Take a photo of a barcode or cover
editor_b 's review for:
Permutation City
by Greg Egan
If you've been looking for that novel that blends hard sf and cyberpunk, this is it. In other words, more cyber, less punk. The prolog is absolutely, brilliantly gripping. The first chapter will test your geekiness. I passed the test. I think.
This book was written in 1994. I read it in 2014. In some ways, it doesn't feel dated at all. For a tech-heavy book, that's impressive. There are no glaring technological misprognostications. Then again, the general interest in virtual reality seems very much a thing of the mid-90s. The zeitgeist seems to have shifted since then. In that sense, it is dated, but it's aged well.
In this imagined future, people are routinely scanned and simulated in virtual environments. The author does a great job of exploring some of the philosophical issues this premise raises. It's by no means exhaustive; it's more an exploration of questions than an attempt to provide answers, but that's a strength in my opinion.
What makes this so compelling is the way Egan manages to convey both the fascination and the horror of such developments in a believable way, sometimes in serial fashion, sometimes simultaneously.
This book was written in 1994. I read it in 2014. In some ways, it doesn't feel dated at all. For a tech-heavy book, that's impressive. There are no glaring technological misprognostications. Then again, the general interest in virtual reality seems very much a thing of the mid-90s. The zeitgeist seems to have shifted since then. In that sense, it is dated, but it's aged well.
In this imagined future, people are routinely scanned and simulated in virtual environments. The author does a great job of exploring some of the philosophical issues this premise raises. It's by no means exhaustive; it's more an exploration of questions than an attempt to provide answers, but that's a strength in my opinion.
What makes this so compelling is the way Egan manages to convey both the fascination and the horror of such developments in a believable way, sometimes in serial fashion, sometimes simultaneously.