choupitali's review against another edition
4.0
Greg Egan est un auteur difficile à lire. Ses romans demandent très souvent des connaissances poussées dans des domaines scientifiques et, bien que je loupe des lectures riches, je préfère lire quelque chose davantage à ma portée. Toutefois, Axiomatic est un recueil de nouvelles accessible à la majorité des lecteurs.
Composé de dix-huit récits, Axiomatic se place toujours dans de la science-fiction, mais on peut essentiellement désigner ce livre comme de la littérature d'idées. En effet, certaines nouvelles sont moins étoffées que d'autres ou ne proposent pas toujours un scénario époustouflant, mais chacune d'entre elles offrent des idées qui imposent une réflexion.
Parmi les thèmes abordés, on retrouve celui de l'identité comme dans Learning to Be Me ou bien Seeing, où le lecteur sera invité à réfléchir sur ce qui le définit. D'autres histoires comme The Hundred-Light-Year Diary ou encore A Kidnapping nous propose les implications que peuvent entraîner une technologie particulière. D'autres poussent certains concepts abstraits et créés par l'Homme au point de nous faire remettre en question notre jugement. En somme, chaque récit pourrait commencer par "Et si..." et développe amplement l'idée qu'il y a derrière.
Le résultat en est profondément marquant. Le lecteur verra sa petite bulle de confort éclater au fil du recueil, prenant conscience de son égocentrisme et de ce que l'humanité est capable.
Petit bémol, cependant, sur le fait qu'au moins deux ou trois nouvelles peuvent demeurer obscures si l'on n'a pas les connaissances nécessaires, et ce, malgré les explications qu'elles contiennent. Ainsi, il est un peu plus délicat de saisir pleinement les implications de ces histoires.
Finalement, Axiomatic est un recueil de science-fiction qui mérite pleinement qu'on s'y attarde. Sa richesse est telle qu'on se prendra à réfléchir longuement sur ses idées bien après notre lecture, certaines nouvelles pouvant nous hanter longtemps.
En revanche, je ne peux que conseiller de conserver la nouvelle The Infinite Assassin pour la fin. Si le sujet est intéressant, le récit est parmi les plus compliqués du livre et ce serait dommage d'être rebuté à lire le reste à cause de cela.
Composé de dix-huit récits, Axiomatic se place toujours dans de la science-fiction, mais on peut essentiellement désigner ce livre comme de la littérature d'idées. En effet, certaines nouvelles sont moins étoffées que d'autres ou ne proposent pas toujours un scénario époustouflant, mais chacune d'entre elles offrent des idées qui imposent une réflexion.
Parmi les thèmes abordés, on retrouve celui de l'identité comme dans Learning to Be Me ou bien Seeing, où le lecteur sera invité à réfléchir sur ce qui le définit. D'autres histoires comme The Hundred-Light-Year Diary ou encore A Kidnapping nous propose les implications que peuvent entraîner une technologie particulière. D'autres poussent certains concepts abstraits et créés par l'Homme au point de nous faire remettre en question notre jugement. En somme, chaque récit pourrait commencer par "Et si..." et développe amplement l'idée qu'il y a derrière.
Le résultat en est profondément marquant. Le lecteur verra sa petite bulle de confort éclater au fil du recueil, prenant conscience de son égocentrisme et de ce que l'humanité est capable.
Petit bémol, cependant, sur le fait qu'au moins deux ou trois nouvelles peuvent demeurer obscures si l'on n'a pas les connaissances nécessaires, et ce, malgré les explications qu'elles contiennent. Ainsi, il est un peu plus délicat de saisir pleinement les implications de ces histoires.
Finalement, Axiomatic est un recueil de science-fiction qui mérite pleinement qu'on s'y attarde. Sa richesse est telle qu'on se prendra à réfléchir longuement sur ses idées bien après notre lecture, certaines nouvelles pouvant nous hanter longtemps.
En revanche, je ne peux que conseiller de conserver la nouvelle The Infinite Assassin pour la fin. Si le sujet est intéressant, le récit est parmi les plus compliqués du livre et ce serait dommage d'être rebuté à lire le reste à cause de cela.
anahhs's review against another edition
4.0
As any collection of stories, there were some i enjoyed and others that weren't my cup of tea! More of the former than of the latter tho!
