The long-awaited new novel from Greg Egan Hugo Award-winning author Egan returns to the field with Incandescence, a new novel of hard SF. The Amal...
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Oct 28, 2008
Bruce
rated it: 
Maybe 3 and a half stars...
Greg Egan continues to write about the far far future in an intelligent thoughtful creative manner.
On the other hand, you have to be ready to deal with things like a large portion of the narrative of this book focusing on the discovery of newton/einsteinian laws of motion and relativity by an alien race. What made it more annoying to me was that all the terms were made up. So you have to remember that template mathematics means... algebra? an More...
Greg Egan continues to write about the far far future in an intelligent thoughtful creative manner.
On the other hand, you have to be ready to deal with things like a large portion of the narrative of this book focusing on the discovery of newton/einsteinian laws of motion and relativity by an alien race. What made it more annoying to me was that all the terms were made up. So you have to remember that template mathematics means... algebra? an More...
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Sep 14, 2008
Leo
rated it:
This is the hardest SciFi I've ever read.
It comes pretty close to a lyrical exploration of the physics of the General Theory of Relativity.
Not knowing much of the physics, I found some of it a little hard to follow, but overall it was fun, and it looks like on the author's webpage www.gregegan.net there's some nice supplemental material to help understand what's going on.
I'd heartily recommend the book to anyone with an interest in physics, but even ignoring More...
It comes pretty close to a lyrical exploration of the physics of the General Theory of Relativity.
Not knowing much of the physics, I found some of it a little hard to follow, but overall it was fun, and it looks like on the author's webpage www.gregegan.net there's some nice supplemental material to help understand what's going on.
I'd heartily recommend the book to anyone with an interest in physics, but even ignoring More...
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Dec 03, 2008
Mike
rated it: 
Egan’s first novel for 6 years is set in a very far future where an evolved humanity has spread out to inhabit the galaxy’s spiral arms, where lifespans are measured in millennia and travel is possible almost anywhere in the galaxy. The exception is the central galactic bulge which is inhabited by the aptly named Aloof, who exist in splendid isolation and firmly but gently repel all attempts to go there.
Sounds pretty intriguing, doesn’t it? The Aloof are a mystery. Obviously highl More...
Sounds pretty intriguing, doesn’t it? The Aloof are a mystery. Obviously highl More...
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Feb 20, 2011
Roger
rated it:
Wikipedia defines hard sci fi as "a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both." By that definition "Incandescence" by Greg Egan is by far the "hardest" science fiction book I've read in my entire life. We're talking diamond hard here. If you're into the action-packed drama of space-time geometries, general relativity, and interstellar panspermia...have I got the book for you.
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Sep 26, 2010
Alan
rated it:
Greg Egan's science fiction is hard, hard, hard—it is "hard sf," usually as rigorous as Egan can possibly make it, which can make it hard to read without footnotes or a background in the hard sciences. And, sometimes, it's hard to like.
Incandescence is a textbook example of all three kinds of hard—the textbook in this case being something like Rediscovering Classical and Relativistic Physics. If extended descriptions of orbital mechanics and exposition about f=ma, thinly le More...
Incandescence is a textbook example of all three kinds of hard—the textbook in this case being something like Rediscovering Classical and Relativistic Physics. If extended descriptions of orbital mechanics and exposition about f=ma, thinly le More...
Apr 04, 2010
WarBiscuit
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book. The story was great. The characterization was excellent... Egan used to be critiqued for having flat characters in his earlier novels, and I think he tried to do better with Terranesia, but the characterization almost took over that book. This one, he got just the right balance. The plot drove the story, but you really got a good feel for the personalities of the different characters. I don't want to say too much about the plot, because it *was* a good plot if
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Dec 01, 2010
Yupa
rated it:
Una domanda: scrivendo cosiddetta fantascienza hard, avere alte cognizioni di fisica, astronomia, matematica e quant'altro, esime comunque lo scrittore dal tentativo di, non dico dare una sorta di spessore ai personaggi, ma almeno imbastire una qualche larva di trama che non sia una mera successione rigidamente lineare d'eventi utile solo acché possano spiegarsi (nel doppio senso del termine) svariate teorie scientifiche, fossero pure le più affascinanti?
Perché il libro di Egan questo è, e More...
Perché il libro di Egan questo è, e More...
