Permutation City: A Novel

Very well written, speculative/philosophical sci-fi. I don't feel like writing a long review, but all of Greg Egan's works will make you think. Some people find Egan's books to be hard reads, and indeed the author has even suggested that people take notes when reading some of his works. This is probably the best book he's written IMHO. The premise of this is mind-blowing, and without offering spoilers, this is an entirely new twist on first-contact with a sentient species, (among many other concepts) and Egan writes so well about virtual reality, you end up hoping that if we ever achieve this level of VR, that his works will be used as a guidebook to implementation. It's also an exploration of what consciousness may mean. Some say Egan doesn't develop his characters very well. And I somewhat agree. But he uses his characters more to help illustrate the ideas in his books than to be the primary focus. It helps to have a technical background and basic understanding of computer science IMHO to fully appreciate this book. You also probably won't get a full appreciation for all of the ideas without rereading it a couple of times.

Just reading the back flap of this book doesn't even really begin to describe the depth of the concepts presented in this story. While the material subjects in Permutation City are firmly planted in sci-fi, it also puts concepts such as what it means to "be" human both objectively and subjectively at the forefront. Whether you are an ardent fan of computer science, biology, physics, or even philosophy, this book will elicit some kind of respect from you for its depth in those regards. This book does lean heavily into both hard science and fiction, but quite honestly it takes the concepts so far that that distinctions between the two are trivial. What this book ISN'T is a flashy science fiction romp with action and adrenaline for just for the sake of excitement. What we DO have is a deeply thought provoking series of events and perspectives that challenge how evolving technology can redefine or completely do away with our current concepts of humanity. My only real cons are that Greg goes to such lengths to explain and take you to each of his thought points and conclusions, that the actual "story" is relatively light. Now, if you enjoy staying in those thoughts and sort of letting them gestate, this won't be much of a problem. If however, these thoughts don't resonate with you, you might find yourself waiting for the next "thing" to happen. Sort of on the other end of that, I felt that the conclusion of the book was a bit hasty. When considering the effort that went into making sure that the reader has bought and understood the rules of the world, the end felt a tad rushed and unearned. It's not to say that it's bad by any means, it just felt as if SOMETHING that fit a more typical sci fi ending had to happen just for the sake of it, rather than the story logically leading there. The fact that this book was written in 1994 blew my mind, as many of the technologies mentioned seem like logical progressions of things that have only become common in the past 10 or so years, so the foresight alone is incredible. All in all this book is a must read for any hard science fiction fan. While not perfect, enough love and attention clearly went into it to add it to your collection

With human science and technology reaching such miraculous levels, it has become increasingly rare to find a true hard science fiction author. It seems like most authors have abandoned even the attempt at writing science fiction when it seems like all limits to possibilities will be removed. We find sciency fantasy close enough because who's to say that it's not possible? Anyway, this is an excellent hard science fiction book. It was enjoyable to experience again the joy of exploration that good science fiction always brought to me.

