''Echopraxia'' is a

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's '' Islands of Space'' in the Novem ...

novel by Canadian writer Peter Watts. It is a "

sidequel In media, a spin-off (or spinoff) is a radio program, television program, film, video game or any narrative work, derived from already existing works that focus on more details and different aspects from the original work (e.g. particular topics, ...

" to his 2006 novel, ''

Blindsight Blindsight is the ability of people who are cortically blind to respond to visual stimuli that they do not consciously see due to lesions in the primary visual cortex, also known as the striate cortex or Brodmann Area 17. The term was coined by ...

'', and the two novels make up the ''Firefall'' series. ''Echopraxia'' follows the story of a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

who gets caught up in a voyage into the heart of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

among members of a transcendentalist monastic order and allies (including a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

escaped from a research facility and her cadre of

zombified "Zombified" is a song by American rock band Falling in Reverse. It was released on January 5, 2022, through Epitaph Records. The song was released as the first single from the band's upcoming EP titled ''Neon Zombie''. The song was again produc ...

soldiers) to investigate a mysterious signal seemingly coming from the mission sent to initiate first contact in Watts' previous novel. The cover art is by

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in b ...

. The title refers to a

psychological condition A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

in which a person involuntarily mimics actions they observe. In 2014, Watts participated in an online Q&A session on

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

, where he personally answered questions about the novel.

Synopsis

The story, set on the eve of the twenty-second century, follows a

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ...

named Daniel Brücks, who accidentally finds himself trapped within a conflict involving several trans-human groups. Forced to escape into space, he boards the starship ''Crown Of Thorns'', together with a varied crew that includes Valerie, a vampire; Lianna Lutterodt, a monastic apprentice; Jim Moore, a soldier; Rakshi Sengupta, the pilot; and the Bicamerals, a group of trans-humans able to share thoughts and brainpower without the need for verbal communication. They journey together towards the Icarus station, which captures energy from the Sun and uses it to power both Earth and the ''Theseus'' ship, currently on a mission to contact an extraterrestrial entity. Things change abruptly when they find in the station signs of an alien intelligence that the crew names Portia, based on the extraordinary intelligence that the spider of the same name showcases, despite its small brain. During the trip, several secondary plot points are explored: the relationship between Daniel Brücks and his ex-wife, Rho, who decided to ascend to "Heaven", a custom virtual reality world for people who don't want to go on with their ordinary lives; the relationship between Jim Moore and his son, Siri Keeton, who traveled on the ''Theseus'' several years ago; Sengupta's search for the man who caused her wife's death; and Valerie's escape from the neurological chains that her human creators had imposed on her. The book explores topics like the nature of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

and the actual need (or lack) for it in evolved creatures, the use of religion to advance knowledge beyond science, the existence of

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

as a virus that modifies the

laws of physics Scientific laws or laws of science are statements, based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. The term ''law'' has diverse usage in many cases (approximate, accurate, broad, or narrow) a ...

, and the role that baseline (non-modified) humans can have in a society where everyone else is "augmented" in one way or another.

References

External links

* {{Isfdb title, id=1746859 2014 Canadian novels 2014 science fiction novels Biopunk novels Canadian science fiction novels Space exploration novels Tor Books books