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Greg Egan
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Luminous Hardcover – 21 Sept. 1998

by Greg Egan (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 264 ratings
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LUMINOUS collects together one original story plus nine previously unpublished in book form. Greg Egan is a master of the genre and his short fiction is at the cutting edge of the genre. His stories range from near future predictions to far future, far space improvisations. His grasp of the latest scientific breakthroughs is unparalleled in science fiction. The stories include 'Transition Dreams', 'Cocoon', 'Our Lady of Chernobyl', the title story 'Luminous' and the as yet unpublished 'The Planck Drive'. Egan's particular interests range from the farther shores of chaos theory and black hole science to bio-technology and cloning.
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  1. Print length
    295 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Gollancz
  4. Publication date
    21 Sept. 1998
  5. Dimensions
    14.7 x 3.2 x 22.4 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    1857985516
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1857985511
  8. See all details
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Product description

Book Description

A collection of stories from the author acclaimed as one of the greatest ideas men in contemporary science fiction

About the Author

Born in Perth in 1961, Greg Egan works as a fixed-contract computer programmer in Perth, which allows him space in between jobs to write. His short stories regularly appear in Interzone and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and according to Gardner Dozois, he is `in the running for the title of "Hottest New Writer" of the '90s'.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gollancz; First Edition (21 Sept. 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 295 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1857985516
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1857985511
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.7 x 3.2 x 22.4 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 264 ratings

About the author

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Greg Egan

Greg Egan

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Greg Egan lives in Perth, Western Australia. He has won the Hugo Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and the Japanese Seiun Award for best translated fiction.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
264 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Jboogs
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stories about the mind
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 April 2021
    Verified Purchase
    The stories are original and challenging. Lots of good ideas about consciousness and thought. Really enjoyed highly recommended.
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  • Graham
    4.0 out of 5 stars ok
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2014
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    Ok .. Short stories .. Quite good .. Worth a read if u r a fan so give it a go
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  • Christopher Hubert
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 May 2018
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    It's Greg Egan.
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  • Will
    3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 May 2015
    Verified Purchase
    It is good, just not quite as good as Axiomatic
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  • Mr. P. M. Hodges
    4.0 out of 5 stars Sci fi for the 21st century.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 June 2009
    Not being a big science fiction fan I was suprised how much I enjoyed this collection of short stories.The author is obviously a very intelligent and knowlegeble guy where cutting edge science is concerned.Although some of the science bits went way above my head (paticurlary the 'Luminous' story which deals with some very complex math theory) underneath all the science jargon are some very intresting studies of the human conditon such as what really is happiness in the story 'Reasons to be cheerful'.The stories are not bogged down with the usual sci-fi cliches which tend to put me off this genre and in the main are very inventive and intresting.Most of the stories really made me think and ponder on what some of the issues of the future might be.All in all even if you don't usually enjoy Sci-fi but do enjoy stories which get your brain going give this great book a try.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Some User
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must be the best short stories book ever
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2012
    I first read this book ten years ago and I keep coming back to it. The plots are very good and it's obvious the writer has a scientific background and he's trying to go 'ahead of time' and predict what scientist will be up to in the next 20 years. Also, the characters are very developed which is so rare in short stories. I especially like "Reasons to be cheerful", the happiness recipe (choice and chemicals...).
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  • numpty
    5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out for those other plot spoiler reviews!!!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 January 2010
    I'm so glad I didn't read any reviews before the books, as many give the plot away!

    Egan's work is Science-Fiction of the highest order. I give him the edge over Brian Aldis (my other favorite), as the concepts are heavier and the plots driven by unadulterated science at a blistering pace from start to finish.

    His breadth of vision is astounding; always extrapolating to the n'th degree. Though I sometimes struggle to keep up, I am always rewarded with a sense of awe, discovery and achievement. Each book is a Grand Odyssey.

