Phoresis and Other Journeys

Last updated
Phoresis and Other Journeys
Author Greg Egan
Language English
Genre Science fiction, Hard science fiction
Publication date
2023
ISBN 978-1-922240-50-7

Phoresis and Other Journeys is a collection of three science-fiction novellas by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2023. [1] [2]

Contents

Contents

Reception

Reviews

The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred

Publishers Weekly writes that the short story "successfully incorporates hot-button issues of intellectual property rights and government reparations for systematic bigotry into a far-future SF story" and is a "top-notch thought-provoking and suspenseful space opera, with impressively effective worldbuilding given its short length." [3]

Dispersion

Russell Letson writes in the Locus Magazine , that the story "combines motifs from all over Egan territory: the social-ethical drama of people under extreme stress of 'Perihelion Summer' and 'The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred'; the diseases of Distress , 'Silver Fire', and 'Reasons to Be Cheerful'; and the gnarlier physics-and-math exertions of Schild’s Ladder or Incandescence or the 'Luminous'/'Dark Integers' duo." It "is a cousin to Edwin Abbot’s [sic.] Flatland , on steroids laced with LSD" since the "exotic cosmology is overlaid onto a nearly allegorical portrait of communities occupying overlapping but immiscible spaces, facing the same crisis but failing to come together to deal with." He adds to "return to Egan for" the theme "to know and then to do the right thing; to be effective and moral, no matter the difficulty or discomfort." [4]

Phoresis

Russel Letson writes in the Locus Magazine , that the characters "are gregarious, curious, imaginative, methodical, ingenious, and persistent" as well as that the novella is "intensely procedural" and that "the speculative-engineering side of the novel almost evades the feeling of fiction." He further writes that "drama arises from the social setting" and that "execution demands both vision and sacrifice on the part of those who will not see the work’s end", which makes the novella "strongly reminiscent of Incandescence and 'The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred'." It is "is the Tower of Babel, but without the hubris and confusion: a parable not of division and failure but of the triumph of ingenuity and selflessness – of hope." [5]

Awards

"The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred" was a finalist for the Ditmar Award in 2016 and reached the 5th place in the Reader Poll of the Locus Award in 2016.

Related Research Articles

Greg Egan is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award.

<i>Incandescence</i> (novel) 2008 novel by Greg Egan

Incandescence is a 2008 science fiction novel by Australian author Greg Egan. The book is based on the idea that the theory of general relativity could be discovered by a pre-industrial civilisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanic (novella)</span> 1998 novella by Greg Egan

"Oceanic" is a science fiction novella by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 1998. It won the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

Alix E. Harrow is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her short fiction work "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" has been nominated for the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and Locus Award, and in 2019 won a Hugo Award. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019), was widely acclaimed by mainstream critics, lauded by general audiences during voting at Goodreads Choice Awards and Locus Awards, and nominated for multiple first novel literary awards and speculative fiction awards. She has also published under the name Alix Heintzman.

Dichronauts is a hard science-fiction novel by Australian author Greg Egan. The novel was published by Night Shade Books on 11 July 2017. It describes a universe with two time dimensions, one of which corresponds to the time perception of the characters while the other influences their space perception, for example by rotations in this directions to be impossible. Hence a symbiosis of two life forms is necessary, so that they can even see in all directions. Furthermore, many fundamental laws of physics are altered crucially: Objects can roll uphill or not fall over any more when oriented suitably. There is negative kinetic energy and a fourth state of matter. Planets are no longer spherical, but hyperbolic and therefore have three separate surfaces. Egan describes these details on his website.

Dark Integers and Other Stories is a collection of five science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published on 25 March 2008 by Subterranean Press. One of them, "Oceanic", won the Hugo Award for Best Novella, while two others were nominated.

Oceanic is a collection of 12 science fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published on 16 July 2009 by Gollancz.

"Luminous" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov’s Science Fiction in September 1995.

"Dark Integers" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in October/November 2007. The short story was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008, Oceanic in 2009 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2020. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2008. It is a sequel to the short story "Luminous".

"Reasons to Be Cheerful" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 118 in April of 1997. The short story was included in the collections Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2020.

"Crystal Nights" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone 215 in April 2008.

"Appropriate Love" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #50 in August 1991. The short story was included in the collection Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Chaff" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #78 in December 1993. The novelette was included in the anthology The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Eleventh Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois in 1994 and in the collections Our Lady of Chernobyl in 1995, Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Into Darkness" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Asimov's Science Fiction in January 1992. The novelette was included in the collections Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Riding the Crocodile" is a science-fiction novella by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in One Million A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois in December 2005. The novella was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008 and Oceanic in 2009. The short story is set in the same universe as Egan's short stories "Glory" and "Hot Rock" as well as Egan's novel Incandescence.

"Glory" is a science-fiction novelette by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in the anthology The New Space Opera edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan in 2007. The novelette was included in the collections Dark Integers and Other Stories in 2008 and Oceanic in 2009. The novelette is set in the same universe as Egan's novellas "Riding the Crocodile" and "Hot Rock" as well as Egan's novel Incandescence.

"Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #61 in July 1992. The short story was included in the collections Axiomatic in 1995 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Silver Fire" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Interzone #102 in December 1995. The short story was included in the collections Luminous in 1998 and The Best of Greg Egan in 2019.

"Zero for Conduct" is a science-fiction short story by Australian writer Greg Egan, first published in Twelve Tomorrows edited by Stephen Cass in September 2013. The short story was included in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois in July 2014 as well as the collections The Best of Greg Egan in 2019 and Instantiation in 2020.

Perihelion Summer is a science fiction novella/novel by Australian writer Greg Egan, published by Tor Books in 2019.

References

  1. "Bibliography". 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  2. "Summary Bibliography: Greg Egan" . Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  3. "The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred". publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  4. Letson, Russell (2020-08-20). "Russell Letson Reviews Dispersion by Greg Egan". locusmag.com. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  5. Letson, Russell (2018-03-22). "Russell Letson Reviews Phoresis by Greg Egan". locusmag.com. Retrieved 2024-06-01.