The Fifth Science Paperback – February 13, 2019

I have yet to finish this, it is very good tho.

Growing up I loved the yearly compendiums of short SF stories as a way to meet new authors.In recent years these yearly compendiums have become disappointments.In stead of short introductions to exciting ideas they are now mostly bloated belaboring collections of bland ideas.The Fifth Science returned that feeling of excitement to me.

It’s dense. But not in that scientific way. In the way of events that occur over millions of years. It intertwines and at times feels disconnected. It’s poetic and honest. Whimsical and sometimes downright magical. New sciences are established and philosophies that breed passion and life.At times it’s difficult to follow the thread, these stories that follow a loose guideline over the future history of an intergalactic empire. So many events occur that you’ll be inspired to keep reading, as I did over 4 days. I enjoyed every second of it, but felt there was a lot of hand waving for some of the mechanisms involved, as is often natural when discussing far future technologies. But it was *fun*Exurb1a has something special that allows him to piece together the remnants of what it means to be human, aiding us in connecting in that deeper, bigger picture way. Of all his novels so far, this is the one that made me feel that the most. And that’s worth something

Honestly my expectations werent really high going into this. However, there is something in the way that Exurb1a writes that captivates you and keeps you reading and reading. I finished this book in 2 2-hour flights and I enjoyed every minute of it. If you have even an inkling of curiosity about how the future may look I 100% recommend to get this book.P.S. My favorite story was the Lantern. I was really interested in the explanation at the end and the roots of this one as well.

My all time favorite sci fi book. Really unique to keep telling the story after all the humans are dead. Extremely well written

I loved Exurb1a's videos on youtube. He's got a specific sense of humor and almost prophetic way of story telling. On more than one occasion he has brought me to tears, both happiness and sadness from his content.Id strongly recommend perusing through his channel, watching some of his bigger videos, and ask your self " do I find this entertaining? " Because if so, the book reads with the same sense of humor and vibrancy as his videos.

I've been waiting for a book like this for a long time.Great ideas, world building, and characters. What a great respite from the real world, which is awful right now. My favorite story was "Be Awake, Be Good." That one was straight-up cinematic and should be adapted to screen.Who is this writer with the weird pen name? I'll have to seek out more.

This book is one of the few artfully-crafted novels where you open it with few expectations, then simply cannot put it down, except in this case, you can't put it down even though you're having the worst existential crisis of your life while simultaneously being overwhelmingly excited for the science that might come in the next few years.Exurbia's relationship with language as a tool has always been able to convey that powerful sense of wonder that exists in the intersection of consciousness as an "oh my god I'm alive and I don't know how or why" moment and fully realizing the beauty of the universe and futurism at the same time. This book is no exception. This book does a lot of things well, but cannot really be placed into a category on its own. You'll be whisked away into a world of robots, machine learning, overindulgence, and societal bliss and in one way, the book will be a regress on the dystopic utopian vision optimistic futurists hold. In another way, the book encapsulates that very feeling of smallness that is experienced when you gaze up into the night sky and realize that you are merely a dumb ape on a small rock floating through space in a massive universe and that nothing you have done or will ever do will ever matter and that the pointless societal sand-castle we're building will just be washed away by the waves of the cosmic oceans of time.I can confidently say I am a better person from reading this book. Nothing has any inherent meaning; that's for us to decide.