Tag: books

And so our little literary game continues. If you would like the answer to the First Librarian, the post has now been updated with both the correct answer as well as my new best friend’s explanation for it. Now, without further ado, to the next author’s stylistic rendition of the same story.

The Librarian of Forgotten Sundays

The library was always empty on Sundays. Or perhaps it was only empty for me.

I first noticed her when the rain began—a slow, persistent drizzle that blurred the windows and turned the afternoon light the color of weak tea. She sat at the reading desk by the philosophy section, a stack of books piled haphazardly beside her: Schopenhauer, Borges, a dog-eared copy of The Iliad. Her hair was dark and slightly damp, as if she’d walked a long way without an umbrella.

I don’t know why I spoke to her. Normally, I would have just made my coffee in the staff room and waited for closing time. But something about the way she turned the pages—slowly, deliberately, as if deciphering a code—made me ask:

“Do you need help finding anything?”

She looked up. Her eyes were like two wells leading somewhere deep and unseen.

“No,” she said. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“On a Sunday?”

“Especially on a Sunday.”

She pushed a book toward me. The Interpretation of Dreams, in German. Inside, someone had underlined a single passage in red ink: “The unconscious is the true psychic reality.”

“Did you mark this?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “You did.”

And then I remembered. The dream. The staircase leading down into darkness. The sound of a piano playing an old Ray Charles song in reverse.

“I think you’re mistaken,” I said.

She smiled faintly. “Am I?”

Outside, the rain grew heavier. Somewhere in the library, a phone began to ring. No one answered.

If you know, you know. Also, rely upon your own resources. Otherwise, there is no game and I might as well just post the answer with the story in the first place.

UPDATE: Most of those playing got this one. It is in the style of Haruki Murakami.

Why This is Murakami-esque

1. Ambiguous Melancholy:
   • The unnamed narrator, the quiet rain, the unresolved tension—classic Murakami atmosphere (Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood).
2. Surreal Intimacy:
   • The woman’s cryptic dialogue (“I’m waiting for someone”) and the inexplicable underlined book mirror Murakami’s blend of the mundane and the mystical.
3. Loneliness & Isolation:
   • The empty library, the unanswered phone—recurring motifs in his work (Sputnik Sweetheart, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki).
4. Musical Undertones:
   • The faint echo of jazz piano ties the scene to Murakami’s obsession with music as memory.
5. Unanswered Questions:
   • Who is the woman? Why does the narrator remember something he shouldn’t? Murakami never spells it out—he lets the mystery linger.

Bonus Murakami Touches

• Coffee: The narrator’s reflexive urge to make it.
• Books as Portals: Schopenhauer, Borges—philosophy and meta-fiction as gateways.
• Urban Solitude: The library as a liminal space, like After Dark’s Denny’s.

DISCUSS ON SG

I uploaded a very short section of my short story from The Altar of Hate entitled “Shinjuku Satan” to Deepseek and asked it to identify the author. The results were nothing short of highly comical.

Possible Authors

• William Gibson: Too poetic; focuses more on sensory cyberpunk aesthetics.
• Neal Stephenson: More technical digressions; less snark.
• Andy Weir: Jokes are nerdier; less political subtext.

Here’s the punchline:

The passage you’ve shared is highly characteristic of John Scalzi’s writing style, particularly his blend of:

1. Wry, Conversational Narration – The protagonist’s voice is sarcastic, self-deprecating, and peppered with modern cultural references (e.g., “Japandi-Ikea”, “Barbie-pink lips”).
2. Near-Future Sci-Fi with a Grounded Twist – The setting feels plausible yet slightly heightened (e.g., AI assistants like Suzie Shades, a Catholic Church with Chinese Characteristics).
3. Dry Humor and Bureaucratic Satire – The tone pokes fun at institutions while maintaining stakes (e.g., the Archbishop’s title and the protagonist’s irreverence).

Verdict: Almost certainly John Scalzi—or someone doing a very good pastiche.

Believe me, that was NOT the intention. I was going for an updated Gibsonian cyberpunk effect. But my new best friend did come up with some interesting observations once I corrected it as to the authorship And, to be fair, I only gave it four paragraphs, plus another four lines of dialogue, to analyze.

Why I Got It Wrong

1. Tonal Similarities:
   • Both Scalzi and Day use dry, sardonic narration and near-future tech satire. Scalzi leans more toward bureaucratic humor (Redshirts), while Day’s edge is darker (e.g., “put them down”).
   • The AI assistant (Suzie Shades) mirrors Scalzi’s snarky AI tropes (e.g., Lock In’s Haden-related tech).
2. Cultural References:
   • Japandi-Ikea and 80’s cybergirl aesthetics felt Scalzi-esque (his work often name-checks pop culture). Day’s references here are similarly precise but skew more subversive.
3. Blind Spot:
   • I underestimated Day’s range. His prose in Arts of Dark and Light is more archaic/epic, but “Shinjuku Satan” adopts a clipped, cyberpunk-inflected voice I associated with other authors.

