Reviews

On one hand, the book has some amazing premises and big sci-fi ideas that I loved playing with. On the other hand, I didn't find the characters very compelling. A lot of the book revolves around the characters's internal thoughts, hopes and fears -- the typical Egan themes like "what does personal identity mean when you can edit your mind", "when are two people with the same history the same person" etc etc -- but I think previous books addressed this better. I thought this book's characters were having similar personal crises to the characters in Permutation City or Diaspora, but these characters weren't nearly as compelling and I found their existential crises somewhat boring.

Overall, it had some fun parts, and some ideas will stay with me, but I didn't enjoy it too much. I'll probably still read more novels by him based on the strength of Permutation City and Diaspora though.

olivia55's review

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

roytoo's review

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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

Once again, a great story constructed by Greg Egan from real theories. Some of the concepts are a bit heavy since they come from physics theory, but well worth the time and effort thinking about them to enjoy the story.