Incandescence by Greg Egan

Two storylines in alternating chapters. Liked the characters and the stories. But I loved this book because of its hard science fiction concepts! From panspermia to a mysterious civilisation inhabiting the galactic core. Immortal digital beings, originally dna-based, looking for challenges to make their lives worth living. Mortal beings who live in a vegetative/automatic pilot state with their interests and curiosity turn off, until smth happens which compels them to try to understand their universe using mathematics and physics. There's a lot of Einstein's and who knows what else. I tried to follow the details but couldn't sometimes, but it didn't matter. The story is tops and the ending too!

Quarantine by Greg Egan

Mindblowing Hard Science Fiction. A detective/spy novel in a world where humans use nanomachines to control their moods, improve their attention, access and process information, and many other things. At the core of the mystery there is a twist on actual quantum mechanics theories which try to explain the nature of reality. I think they are related to the principle of "complementarity", part of the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum theory which states that the "quantum world is both wave - and particle-like, its the act of measurement that causes it to show one face or another. " (New Scientist, Essential Guide 1&5). Greg Egan adapts the concept of measurement making it an inherent human ability, something that we ourselves do unwittingly to create and recreate our reality. And then something happens when someone discovers how to not do that. The novel can be hard to read at points. There is hard science everywhere, explaining particles, waves, smear, probabilities, etc. but the actual plot is really interesting and worth the effort.

Permutation City by Greg Egan

This a story about virtual realities, simulations and immortality. Can software be "conscious"? Are digital beings and digital humans alive? In this novel people can make digital copies of themselves and wake them in a virtual universe where they can "live" forever or so it seems. But but but are those copies the same person? The main protagonist comes up with an idea, build his own universe and sell it to millionaire copies with a promise of immortality. And once immortality is achieved what do you do with your time? So far so good. However I missed some ideas at the core of the story, "dust theory" is one of them. Also got lost when the main character computed various states of his copy in different orders. The result led him to hire someone to design a primordial cell for his new cosmos, etc. Regardless of my confusion, I enjoyed this book considering that it is a Concept-driven novel (as opposed to character or plot driven). Characters felt flat to me, until the last pages where I somehow could grasp their humanity in their desperation (or lack thereof) to live.

Diaspora by Greg Egan.

Many centuries in the future a cosmic cataclysm threatens earth. A colision between two neutron stars will destroy every organic live in the galaxy. Humanity has divided into 3. The fleshers, some of whom have improved their bodies with genetic and technological enhancements. The rest have digitised their minds and are living either in robots or in polises in supercomputers. After the gamma-ray flash the posthumans set on a journey to understand the logic of the collision and why they couldn't predict it in time. 

This was a complex read. Starting from chapter one depicting the birth of a digital human (a posthuman), to the explanation of cosmic phenomena, to the peculiarities of digital life, cloning, immortality, multidimensional space and the scope of the story which takes place across thousands of years. 

A Concept driven novel, as opposed to character or plot driven. Thought provoking, mind blowing ideas.