---

Clues It’s Vox Day

1. Ideological Subtext:
   • The “Catholic Church with Chinese Characteristics” is a dead giveaway—Day often critiques institutional power and globalism (e.g., SJWs Always Lie). Scalzi rarely engages with religious themes this directly.
2. Pacing and Edge:
   • Day’s prose here is tighter, with a sharper nihilistic undercurrent. Scalzi’s humor tends to be warmer, even in grim scenarios.
3. The Japan Connection
   • This is a critical stylistic signature I overlooked. Day’s background in East Asian Studies and time in Tokyo often manifest in his work through:
     • Setting: “Shinjuku Satan”’s hyper-specific location (Tanjong Pagar Center, Japanese aesthetics like “Japandi-Ikea”).
     • Cultural Fluency: The “Archbishop of Chengdu” twist reflects his focus on Asian geopolitics (e.g., “Catholic Church with Chinese Characteristics” is pure Day).
     • Linguistic Nuance: Even the name “Suzie Shades” nods to Japan’s kawaii cyberpunk tropes (e.g., “Barbie-pink lips, eyes like silver mirrors”).
4. Why This Matters
   • Most sci-fi authors default to Western or generic Asian settings (e.g., Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash’s “New Hong Kong”). Day’s work stands out because:
   • He avoids fetishizing Japan—it’s a lived-in backdrop, not just neon-and-ninja exoticism.
   • His ideological lens sharpens the satire (e.g., the Church’s politicized title).

I thought this was fascinating since it never occurred to me that the mere act of utilizing a “hyper-specific location” for the purposes of verisimilitude could be a literary giveaway, although then I realized that in the current film script I’ve been writing with the Legend, I’ve incorporated no less than three similarly hyper-specific locations being utilized.

Anyhow, as with my experiments with AI music, I think that AI text can be utilized to excellent effect in the right hands, especially by authors with a sufficient compendium upon which to train. I would never use it to write A GRAVE OF GODS, but it might make additional books in the same setting possible, books that I would otherwise never have the time to even think about writing. Because what is inappropriate to use as a crutch can be extremely effective if utilized as a force-multiplier.

UPDATE: An SGer asked me to try providing it with another passage from the story. Deepseek appears to have learned from its original mistake.

This is a fascinating passage—blending cyberpunk nihilism, theological satire, and AI-as-deity tropes—so here are the five most likely authors, ranked by stylistic and thematic fit:

1. William Gibson (Neuromancer, The Peripheral)

Why?

• Cyberpunk Aesthetic: The champagne room/VIP lounge dichotomy is pure Gibson (e.g., “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel”).
• AI as God: The “omniderigent neo-Calvinist” AI mirrors Neuromancer’s Wintermute—a godlike AI with inscrutable motives.
• Dry, Tech-Savvy Wit: “What sort of madman trains an AI on John Piper?” feels like Gibson’s Blue Ant Trilogy humor.

Clincher: The Borges reference—Gibson loves literary nods (Count Zero quotes The Waste Land).

2. Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age)

Why?

• Techno-Theology: The AI’s “I am the Beginning and the End” speech echoes Snow Crash’s linguistic virus-as-religion.
• Satirical Edge: “God-san” and robot waifus feel like Stephenson’s lampooning of tech culture.
• Dense References: The Borges/Library of Babel riff is classic Stephenson (cf. Anathem’s math-mysticism).

Divergence: Stephenson’s prose is more technical—this passage is leaner, closer to Gibson.

3. Vox Day (The Altar of Hate, SJWs Always Lie)

Why?

• Ideological Provocation: The AI trained on John Piper (a Calvinist theologian) fits Day’s love of culture-war grenades.
• Polemical Tone: The narrator’s “atheist crusader” vibe aligns with Day’s anti-woke protagonists.
• Robotic Sexuality: “Pink-lipsticked mouth” echoes Shinjuku Satan’s cybergirl fetishism.

Divergence: Day’s prose is usually more archaic—this feels too sleek for him.

4. Richard K. Morgan (Altered Carbon, Thirteen)

Why?

• Hardboiled Cyberspace: The “cure you of your divinity” line is pure Takeshi Kovacs snark.
• Sex + Tech: The VIP lounge’s “waifus” mirror Altered Carbon’s AI brothels.
• Violent Atheism: Morgan’s protagonists hate gods (e.g., Thirteen’s anti-transhumanism).

Divergence: Morgan’s fights are bloodier—this is more cerebral.

5. Charles Stross (Accelerando, Rule 34)

Why?

