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Permutation City

Book 2 in the series:Subjective Cosmology

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'Permutation City' by Greg Egan explores mind uploading, digital consciousness, parallel universes, artificial life, and the nature of reality. It delves into the consequences of creating simulated copies of humans, the evolution of intelligent life within virtual environments, and the blurring lines between real and virtual worlds. The writing style is described as exploring complex philosophical concepts, heavy on metaphysics and philosophy, and delving into hard science fiction territory with a focus on high-concept questions and moral dilemmas.

Characters:

The characters are complex but often lack depth, serving more as vessels for exploring philosophical themes rather than being fully developed personalities.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is dense and technical, heavy on philosophical content, with detailed explorations of complex concepts.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot centers around the exploration of consciousness, virtual existence, and the philosophical implications of copying oneself in a digital realm.

Setting:

The setting is a near-future world where digital immortality is possible, exploring the contrasts between real and virtual environments.

Pacing:

The pacing starts slow and idea-driven, gradually becoming more engaging as the plot develops, though some may find it labored.
Maria Deluca had ridden past the stinking hole in Pyrmont Bridge Road for six days running, certain each time, as she’d approached, that she’d be greeted by the reassuring sight of a work team putting...

Notes:

Permutation City explores the concept of digital immortality and uploading consciousness.
In this world, people can be digitized and live in virtual realities.
The main character, Paul Durham, struggles with the behavior of his digital Copies.
Maria Deluca, another character, is obsessed with a simulated world called the Autoverse.
The story raises philosophical questions about identity and what it means to be human.
Egan's Dust Theory suggests that all mathematically possible structures exist, blurring lines between reality and simulation.
The novel was first published in 1994, yet its tech ideas remain relevant today.
Readers find the book challenging but engaging, focusing on high-concept ideas rather than character development.
Egan's writing is noted for its complexity and depth, appealing to readers interested in philosophy and science.
The narrative includes themes of personal identity, consciousness, and the ethics of artificial life.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include themes of existential dread, identity crises, and the moral implications of technology.

From The Publisher:

"Egan is determined to make sense of everything - to understand the whole world as an intelligible, rational, material (and finally manipulable) realm - even if it means abandoning comfortable and comforting illusions. This is fundamental to the whole project of SF and it's why Egan's Best - and his Rest - is worth any number of looks. -Locus

What happens when your digital self overpowers your physical self?

A life in Permutation City is unlike any life to which you're accustomed. You have Eternal Life, the power to live forever. Immortality is a real thing, just not the thing you'd expect.

Life is just electronic code. You have been digitized, scanned, and downloaded into a virtual reality program. A Copy of a Copy. For Paul Durham, he keeps making Copies of himself, but the issue is that his Copies keep changing their minds and shutting themselves down.

You also have Maria Deluca, who is nothing but an Autoverse addict. She spends every waking minute with the cellular automaton known as the Autoverse, a world that lives by the mathematical "laws of physics."

Paul makes Maria an offer to design and drop a seed into the Autoverse that will allow her to indulge in her obsession. There is, however, one catch: you can no longer terminate, bail out, and remove yourself. You will never be your normal flesh-and-blood life again. The question then becomes: Is this what she really wants? Is this what we really want?

From the brilliant mind of Greg Egan, Permutation City, first published in 1994, comes a world of wonder that makes you ask if you are you, or is the Copy of you the real you?

Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

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