Review of 'Permutation City (Subjective Cosmology #2)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Tough read but very prescient.
352 pages
English language
Published Oct. 5, 1995
Permutation City (Subjective Cosmology #2)
by Greg Egan
4 stars
(35 reviews)
The story of a man with a vision - immortality : for those who can afford it is found in cyberspace. Permutation city is the tale of a man with a vision - how to create immortality - and how that vision becomes something way beyond his control. Encompassing the lives and struggles of an artificial life junkie desperate to save her dying mother, a billionaire banker scarred by a terrible crime, the lovers for whom, in their timeless virtual world, love is not enough - and much more - Permutation city is filled with the sense of wonder.
I love the 90s scifi cover, "people on a chip" is not really what this is at all, although it is too.
5 stars
Speaking my language at 14 or 40, hard implications for immortality and self-redefinition in computationally simulated brain scans and artificially evolved life.
Review of 'Permutation city' on 'GoodReads'
4 stars
Interesting as a series of thought experiments in the philosophy of transhumanism
luxon reviewed Permutation City (Subjective Cosmology #2) by Greg Egan
Best science fiction I've ever read
5 stars
It's hard sci-fi, with the basic conceit that fundamentally, physics literally is math, that everything mathematical literally exists. But what's most gripping is the description of consciousness and simulated or repeated consciousness, and slicing it, and duplicating it, and messing with it. Made me feel weird while reading it, and still does, and informs the way I think about the mind.
