Rating: 
Summary: strong AI fantasyland
Review: Like to ponder the nature of the human mind? Don't find strong AI ridiculous? You'll then find this a complete rip--Earlier reviewers give a good scene-plot synopsis. I only add that the dance around logical impossibility is at the core of much good sci-fi. Egan provoked plenty of healthy examination of the nature of self and reason. He's not well grounded in general relativity which weakens the end, but this is still very high-quality sci-fi.
Rating: 
Summary: A terrific work of transhumanist science fiction
Review: Most science fiction writers hate the idea of transhumanism, mind uploading, etc., because it's just too hard to write stories set in such an alien world. Egan, however, sticks it out and the results justify the effort. In truth, I found the ending a bit disappointing, but the trip was so good that I still give this book 5 stars. This book would be worth the price in hardcover -- so buy the paperback and use the money you save to buy some other Egan books (Permutation City, which is a sort of prequel, might be a good next purchase if you like this one). Egan does for science fiction novels what Mobius Dick does for Techno music -- he rules!
Rating:
Summary: Ingenious but...
Review: First, let me tell you this: Greg Egan is a genius. His ideas are unparalleled by any other science fiction writer I know of. I have read several of his books, and his novels/short stories are the most unique stories I have ever read. Having said that, I have to say he has a bit of a problem with writing long novels and tends to lose focus and drift away. He shines with short stories, though. This book has the same problems. It actually seems like 2 books, really, the first and the second part are so different. The first half of the books tells the story of Yatima, an artificial intelligence being who lives inside a "polis", which is the equivalent of a city of AIs. The story details how Yatima was "born", how did he evolve, and elaborates on his experiences. The background of the story is complex and detailed - yet still remains believable: most of what is left of humanity chose to turn themselves to digital beings, others turned themselves to Gleisners (Robots). But a few chose to remain human, albeit genetically modified humans. This part is *awesome*, *amazing* - it is very, very good! Then, roughly in the middle of the book the story takes a turn: after an unexplained phenomena which occured and wiped the remaining human population, one of the polises decides to go on a "Diaspora", clone itself and explore the galaxy. This part elaborates on the journey. The thing is, there is very very little story, most of it is complicated scientific theories. I'm sure Greg Egan knows his science, from what I understood (I couldn't follow everything), he got it right to the point. But it gets way too complicated. Seriously, I had university courses easier than this part of the book! And it is not really necessary, most of the time, a theory is introduced, and then the story moves on to the next theory. In the meanwhile, there isn't much left of the original story - the scientific background seems to be much more important than the plot! I would give 5 (or more!) stars to the first half of the book, and 2 to the second part. But overall, the second part really ruined a lot of the book for me. Nonetheless, I'd still recommend it - just be prepared for a very high level of physics! And check out "Axiomatic", this is truly one of the best short science fiction stories of all time - Greg Egan at his best.
Rating:
Summary: How far does your imagination go?
Review: I admit, most of Egan's physics and mathematics are way, WAY over my head (come on, how should I imagine n-dimensional cubes, singularities in the 6th dimension,... - no way, Jose!) and I was speed-reading whole 'lecture' passages in the book. But I enjoyed 'Diaspora' anyway because it's so inventive and unique, simply blows your mind away, and that's even after having read 'Permutation City' where some of the same ideas popped up, too. A lot of readers comment on the lack of characterisation, but then, we're not really talking about characters in this book are we? The whole cast is sentient software (ok some are based on fleshers (= humans)).I'm looking forward to another Egan!!