I went into this one with such high hopes, it had a very strong beginning and the overall concept is mind-bendingly awesome. Once I hit about the halfway mark I started losing interest fast, but mostly due to the terrible characters. Maria Deluca might be the most annoying character ever created from a pen and not in a “love to hate them” type of way. None of the characters feel developed at all, they are simply there for exposition. Paul plays the super levelheaded character and Maria plays the snippy skeptic. A whole lot of this book is dedicated to Maria never believing in Paul and being an absolute pain in the backside about it, even when faced with direct evidence contrary to her views in any given situation and despite Paul never really giving a strong reason to doubt him. He pays her handsomely and is very upfront, but page after page after page she dunks on him the entire time, doubting everything and being a sarcastic preachy pain. I grew so tired of this schtick that I nearly DNF’d the book. There are a few parallel plot lines going on and really none of them make much of a difference. The entire Kate and Peer thread could have been axed. This whole thing should have been a fun 80 page short story. It would have been way more fun if the whole Kate and Peer plot was completely gutted, the whole Thomas Riemann line was gutted and Maria was along for the journey and together with Paul they could have been a fun dynamic duo. Being skeptical is fine, but SO MANY pages, oh so many pages are simply her complaining to Paul. Gut all of that - it becomes incredibly tedious and annoying. If you read the plot summary on Fandom then you will see how little Kate, Peer, and Riemann matter (I don’t even think Riemann is mentioned in the whole summary despite him having an entire thread in the book). The plot summary on Fandom is more fun than the actual book. I really struggled with rating this novel. It’s not 1-star because the whole Elysium and Autoverse concept is awesome, the whole uploading a copy of your consciousness into a super cloud computer with limited power that runs on a sort of exchange where you’re paying for and competing for precious processing time is super cool and I like how the virtual worlds are approximations (efficiency matters!). I love the questions this book brings forth, like what does it really mean to be *you*? Even if a perfect representation of you is copied and digitized then is it still you? If it is, then is it still you when you make changes to yourself? If you can run a simple routine to forget something painful in your past then are you losing a part of yourself by doing such? There are a lot of really interesting questions raised in this book! But then again, as I have already harped on, this book should have been a romp and not a chore. I grew so tired of the characters and so tired of the exposition, for its few really high points this book sure does have a lot of lows. It’s a 350 page book that feels like 600. 3 stars feels a little generous because I was annoyed through a majority of this book, but 2 seems a bit low because I will be pondering over some of the really awesome concepts for a long time to come. In the end I give it an optimistic 2.5 (rounded up to 3).

Granted that, as others point out, the book implicitly assumes a Functionalist/Strong AI universe. If that's enough to turn you off to some really interesting philosophy told engagingly, 'tis rather unfortunate for you. I certainly don't hold with the functionalist view (though, concomitantly, have no difficulties with such 'unexplained' phenomena as the 17x slowdown of virtual life relative to biological life) but the story-telling is quite engaging and the ideas are truly interesting. Asimov certainly didn't need to justify any particular philosophical point to write some truly exploratory ideas (and enjoyably re-visit old ones) in e.g. the various Robot series. Egan may not quite be an Asimov but I never felt like I was reading a cheap or pulp piece, either. The writing is fluid, the story development is consistent and builds throughout the novel. And the ideas are certainly big enough that one can imagine Egan writing additional novels that dovetail into this universe a la Asimov's Robot and Empire series or Heinlein's cast of cameo characters. The climax and 'final question' of Permutation City will leave you in existentialist Heaven (or Sartre's Hell!) for many days after.

If you like deep tech and philosophy, read this book. I was taking notes through the entire book. Greg put deep thought into how the technology introduced may shape society and the implications on individuals. Many hard questions are asked throughout. Some are answered, but many are left to the reader to contemplate. What is a life? Who are you? Why do you care? What is really? I was told Permutation City was good, and it surpassed my expectations. That being said, there are some sections that get very slow. Some explanations take multiple paragraphs (or even a full page or two), and some of the story lines can feel slow and unnecessary. Take notes of who is who, because it may be a while before you get back to the perspective of some key characters. I don't think it's so long as to warrant removing a star, but others may not enjoy such a detailed look into the minds and histories of some characters.

If you have ever introspected on what makes you "you," this book is for you. The science is prescient (as in, several of the things the characters take for granted technology-wise have come to pass since it was written). The plot is fascinating. The ending is extremely odd on first reading, but actually makes sense. The computer technology is spot on. It's the future, and it's possible to scan your brain and live in a simulation. This also gives you access to your own consciousness, so sit back and mix up a glass of Confidence and Optimism with a splash of soda. Or decide that you like mountain climbing, and go out to enjoy something you never liked before. I've read it a dozen times and find new things every time. You won't be disappointed.

A better analysis of the nature of consciousness and simulation than I've seen elsewhere. He explores a great many angles and does go in some very interesting directions... though the most interesting stuff is based on some fairly arbitrary assumptions, which didn't seem necessary given how well grounded most of the conceptual content was. Some sequences involving deliberate self-modification are especially well written and should be of interest to anyone thinking about transhumanism (or Buddhism for that matter). The proposed insect behavior is super interesting, like an even better version of Vinge's "Tines". I wish he'd gone in more depth on that. Very egocentric narrative throughout, basically zero consideration of society and culture. I can't say it's a fun read, it's like stepping into a bleak cold abyss.