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A review by timinbc
The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan
4.0
I have a math degree and I have read a LOT of hard SF - and this might be the hardest hard SF I have ever seen. I'm not sure it would be possible to write something harder except perhaps by throwing in some hive minds and teleportation.
And yet, woven among the charts and brain-busting explanations there really is a plot with some reasonably interesting characters.
If I have learned anything from all my SF reading, it is that there are hardly any books that have a very strong concept AND very strong characterizations. It's perhaps unreasonable to require it; better to have it be a nice surprise if it occurs.
I knew from previous Egans that if he postulates some rules for his universe, they may be outrageous but it won't be because he hasn't thought them through. In fact, my one real beef with this book is that it made me feel stupid. After a while I decided that I could live with that, and then it was OK.
If you have not read previous Egans, I don't think this is a good one to start with. Indeed, if you haven't read much hard SF, you might start with some other authors in the sub-genre before tacking Egan.
And yet, woven among the charts and brain-busting explanations there really is a plot with some reasonably interesting characters.
If I have learned anything from all my SF reading, it is that there are hardly any books that have a very strong concept AND very strong characterizations. It's perhaps unreasonable to require it; better to have it be a nice surprise if it occurs.
I knew from previous Egans that if he postulates some rules for his universe, they may be outrageous but it won't be because he hasn't thought them through. In fact, my one real beef with this book is that it made me feel stupid. After a while I decided that I could live with that, and then it was OK.
If you have not read previous Egans, I don't think this is a good one to start with. Indeed, if you haven't read much hard SF, you might start with some other authors in the sub-genre before tacking Egan.