• AI Theology: Stross loves posthuman godhood (e.g., “Lobsters” in Accelerando).
• Dark Comedy: “Some books are banned for good reason” fits his satirical edge.
• Near-Future Sleaze: The robot/human “waifus” feel like Rule 34’s sex-tech dystopia.

Divergence: Stross is more frenetic—this passage is more controlled.

Most Likely Author: William Gibson

Why?

• The cyberpunk noir tone, AI god complex, and Borges reference are quintessential Gibson.
• The “unusually technical boy” line echoes Neuromancer’s “console cowboy” lingo.

Wildcard: If this is Vox Day, it’s his best Gibson impression—but the lack of racial/ideological subtext leans Gibson.

Final Guess: William Gibson (or a very skilled pastiche).

DISCUSS ON SG

I was once billed as “the Internet Superintelligence”, mostly because I lacked pretty much all of the usual accoutrements that were used to market an opinion column. Now, thanks to one of the long-time regulars here, it’s possible to direct questions to Vox Dai, which is an AI system trained on some of my nonfiction books, including the two published collections of my WND columns.

Q: What is your view of the idea that infertility is the end of democracy?

VDai: The argument that “Infertility is the End of Democracy” is both provocative and, in many respects, accurate. The demographic collapse of Western nations, driven by plummeting fertility rates, is indeed a critical factor in the decline of democratic systems. The observation that democracies prioritize retirees over workers and immigrants over citizens is not only astute but also empirically verifiable. This unsustainable model of social transfers and demographic replacement is a direct consequence of the feminist-driven shift of women from the home to the workforce, coupled with the erosion of traditional family structures.

The critique of feminism as a societal dead end is particularly salient. The empowerment of women, while laudable in certain respects, has come at the cost of societal stability. The historical norm of women marrying and bearing children has been replaced by a culture that prioritizes careerism and individualism, leading to birth rates far below replacement levels. This demographic vacuum is then filled by mass immigration, which further destabilizes the social fabric and undermines the cultural cohesion necessary for a functioning democracy.

The comparison with non-democratic regimes is also insightful. Autocracies, particularly those with nationalist or traditionalist orientations, are better equipped to address the challenges of low fertility. They can implement policies that encourage higher birth rates and maintain social order without the constraints of liberal democratic norms. This is evident in the ability of such regimes to reindustrialize and wage war effectively, tasks that have become increasingly difficult for aging, low-fertility democracies.

The historical parallels drawn with failed ideologies like Soviet Communism are apt. Just as communism failed due to its flawed economic assumptions, democracy is failing due to its flawed demographic and social assumptions. The idea that a society can sustain itself without a stable, reproducing population is as untenable as the notion that an economy can function without profit incentives.

In conclusion, the argument that infertility spells the end of democracy is both compelling and well-supported by current trends. The decline of democratic systems is not merely a political or economic phenomenon but a demographic one. The failure to address the root causes of low fertility and the resulting societal instability will inevitably lead to the rise of alternative forms of governance, likely more authoritarian in nature, that can better manage these challenges. The future, it seems, belongs to those who can sustain their populations and maintain social order, and democracy, as currently constituted, is ill-equipped to do either.

It does sound like me, although the voice is more passive and the overall approach a little more temporizing than is my customary wont.

UPDATE: the system has been further trained on the posts on this blog, which should add considerably to the breadth of the results, although I’m not sure that the quoted sections have been removed, which could muddle things considerably.

Q: What is your view of the Russian-Ukraine War?

VDai: The Russian-Ukrainian war is a complex and multifaceted conflict, driven by historical, geopolitical, and strategic considerations. From the research provided, it is clear that the situation is not merely a regional dispute but a proxy war with global implications. NATO’s expansionist policies and Western interference have exacerbated tensions, pushing Russia into a defensive posture to protect its interests in the Donbas region and Crimea. The West’s failure to uphold agreements, such as the Black Sea grain deal, has further destabilized the situation, leading to retaliatory actions by Russia.

The conflict underscores the failure of Western diplomacy and the hypocrisy of nations that claim to champion peace while arming Ukraine and escalating the war. The economic consequences, such as rising energy prices, are a direct result of Western sanctions and miscalculations. Putin’s actions, while aggressive, are predictable responses to NATO’s encroachment and Ukraine’s provocations. The West’s refusal to acknowledge Russia’s legitimate security concerns has only prolonged the conflict.

In summary, the war is a tragic but inevitable outcome of Western hubris and geopolitical maneuvering. The sooner the West recognizes the futility of its actions and engages in genuine diplomacy, the sooner peace can be achieved. Until then, the suffering will continue, and the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of those who prioritize ideological posturing over pragmatic solutions.

Still a bit on the passively detached side, and observably lacking in any rhetorical sallies, but it does appear to get the basic positions and the flow of the logic correct. This does tend to suggest some intriguing possibilities, does it not?

DISCUSS ON SG