Greg Egan Knihy

This is a collection of short stories from the author of "Permutation City" and "Distress". The stories deal with such topics as time-travelling messages, crystalline brains, DIY bioengineering, and body and mind exchange.

Greg Egan dokázal již svou první povídkovou sbírkou AXIOMAT, že i v době, kdy by se mohlo zdát, že science fiction všechna svá témata opotřebovala, je možné hledat nové pohledy, otevírat nové obzory. Také jeho druhá sbírka LUMINOUS (Světelný) přináší v deseti povídkách brilantní, nápadité vize - od prognóz pro relativně blízkou budouc nost po improvizace vzdálené v čase i prostoru. Příběhy Grega Egana bývají vystavěny kolem poměrně složitých problematik, ať už se jedná o vyspělé biotechnologie v renegátské Amazonii, teorii čísel, chemii mozku nebo skok do černé díry, ale to hlavní - je na nich něco, co by se dalo nazvat ohledávání hranic lidství." Tedy něco, co nebylo nikdy aktuálnější než dnes. „Vesmír je možná divnější, než si dokážeme představit, ale i tak mu dá práci, aby překonal Grega Egana." NEW SCIENTIST „Greg Egan je nejvýznamnější autor sci-fi 21. století... Čtěte Egana dnes, protože zítra ho budou číst všichni." STEPHEN BAXTER

In the 30th century, most people have chosen immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software. Others have opted for robot bodies, while some holdouts remain "fleshers." And then there's the Orphan, a genderless digital being grown from a mind seed. It's up to the Orphan and a group of refugees to find the knowledge that will save inhabitants from extinction.

Chlapec Prabir tráví své dětství s mladší sestrou Madhusrí na jinak neobydleném ostrově v Indickém oceánu, kde jeho rodiče, biologové, zkoumají neobvyklé mutace zdejších unikátních tropických motýlů. Dá mu jméno Teranesie a ve své představivosti zabydlí jeho džungle a vody fantastickými tvory. Ale i ráj se může rychle změnit v peklo, zejména v oblasti zmítané častými občanskými válkami. Když se o dvě desítky let později začnou vědeckým světem šířit zprávy o objevech bizarních nových druhů ve stejné oblasti, Maddy, která kráčí ve šlépějích rodičů, se proti vůli svého bratra rozhodne připojit k vědecké expedici. Prabirovi tak nezbývá, než se vydat na vlastní pěst za ní, aby ji ochránil... před čím vlastně? Nášlapnými minami, genovou epidemií ohrožující život jako takový nebo jen přízraky vlastní minulosti?

On the utopian, man-made island, Stateless, Nobel Prize winner Violet Mosala is close to solving the greatest problem of her career - the quest for the ultimate Theory of Everything (TOE) is almost over. Burned out by recording the abuses of biotech for his TV news syndicate, Andrew Worth grabs the chance to follow Violet's story. In contrast the world of theoretical physics seems like an anaesthetised mathematical heaven, where everything is cool and abstract. He could not have been more wrong. One by one Mosala's rival quantum physicists are disappearing from the scientific summit at Stateless. But why? Is it something to do with Violet herself, or is there some other, more esoteric, force at work undermining the Theory of Everything Conference?

A stunning collection of ground-breaking sf stories from a master of the genre

The story of a man with a vision - immortality : for those who can afford it is found in cyberspace. Permutation city is the tale of a man with a vision - how to create immortality - and how that vision becomes something way beyond his control. Encompassing the lives and struggles of an artificial life junkie desperate to save her dying mother, a billionaire banker scarred by a terrible crime, the lovers for whom, in their timeless virtual world, love is not enough - and much more - Permutation city is filled with the sense of wonder.

It's late in the 21st century and bioengineering is now so common that people are able to modify their minds in any way they wish. It is an era which has been shaped by information systems so vast that security, in any form, is easily breached. Now you can be whatever you want to be, and do whatever you want to do. On Earth anyway. One night, thirty three years ago, the stars went out. 'The Bubble' - a perfect sphere centred on the sun - appeared in the sky, isolating the solar system from the rest of the universe. For thirty-three years, humanity has lived with the religious cults and terrorism which spawned in the wake of the darkness. We are now alone. Humanity has been cut off. Quarantined.

Twenty of the very best stories and novellas from the award-winning master storyteller and rigorous, exploratory thinker, Greg Egan.

The nine stories in Greg Egan's new collection range from parables of contemporary human conflict and ambition to far-future tales of our immortal descendants.In "Lost Continent", a time traveler seeking refuge from a war-torn land faces hostility and bureaucratic incompetence. "Crystal Nights" portrays a driven man s moral compromises as he chases an elusive technological breakthrough, while in "Steve Fever" the technology itself falls victim to its own hype."TAP" brings us a new kind of poetry, where a word is more powerful than a thousand images. "Singleton" shows us a new kind of child, born of human DNA modeled in a quantum computer who, in "Oracle", journeys to a parallel world to repay a debt to an intellectual ancestor."Induction" chronicles the methods and motives behind humanity s first steps to the stars. "Border Guards" reflects on the painful history of a tranquil utopia. And in the final story, "Hot Rock", two immortal citizens of the galaxy-spanning Amalgam find that an obscure, sunless world conceals mind-spinning technological marvels, bitter factional struggles, and a many-layered secret history.Greg Egan is the author of seven novels and over fifty short stories. He is a winner of the Hugo Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.