Quarantine (Mass Market Paperback)

by Greg Egan (Author) "ONLY THE MOST PARANOID CLIENTS PHONE ME IN my sleep..." (more)
Key Phrases: loyalty mod, smeared self, dice generator, Laura Andrews, Bubble Makers, New Hong Kong (more...)

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

Product Description

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.

Some see the bubble as the revenge of an insane God. Some see it as justice. Some even see it as protection. But one thing is for certain -- now there is the universe, and the earth. And never the twain shall meet.

Or so it seems. Until a bio-enhanced PI named Nick Stavrianos takes on a job for an anonymous client: find a girl named Laura who disappeared from a mental institution by the most direct possible method -- walking through the walls.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Eos (November 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061054232
• ISBN-13: 978-0061054235
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #496,418 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Stop collapsing those wave-functions!", February 8, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Tromsø, Norway) - See all my reviews

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

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sense of wonder SF at its finest, December 6, 2000

By	Thomas Seay (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

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.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quatum physics, mods, reality, and much much more..., August 23, 1998

By	Amit Mehta "apmehta" (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews

You don't have to be a physics genius to understand quantum mechanics, JUST READ THIS BOOK! (Take it from a physicist)

Greg Egan manages to give us a brilliant look at a very possible future while investigating some of the most fasinating implications of physics, and philosopy. I first heard about this book from a friend of mine, I was fasinated by the idea! It will blow your mind because it not based on some magical idea such as warp drives, but real physical laws.