Apr 15, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it:
All critics who considered Incandescence were fascinated by it. They loved Egan's descriptions of a galaxy-spanning, posthuman civilization and the intellectual acrobatics necessary to understand how bugs on a splinter of rock think about their universe. But as with many of Egan's books, one's enjoyment may not be complete unless one can keep up with the physics, of which there is no shortage. "Especially when he's showing how Roi's people derive what amounts to Einstein's theory of relativ
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Apr 07, 2010
Graham
rated it:
Incandescence is a science-fiction novel set millions of years in the future. Humans have evolved into immortal data streams that can travel through the galaxy on cosmic rays and reconfigure themselves in any shape they desire. They are know as the Almalgam.
At the core of the galaxy live the mysterious Aloof, who have rejected any attempts by the Amalgan to expand into their territory. The Aloof allow the Almalgam to travel through their territory, but not to stop.
Rakesh More...
At the core of the galaxy live the mysterious Aloof, who have rejected any attempts by the Amalgan to expand into their territory. The Aloof allow the Almalgam to travel through their territory, but not to stop.
Rakesh More...
Dec 23, 2011
pjreads ♫
rated it: 
Challenging science fiction about physics, mathematics and scientific thinking.
"instead of things like left/right, inward/outward, or even +x/-x, there is garm/sard, rarb/sharq and shomal/junub"
-- Stephen Cass http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/scienc...
"The directions within the Splinter are:
•garm = closer to the Hub (the unknown object that the Splinter orbits) / sard = further from the Hub;
•rarb = the direction that the Splinter orbits More...
"instead of things like left/right, inward/outward, or even +x/-x, there is garm/sard, rarb/sharq and shomal/junub"
-- Stephen Cass http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/scienc...
"The directions within the Splinter are:
•garm = closer to the Hub (the unknown object that the Splinter orbits) / sard = further from the Hub;
•rarb = the direction that the Splinter orbits More...
Nov 03, 2010
Brad
rated it:
The couple of Greg Egan's books I read prior to this one were chock full of mind blowing science fiction ideas. Ideas that require a certain amount of familiarity with science to really understand what was going on in the story. That is why I was excited when I saw a new book by Greg Egan I was hoping for an exciting hard sf read. While this book clearly had some exciting and interesting science in it, I felt the story was a little bit disappointing. Too much scientific detail that just got bogg
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Jan 11, 2011
Peter
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 20, 2009
William
rated it: 
I "really liked" this book as seen by the start rating, but I have to warn most people against reading it or at least warn that the writing is very physics heavy. If you have little experience with physics and little interest in thought problems about what could be done with extremely advanced technology, this book may bore you to tears. Not particularly well written but very accurate scientifically, in order for the narrative to grab you, you need either a good understanding of phys
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Jun 11, 2009
Don
rated it:
A somewhat enjoyable read, but very heavy on the physics discovery that the residents of the Splinter undertake. Their process of discovery is interesting, though I was unwilling to invest the effort and notes to really follow along with them. Someone more interested in the process of learning or the physics might enjoy it more; for me it slowed down reading the rest of the novel.
My other issue with the novel is surely my fault in understanding, but I simply cannot glean the connecti More...
My other issue with the novel is surely my fault in understanding, but I simply cannot glean the connecti More...
Aug 06, 2011
"Incadescence" is simultaneously intriguing and frustrating. Egan takes on the daunting challenge of deriving and explaining both special and general relativity without any mathematics at all. But I was left wondering whether the plot was up to the task. Two alternating plot lines gradually build to a crescendo, but both terminate abruptly without a satisfying resolution, and without a strong enough connection between them. I also question the value of a novel that requires the reader
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Feb 10, 2009
Jack
rated it:
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Nov 03, 2008
Ron
rated it:
Science fiction scrupulously adhering to solid scientific speculation and with a plot largely concerned with the development of scientific knowledge. There's a dramatic story, but since most of the characters are virtually-reconstituted post-humans or completely alien aliens, it might leave some readers flat. The drama that is there emerges from the characters in one narrative thread needing to understand the nature of their part of the universe -- the relativity-distorted orbit of a neutron sta
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Sep 09, 2011
Kam-Yung
rated it:
An interesting book with two threads: in one, the inhabitants inside a world called the Splinter struggle to understand their surroundings, in the process discovering Newton's laws of gravitation and then Einstein's General Relativity - all without observing the outside universe. What they learn enables them to discover that their world may be doomed unless they can rally around an audacious project to save their world.
In the other thread, two travellers are invited to enter the terri More...
In the other thread, two travellers are invited to enter the terri More...
