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Zendegi (2010)

by Greg Egan(Favorite Author)

3.42 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1597801747 (ISBN13: 9781597801744)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Night Shade Books

review 1: Really enjoyed this one. Combines science fiction (believable!) and the future, set in Iran. I liked it because everything seemed possible. Focuses on an Australian journalist in Iran during a revolution of sorts, and then makes it his home. Fast forward to a few years ahead when he has a son. Also in the book is an Iranian girl who has lived abroad for many years and returns after the revolution. She now works on a virtual reality game called Zendegi. How do these two lives intertwine? Enter a pronouncement that makes the journalist realise he doesn't have too long left to live, and a discovery by the girl on creating "Proxies" or virtual characters based on real peoples' mental processes. Can she make a Proxy of the man to guide his son as he grows up? And does something... more not completely human but is made from one have rights? Is it ethically right to do so? Thought-provoking science fiction - what's not to love?!
review 2: I haven't read tons of Egan's work yet, but it seems that as he goes on he's losing his interest in being ultra-hard sf, and that might not be a bad thing. I found the relationship of Martin and his son was quite touching, and his characters in this book were believable in a realistic setting — no small feat for this author, who often struggles with the storytelling in the face of his big ideas. While this work lacked the intense scientific rigor scene in some of his other books, it was a more compelling story, and it still presented motivating speculative ideas on the role of technology in our lives, on immortality, and on creation of another life. None of these questions are new ones, but Zendegi, between the near-future Iranian political backdrop and the ancient Iranian fairy tales, does present them in a novel light. For all its good points, though, the book didn't wow me. There was definitely something that fell a little flat in the pacing. Still a good read, though. Just not his best. less

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