I am a big fan of [author:Greg Egan] but this book didn't do it for me. The story starts interesting and turns into a thrilling detective story. The quantum stuff is quite tough though and I am not so much interested in the whole concept. Who cares if there are multiple possible realities beside ours? Unless I am fully aware of their impact I don't bother at all. ( )

I am a big fan of [author:Greg Egan] but this book didn't do it for me. The story starts interesting and turns into a thrilling detective story. The quantum stuff is quite tough though and I am not so much interested in the whole concept. Who cares if there are multiple possible realities beside ours? Unless I am fully aware of their impact I don't bother at all. ( )

http://mentatjack.com/2009/08/12/revi... ( )

Egan is one of the few writers who knows enough physics to put the science in science fiction. He does it with enough credibility to make it interesting even to experts. At the same time, he goes to great lengths to make the subject intelligible to casual readers as well.

The novel takes seriously a certain scenario proposed to interpret quantum mechanics. At issue is so-called "collapse", which is the process through which the quantum world appears classical to our senses. The subject of interpretations of quantum mechanics is rich with different possibilities for implementing collapse. Egan picks one of the more dramatic ones and logically extrapolates its consequences. A brilliant piece of hard SF, even if the scenario explored in it does not quite correspond to the real world.

At the same time, he does not fail to paint a realistic picture of a near future world, where bio- and neuro-technologies have had significant impact on human lives. Sometimes technology makes our lives better, but sometimes it only reinforces some of our pathologies.

As usual, there is also a moral point (if it can be called that) tackled by the story. Egan explores the introduction of an unsubstantiated axiom into the human thought process. Anyone familiar with basic logic can realize that simply throwing in an extra axiom (aka assertion or belief) may render the entire logical system inconsistent. In that case, a person can in principle be convinced of anything, no matter how morally reprehensible, with disastrous consequences. Although the situation described in Quarantine is both fictional and somewhat artificial, it is not hard to see a cautionary line of dots pointing to the many very real irrational beliefs held by regular people, including religion and superstition.

As always, highly thought provoking. ( )

This book started with quite a clever premise, and I would say that the first half is very good reading. But it loses momentum about half way through (just when Egan starts focusing on eigenstates and quantum mechanics). On the plus side, the book piqued my interest in actually learning more about complex physics concepts. I also enjoyed Egan's development of the implications of nanotechnology brain "mods" (software that you load directly into your brain). On the minus side, what started out as a pretty good scifi mystery lost any chance of a satisfying ending. ( )