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Greg Egan
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Schild's Ladder: A Novel Paperback – January 1, 2004

by Greg Egan (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 642 ratings
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Twenty thousand years into the future, an experiment in quantum physics has had a catastrophic result, creating an enormous, rapidly expanding vacuum that devours everything it comes in contact with.

Now humans must confront this deadly expansion. Tchicaya, aboard a starship trawling the border of the vacuum, has allied himself with the Yielders -- those determined to study the vacuum while allowing it to grow unchecked. But when his fiery first love, Mariama, reenters his life on the side of the Preservationists -- those working to halt and destroy the vacuum -- Tchicaya finds himself struggling with an inner turmoil he has known since childhood.

However, in the center of the vacuum, something is developing that neither Tchicaya and the Yielders nor Mariama and the Preservationists could ever have imagined possible: life.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Eos
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.79 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    006107344X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0061073441
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Eos (January 1, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 006107344X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061073441
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.79 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 642 ratings

About the author

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Greg Egan

Greg Egan

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Greg Egan lives in Perth, Western Australia. He has won the Hugo Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and the Japanese Seiun Award for best translated fiction.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
642 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Edward Varty
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best sci-fi books ever
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2023
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One of the best hard sci-fi books ever written. Great take on a metastable vacuum collapse scenario. Big fan of the parallel transport metaphor as well.
One person found this helpful
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Brian W. King
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent read, worth the time
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2019
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It was another good read by Mr. Egan. I always look forward to getting engrossed in his stories and seeing physics and science from an unexpected perspective. Although I wouldn’t call it his best work, it is still well worth the time.

The only downside to the book is that it ends just when you want to know what is goi g to happen after all of that. There are a few unrelated things that seem to go on but they added to to the story if not necessarily supporting the plot.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Greg Egan Does It Again.
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2019
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This book is great, if you like physics and science fiction, you really can't go wrong here. It's a cerebral, but emotional dive into a concept that doesn't get much time in fiction (I won't go further for fear of spoilers) and I found the imagery compelling. As always with Greg Egan, the science is exciting and thought-provoking.

I originally got into this author through one of his short stories, 'The Planck Dive', which was a great read. After that I just snagged all of his book here on Amazon, and I haven't regretted it. If the phrase, "Hard Sci-Fi" makes you smile, what are you waiting for? Buy this book.
3 people found this helpful
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gamer
3.0 out of 5 stars Yeah, it's very technical, but so what?
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2013
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Greg Egan may be a good mathematician and physicist, but he is a noticeably poor writer. Scientific accomplishment and writing ability do not seem to go together. Science fiction seems to be written by Scientist first, Author second. Or worse, Author first, discovery channel knowledge of the universe second. It really is too bad that someone who is a good writer couldn't partner with an accomplished, creative scientist. I imagine their egos would prevent it, though.

I got the book primarily because reviewers said that its concepts were esoteric and difficult, and the author didn't simplify complex physics to the point where science fiction and fantasy become the same genre. It is a must for me for a science fiction author to have a comprehensive grasp of their subject matter as well as a reasonable understanding of all scientific fields. Then, this author must have a story to tell and be bounded by scientific realities. The science should not drive the story, but should enhance and enrich it.

Greg Egan's book seemed very gimicky to me. He pushes all boundaries of science. For example, going 99.9999 percent the speed of light, so people must travel for centuries and become immortal. Quantum computers record people's minds every fraction of a second so no one dies. People are still biological, but can instruct their bodies to change sex. These things don't just add to the story, I think they are the story. I found it depressing and dystopic because it was just so egotistic and pointless and I didn't really find much enjoyable about it.

That may have been a conscious point, I haven't read other books by Egan. The plot involves creating a bubble universe, so the theme is that the entire universe is known, no alien life has been found apart from microbes, humanity is eternal and decadent, and the thrill of a possible apocalypse is weighed against a billion years of the same 'ol. The nature of the apocalypse, versus the sterility of egan's universe does seem to be a motif, but the journey the author has us take was tedious. The wondrous and the mundane became the same thing. Again, I don't know if this is unique to Schild's ladder or just Egan's unique writing style.

It is so hard to find good science fiction, so I may read another Greg Egan novel and hope that the flaws were really just motifs.

For me, the science wasn't overly daunting, but the reader should know some modern physics, such as what a special unitary group means. Other than the geek appeal of the math and physics, I don't know if Schild's ladder is an interesting enough concept for this to be worth your time.
2 people found this helpful
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David Baker
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but only for specialists
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2005
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Not great literature in the classic sense, but there's a lot of intriguing speculation here. The would-be reader should be warned, though: you will not fully appreciate this book unless you've made significant progress toward a degree in physics or a related field! (You could also get away with just reading a lot of pop science, provided you've read enough to be familiar with ideas like decoherence and superselection.) This truly is the hardest SF I've read.

