Generally I don't read hard sci-fi. While I appreciate that many of the ideas that take place within the more rigidly scientific framework are extremely clever, I am much more of a fan of novels that have believable and entertaining characters and stories, regardless of how scientifically accurate the world is. I find that a good story can make fantastical science completely acceptable, and as I read for fun, I feel justified in this opinion. Generally, what I read is space opera or at least 'soft' sci-fi, somewhere between the hard-science and story-based adventure.
Diaspora is the exception that proves the rule. It is an absolutely exceptional work of science fiction, that develops and explores incredibly complicated scientific ideas while remaining rooted around characters (albeit AI characters) that are very relate-able and likeable. This story uses complex ideas, but remains a story. In that, I feel, it is quite lonely in the hard sci-fi field, but it is a wonderful and shining example of what happens when someone does it right.
The world of Diaspora is set in the far future. People found a way to make themselves into sentient, practically immortal software by means of the 'Introdus' software. After this, they split into fleshers, remaining in human form, Gleisner robots (sentient software in hardware bodies), and the polises: supercomputer homes for the sentient software. Yatima is an 'orphan': a piece of sentient software created by the polis mind without input from any of the other intelligent software. The story describes the process of the orphan's growth through 'childhood' and 'adolescence', and then it shows what choices Yatima takes along vis path.
Through Yatima, we discover the world of the polises, fleshers and gleisners. It's an incredibly rich world, which has obviously had a great deal of thought put into it. When disaster strikes, Yatima's choices leave us in the centre of the worst of the storm, watching the devastation surround him. And then we follow Yatima as he leaves his birth-polis for a polis that is bound for the stars, in its diaspora, hunting for a world where such a disaster will never strike again.
In terms of story, I cannot fault Greg Egan for his imagination. His descriptions of the way his AIs are born is sublime, and incredibly realistic. It drew me in from the very beginning and I was hooked as Yatima grew up and discovered the world, even as I did. Later, Egan's descriptions of his more 'out-there' scientific ideas are clear, and almost comprehensible... he invents a science that feels like a logical extension of our own. Throughout the book, Egan describes the indescribable, making it almost possible for us to view the world in 5-dimensions, and to understand the complex physics that drives his world forward.
Where I would fault diaspora is that in trying to explore a head-full of ideas, Egan seems to split the book a little too much into separate stories. There is Yatima's growth, then there is the discovery of the disaster, then there are three stages of the diaspora. Perhaps it was because I read this book over a very long period of time (unfortunately being too busy to read much, this last month), but there was a certain amount of disconnectedness between the plots, especially as the central part of the novel seems to drift away from Yatima somewhat. The plot centralises around equally brilliant characters, but my familiarity with Yatima made me want to follow the developments more through ver eyes.
Finally, the ending seemed a little rushed, and a little too keen to wrap up all the remaining loose ends. It's as if Greg Egan was approaching a word limit, and had a certain amount to say before he got there. However, this is a common fault in many books, and it did not detract at all from my enjoyment of the rest of the book, or indeed of the ending itself.
I would recommend Diaspora to all devoted science fiction fans. It is brilliantly written, and even in its more self-indulgent scientific moments, the writing style has clarity and comprehensibility at its heart. Even if you cannot begin to fathom the ideas (and I think we're not really supposed to), then the story behind Diaspora is wonderful, and brings to life the superb hard sci-fi ideas that live within it.
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