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A review by giant_crab
Diaspora by Greg Egan
5.0
Absolutely stunning concepts are fired at you every couple of pages, coupled with a writing style which makes hard science-fiction just about comprehensible. The feeling of the vertigo of extreme knowledge reminds me of Arthur C Clarke and Olaf Stapledon at their unsettlingly cognizant best.
Importantly, it's worth noting that this is a narrative leap forward from it's spiritual predecessor, Permutation City, which tended towards being quite dry, despite it's philosophical enormity. In Diaspora, Egan manages to create a compelling narrative despite the ludicrous timescales and scope existential scope.
This is an affecting, thought provoking and energetic treatment of the meaning of life taken to many absolute extremes. Both complete solipsism and limitless personal expansion are investigated, as are the seemingly infinite and arbitrary positions in between. Not since reading Star Maker or The City and the Stars have I been so energised by the possibilities of scope for a narrative.
Spectacular.
Importantly, it's worth noting that this is a narrative leap forward from it's spiritual predecessor, Permutation City, which tended towards being quite dry, despite it's philosophical enormity. In Diaspora, Egan manages to create a compelling narrative despite the ludicrous timescales and scope existential scope.
This is an affecting, thought provoking and energetic treatment of the meaning of life taken to many absolute extremes. Both complete solipsism and limitless personal expansion are investigated, as are the seemingly infinite and arbitrary positions in between. Not since reading Star Maker or The City and the Stars have I been so energised by the possibilities of scope for a narrative.
Spectacular.