    This is my generic review for everything he's published. I've read them all and rate every one 5*
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  • zargb5
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the modern greats of SF
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 August 2009
    I read a lot of SF in my younger days from Asimov, Clarke and Niven through to Greg Bear, Ballard and Phil Dick. I kind of lost touch with reading and SF for many years but eventually picked up a Greg Egan novel to try and play catch up with the genre.

    Egan is a very good writer encompassing virtual reality, biotech, hard science and humanism amongst many other things too numerous to mention.

    An excellent writer and craftsman. I should have been reading this guy years ago. I went out and bought all his books and am wending my way through them. Highly recommended and very thought provoking body of work.
    One person found this helpful
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  • guitar geek
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stories that will blow your mind.
    Reviewed in the United States on 9 December 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Some stories are better than others, but I love this book. Mr. Egan consistently probes strange corners of reality and the human experience, finds things most of us would NEVER think of, and wraps them up in compelling characters and story lines. I am re-reading it now a story at a time between other readings because most stories can percolate around in my brain for several days as I process the brilliant and bizarre ideas. Some of this author's works can get a bit "tweaky". (I had to review the mathematics of hyperbolic spaces to understand one of his books.) ...but this one is "easy", and yet still completely mind blowing. If you want a fun read that will stretch your mind, then read this book.
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  • Romur
    4.0 out of 5 stars Libre-arbitre et Biotech
    Reviewed in France on 12 October 2010
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    Encore un passionnant recueil de Greg Egan, cette fois-ci essentiellement sous le signe des biotechnologies (Chaff, Mister Volition, Cocoon, Silver Fire, Reasons to be cheerful). Les amateurs de physique devront se contenter de Mitochondrial Eve et de The Planck Dive (très dur à suivre si on n'a pas de solides bases de relativité générale). Pour ceux qui aiment les maths ils se contenteront du génial Luminous.
    Sur le fond plusieurs nouvelles sont centrées sur la quête de l'identité et le contrôle de la volonté (Chaff, Mister Volition, Reasons to be cheerful) qui sont avec la dématérialisation de la conscience (le cerveau est remplacé par un programme, un micro-processeur) un des thèmes favoris de G. Egan (voir ma critique de son recueil Axiomatic). Dans cette vision mécaniste de l'esprit y a-t-il une place pour le libre-arbitre ? Qui suis-je si je suis libre de me modifier ?
    Comme toujours : je déconseille aux non-scientifiques, mais ceux qui ont une bonne culture générale et un brin de curiosité philosophique se feront plaisir !
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic tales, but...
    Reviewed in the United States on 2 March 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Sadly, I was spoiled by "Axiomatic", which - to echo many others - contains a collection of superior stories.

    Which isn't to say the tales contained in "Luminous" are poor. They are great in their own right and are worth the read. It's just that they don't resonate with me as much as those in "Axiomatic" did.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply entertaining
    Reviewed in the United States on 7 February 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I started with Axiomatic and almost immediately purchased this next volume. Egan's concepts and worlds are impressively imagined and provide a delicious sense of discovery as they gradually unfold. While the science/mathematics gets pretty technical, there's plenty of wit (I laughed out loud at a certain part in Mitochondrial Eve), psychological insight and narrative momentum to keep the reader engrossed. If you like Ted Chiang, you would probably enjoy Greg Egan.
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  • Amazon Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Basically, buy "Axiomatic" first
    Reviewed in the United States on 21 November 2015
    Verified Purchase
    To be uncharitable, you'd say this is the slower, more boring version of Axiomatic. I urge everyone to immediately buy Axiomatic. It's as good as you've heard: you'll love it, with a few reservations.

    Luminous -- I assume it was the earlier collection from the author -- you have to say is just well more boring. There's a couple of great stories, but unfortunately a few you'll just flick through.

    Don't worry - you'll get that hit of "Incredibly ingenious Greg Egan ideas". For sure. But just, it's reasonable to say a number of the stories in here are just plain boring, you'll just flick through those.

    That being said, since all other sci-fi at the moment is basically rubbish .. thank goodness for Greg Egan. Enjoy!
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