the long way to small angry planet

Just reached some of the parts that explain why this is known as "cozy sci-fi" (I love it so far). The description of the fishbowl - a room with a big bubble window looking out into space, filled with plants and also painted - I think nonfunctional - electronic pieces, and mismatched chairs and benches. The focus on the mismatched chairs in a later dinner scene reminded me of the _Pattern Language_ part where mismatched chairs are recommended. I've recent done some cozy/chaotic decorating in the house and this made me want to double down on it and also think about how to incorporate more electronics into it.

The way AIs are treated so far seems hopeful - a part of the world but not the whole world. Partly their advantages in certain areas foreground human qualities more: coziness, fuzzy judgement.

Still enjoying this! Interesting how episodic and somewhat low-stakes it can be. Just go with these people you like on mini-adventures. In doing so I think it's really putting forward coziness as a kind of value. I'm reading the chapter on the modders and I feel like one of the main focuses is how nice it is to be in that type of environment - where everyone is friendly and also intensely focused on their own niche interests. Hackerspace-like.

I finished this morning. Really enjoyed. I did find that because it was episodic I didn't necessarily feel pulled to keep going like I would with some books. But I think that fits with the overall cozy, humane themes. Not everything needs to be stress and adrenaline and intrigue. I loved the Monk and Robot books more - but that's not really a knock since I really loved those. Thinking about what is likely to stick with me. The overall vibe. Probably the depiction of modders and hackers and how much fun those spaces sounded - reminded me of the feeling of those spaces in Stephenson or Gibson books as well. Though fittingly for this book it was a lot less focused on something being made then the feeling of being in those spaces - the orientation towards problem-solving and experimenting. The AI stuff was nice in that it felt normalized (there was some drama around it, in the end but it fit alongside the other stories). Super capable AIs are there, life goes on, everyone finds other things to do.