Diaspora
From back cover HarperPrism paperback November 1999: It is the thirtieth century. The "world" has evolved into a vast network of probes, satellites, and servers knitting the solar system into one scape from the outer planets to the sun. Humanity, too, has reconfigured itself. Most people have chosen immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software. Others have opted for disposable, renewable robotic bodies that remain in contact with the physical world. A few holdouts stubbornly remain fleshers struggling to shape an antiquated existence in the muck and jungle of Earth. And then there is the Orphan, a genderless digital being grown from a mind seed. WHen an unforeseen disaster ravages the fleshers, it awakens the polises to the possibility of their own extinction from bizarre astrophysical processes that seemingly violate fundamental laws of nature. It is up to the Orphan and a group of refugees to find the knowledge that will save them all -- a search that will lead them on a quantum adventure to a higher dimension beyond the macrocosmos....
What you might want to know about Diaspora
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In the late thirtieth century most humans live as software citizens. When a neutron star collision threatens organic life, a digital child grown in a polis sets out across deep space and stranger physics.
Yes. Diaspora is one of the densest hard science fiction novels ever published, engaging deeply with mathematics, theoretical physics, and computational consciousness. Many readers consider it Greg Egan's most demanding book.
Egan's novels are mostly standalone, but readers new to his style often start with Permutation City or Schild's Ladder before tackling Diaspora. The earlier books introduce his computational metaphysics in slightly more accessible form.
Diaspora was written by Greg Egan, published in 1997 by Orion Publishing Group, Limited.
Diaspora is 352 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Diaspora takes most readers 5 to 8 hours to finish.
Diaspora is a standalone novel by Greg Egan, not part of a series.
Diaspora is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
