naturally, nothing good happens!īlindsight is densely packed with themes and concepts relating to consciousness and sentience (amongst other things) that made me want to put the book down and really think about what Watts was trying to say.
When a probe of our own intercepts an extraterrestrial signal of unknown origin and receipt shortly thereafter, a team is sent to investigate, and possibly make first contact. Originally published in 2006, Peter Watt’s Blindsight tells the story of what happens when 65,000 alien probes flashed simultaneously, instantaneously surveying the earth.
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