>>5
Hey! Don't slander the 'Gan! I liked "Permutation City", from what I recall of it ... the issue of discreteness in computation and how it doesn't matter for computed consciousness; the issue of how to handle spending your time unto eternity; all that construction of a 6-dimensional computing matrix, which was supposed to self-perpetuate; the simulation of a designed world and lifeforms on it, which eventually "took over" the 6D matrix; etc. Heck, now I want to read that AGAIN (or, "egan"?).
Overall, however, I found "Diaspora" a lot better. The entire first chapter goes into how the 'Gan imagined how a computational mind would be "born". That part alone made it fascinating to read. Then he got into the
really geeky stuff, like colliding neutron stars, a linear accelerator 3 times the length of the diameter of Pluto's orbit, the destruction of Earth's biosphere, femtomachines, a 5D world, and traveling from universe to universe by slipping through wormholes that pierce their branes. GOOD STUFF!
Fair warning, though: The end of the novel is a real downer. Talk about
major ennui. Brr! It makes you want to start hugging people just to cope.