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recent reading: gorging on Egan
Jul. 14th, 2009 04:41 pmSo I happened across a hardback copy of Incandescence that the local public library was retiring from its shelves. ("So soon?" I thought, as I took it to the register to buy it. "Egan's fans in Minnesota must buy all their stuff off the internet and have no truck with deadtree public libraries.")
It was fantastic, and after I raved about it some, my sweetie lent me copies of Distress, which I had yet to read, Diaspora, which I had tried to read before but bounced off because I was going through a hard period in my life, and Permutation City, which I had read over a decade ago, but the rereading of which I thought would make it easier for me to get my head into Diaspora.
Distress and Diaspora were even more amazing than Incandescence. In fact, when I finished Diaspora, I immediately began to reread it, and didn't put it down until I had reread the first two chapters and part of the third (it was very late). I can't remember the last time I've done this with a book, or even been tempted to do it: I think I might have been tempted after reading some Niven & Pournelle paperback when I was a teenager.
I just checked the records, and I'm surprised that Distress didn't make the short-list for the Tiptree award in 1996. In fact, I'm surprised that Russell's The Sparrow beat it out to win that year. I loved The Sparrow, mind you, but not only is it not as good a novel as Distress, it also doesn't address the focus of the Tiptree award (fiction "that expands or explores our understanding of gender") as directly as Distress does.
I'm also a little stunned that Diaspora didn't even make the long-list in its year. (1998? I couldn't find it on http://www.flaminggeeks.com/jellyn/blog/tiptree.html). It's the most ambitious and amazing science fiction novel I have ever read. It's just what Egan's early career led me to hope for, and I feel foolish for having ignored it for ten years. The first half of it alone is more ambitious than the most ambitious sf novel I'd imagined ever reading. Okay, I'll stop squeeing now. It's really good, though. If you haven't read it yet, you ought to. Distress too.
It was fantastic, and after I raved about it some, my sweetie lent me copies of Distress, which I had yet to read, Diaspora, which I had tried to read before but bounced off because I was going through a hard period in my life, and Permutation City, which I had read over a decade ago, but the rereading of which I thought would make it easier for me to get my head into Diaspora.
Distress and Diaspora were even more amazing than Incandescence. In fact, when I finished Diaspora, I immediately began to reread it, and didn't put it down until I had reread the first two chapters and part of the third (it was very late). I can't remember the last time I've done this with a book, or even been tempted to do it: I think I might have been tempted after reading some Niven & Pournelle paperback when I was a teenager.
I just checked the records, and I'm surprised that Distress didn't make the short-list for the Tiptree award in 1996. In fact, I'm surprised that Russell's The Sparrow beat it out to win that year. I loved The Sparrow, mind you, but not only is it not as good a novel as Distress, it also doesn't address the focus of the Tiptree award (fiction "that expands or explores our understanding of gender") as directly as Distress does.
I'm also a little stunned that Diaspora didn't even make the long-list in its year. (1998? I couldn't find it on http://www.flaminggeeks.com/jellyn/blog/tiptree.html). It's the most ambitious and amazing science fiction novel I have ever read. It's just what Egan's early career led me to hope for, and I feel foolish for having ignored it for ten years. The first half of it alone is more ambitious than the most ambitious sf novel I'd imagined ever reading. Okay, I'll stop squeeing now. It's really good, though. If you haven't read it yet, you ought to. Distress too.
