Teranesia

by Greg Egan

Book Overview

Discover the mystery of the island of Teranesia, where peculiar biological evolution has created a world both beautiful and deadly. On the small uninhabited island of Teranesia, Prabir and his younger... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006105092X
• ISBN13: 9780061050923
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: HarperPrism
• Length: 295 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Solid writing, straightforward plotting

The best science fiction works on two levels. On the one hand, the setting and atmosphere create an alien world one visits, which becomes as familiar as our own. On the other hand, the plot discloses a story which works even if the sci fi trappings did not envelop the story. Terenesia works on both levels. Set in the near future, Terenesia explores an explosion of genetic diversity, seemingly overnight, in a remote area near Indonesia.The plot device through which the story is told arises from a brother and sister who grew up the children of the first researchers of the phenemenon, but who, for reasons best left to be discovered upon reading, revisit the island years later.The science here is solid-feeling, but the writing is so solid that the plausibility evidenced here is less a matter of deduction than of wonderful narrative. This book neither preaches nor "geeks" too much. It's simply a well-told tale, modern and yet alien, well worth the read.

They won't like it

Any of the grups of people who are drawn to buy SF for cleverness won't like this. It gets personal.Surprisingly behind the young survivors this book becomes scathing book at times, and yet a brutally simple story of hope. One of the few Australian writers with any gumption to talk about the attitudes here to immigration, he also tends to ruffle other feathers He knows so many out in literature land will refuse to recognise the truthof the dangerously obscure and mediocre doublespeak the intellectual world tries to implant into discussions of true importance in culture, simply to create boundaries within which their positions are secured from reality.A novel of ideas that after you finish this may seem to fly away, and perhaps are united in passion rather than regular form and not always concretely stitched, it fires off with great passion in a number of directions. As such it seems less like a book and more like memories in review. At times the main thrust seems merely hopeful in comparison with the involved issues and episodes.Some Egan fans will fell a slackening perhaps, but this and the sometimes disparate, episodic nature of the story emphasises the fractures of perceived reality pretty well. Whether we do experience our reality as this fractured is moot. What Egan posits is clearly, that we can.

A change of pace for Egan

Tiranesia was a significant change of pace from the previous works of Egan, which showcased dazzling speculations in physics, but only artificial intelligences as characters. Tiranesia is a strongly character-oriented book, about Prabir, who was raised by biologist parents on a distant tropical island in the ocean near Malasia. They are trying to solve a biological mystery-- why are the butterflies of Tiranesia evolving so rapidly?-- but Prabir is more interested in exploring his little island and playing with his baby sister. When war comes to the island, however, everything in Prabir's world changes. Don't be mistaken-- there *is* some science in the book, with a few lectures about biology, and some far-out speculation about quantum mechanics. But first and foremost, it is a character oriented story about Prabir, and how his experiences change his life and his viewpoint about the world.

Great writing from Egan

Teranesia has the most satisfying conclusion of any of Egan's novels yet. From a literary standpoint, his writing continues to improve. Here he sets himself some ambitious goals and achieves them with a lightness of touch that is refreshing. The novel is certainly one of his most readable. It is more accessible than, say, Diaspora or Distress, with a story that is moving, human, and revealing of the author's values.Egan continues his passionate advocacy of science as the one sincere path towards truth, and this was the only aspect that made me uncomfortable. He is persuasive when demonstrating the scientific method and its power, but like most passionate advocates, he loses some credibility when he sets out to discredit the competition. The novel's population comprises scientists and buffoons, and that's about it. A series of religious straw men are set up and demolished to demonstrate that no good thing can emerge from religion. He does the same to post-modernism but since I agree with him there, that was much less alienating! As a religious person who would not dismiss a scientific hypothesis just because it conflicted with my beliefs I might just scrape into Egan's DMZ as one of the very few who are deluded but honourable.Given what I have just said, it is a good thing that the story remains focussed on the scientists, and here there is depth of characterization. These are no stereotypes, but likeable, believable people, with plausibly messed up psychologies and mixed motives.A thoroughly enjoyable book, with enough left unsaid to inspire further speculation about the implications of his remarkable invention.

Hard Science + Good Characterization = Great Story

Make no mistake, this is a character driven novel. Some of Egan's fans have apparently been put off by this. Don't be. This is a hard SF book, through and through, and it goes a long way towards dispelling the myth that hard science in SF means shallow plotting and characterizations. The central biological mystery, in particular, has a very satisfying and imaginative resolution.Egan says that he'll be returning to dense physics in his next book, but that he's going to continue striving to make plot and character central elements of his works. I find this a refreshing attitude and wish him luck in doing so.