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knackerbrot's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cloramagone's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
6/10.
-Excellent worldbuilding. The book starts off with an interesting fundamental theory of physics. The majority of the book takes place ~20000 years into the future, where humans' brains have been replaced by quantum computers, and their bodies can be repaired so that they are immortal. Humans are essentially unisex, and can either have physical bodies or exist entirely in software format. The far-future version of sex is also fascinating.
-Characters are extremely boring. There is not much character development throughout the book, and the dialogue falls flat. The climax action came out of nowhere with the (SPOILERS!) sudden arrival of a group of ancient (real life present day) humans who have no stake in the main conflict at all.
-Confusing to follow. I read a lot of hard sci-fi but this book, while elegantly written, felt more like slogging through sentence clauses with random quantum theory vocab in between. Egan has a way of writing a lot of text without actually saying anything. This book is paradoxically too hard and too soft; too hard in that there's excessive complex vocab, too soft in that Egan describes the setting/logic/actions of characters in metaphorical ways that make them hard to interpret. For example, the new universe's vendek physics system was not well described, and my eventual interpretation was that the fundamental building blocks are like cells in Conway's game of life in that they can be converted, and that conglomerates of cells in a certain state constitute objects, etc. Therefore the book was also logically inconsistent.
-Disappointing ending (SPOILERS!). The build-up to the end emphasized that whatever "life" existed beyond the novo-vacuum would be living in a universe with different laws of physics, no real linear sense of time, etc. and would not even be remotely recognizable, let alone human. When Tchicaya and Mariama finally make contact, the life forms react in very human ways, "talking" with them, empathizing with their situation, even booking them in a hotel in this new universe. I was waiting for some very alien concepts of life but was so disappointed.
-Contains short sections of absolute brilliance. For example, (SPOILERS!) the snippet where Tchicaya, as a kid, runs up to his dad and faces existential dread over the impermanence of the self was absolutely horrifying. The parallel-line translation explanation that followed was logical and comforting.
Summary: Great concepts, disappointing execution. Confusing and somewhat boring.
-Excellent worldbuilding. The book starts off with an interesting fundamental theory of physics. The majority of the book takes place ~20000 years into the future, where humans' brains have been replaced by quantum computers, and their bodies can be repaired so that they are immortal. Humans are essentially unisex, and can either have physical bodies or exist entirely in software format. The far-future version of sex is also fascinating.
-Characters are extremely boring. There is not much character development throughout the book, and the dialogue falls flat. The climax action came out of nowhere with the (SPOILERS!) sudden arrival of a group of ancient (real life present day) humans who have no stake in the main conflict at all.
-Confusing to follow. I read a lot of hard sci-fi but this book, while elegantly written, felt more like slogging through sentence clauses with random quantum theory vocab in between. Egan has a way of writing a lot of text without actually saying anything. This book is paradoxically too hard and too soft; too hard in that there's excessive complex vocab, too soft in that Egan describes the setting/logic/actions of characters in metaphorical ways that make them hard to interpret. For example, the new universe's vendek physics system was not well described, and my eventual interpretation was that the fundamental building blocks are like cells in Conway's game of life in that they can be converted, and that conglomerates of cells in a certain state constitute objects, etc. Therefore the book was also logically inconsistent.
-Disappointing ending (SPOILERS!). The build-up to the end emphasized that whatever "life" existed beyond the novo-vacuum would be living in a universe with different laws of physics, no real linear sense of time, etc. and would not even be remotely recognizable, let alone human. When Tchicaya and Mariama finally make contact, the life forms react in very human ways, "talking" with them, empathizing with their situation, even booking them in a hotel in this new universe. I was waiting for some very alien concepts of life but was so disappointed.
-Contains short sections of absolute brilliance. For example, (SPOILERS!) the snippet where Tchicaya, as a kid, runs up to his dad and faces existential dread over the impermanence of the self was absolutely horrifying. The parallel-line translation explanation that followed was logical and comforting.