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Summary: An epic that spans time and space to the INFINITE degree
Review: Once again, Egan has struck a chord across many disciplines--the non-fiction studies of AI, multidimensional geometry, mathematics, astrophysics, and others are woven into a novel of pure, hard, sf. Have you ever read a sf book and thought, "That was a great concept... but the author could have gone farther"? You can NOT do that with Egan's work. He explores and pushes back the outer boundaries of the comprehensible with his stories. Diaspora, particularly, spans as far as one can go--at least, as far as its own concept of the future can be pushed. The book develops from extremely small beginnings--the "womb" of one of Earth's virtual-reality cities called "polises"--where Yatima (the artificial-intelligence protagonist) is born. From there, Yatima grows in a quest for understanding of the world around ver (neuter for "his" or "her"). From ver polis, to the realms of the other lifeforms inhabiting Earth, to the questions of "Who is out there? Who came before us? Why are we HERE?" Yatima struggles and discovers, traveling faster and faster through space (and time). The urgency of the pitch accelerates as ve nears ver goal. Without spoiling the ending, I'll say this: have you ever hiked a "strenuous" trail to reach a peak, and then stood by yourself at the very top and listened to the wind whistle around you? It's amazing how deeply you can look into yourself when you know you're at the pinnacle of experience. For those who hate Egan's copious (and admittedly rigorous) studies within the text: maybe adapting your style of reading would help. I'm not telling you to do anything difficult or that would detract from the story; just learn to skim over the heavy details the first time you read the story. I guarantee you'll come back again for them ... for in Diaspora, as in Quarantine and others, Egan uses high-technology magic to restate our own questions: "Who is out there? Who came before us? Why are we HERE?"
Rating: 
Summary: Too difficult to comprehend, even for a physicist
Review: I regret that I have to give this book a brief and poor review. I found it extremely hard to get into, struggled to keep interested in it and, finally, felt rather let down by a lackluster and unimpressive ending. Were it not for the glossary, buried near the end of the book, I would have found it totally incomprehensible and never pursued it to it's disappointing lack of finale. Unlike many of the hard SF books that I have greatly enjoyed, I was unimpressed with the attempts to link the plot to scientific theory. The characters were minimally developed and popped in and out of the story in a way that made following them most difficult. Oh well!
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst science fiction novels I've ever read
Review: Poor character development, excessive technical details, and a slow meandering plot made this novel torture to read. I only read on to the end because I kept hoping it would get better. Once I got to the abrupt ending, I realized it wasn't going to get any better. Don't read this unless you want to be bored.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing accomplishment
Review: Imagine Asimov's whole Foundation series compressed in 400 pages. I bet you can't. Diaspora is a greater story, and still it fits in one standard paperback volume. Egan has no mercy toward the science-horrified types. Math and physics on the introductory graduate school level in a fiction? Yes, way to go! Finally, something for the educated readership. The author has actually studied the subjects he's talking about, and studied them well. The horrified crowd of literary critics can't even imagine that, they automatically assume that his knowledge should be as shallow as theirs. But you don't need to be a scientist to read this book, just keep an open mind and be prepared to use it. The ideas are so detailed and so well thought through that they all seem simply within reach. Diaspora picks up where Distress left off, and developes an alternative vision of the Universe, without any mentions of anthrocosmology. The original genderless pronouns make a comeback to describe asexual inhabitants of the virtual home in the real world. The characters are believable and real, solidly defined with just a few strokes of a master's pencil. The imagery is blindingly rich. Space travel at legal light-limited speeds, actual experiments of the quantum physics, existing mathematical theorems combine with alien worlds, galactic catastrophes and dual universes to create a saga of the humankind spanning billions of years in the future. The story defies cliches (someone was looking for a climax?) and proceeds at lightning pace through the confrontations between the universe and the people on a hot trail of a sister civilization to the perfect ending of which Lem definitely could be proud.
Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking Exploration of the Nature of Reality
Review: Egan book does an excellent job of continually pressing the reader with such weighty questions as "what is the nature of reality without a physcial connection to the universe?" These questions about conciouness and reality are brought out the right way - through the story of differing societies that are completely divorced from physicality. Although the plot is a bit thin, I kept flipping the pages based on the ongoing development of the ideas. There are some significant limitations. For those not enamoured by long discussions on speculative physics (like myself), there will be sections that you simply must skim. Also, the last quarter of the book peters out as its discussion of the ultimate purpose of existance become a bit thin. Overall, compelling, thought provoking science just below the "master" level of novels such as Snow Crash.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of hard SF! Essential!
Review: This book is brilliant. There are several audacious--and at times difficult--ideas in the book that can only expand your view of the universe. The story is an engaging and moving tale of humanity (and our digital descendants) against an infinite cosmos. Egan is a writer to watch! If you like Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen Baxter or Greg Bear, you will enjoy Greg Egan.
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