Books where a giant membrane surrounds the earth hiding the stars & leads to space/time freakiness

[jack]

Spin

An interesting one-off; read once. It's hard to discuss many of the ideas without spoiling it, but as mentioned, a giant membrane surrounds the earth; this is intensively studied and then exploited. The characters are not classic but are interesting.

Greg Egan: Quarantine

Q. Why did I read it?
A. Greg Egan!

Q. Where acquired?
A. Second hand via amazon. It's strange that a book about quantum mechanics is old :)

Q. Basic premise?
A. The observer effect in quantum mechanics is due to a specific and manipulatable neurological configuration. (Unsurprisingly this leads to interesting and mind-blowing philosophical consequences.)

Q. Characters (and plot)?
A. Some. Not especially unique, but interesting to read about; on a par with the short stories or permutation city, rather than the rather interchangeable non-characters of diaspora.

Q. Also?
A. An Egan that reminds me most of near-future Stross or Vinge, with nanotech and neurological implants in normal street scenes.

Comments

[alextfish.livejournal.com]

I read Quarantine, ages ago (like 12 years ago at least). I really enjoyed the in-brain technology, and the quantum mechanics / philosophy. I've recently read a review saying the characters were forgettable, which seems true, as I can't remember any of them* :-)

*: Apart from the really evil [SPOILERCENSORED] at the end.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

:)

I don't think the main character had many defining characteristics other than those described in the plot, which would be a litmus test for being a character; but on the other hand, those were interesting, I did care about him as I was reading, rather than seeing him solely as a mobile viewpoint :)