SocProf reviewed The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson
Review of 'The Affinities' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
This is the second disappointment for this long-time RCW's fan (after Burning Paradise). Up to the very end, we are supposed to root for the "good guys" in this story, the Tau affinity (a new form of in-grouping, based on some kind neuro-measurements) even though they are as exclusive and discriminatory, us-first and screw everyone else, as the other affinities, except they are the "chosen one" by the scientist who created the affinities and their underlying concepts.
In the end, the entire concept of affinities falls apart thanks to governmental intervention because, otherwise, these very libertarian groupings were ready to claim self-governance, which would lead to various forms of segregation and exclusion. Are we supposed to find that appealing?
And the creation of in-groups also involves the creation of corresponding out-groups, so, we get a very predictable affinity conflict between the libertarian, multi-centered Taus, and the authoritarian Hets (the villains …
This is the second disappointment for this long-time RCW's fan (after Burning Paradise). Up to the very end, we are supposed to root for the "good guys" in this story, the Tau affinity (a new form of in-grouping, based on some kind neuro-measurements) even though they are as exclusive and discriminatory, us-first and screw everyone else, as the other affinities, except they are the "chosen one" by the scientist who created the affinities and their underlying concepts.
In the end, the entire concept of affinities falls apart thanks to governmental intervention because, otherwise, these very libertarian groupings were ready to claim self-governance, which would lead to various forms of segregation and exclusion. Are we supposed to find that appealing?
And the creation of in-groups also involves the creation of corresponding out-groups, so, we get a very predictable affinity conflict between the libertarian, multi-centered Taus, and the authoritarian Hets (the villains of that story, the ones who use violence, even though the Taus do distasteful things, including spying on people).
Interestingly enough, the ending completely evaporates that structure, but only to open up to a different type of grouping that is supposed to be better.
I think this book is an inadvertent cautionary tale on grouping-by-algorithm.