Me ha parecido más descompensado que otros libros del autor. Tiene una estructura bastante paralela a Schild's Ladder pero no resulta tan absorbente. Como ciencia ficción "hard" es extremadamente duro, como mínimo para mí. A partir de un momento me he visto obligado a dejar de intentar entender el razonamiento matemático o físico de una parte de la historia, y eso me ha permitido disfrutar muchísimo más de la historia. A mi me ha gustado, pero sólo se lo recomendaría a incondicionales de Greg Egan como yo mismo. Imprescindible consultar su web para captar algo de la parte científica. Lo que no se puede negar es que como visión "ciencia ficcionera" la de Egan es impresionante.[Crítica ampliada a http://membrillu.blogspot.com/2008/07... ] ( )

Me ha parecido más descompensado que otros libros del autor. Tiene una estructura bastante paralela a Schild's Ladder pero no resulta tan absorbente. Como ciencia ficción "hard" es extremadamente duro, como mínimo para mí. A partir de un momento me he visto obligado a dejar de intentar entender el razonamiento matemático o físico de una parte de la historia, y eso me ha permitido disfrutar muchísimo más de la historia. A mi me ha gustado, pero sólo se lo recomendaría a incondicionales de Greg Egan como yo mismo. Imprescindible consultar su web para captar algo de la parte científica. Lo que no se puede negar es que como visión "ciencia ficcionera" la de Egan es impresionante.[Crítica ampliada a http://membrillu.blogspot.com/2008/07... ] ( )

An excellent example of "Hard" science fiction. Egan takes the premise: "How can a nonindustrial society living within a rock embedded in the plasma disc surrounding a large black hole discover General Relativity?" and uses it to explain the nature of gravity and how our view of the universe is limited by our preconceptions and common-sense view from inside a gravity well. It's also an intriguing tale told skillfully enough to be enjoyed by those skipping the science part.

Classic Egan as far as engaging writing and solid, hard-sf goes. Egan is one of my favorite SF authors. Great to revisit the Amalgam and the Aloof. But...
The alternating twin storylines (that will eventually converge) is, at this point, gimmicky. The fact that the eventual convergence is less than direct, with farewells in one thread and new characters in the other leaves the feeling of having been shanghaied into reading the start of a series-to-be (if this book does well enough). In fact there's little that's satisfying about the 'conclusion'. New stories set in an already laid out universe are fine with me. Some series can be good if the books stand alone. This one seems to be hobbling on at least one crutch. ( )

Okay, here goes: this is the hardest hard-SF book I’ve ever read. Rakesh’s story is interesting and completely pulled me in - I wanted to know where the lost race came from, and why the had suddenly allowed such an incursion into their territory. Rakesh as a character is like every one of us who as ever been curious about something, something that sends tingles of excitement through us while pulling us along, and it was great sharing the ride with him. His companion is his foil, logical and balanced, seeing every viewpoint and offering them in the hope that Rakesh’s decisions will turn out to be the correct ones. And as we travel with them, the journey itself is interesting and magical - we go to the center of the galaxy, deep into the Aloof’s territory… Read the rest of my review here: http://davebrendon.wordpress.com/2008... ( )