12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great writing from Egan, March 13, 2000
By A Customer
Teranesia has the most satisfying conclusion of any of Egan's novels yet.
From a literary standpoint, his writing continues to improve. Here he sets himself some ambitious goals and achieves them with a lightness of touch that is refreshing.
The novel is certainly one of his most readable. It is more accessible than, say, Diaspora or Distress, with a story that is moving, human, and revealing of the author's values.
Egan continues his passionate advocacy of science as the one sincere path towards truth, and this was the only aspect that made me uncomfortable. He is persuasive when demonstrating the scientific method and its power, but like most passionate advocates, he loses some credibility when he sets out to discredit the competition. The novel's population comprises scientists and buffoons, and that's about it.
A series of religious straw men are set up and demolished to demonstrate that no good thing can emerge from religion. He does the same to post-modernism but since I agree with him there, that was much less alienating! As a religious person who would not dismiss a scientific hypothesis just because it conflicted with my beliefs I might just scrape into Egan's DMZ as one of the very few who are deluded but honourable.
Given what I have just said, it is a good thing that the story remains focussed on the scientists, and here there is depth of characterization. These are no stereotypes, but likeable, believable people, with plausibly messed up psychologies and mixed motives.
A thoroughly enjoyable book, with enough left unsaid to inspire further speculation about the implications of his remarkable invention.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Incredibly promising, but..., December 15, 1999
By A Customer
...unfortunately not done nearly as well as it could have been. The characters are far better drawn than they have been in any previous Egan books, but the plot suffered. The ending is terrible. Nothing is resolved, nothing is connected from the story. Characters just disappear, without anything really explained.
The idea behind the book, as it always is in what Egan writes, is fascinating. It could have been used far more than it was, however; I got the feeling that Egan rushed through the writing of the book. The typeface is rather large and only lasts for 320 pages - this book should have been a good 50% longer. More of the ideas should have been illustrated by things happening instead of through implausible long conversations between characters.
"Teranesia" is worth reading simply for the brilliant ideas behind the text. But it's not worth buying, especially not in hardcover, when it only takes a few hours to read. Get it from the library instead.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too much character - too little science, March 18, 2000
By A Customer
Having read all of the previous titles, it was with high expectations that I tore into this latest creation of the new saint of SF. What a letdown, perhaps akin to watching Michael Jordan play baseball. Greg's understanding of the AI nature of technology futures is truely profound and he has the ability to weave this into a deeply moving, spiritual tale that keeps you on the edge. Now that he has proven that he can write deeply detailed characters with a patina of science, let's hope that he gets back in the kitchen and serves up some meat & potatoes.
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