Status Updates From Permutation City

This is quite the mindful

Within the first 20 or so pages of this book I realized that the author is probably one of those people who is smarter than 99% of the world. I’m struggling a bit even though I read a lot of hard sci-fi - I understand enough to grasp the story but I know to fully get it I need at least 2 PhDs in molecular biology and mathematics

That being said I’m super intrigued by what I’ve read so far so I will finish

Not since Asimov's short story THE LAST QUESTION have I read a SciFi story that speculates about the ultimate nature of the universe with such nakedness and equanimity.

Fantastic. Second read.

Not sure where this is going but the buid-up is captivating:
"In 2024, John Vines, a Boston neurosurgeon, ran a fully concious Copy of himself in a crude VR. The Copy's first words were, 'This is like being buried alive. I've changed my mind. Get me out of here.' Despite the Copy's discouraging testimony - the headlines were all immortality, mass migration into VR, and the imminent desertion of the physical world."

By 1994, when this was first published, I had become so busy with RL that I wasn't reading nearly as much as I had been the previous 2 decades (mostly hard-core SciFi of the early 20th century); subsequently missing out on a lot of great SciFi written at the end of the 20th century.
Now is my chance to catch up on what I was missing. This author comes recommended by gr Friend Darnoc Leadburger, thanks Darnoc!

Curiosamente el contenido de este libro esta demasiado cerca a la realidad de 2025.

El capítulo de apertura es maravilloso. Genera una alta expectativa respecto al resto de la obra.

" Existence was beggining to seduce him" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

" If it's that bad, I can always put an end to it" 🥴

the patented Uncle Greg Bong Rip™️™️™️™️ has been taken to its logical conclusion

I can feel Uncle Greg's powerful disdain for cyberpunk as a genre. it's beautiful

fuck me up uncle greg

This book reads like reality.
Some stuff that I want to learn more about
1. cellular automaton
2. Voneuman probes
3. Formation of planets

Just finished reading chapter 11, this is some deep philosophical stuff(questions and answered). At least it appears that way for a philosophical newbie like me.

and on hold to move to the other Egan, first.

This one drops fairly deep philosophical dilemmas in just a few pages and in a way that it doesn't have to write anything about them. You just slam into them intuitively.

So now moving back to the first book in the thematic "subjective cosmology" trilogy (Quarantine).

"All it took to destroy something here was to fail to keep track of it"

Excellent

Queuing up other books before going back to Bakker for the final stretch, hopefully early July...

Of the three, this one intrigues me the most. Starts with an introspective, abstract style that appeals me. Attention is on what matters rather than distractions.

I read 3 pages, already decided I'll try to read everything Greg Egan wrote in chronological order. Roughly 15 books and 5 collections of short stories.

Right up my alley!

There is way more actual science in this book than I think I was prepared for

This book was incredible 50 pages in, yet somehow it keeps finding ways to get better and better 🔥🔥🔥

Great sci fi on cloning

The kind of book that will probably take a decade to finish.

very interesting ideas.. but, some strain credulity...

Life is too short for hate-reading, let alone hate-finishing.

These are the kind of books which make me lose faith in reading science fiction.
Bland writing, insipid characters, lacklustre to absent storytelling.
"But it's about cool ideas, it's not a conventional novel".
Fair enough.
Cool ideas - where are they?
Seriously, write a textbook if you want. Or non-fiction. This is painful.

Very good but it is quite confusing in parts. Solid hi-tech sci-fi.

M'agrada moltíssim. Em fa recordar perquè m'agrada la biologia.

my brain hurts