Jun 27, 2010
David
rated it:
I finished Greg Egan's Incandescence and I thought it was okay. Egan is *so* far out in his premise that I had a hard time getting into the book at first - multi-millenial-aged disembodied intelligences? Bioengineered lifeforms living on the inside of an asteroid orbiting a neutron star which is eating a nearby sun? Wow. Egan tosses out more ideas in this one book than many SF authors would use in a series, but the characters all have a kind of cool detachment which didn't draw me in. If you l
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Oct 05, 2009
Adam
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 15, 2008
Hans
rated it:
The plot is interesting enough that it kept me reading, but the most fascinating part is the description of the formalisms of physics; namely special and general relativity. Considering that I just took a class in Classical Mechanics it was a joy to read what I had been studying as equations for the last part of the semester. The descriptions of the physics experiments do get a bit tedious and the ending is a bit of a mystery. I recommend it to feel the experience of discovery.
Apr 06, 2009
Rob
rated it:
This book is formatted such that alternating chapters are alternating viewpoints. I quickly found that only the odd-numbered chapters were readable (although, to be fair, I don't know if any artist could have made a society of small lobsters living on an asteroid going through the process of discovering classical mechanics from first principles an interesting fictional device) and those only somewhat. So, I'm giving two stars to the odd numbered chapters and calling this a mildly interesting b
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Feb 21, 2011
Chris
rated it:
I definitely enjoyed this book for the most part, for what it is; which is mostly a long scientific discussion as pre-industrial aliens develop general relativity in order to save their strange world.
There's also a second plot thread involving a pair of explorers millions of years in the future, which adds some background to the alien's world. The two plots don't really seem to come together, though Wikipedia claims I'm missing something. I dunno.
There's also a second plot thread involving a pair of explorers millions of years in the future, which adds some background to the alien's world. The two plots don't really seem to come together, though Wikipedia claims I'm missing something. I dunno.
Jun 05, 2011
Balaji
rated it:
I didn't really enjoy this book for two reasons: 1. Maybe cuz I'm too dumb for it, but trying to wrap my head around the heavy physics descriptions in the book, along with exotic alien names for the concepts got really tiring after some time. 2. The 2 stories never really meet, except in the most indirect way. What was the point then? Read only if you have a degree in physics..
Oct 03, 2011
Brian
rated it:
Unfortunately this novel starts out with great concepts but devolves into a strange combination of long physics experiment descriptions and rambling travelogue as told by a character who is, by his own admission, barely interested in the main "quest". Too bad, because I wanted to dive into the very cool ideas in this book such as travel by quantum switched packet networks, pan-galactic viral infection, the choice of "embodiment" or virtual life, etc. But ultimately, as with
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Aug 05, 2011
Jen
rated it:
Not a novel for the fainthearted. Lots of hard science in this tale of 2 cultures about to meet in a forgotten pocket of space. I did wonder initially at the pace of development that the inhabitants of the Splinter achieved - from no science background, to advanced physics in such a short space of time, as they try to work out how to protect their environment from crashing into a neutron star, but this is all explained towards the end. Even though I struggled with the science, I enjoyed this
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Aug 27, 2011
Artoemius
rated it:
Extremely imaginative work with lots of fascinating ideas. The way in which the two plot threads meet in the end is not for intellectual sissies. It is not even obvious that they do meet at all. But when you finally see everything... it's beautiful. On the other hand, this book made me go through another episode of existential claustrophobia (i.e., feeling like shit).
Sep 21, 2009
Pygmy
rated it:
I expected well-written and very hard sci-fi, but I didn't expect an overdose of mathematical/physical theory as it is discovered by an alien race. My mind went into a twist trying to follow their hypotheses as it morphed based on new discoveries, all the directional stuff, the new vocabulary...then I decided to put the book down.
Never did pick it back up.
Never did pick it back up.
Jun 20, 2010
Joe
rated it:
Greg Egan's main weakness as an author is his over-emphasis on very neat ideas and science, at the expense of very good character development. This one, like "Schild's Ladder", is very much an idea book. Still, it was competently-crafted, full of food for thought, and treated its characters with tenderness if not an ocean of depth.
Aug 29, 2008
Fredrik
rated it:
jag sprang in i den här historien efter att ha läst Permutation City tidigare under sommaren. incandescence är dock inte samma sak som permutation city, inte alls. det här är en klassisk tvådelad historia vars öden vävs samman i slutet.
den ena sidan beskriver en utforskare av rymden, en tvättäkta space-flanör, som får chansen att upptäcka uppkomsten av en människoliknande ras. den andra utspelar sig på en mycket enklare planet där man försöker tolka fysik på en nivå långt mycket gru More...
den ena sidan beskriver en utforskare av rymden, en tvättäkta space-flanör, som får chansen att upptäcka uppkomsten av en människoliknande ras. den andra utspelar sig på en mycket enklare planet där man försöker tolka fysik på en nivå långt mycket gru More...
