Diaspora

By: Greg Egan

Narrated by: Adam Epstein

Behold the orphan. Born into a world that is not a world. A digital being grown from a mind seed, a genderless cybernetic citizen in a vast network of probes, satellites, and servers knitting the Solar System into one scape, from the outer planets to the fiery surface of the Sun. Since the Introdus in the 21st century, humanity has reconfigured itself drastically. Most chose immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software.

Others opted for gleisners: Disposable, renewable robotic bodies that remain in contact with the physical world of force and friction. Many of these have left the Solar System forever in fusion drive starships.

And there are the holdouts. The fleshers left behind in the muck and jungle of Earth - some devolved into dream-apes; others cavorting in the seas or the air; while the statics and bridges try to shape out a roughly human destiny.

But the complacency of the citizens is shattered when an unforeseen disaster ravages the fleshers, and reveals the possibility that the polises themselves might be at risk from bizarre astrophysical processes that seem to violate fundamental laws of nature. The Orphan joins a group of citizens and flesher refugees in a search for the knowledge that will guarantee their safety - a search that puts them on the trail of the ancient and elusive Transmuters, who have the power to reshape subatomic particles, and to cross into the macrocosmos, where the universe we know is nothing but a speck in the higher-dimensional vacuum.

©2013 Greg Egan (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Guess I'll just read the paper book

The reader's dialogue voice is whiny and grating. Almost ruined one of the best sci fi first chapters ever for me.

Half the story is about made up mathematics

And the narrator was very tough for me to engage with. Don't recommend this one.

Good deep SciFi

A good deep SciFi that explores themes of artificial intelligence, consciousness, and the nature of existing. The story follows a group of post-human entities known as "polises" who are not bound by traditional physical forms. They navigate the universe, evolving and adapting to new environments.
In a weird way The story reminded me of Piranesi except instead of ancient Greek themes we have math, yes, probably not everyone will be happy with that switch.
So it was unique and compelling in places, however, I didn’t really get invested in the characters or the plot all that much. But still a solid, interesting read.

Real SciFi!

If you have a physics background and like SciFi, this is a must read!

opens your mind to new areas of exploration

explores post singularity humanity presenting numerous interesting possibilities on ways of existing and the potential for life in other universes