Permutation City | Greg Egan

In 2050, Paul runs some experiments on a simulated Copy of himself to probe the nature of consciousness and reality itself. He slows the computation of the Copy to a crawl. He assigns different steps to different computers around the world. He splits the computation into parts, which he distributes globally to be computed at different speeds. When all of these experiments result in coherent subjective experiences for his Copy, he comes up with a business proposal.

The author's vision of the future contains the fairly common sci-fi concept of a "simulated brain," where scanned versions of human brains can be run digitally. But while most other works of fiction leave it at that, this novel asks the follow-up: If consciousness is not bound by meat-brains, what are its restrictions? It arrives at the mind-bending conclusion that consciousness is bound by little—that it and the reality it perceives are merely patterns that find themselves in the dust of the universe. The amazing feat of the novel is not just having this fascinating "Dust Theory" at its core but introducing it bit by bit in a way that makes it accessible and exciting.

Other aspects don't get neglected either. Expected philosophical themes of identity, eternity, and death get their deserved exploration. The future of 2050 is painted vibrantly across multiple strata: class issues are acknowledged, public opinion on the ethics surrounding Copies factors into the story, an effort to combat climate change plays a minor part, and new religions have emerged. Overall, we are presented with a rich and bustling world that convincingly does not revolve solely around the characters or key concepts of the plot.

Not as varied is the cast of about five characters we follow throughout. They all carry a loneliness with them, their thought processes fall on the rationalist side, and they're all deeply embedded in technology. This is especially tragic because some minor characters embody very different experiences, which always made me wish they'd stuck around the narrative longer. Still, the existing cast forms a broad enough kaleidoscope of perspectives, backgrounds, and fates to be satisfying.

All in all, the novel renders a reasonably paced and exciting plot with a decent cast of characters set in a rich world. But the strong point most definitely is the "Dust Theory" at its center. New implications of the theory are revealed and explored right up to the end and leave the reader with ideas to ponder long after finishing the book.

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