Rating: 
Summary: Superb Extrapolation - Wild Plotting
Review: If there were just one book here, it would be easier to review.There is the book about life in 2055, in a world completely transformed by biotech. This book deserves more than 5 stars. I wish I was going to be around to see how much Egan got right. There is the book about how an actual working anarchy might behave and come to be. This is fascinating, and far different from the usual rightish libertarianism to be found in political SF. Four stars for this part. And then there's the scientific book. You have to seriously suspend disbelief here, to take the threat to the universe seriously. But if you can do that (and I could), it's an extremely exciting and well put-together plot. Two or three stars for science fiction, or six for fantasy. It's a mind-bender. Some of the reviews here seem to think it's anti-religious. I don't read it that way. In fact, the ending seems suffused with an eloquent and most unusual mysticism. Whatever this is, it's not so simple as a cold, mechanistic, purposeless universe. As Violet says in the book, the Theory of Everything is what lets us touch. Give it a chance. It's worth the trouble.
Rating:
Summary: First Class Hard Science Fiction
Review: If you like the "Killer B's" (David Brin, Gregory Benford, or Greg Bear) you'll like this. Egan keeps his characters interesting, and his science strong and plausible, while moving well beyond the universes favored by most SF writers these days. It's hard work to do this, but it pays off. An excellent book, well worth the money. It would be worth it in hardcover!
Rating:
Summary: First Class Hard Science Fiction
Review: If you like the "Killer B's" (David Brin, Gregory Benford, or Greg Bear) you'll like this. Egan keeps his characters interesting, and his science strong and plausible, while moving well beyond the universes favored by most SF writers these days. It's hard work to do this, but it pays off. An excellent book, well worth the money. It would be worth it in hardcover!
Rating: 
Summary: Bring Your Mind, But also a Magic Marker
Review: In "Distress", Greg Egan has provided a thought-provoking vision of the future, and a chilling view of the essence of reality. He creates a world filled with biotechnology wonders, and has created a place, "Stateless", based on these wonders. He then takes this world and weaves in a plot that dives into a stark philosophy of existence. His view point is that man can assume he is no more than matter and information. But Egan does not despair at that view, but rather uses his two main characters, Violet Mosala and Andrew Worth, to show its power. As Mosala, the physicist, finishes a Theory of Everything, Worth takes his experiences in the book to reconcile the implications of the theory. Alone, the TEO would reverberate through time causing a fatal illness "Distress", but Worth solves that dilemma, and opens a new perspective for mankind. But don't think you can read this book casually (I made that mistake). The physics is unforgiving (brush up on the integration of the forces of nature, and on the latest theories of space as a dance of virtual particles). And bring a magic marker. The first time you hit a new name, or ANY time there is a reference to one of a myriad of anti- or pro-science groups, highlight it. That will allow you to go back and understand how the actions of that person or group from two hundred pages back, motivate what is happening where you are reading. This type of book demonstrates that the fiction novel market should break convention and include (heresy here) indexes and tables in books to help the reader. It is this problem of complex and distance references, plus some dangling plot threads, that keep me from rating this higher.
Rating:
Summary: I was never a fan of sci-fi until now
Review: Most of the time when I read Sci-Fi I thought that it was ridiculous, until now! Greg Egan writes Sci-Fi the way that it should be written. He writes with realism that is set in real science or real science theory. Once you have read Greg Egan it's difficult to read anyone else. This is the first Greg Egan book I've ever read and I am planning on buying everything's he's written. This book was entertaining, thought provoking and very well written. It comes highly recommended and I disagree with other negative reviewers ... you need not be a physicist to enjoy it, just a higher thinker, maybe even a dreamer!
Rating: 
Summary: too much philosophical lecturing, unreasonable plot
Review: Not everyone agrees with me (judging by the other reviews), and you may not either, but I find more effective a novel which *shows* me the possibilities of human nature, rather than lecturing me on it. Egan's other novels (the two i've read) do a much better job of that. But in this one... For the first half of the book, the scenes don't develop the plot at all; they're just triggers for the protagonist to spout another philosophical or ethical lecture. These tend to be not very deep and most of the people reading this book will probably agree with them anyway. The actual plot doesn't start being developed until page 200 or bette, and when it comes, it may disappoint a lot of hard science readers. The thesis that intelligent beings somehow have a special place in the laws of the universe (rather than obeying the same laws of particles, forces, quantum mechanics, etc. as all other objects) is very weak---much weaker than the similar theme put forth in Egan's other novel "Quarantine". And in the end, the plot's resolution doesn't come out of the desire to have a good story; it's just a final shot at delivering the main philosophical message (and yes we do get a final "lecture" at the end), which is that it is impossible for people to really understand each other.
Rating: 
Summary: Another example of reckless pseudoscience
Review: Stereotypes abound in this inane novel that dares call itself SCIENCE fiction. So, I suppose those that don't endorse the Big Bang and the 'uselessness' of intimacy are all bible-thumping lunatics? Just because I don't quite agree with the pseudoscientific opinions expressed by the author and his characters I'm a regular religious hypocrite?
Rating: 
Summary: thought provoking and immensely enjoyable
Review: The exposition blew my mind more than anything I've read in a long time - it's soemthing you have to read. Beyond that it's a question of wether you like cyberpunk or not - for cyberpunk it is. There's original ideas aplenty and, other than with all the Gibson novels I've read, the plot is paced well till the end of the book. Great literature this is not, but good entertainment and terrific food for the mind - and the combination alone makes it worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Some of the most interesting ideas in contemporary SF
Review: The opening scene of DISTRESS is guaranteed to grab you, as a photojournalist witnesses the temporary resurrection of a murder victim to allow him to identify his killer. It would be hard to imagine a more harrowing opening. The strength of this novel is the coherent and fascinating world view that Egan presents. Today's technological developments are extrapolated to form a believable world, one that most of us would not have imagined. Although the payoff is somewhat disappointing, it's well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Existential despair?
Review: This book seems to advocate the idea that life is inherently meaningless. This may be true, but most existentialists believe in giving artificial meanings to life. I would rather believe in those "unreal" meanings then give in to the more "realistic" despair. Hope may have no inherent meaning, but it is necessary. The main character in this uses reason so much it controls him. I believe reason should be a tool not a slavemaster. Maybe I missed the books point, but that's what I got out of it. It should be read by all religious existentialists so they can laugh at it.
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