Schild's Ladder

[mrph]

This was going to be an entirely different post, but it's turned into a book review instead...

In summary: Not bad. Greg Egan's writing and characterisation continues to improve. But the ideas aren't as fresh or surprising as his first few books. I guess they might be if this was my first exposure to his work, mind you, but...



Schild's Ladder strongly reminded me of one of his previous novels, Permutation City - and there's also a touch of Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle in there. An experiment to create a new kind of space goes wrong. Instead of collapsing after a brief existence in a shielded environment, it starts expanding at half lightspeed, converting/destroying (overwriting?) the existing universe as it goes.

That's the set-up. The background is a scattered human and post-human civilization, effectively immortal, and split between virtual entities and those who prefer traditional bodies (although their mind still lives on an implanted computer - the body is just mechanics).

It's interesting, but bits of it just don't work for me. A particular oddity is the way he handles sex - bodies grow new genitalia "to order" for each couple. Which takes weeks, and left me wondering how/if he envisions this handling any set-up other than traditional monogamy (polyamory? group sex? the occasional spur-of-the-moment quickie?). That jarred a bit.

The flip side of this is that it also has one of my favourite sf sex scenes - with a newly physical virtual human who tries sex for the first time, only to abandon the attempt in fits of giggles. Because the idea of feeling pleasure simply because your body tells you to is just so silly...

The Bad Guys are also a bit unconvincing. I can't see how they'd ever have been a credible threat. And the pacing/shifts are odd - when, inevitably, they start to explore the new reality, the mystery evaporates far too quickly for my liking.

Having said all that, it's pretty good. But Permutation City is better. So's Quarantine</i

Comments

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

I love Egan. I'm planning to get Schild's Ladder once it comes out in paperback. I feel his novels have really improved since Permutation City - Diaspora and Teranesia seemed so much better-structured to me than the earlier novels - so I'm surprised his latest one should be so much like Permutation City.
Experimentation with ideas about sexuality seems quite a theme with Egan - I'll be interested to read the bits you mention. I still have a great fondness for the Culture's sex set-up though!
See you at Whitby, I expect. :-)

[mrph.livejournal.com]

The similarities are mostly in terms of Big Idea plot rather than anything else. Can't say I liked Teranesia that much myself - or, rather, I liked the set-up but felt let down by the punchline. My favourite work of his is still Quarantine, I think. As for the Culture and Mr Banks... Use of Weapons and Excession are both lovely.

I shall indeed see you in Whitby. Well, probably, as we're meant to be setting out in just under twelve hours. Should be a good 'un...