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Teranesia
Greg Egan has been programming computers since the 1970s and writing science fiction since the 1980s. The latter has become his primary activity in the 1990s. He lives in Western Australia though the bulk of his professional sales have been made overseas. His books have been hard-edged analyses, with principal themes including consideration of many-worlds theory and the integration of technology into human evolution. Consciousness is often treated as the subject of technical manipulation in futures underpinned by the effects of increasingly sophisticated technology.
From this viewpoint the astounding clarity of the opening chapter of Egan's latest book made me wonder whether the setting was, once again, a virtual environment. In fact, Teranesia is, in Egan's own words, "about evolution, the Indian Rationalists Association, the break-up of Indonesia, quantum mechanics and sex". It is set in the early part of the next century. Indonesia continues to convulse in the throes of faction fighting while new creatures are appearing in the island chain. This is a source of considerable interest for biologists prepared to brave the dangers of potential civil war.
Egan's decision to move the focus of his writing from technology into biology provides a new range of signifiers for him to work with. The protagonist, Prabir, is typical of the author's work - highly intelligent and at ease with computers - but in this story his primary motivation is neither technical nor technological but emotional. Prabir is fully formed, well meaning but humanly flawed. In the development of this character Egan is highly successful. Prabir's traits are the natural outcome of the life story we are shown and his actions, whilst frustrating to the observer, are inevitable for Prabir himself. At least one of these observers, Prabir's sister Mahdusree, bursts from the page. In her more positive attitude she provides an effective foil to Prabir. His boyfriend also seems to share Mahdusree's opinion more than Prabir's, though in this case it seems to be a result of coming to terms with himself. Prabir's homosexuality sharpens the drama rather than being any concession to political correctness. In fact, there is a glorious series of extended jokes on political correctness. These involve Prabir's cousin and her academic environment, which are so skilfully drawn as to border on caricature. A hint of this is the cousin's belief that computers are reinforcing patriarchy due to the sexist nature of the ones and zeros which make up binary numbers.
The theme of biological research is riddled with complexity. The bulk of the science occurs outside of Prabir's speciality, allowing the writing to concentrate on time spent in the field. Egan has always been a precise writer, his clarity of description is to be awed. After a long day in the field the accumulated facts are rapidly tied together into new ideas. Scientific method is displayed as theories combine and recombine though Egan's vision of such a degree of co-operation between scientists seems somewhat optimistic. Successive ideas are thrown at the reader so fast that the progress towards a final theory feels like a game. Perhaps this is the point. Perhaps it could also be taken as an indication of how difficult it is to combine a novel of ideas with a character-led story line while retaining the fallibility of these characters.
The tale is well paced. The development of Prabir's story slows whilst scientific progress advances the plot. This leads to a sense of foreboding until the plot regathers, reaching alarming speed in the final pages and hurtling headlong into the back cover. Egan has also managed to pull together the novels themes, recapitulating the story to drive the urgency of the ending. He has taken a brave step into new territory and this is a distinctly visceral, emotional work. At the same time Egan has retained command of clear writing and profound scientific ideas.
Purchase this book from FatBrain.
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rws -- Angry about Echelon - why not leave Earth?
The correct URI is here... rws
http://www.andromedabook.co.uk/acatalog/Main_Index _SF_Masterworks__Millenium_UK__63. html
For the record though, Cities in Flight is the worst SF novel I have read in a long time. (The rest of the series, up to and including Babel-17 has been fantastic though!)
And I agree with the reviewer of Teranesia: Egan has come a long way in terms of characterisation. Simply brilliant.
I'd suggest starting with Quarantine, his first SF novel. It's the book I started with (back on it's first printing when no-one know who the f**k Greg Egan was) and it totally blew me away. It's a story about a near-future World that has been quarantined from the rest of the Universe by an impenetrable shield at the limits of the solar system. It touches on aspects of quantum theory, nano-technology, machine-augmented mental faculties and mass-psychosis. Check it out.
I never read it, but felt the obligation to post something. no smint, no kiss, no trouble.
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It's sitting on my filing cabinet, unread as of yet, but I've seen a couple people on the Internet criticize it as not up to Egan's normal standard.
reads like a short story or film plot, very shallow and simple certainly not up to the mainbending Diaspora or Axiomatic. This was made worse by my reading it in large paperback (softback) format, large letters widely spaced - like a kids book !
Yes, that's what I thought too. It's not bad, though, but not one of his best. (I thought it was better than "Permutation City", for example.)
WWJD for a Klondike Bar?
It's Cities in Flight that's out of print, not Teranesia - amazon.com says it's back in February. You can get it from Amazon.co.uk though.
Terranesia is well written, almost painterly in style. Good Egan stuff.
My gripe is that in terms of the plenitude of ideas, when compared to Diaspora, this one falls short. More like one of his short stories, only elongated.
Don't get me wrong, this book is a good novel when compared with run of the mill authors, but not an Egan pinnacle.
Hmmn... and the anti-religion theme is wearing a bit thin for my taste.
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Arse
Yeah Amazon.com would say that. Poor bastards.
Actually I thought it went back into print this month... but maybe I'm wrong.
This space for sale
I'm not talking Teranesia,I'm talking Cities in Flight.
George
Egan is a top-notch ideas man, no doubt about it - much _much_ better than Greg Bear, despite the latter's popularity. I started with "Axiomatic" and I highly recommend that as a starting point (don't start with "Permutation City", it's much weaker than his others).
It's good to see that his books are in print in the U.S., but I wonder how well they are promoted since it seems few Slashdotters have encountered them. Mind you, here in New Zealand where you'd expect to be able to find the British editions, you wouldn't have been able to find an Egan in any bookstore until Borders opened here last month.
Hopefully reviews like this one will get the man's books the attention they deserve.
While I enjoyed Terenesia, Egan really shines in his short stories. I've read the two
most recent collections Axiomatic and Luminous and would strongly recommend either to people who like SF that makes them think. Unfortunately, neither are currently available in the U.S. (Axiomatic is out of print, and Luminous is not currently planned to be published here).
Terenesia had some neat ideas, but as others have mentioned, it really did just feel like an expanded short story.
I read Egan's short story collection "Axiomatic" earlier this year and was totally blown away. His ideas about human evolution through technology are astounding... How about remodelling DNA to use different bases from ACGT? Total immunity to all known viruses - nice!
Highly recommended to anyone who likes getting their brains bent into strange new shapes...
-Andy
http://www.gimbo.org.uk/
Not in print? amazon.com says the book usually ships within 24 hours
Oooh, that's a heck of book.
Too bad it's out of print, and not scheduled to be reprinted until February.
I guess if you're a slashdot reader that gets intrigued by the review, you're sol, unless you want to make nice to me and ask to read my copy.
George