My favorites were defintely Caress, Blood Sisters, The Safe-Deposit Box,and The Walk! The first because it was just so absolutely unsettling from beginning to end!!!! The second due to its topic and how it was handled, i'm always up for a good destroying capitalism and exposing sick money hungry bastards read, i really enjoyed the commentary the story conveyed. LOOOOVED the whole concept of the safe-deposit box and ten thousand times more how it finishes, i was overcome with a vast array of mixed emotions: the origin of it all was, obviously, sick and twisted and, at the same time, the very present life of the character was, in a sick and twisted way in itself... a... wholesome, rich experience? i'd probably think differently if /i/ was in the character's position but reading about his daily life was extremely interesting, i thoroughly enjoyed this short story! THE WALK WAS JUST FREAKING BRILLIANT, MAN. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, HOW IT UNFOLDED, ABSOLUTELY CHEF'S KISS!!!!
I absolutely DESPISED The Moral Virologist's main character SO MUCH i couldn't enjoy the story! it's objectively a very interesting concept to explore and a thought-provoking story- i was just too enraged by this dude's mentality to properly appreciate the story lmao
Honorable mentions are The Hundred-Light-Year-Diary, Axiomatic, A Kidnapping, Appropriate Love, Closer and Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies. Okay, i know i, almost, basically, just mentioned the rest of the collection lmao it's a good collection of short sci-fi stories, what can i say!! Although they are not my favorites, i still really enjoyed each concept a lot! Appropriate Love was weird in the best, unsettling, understanding? way? REALLY ENJOYED Closer moreso due to how it ended than anything else. If it had ended any differently i, probably, wouldn't have liked it; very interesting way to try and understand each other, most likely, a bit too much understanding lmao very good disclose! I, typically, do not enjoy stories that entertain the religion topic but Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies is the extent i enjoy reading about it! Just critical enough for me to not feel either absolutely enraged or absolutely bored by organized religions or worse, both! Really liked how the concept was handled!
All in all, pretty good selection of short stories. I had a fun time reading them!
My favorites were defintely Caress, Blood Sisters, The Safe-Deposit Box,and The Walk! The first because it was just so absolutely unsettling from beginning to end!!!! The second due to its topic and how it was handled, i'm always up for a good destroying capitalism and exposing sick money hungry bastards read, i really enjoyed the commentary the story conveyed. LOOOOVED the whole concept of the safe-deposit box and ten thousand times more how it finishes, i was overcome with a vast array of mixed emotions: the origin of it all was, obviously, sick and twisted and, at the same time, the very present life of the character was, in a sick and twisted way in itself... a... wholesome, rich experience? i'd probably think differently if /i/ was in the character's position but reading about his daily life was extremely interesting, i thoroughly enjoyed this short story! THE WALK WAS JUST FREAKING BRILLIANT, MAN. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, HOW IT UNFOLDED, ABSOLUTELY CHEF'S KISS!!!!
I absolutely DESPISED The Moral Virologist's main character SO MUCH i couldn't enjoy the story! it's objectively a very interesting concept to explore and a thought-provoking story- i was just too enraged by this dude's mentality to properly appreciate the story lmao
Honorable mentions are The Hundred-Light-Year-Diary, Axiomatic, A Kidnapping, Appropriate Love, Closer and Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies. Okay, i know i, almost, basically, just mentioned the rest of the collection lmao it's a good collection of short sci-fi stories, what can i say!! Although they are not my favorites, i still really enjoyed each concept a lot! Appropriate Love was weird in the best, unsettling, understanding? way? REALLY ENJOYED Closer moreso due to how it ended than anything else. If it had ended any differently i, probably, wouldn't have liked it; very interesting way to try and understand each other, most likely, a bit too much understanding lmao very good disclose! I, typically, do not enjoy stories that entertain the religion topic but Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies is the extent i enjoy reading about it! Just critical enough for me to not feel either absolutely enraged or absolutely bored by organized religions or worse, both! Really liked how the concept was handled!
All in all, pretty good selection of short stories. I had a fun time reading them!
jvendrell's review against another edition
4.0
Greg Egan és sense cap mena de dubte el meu escritor de ciència ficció preferit de l'actualitat. Axiomático recopila els millors relats de l'autor.
ginnikin's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this one more than Luminous, which is good: otherwise, I'd be done with Egan.
Bonus points for using "meat puppet"!
Bonus points for using "meat puppet"!
goitbit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jwpeddle's review against another edition
5.0
So grateful I saw Greg Egan recommended on some hard sci fi lists when I wanted "more like Blindsight". Axiomatic covers so many thought provoking scenarios, each of which left me eager to talk to somebody about it. I'll immediately be binging the rest of his catalog.. if it doesn't send me into existential turmoil.
sgtporkchops's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
booklouver's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The BEST sci-fi short story collection so far!
roytoo's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
annaswan's review against another edition
4.0
Thinking about this collection again, as I’ve just watched Levithan’s “Every Day”, and the Egan story “Safe deposit box” in this collection shared the same main concept.