Reviews

I am sure I am not the first one to think or say this but I am not smart enough for Greg Egan. I got a lot out of the book, some great thoughts about what you would do if you realized (suddenly or otherwise) that you were a virtual person, cloned off of a real person and the only control you had over your life was when to end it. Some other great thoughts about that same virtual environment, expanding it and playing god or not playing god depending on how you want to interpret how the simulation was created.

In the end there were too many details, all very much thought out, about everything. The story really got lost and although I love my hard science, apparently I really need a story to go along with it.

cameronaverwhy's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

3.0

bechols's review against another edition

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4.0

Absolutely mind-boggling that this was written in 1994 - it anticipates SO MANY things that either happened or are still being actively discussed. The second half of the narrative didn't really hold together for me, but still strongly recommended.

aleffert's review against another edition

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2.0

I have this awesome string of random bits that I'm hiding in my pocket. It is a magical fairy land with dragons and wizards and lots of attractive princesses that need saving. What do you mean that's just pocket lint? It's all information! I can interpret it however I want. There's so much pocket lint in the world surely some of it is actually Narnia. In my pocket lint universe I am an immortal god! My name is only spoken in awed pocket lint whispers. What do you mean pocket lint immortal god Me has nothing to do with the Me that you've known for the last three hundred pages? We've got the same name. We look the same. Sometimes we say the same things!

The premise of this book made no sense. That's fine in the abstract. There are plenty of books worth reading that make no sense. But this is a Greg Egan book, so the real point of it is the idea, which as I may have mentioned, makes no sense. Go read his collection Axiomatic instead.

tends's review against another edition

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5.0

I want to be clear that the 5 stars are not being given for the plot. The actual story and the characters were weak for the most part. What I loved about the book was the exploration of the philosophy. It left me with a "disconnected" feeling that I found fascinating.

hagbard_celine's review against another edition

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3.0

Interesting (and not as dated as you'd expect). Either I'm stupid, or the ending is a mess.

branch_c's review against another edition

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2.0

I'd been meaning to try something by Egan, and this one caught my eye. I can't complain about the writing, exactly, and the concepts are certainly fascinating, but I couldn't help feeling that the entire book was an extended extrapolation of a thought experiment, with the various characters giving voice to the sequence of logical steps through the scenario and its variations. If this had all been setup before launching into a compelling plot, then that would be one thing - but I'm afraid, for me, the narrative wasn't that engaging. Yes, the characters do have their stories, but they exist in service to the playing out of the thought experiment, rather than the other way around. I'll probably give another one of Egan's books a try - he's clearly a sharp guy, and his writing is polished, so maybe I'll like a different one of his experiments better than this one.

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