Quarantine
by Greg Egan · first published 1992
73% recommend27% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Hard SF detective story that starts as a mystery and spirals into quantum mechanics, consciousness and neural mods. Suits readers who like idea-driven fiction that blends computer science and philosophy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In 2034, the stars went out. An unknown agency surrounded the solar system with an impenetrable barrier, concealing the universe from humanity’s gaze. In 2067, Nick Stavrianos is hired to investigate the disappearance of a mentally disabled woman, Laura Andrews, from the institution where she was being cared for. Aided by a skull full of neural modifications, he follows her trail to the Republic of New Hong Kong, where an organisation known as the Ensemble has uncovered Laura’s extraordinary secret: an ability that could transform the world.
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Quarantine by Greg Egan: https://www.gregegan.net/QUARANTINE/Quarantine.html Upon re-reading your question, I don't think this recommendation exactly fits, but, damn, it's a good book anyway and Neal Stephenson…
on “The Realism of Our Times: Kim Stanley Robinson on how science fiction works” ↗If you enjoyed that you might like the novel Quarantine by Greg Egan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarantine_%28Greg_Egan_novel%2...
on “"The worst algorithm in the world?"” ↗I'm a fan of Greg Egan (which is on there). Quarantine and Permutation City are really great books. Schildt's Ladder was good but a bit too hard for me to grok.
on “The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)” ↗…the way it comings CS, philosophy, and writing that isn't stilted like a lot of the stuff you find in this realm. If you haven't already, then don't wait to buy the rest of Greg Egan's œuvre. It was "Quarantine", a lovely plot but arguably one of his weakest stories, that got me into his work, and since then I've found no-one except possibly Ted Chiang (whose work is very different) who comes anywhere near him…
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite HN post?” ↗…Sky, The Peace War, Marooned in Realtime. All great novels, but start from A Fire Upon the Deep (I read that in 2008) if you haven't read Vinge before, it's the best introduction. Greg Egan, Diaspora, Quarantine, Distress. Egan is the best hardcore SF author out there. _Diaspora_ is a fascinating take on shared simulated reality that's very different from the usual fare. Quarantine will appeal to your inner quantum…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗I recently read my first Greg Egan and enjoyed it (Quarantine). Got any recommendations for specifically the ones he put good math into?
on “Mathematicians are chronically lost and confused (2014)” ↗…individuals would choose willingly. I suspect if focus was available as a medical procedure there are people who would choose it - not something that you would be able to regret. Edit: Greg Egan's excellent Quarantine also has the protagonist using "neural mods" to prime him into a state where he was a more effective policeman - but at least they could be turned on/off rather than being semi-permanent like focus.
on “Being ‘Indistractable’” ↗Vernor Vinge: True Names (short story), A Deepness in the Sky, Rainbow's End Greg Egan: Permutation City, Quarantine (More programmer's fiction than startup fiction.)
on “Ask HN: Recommend any good business/hacker fiction?” ↗Egan's Quarantine had me checking out dozens of books about Quantum Mechanics while I was in High School. Love Egan's work, even if I had quite a bit of trouble with Diaspora (I probably just need to give the audiobook…
on “Second Gravitational Wave Detected at LIGO” ↗For me, several books by Greg Egan fall into this category. Permutation City, Diaspora, Quarantine, and Schild's Ladder have all... changed me. I was a different person before and after I had read those books, and now I categorise all works of fiction into those that forever alter my way of thinking…
on “Ask HN: What are some deep, mentality changing books?” ↗Greg Egan's an impressively good author even though he's writing about the kinds of sci-fi setups that usually come hand-in-hand with bad dialogue and poor characters. I actually think Quarantine is my favorite of his that I've read so far, though the sci-fi parts are less strong than Permutation City, some of it's philosophical aspects about identity feel like they're more immediately relevant.…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗Greg Egan wrote a novel called Quarantine (which I liked quite a bit) that introduced New Hong Kong, a mega city built in Australia ahead of the British return of Hong Kong.
on “Hong Kong mourns the end of its way of life” ↗I liked Quarantine. The only Egan novel I thought a complete waste of time was Teranesia. But I'd recommend one of the three I listed first to see if he's for you.
on “SF author Greg Egan reviews Avatar” ↗As well as adding my own strong recommedatios for Egan's "Permutation City" and "Diaspora" I would also recommend "Quarantine" - which has a rather splendid idea for mobile apps - "neural mods" that actually augment the brains own congnitive capabilities (including augmenting sensory data for the ultimate in VR). And there…
on “Meet the algorithm that can learn “everything about anything”” ↗Quarantine it's a full novel. I feel like minded and the Egan books hit upon so many of the things I dream about. This author along with William Gibson and Neal Stephenson really resonate with a lot of the cutting…
on “Worldbuilding” ↗