Customer Reviews

Oceanic

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As of this writing, the customer reviews for Greg Egan's "Oceanic" confuses about the novella "Oceanic" and the short story collection "Oceanic". I think amazon.com's system is at fault.

"Oceanic", a short story collection by Greg Egan, originally published in Great Britain by Gollancz, contains the following stories:

"Lost Continent"

"Dark Integers"

"Crystal Nights"

"Steve Fever"

"Induction"

"Singleton"

"Oracle"

"Border Guards"

"Riding the Crocodile"

"Glory"

"Hot Rock"

"Oceanic"

"Riding the Crocodile", "Glory", and "Hot Rock" take place in the Amalgam universe. In particular, "Riding the Crocodile" is about an event mentioned in Egan's novel "Incandescence".

"Dark Integers" is a sequel to the "Luminous" which is not included in this book.

(Feb 27, 2010 - changed first paragraph in accordance with the situation.)

Don't let the depressing first short story put you off reading the rest of this volume of a dozen short stories. Greg Egan again shares his vision of how extreme future technology could be used by future societies to learn that ever more mysteries await our understanding. Where lifetimes last millennia and conscience can be bodily incorporated or scanned, backed up and shot around the galaxy as bursts of gamma radiation, there is no risk of exposing the travellers (or his readers) to any boredom.

My particular favourites are the stories set in the Amalgam Universe, but all of the stories will entertain you whilst stretching your horizons - and isn't that what SF is all about?

A boy growing up in a backward fundamentalist community on another planet begins to understand how much the local biology has altered the people that live there, and why a religion surrounds this.

Part one of the book borrows heavily, almost entirely, from the Bible.

1) There is a God, although she is female

2) There is a child of God, although she is female.

3) People are born again and are redeemed by blood.

4) Baptism is by water.

And on and on it goes. In the novel as in the Bible, believers practice daily prayer,convert others, memorize scriptures. The child of God defeats death and is the only way to salvation. God is with the main character (Martin) daily in everything he does, giving him stregth and love. Martin talks about the peace of God which gives his life meaning.

There is only one original thought in the first part. I will not ruin the story by describing it. But aside from this one thing, the author basically copies from the Bible.

In the second part Martin suffers a tragedy and begins losing his faith. The author, through Martin, lays out an atheist argument against religion and against the existence of God.

The argument is highly subjective. Martin feels that atheists are more honest than believers, who only believe because they need to. The conversation of believers is described as "laughable attempts to prove God's existence." Believers, Martin says, "twist logic". He concludes that God's existence cannot be proven.

In the first part of the book, Martin's belief in God is based on faith and does not need to be proven. In the second half, Martin concludes, if God's existence cannot be proven, then he (she) does not exist.

The author explains away the peace that Martin felt, when he was a believer, in a totally ridiculous, and (to quote the author) laughable way. This way is unique to the planet in question but the intent of the author is still obvious i.e. to discredit religion and the existence of God.

If one wishes to read an athetist argument, one would be better served to read something with some credibilty, some intelligence, and some logic behind it. This novel's argument is so poorly laid out, so obvious, so subjective, that it lacks any impact what so ever.