Diaspora

By Greg Egan,

Book cover of Diaspora

Book description

A quantum Brave New World from the boldest and most wildly speculative writer of his generation. "Greg Egan is perhaps the most important SF writer in the world."-Science Fiction Weekly "One of the very best "-Locus. "Science fiction with an emphasis on science."-New York Times Book Review

Since the Introdus…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

3 authors picked Diaspora as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In the 1990s, I stopped reading science fiction to focus on more “serious” writing. In 2008, someone recommended this book to me, and my appreciation of science fiction changed forever.

In Diaspora, science fiction is an exploration of the deepest existential questions we can face: In a post-scarcity world, where people can duplicate themselves, back themselves up, and radically alter their personalities and values at will, what can and should we want?

Egan guides us through a diverse landscape of possibilities, from biologically enhanced apes to AI systems that derive immense joy from proving mathematical theorems to creators of multidimensional…

I loved this book for its wild story. It has three main sections, and each of them has its own delight. It covers so many transhuman topics. From orphanogensis, the creation of a new mind in a digital world, to multiple nested universes, each section amazed me.

Not as mindbending as the others, in the sense of not being able to trust your own data, this book scratched the itch I had after The Three-Body Problem. Virtual Realities, interstellar topics, the future of man, and the possibilities for which consciousness expands into the universe and those who do not…

One of the most mind-expanding books I've ever read – taking place on a greater-than-cosmic scale, exploring the possibilities for life as software.

If you want to understand how weird the future could be, I’ve found Greg Egan’s work to be the best, and this is my favourite of his books. Just be warned, it’s heavy going–so also consider Permutation City or Quarantine as starting points.

Want books like Diaspora?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 90 books like Diaspora.

Browse books like Diaspora

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in steampunk, grimdark, and London?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about steampunk, grimdark, and London.

Steampunk Explore 92 books about steampunk
Grimdark Explore 17 books about grimdark
London Explore 787 books about London