Summary: Great concepts, disappointing execution. Confusing and somewhat boring.
jazmin5644's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
davidr's review against another edition
2.0
Like other reviewers of this book, I enjoyed the in-depth quantum physics that is liberally sprinkled throughout the book. I have never read a work of fiction with so much technical detail.
But the technical detail is simply not enough to sustain a science fiction novel. I did not have any feelings about the characters. And, often, I did not even understand who the characters were. Were they beings with bodies? Or were they simulations? Or bodies that were shrunk to insect proportions? Or totally without bodies? I suspect that there were characters that fit all of these descriptions, but it was not easy keeping track.
There is very little action in this book, except that some beings were on a quest to understand, and possibly to stop, the expansion of a universe into ours, one containing a set of physical laws that were different from ours.
While you might call this "hard science fiction", you could also call it "imaginative fantasy". The description of the trajectory (flight? tunneling? what?) through the other universe was very similar to some fantasy novels like [b:A Voyage to Arcturus|1064084|A Voyage to Arcturus|David Lindsay|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328819689s/1064084.jpg|923907]. The story takes place far in the future, when technology was so advanced that people could do just about anything. To me, that isn't really science fiction, it is more like fantasy.
I cannot recommend this book to science fiction fans as an enjoyable read. It did not engage me, and often confused me.
But the technical detail is simply not enough to sustain a science fiction novel. I did not have any feelings about the characters. And, often, I did not even understand who the characters were. Were they beings with bodies? Or were they simulations? Or bodies that were shrunk to insect proportions? Or totally without bodies? I suspect that there were characters that fit all of these descriptions, but it was not easy keeping track.
There is very little action in this book, except that some beings were on a quest to understand, and possibly to stop, the expansion of a universe into ours, one containing a set of physical laws that were different from ours.
While you might call this "hard science fiction", you could also call it "imaginative fantasy". The description of the trajectory (flight? tunneling? what?) through the other universe was very similar to some fantasy novels like [b:A Voyage to Arcturus|1064084|A Voyage to Arcturus|David Lindsay|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328819689s/1064084.jpg|923907]. The story takes place far in the future, when technology was so advanced that people could do just about anything. To me, that isn't really science fiction, it is more like fantasy.
I cannot recommend this book to science fiction fans as an enjoyable read. It did not engage me, and often confused me.
nekokat's review against another edition
4.0
The math/physics quickly lost me, but I really love Egan's far-future people and their moral dilemmas about what it means to be human. And the evolution of sex/gender makes me happy. Basically fantastic world-building, less fantastic plot, especially toward the end where things get so utterly weird it's hard to relate to anything. But also that's kind of the point, so. Solid Egan book, not my favorite of his but I still desperately want his vision of the future to come true.
The absolute best thing about this book is the eponymous concept: a way to ensure that, as you grow and change, you are still true to yourself.
The absolute best thing about this book is the eponymous concept: a way to ensure that, as you grow and change, you are still true to yourself.
u9u's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ant's review against another edition
3.0
It's a challenging read that demands your full attention, but it does give back what you put in. Some really interesting ideas.
strong_extraordinary_dreams's review against another edition
2.0
OK, Diaspora is a GREAT book, and since then this is my sixth, and last, Greg Egan book.
Schild's Ladder is just not told well. The idea is huge, but yet again Mr Egan just does not have any story telling skills. AT ALL.
The Greg Egan equation is: if (book's ideas' hugeness) > (pain of badly told story) then it works. Other than Diaspora, I have never found the Greg Egan equation to be satisfied.
Schild's Ladder is just not told well. The idea is huge, but yet again Mr Egan just does not have any story telling skills. AT ALL.
The Greg Egan equation is: if (book's ideas' hugeness) > (pain of badly told story) then it works. Other than Diaspora, I have never found the Greg Egan equation to be satisfied.