I truly enjoy these Tor essential books. I enjoyed this book (it was the first time I had read this classic) and hope to read more from this Tor essential line.

-- This review is several years past the release date due to the many issues of 2020, but a huge thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of the book.

If you enjoy classic sci-fi where aliens feel alien, this book will be for you.

I really enjoyed parts of this but I'm mostly left confused.

Are you reading to dive into a speculative science fiction novel full of aliens, vampires, and monsters? Then it's time to talk about Blindsight by Peter Watts.

Humanity has always known that they are not alone in the universe. But it isn't until a bunch of alien artifacts crash land on earth that this truth is made clear. Still, humanity is ready and willing to send the first humans out to talk to the aliens and make that critical first contact.

The problem is, those aliens weren't trying to reach humanity. They weren't trying to talk to the humans, but rather something else out in that vast blackness that is space.

“Stars, everywhere. So many stars that I could not for the life me understand how the sky could contain them all yet be so black.”

Blindsight is a dense and thought-provoking science fiction novel. I love how it blends so many favorite genres and tropes into one cohesive story. A story that is designed to push the limits and really make you stop and think.

This isn't a light read by any means. Not only does it have a fair amount of intellectual depth, but it raises debates about the self and consciousness. There's a lot to consider, both during and after reading.

When I picked up Blindsight, I was expecting a hard science fiction novel. For the most part, that is what I got. But I also got many different elements that I wasn't expecting, which made for one heck of a reading experience.

So...definitely read this before Echopraxia. Also, if you are the type of reader who reads "around" a book--looking for essays the author has written, or reviews, or opinion pieces, check out the author's own website and accompanying pieces. Here, an alien presence has made itself known. After an initial event, though, nothing. So a contact team is assembled, but its members are heavily cyberaugmented, almost beyond recognition as what we consider human. And one member of the team is a literal vampire, Jurassic Park-ed into existence, and now on "our" side. This is a brilliant alien encounter book, but all of the characters, to this reader, are essentially aliens. I do not feel smart enough to understand this book, but I certainly enjoyed it.

At the very moment I don't know if I should write a 2000 words paper or go for a short review.
As I assume this in going to be shared on another side I choose the second option.
It's the second book I read by Peter Watts and, oh boy, it was hard but I loved every moment.
It's not an easy book, not one of those book you read when you have some spare time.
It's a book that will engage you, make you think and will flood you with information and ideas.
It's a great hard sci-fi, well written, complex and enthralling.
I loved the world building, the characters and the storytelling.
I can't wait to read another story by this author.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Interesting but falls flat

The strong points of the book were world-building, story, and some good action. However, I didn’t like the backstories that didn’t add anything, uneven pacing, too much philosophy, and lack of sympathetic characters. Overall, it was interesting but not compelling.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.