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yevolem 's review for:
Quarantine
by Greg Egan
This begins as a private investigator novel and then eventually shifts into something else. In 2064 neurological modification is a commonplace commodity. However you want to be or feel can be determined by commercially available mods. They can also augment the user by altering biochemistry and providing digital interfaces.
The theoretical ideas expressed by the novel don't come to the fore until roughly halfway through, which seems an odd choice to me, but ironically I may have enjoyed the first half more. The various theories of quantum mechanics are the primary ideas explored. The core questions are what are the practical applications of self-decoherence and how much does free will really matter anyway?
If you thought that the name of the book would be its focus, you'd be wrong. The fact that a volume twice pluto's orbit has been enclosed, not just the Earth, is central to everything that happens in the book, but its significance isn't explained until the end and mostly serves as a plot device.
There's a lot that has been to be taken on faith, as it were, for both the reader and the characters, which Egan realizes and tries to defuse by having the characters repeatedly state that what they're doing isn't quantum mysticism, it's science. I'm very skeptical when is used for why everything happens, because it's so very convenient and often unsatisfactory like deus ex machina are.
As seems typical so far of Egan, the ending and what leads up to it are where Egan decides that the theory must be taken to its extreme. I wasn't pleased because it reminded me of by LeGuin, though in this case everyone can do so. It's messy, literally and figuratively.
Rating: 3.5/5
The theoretical ideas expressed by the novel don't come to the fore until roughly halfway through, which seems an odd choice to me, but ironically I may have enjoyed the first half more. The various theories of quantum mechanics are the primary ideas explored. The core questions are what are the practical applications of self-decoherence and how much does free will really matter anyway?
If you thought that the name of the book would be its focus, you'd be wrong. The fact that a volume twice pluto's orbit has been enclosed, not just the Earth, is central to everything that happens in the book, but its significance isn't explained until the end and mostly serves as a plot device.
There's a lot that has been to be taken on faith, as it were, for both the reader and the characters, which Egan realizes and tries to defuse by having the characters repeatedly state that what they're doing isn't quantum mysticism, it's science. I'm very skeptical when
Spoiler
retrocausalityAs seems typical so far of Egan, the ending and what leads up to it are where Egan decides that the theory must be taken to its extreme. I wasn't pleased because it reminded me of
Spoiler
Lathe of HeavenRating: 3.5/5