It causes riots and religions. It has people dancing in the streets and leaping off skyscrapers. And it's all because of the impenetrable gray shield that slid into place around the solar system on the night of November 15, 2034.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Taut, suspenseful, darkly powerful...Hot new writer Greg Egan seems to be turning up everywhere. He is on his way, and with considerable velocity!"--Gardener Dozois, editor, "The Year's Best SF
About the Author
Greg Egan is the author of the acclaimed SF novels Diaspora, Axiomatic, Quarantine, Permutation City, and Teranesia. A winner of the Hugo Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Mr. Egan lives in Australia.
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More About the Author
I am a science fiction writer and computer programmer. You can find information, illustrations and interactive applets that supplement my books at www.gregegan.net
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
By Thomas Seay
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Some people have criticized Quarantine for its lack of characterization. Frankly, if you're looking for that kind of book, you're in the wrong place. Don't get me wrong: I love a good character-oriented book--but Quarantine is much more about drowning the reader in a profound sense of wonder.
Be forewarned, this is not light reading material: Egan demands full intellectual participation from his reader, and a reader without a basic understanding of quantum mechanics and the many-worlds theory might not enjoy Quarantine as thoroughly as someone with that background. But if you're willing to put in the effort, this is a richly rewarding book to read.
(One more warning: I strongly suggest that you not read the description on the back of this book. Not only does it spoil the plot, but it is also very misleading and it ruins a great deal of the story's suspense.)
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Quarantine begins as a high tech future thriller, with a private detective being hired to find a missing woman in a late 21st century Australia where, among other things, one can download software into one's brain, something has sealed the solar system within an impenetrable Bubble, and New Hong Kong has been built on top of Arnhem land. But these glimpses of an exciting future are never really developed or explored in detail, as the book's focus quickly shifts to the metaphysics of quantum mechanics. This is a science fiction oldie, and one that is usually dealt with rather poorly. (Giving humans conscious control over fundamental physics is all too often used as a deus ex machina to solve the plot problems at the end of a novel. Orson Scott Card's Xenocide is a recent example of this.) Egan makes one big (massively implausible?) assumption - that wave function collapse is the responsibility of a particular part of the brain and that with the right neural modification people can learn to avoid doing it, producing a "smeared out" universe - but otherwise his scenario is internally consistent. Even more importantly, Quarantine actually tries to "follow through" on the consequences of its assumptions, and manages to bring something of their full metaphysical immensity home to the reader. If you are interested in this kind of exploration of quantum mechanics then Quarantine is worth a look; if not then you will probably find it rather frustrating
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Nobody has mentioned this in the reviews I've read so I will: When many of the novel's characters are drugged into being loyal to a corporation they used to hate, they escape the need to stay loyal to the corporation by inventing ... The Protestant Reformation!
That is, they convince themselves that the "real" corporation (or church) is an individual ideal, and not the mere organization they've been drugged into being loyal to. This is precisely the "trick" the original Protestants, like Luther, used to escape the emotional domination of the Catholic church.
There's no doubt Egan intended this, and it makes QUARANTINE one of his best novels. It's not all science fiction, and the philosophy is as up to date as a course in modern religion.
Just thought I'd mention it.
That is, they convince themselves that the "real" corporation (or church) is an individual ideal, and not the mere organization they've been drugged into being loyal to. This is precisely the "trick" the original Protestants, like Luther, used to escape the emotional domination of the Catholic church.
There's no doubt Egan intended this, and it makes QUARANTINE one of his best novels. It's not all science fiction, and the philosophy is as up to date as a course in modern religion.
Just thought I'd mention it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great novell about quantum possibilities
If you are interested in any of the physics stuff regarding quantum physiscs and how that could affect our lives, read this.
Published 2 months ago by devisionhun
1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible
This book sucks. Its also not available for kindle. Also there's a description of a dinner and the food is terrible and the portions small.
Published 9 months ago by Will
2.0 out of 5 stars
OK novel, bad physics.
!!!! ATTN SPOILERS !!!!
It pains me to give this novel 2 stars, as Greg Egan is one of my favorite SF writers (Diaspora and Permutation City are among my favorite SF... Read more
It pains me to give this novel 2 stars, as Greg Egan is one of my favorite SF writers (Diaspora and Permutation City are among my favorite SF... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Seth Rosenberg
1.0 out of 5 stars
not really a novel
This not really a novel, it's a book-length essay on the philosophy of quantum mechanics.
The characters are just mouthpieces, and they all talk like they're giving a... Read more
The characters are just mouthpieces, and they all talk like they're giving a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Benjamin Crowell
4.0 out of 5 stars
COLLAPSE THE FUTURE
ENDLESS REALMS of possibility waked through by a series of brain modifications...
of the three of Egans ive completed; Permutation city, Diaspora, and this, Quarantine; the... Read more
of the three of Egans ive completed; Permutation city, Diaspora, and this, Quarantine; the... Read more
Published on January 30, 2010 by windowand
5.0 out of 5 stars
SLIGHT SPOILER: I'm going to discuss the basic principle of the novel...
My favorite multiple dimensions/ or multiple realities novel:
You definitely have to read this book by Greg Egan. Read more
You definitely have to read this book by Greg Egan. Read more
Published on July 17, 2008 by Lauren Marie Owen
3.0 out of 5 stars
'Cos of Quantum
This is two very different stories, linked by two very different characters. Nick is a hard-boiled P.I., an ex-cop with a terrible past. He uses neural implants for this P.I. Read more
Published on February 28, 2008 by James D. DeWitt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suspend belief and absorb speculation
My first foray into the mind of Greg Egan was in 2007 with this same book--Quarantine. I hadn't had a lot of sci-fi reading under my belt yet, but the novel floored my imagination... Read more
Published on August 22, 2007 by M-I-K-E 2theD
4.0 out of 5 stars
Australian SF Reader
Egan takes a slight change of pace here, as the setting is Earth, but an Earth that has been shut off from everywhere else by your good old bigarse forcefield bubble type... Read more
Published on July 31, 2007 by Blue Tyson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great story
Greg Egan always manages to make me sit back and go "whew" from sheer amazement at least once in every novel. Read more
Published on July 3, 2007 by Tim Trischuk
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