EPBOT Readers discussion

This is the section for discussing chapters 14-22.

Danesh and Oort have a tumultuous relationship. How do you think that will affect their performance?

The Roadrunner gave Capo the cat language as a proof that language does not prove sentience. Do you agree? Did your opinions change towards Capo change after being able to hear her thoughts, vs simply guessing?

How did you feel reading about the last failure in the grand prix?

When the Litost are introduced, they are presented as virtually a perfect example of sentience, yet their first act upon the human's arrival is violence. Do you find there's double standards within the grand prix?

What is your opinion of rule 20?

any other thoughts on this section?

Since we've been told that Decibel and Oort are able to pull it together enough for public appearances, I'm not concerned about their ability to actually perform a song (I'm more worried about where they'll find a drummer), but their personal conflict does seem to be affecting their ability to write one.

I don't buy that giving cats the ability to use language via some sort of brain stimulation is the same as cats developing language on their own, and therefore it doesn't really tell us anything about sentience. Could Altonaut have gone further and given the cat the ability to compose and perform music, qualifying it for sentience according to her own beliefs? Would that say anything about cats, or just the abilities of the Esca?

The last failure is described to us as "Planet Hitler", and Flus does intend to assimilate everyone, but there's no indication that this would have been successful or that there was any actual danger in allowing the planet to exist. It seems to be a case in which containment could have been at least the first policy, rather than jumping right to annihilation.

The Grand Prix Oversight Committee does seem to be admitting to itself that the "massively popular shenanigans" it is allowing are "barbaric, immoral, vaguely unsentient" behavior, so it's clear that there is no bright line of sentience or morality. As we learned from Goguenar Gorecannon, all people are capable of good and bad.

I'm personally disappointed in rule 20, because I'm more interested in reading about a music competition than a Hunger Games (or even It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) type scenario.

This book is still reminding me of Hitchhiker's Guide, particularly with the Paradox Box as the ship's engine (cf. the Improbability Drive).

At this stage of the game, I really thought we were building toward some high onstage drama between Danesh and Oort in the final performance. My prediction was that they were going to have this big emotional airing of grievances followed by reconciliation that was going to win the competition for Earth.

Capo was definitely funny, but I think I was expecting something more. He was kind of like those e-mails and Facebook posts everyone's been sharing lately about how their cat wants them to get out of the house because they're in the way. Not exactly untrod humor territory, but there's a reason why the classics are classic sometimes. I was hoping that all of the stereotypical cat attitudes would be really original and groundbreaking to the people from the other planets, which I thought had good comic potential.

I enjoyed the story of the Flus - it was sufficiently weird that it wasn't a direct parallel to any one real world situation, but the self-congratulations of the committee for letting them compete even though they were going to make sure they didn't win was so perfectly presented (picture attitudes toward expansion teams in pro sports, expanding college conferences, realignment of high school leagues, etc.), and the utter lack of self-awareness of the Flus (a certain type of pop star, celebrities famous for being famous, fringe politicians) were just so well done.

I also enjoyed the descriptions of the Litost - that facade of sunshine and smiley faces masking the fact that they're just as competitive, if not more so, as everyone else. Without starting a non-book-related fight, I was thinking of the things you hear about Ellen DeGeneres as I was reading this part. But there are ample other examples - the hippie communes that devolved into cults or criminal enterprises, companies that present a wholesome, family-centered image but treat their employees terribly.....

Rule 20 is like way too many real life rules that end up having unintentional consequences that far overshadow the original reason the rule was put into place (some NCAA regulations, some aspects of election law, etc.) - I expected there to be some faction consistently arguing for its repeal throughout the book, and was surprised when that didn't become more of an issue.

I absolutely agree with Rebecca that the homage to Hitchhiker's Guide isn't exactly subtle - but I like that it's a more modern twist on some of the themes.

I'm fully expecting Orrt and Dess to be awkward on stage together, particularly without Mira to act as both a leveler and a muse to fuse the group together. It should be very interesting to see if they can pull off some of their old magic given this dynamic.

There's a huge part of me that's also expecting Capo to be the one to somehow save the day. For him to suddenly start talking, and then the buildup of him as a completely apathetic character that keeps showing up.... there's foreshadowing there, and it will be a shame if the author doesn't do anything with it. I did absolutely adore the author breaking the fourth wall and pointing out that his gift of speech was a genre-breaking occurrence.