Unlike a lot of hard SF, the characterization is actually more than perfunctory (at least in the main character's case), and the basic idea is very deep. The issues treated in this novel show a lot of philosophical as well as scientific depth. The story is not very gripping, since the future humans don't really face any life-or-death struggles, but I found myself interested enough to finish the book quickly. Recommended only for those with sufficient background.
21 people found this helpful
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reviewer271
5.0 out of 5 stars Scifi Enjoyment!!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2023
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I loved this book: an expanding new QM vacuum threatens the universe! Hard science, human behavior, complex characters, & unavoidable change when lives come full circle are explored! Reading this parallel transported me to new layers of scifi enjoyment!
One person found this helpful
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AmazonCustomer
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Science-Nerd books ever written
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2015
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I am giving this 5 stars conditionally...this book is for deep thinking science people only. This is not Star Wars or even Dune. To really get it all you're probably going to need to be a physics professional of some kind. I am a layman who is really into this stuff (watch the shows, read the media) and I only understood about 70% or 80% of what was going on. This book is about the science...the character stories are mildly interesting but the characters are not deep...they are mostly used as a platform to explain life in the future. I did not find myself caring about the characters that much.

That being said, it was a great book. Lots of mind-melting stuff. The centerpiece of the story is a vacuum metastability event that was triggered unintentionally. But a lot of the book is about describing life in the far future (think 20,000 years+). Human sexuality and identity has become almost alien. People can casually backup copies of their consciousness at will and re-organize their physical bodies on a whim (so everyone is more or less immortal...I think this is a big part of why I didn't care about the characters).

If you feel you are pretty familiar with physics, this book will probably be enjoyable, as it explores a lot of stuff you will not find in other science fiction.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Bernard A
5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply speculative cosmological mathematics
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2023
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It's a great story but it really needs readers who are willing to work to "understand". I enjoyed it even though my university mathematics was a long time ago, so it's not necessary to have a background in physics.
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Lorne McDougall
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but complex you must be focused.
Reviewed in Canada on August 9, 2019
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Very technical. Interesting idea but it’s complex read.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars Schwere aber gute Kost
Reviewed in Germany on January 10, 2018
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Mein Lieblingsbuch. Zugegebenermaßen nichts für jeden, das Greg Egan traditionell eher harte Science Fiction schreibt, aber das Setting und die Handlung ist genial, wenn die Charaktere auch etwas flach sind.
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Michael C
2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as I had hoped
Reviewed in Japan on November 28, 2021
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While it has been touted as the hardest of hard science fiction, which I am not sure about, the story was poor.

I did research the theories mentioned and understood them but some of the extrapolations made may or may not have been accurate so I am not sure how true it could be the hardest sci fi. Even the author admits he may have made mistakes, etc.

That does not matter though as the story was quite a disappointment. The main character was pathetic to the point that I did not care about him. Wishy washy and indecisive.

It seemed like some of the paragraphs were just words that did not add to the story. Some may consider it world-building but when it doesn't add to the story or tell more about the characters, it really is pointless.

The ending was anti-climactic and a huge disappointment.

I'd say save your money for a better story in a different book. Maybe buy this if it drops to 99¥ or cheaper.
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FeydRautha
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinant, génial, illisible.
Reviewed in France on March 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
Schild's Ladder fait partie des romans de Greg Egan qui n'ont pas encore été traduits en Français. Soit que le travail de traduction est complexe, soit qu'aucun éditeur n'a à ce jour pris le risque de publier ce livre, dans les deux cas les réserves sont justifiées.

C'est un livre que j'ai adoré, mais que je ne peux pas recommander. Sauf sous conditions. Greg Egan est connu pour écrire des livres de Hard-Science Fiction assez ardus, si bien qu'on aime à écrire qu'il faut au moins un doctorat en science pour le lire. Sauf que dans le cas de Schild's Ladder, cette gentille hyperbole est une méchante litote. Pour appréhender Schild's Ladder, il faut un doctorat en physique, et ne pas avoir ensuite décroché. Il faut connaître la théorie de la gravitation quantique à boucles version Carlo Rovelli et Lee Smolin, il faut savoir ce qu'est la décohérence quantique de Heinz-Dieter Zeh, savoir ce qu'est un vecteur d'état, un espace de Hilbert, la géométrie différentielle et la métrique riemanienne, l'invariance de Lorentz....Et il est impossible de s'en passer car c'est le sujet même du roman. Si vous ne maîtrisez pas ces connaissances, le livre sera insupportable à lire et vous n'arriverez pas au bout des 40 premières pages. Schild's Ladder s'adresse à un lectorat très ciblé et assez restreint. Si vous faites partie de ce lectorat, alors Schild's Ladder est un roman fascinant, un tour de force surprenant et un des ouvrages de Greg Egan les plus poussés.

Le roman débute vingt mille ans dans le futur. L'humanité est largement dispersée dans la galaxie, transhumanisée, voire pour certains totalement acorporée, et n'a plus vraiment de contact avec la mort, sauf de manière locale et jamais vraiment définitive. Depuis vingt mille ans, l'état des connaissances en physique n'a pas beaucoup évolué, et toute la compréhension de l’univers repose sur une théorie dite des graphes quantiques (dérivée de la gravitation quantique à boucles). Jusqu'à ce que quelques chercheurs dans un coin isolé de l'espace habité tentent une expérience pour tester les limites de la théorie. (Il s'agit en gros de vérifier qu'il n'existe qu'un vecteur d'état du vide). L'expérience tourne très mal, et déclenche une réaction en chaîne en mettant à jour une superposition d'états quantiques plus stables que le vide. Une immense explosion s'en suit, dont le front se déplace à la moitié de la vitesse de la lumière et engloutit sur son passage étoiles et planètes. Les populations humaines se voient contraintes à l'évacuation forcée des mondes les plus proches. Six cent ans plus tard, une autre équipe de scientifiques s'atèle à comprendre le phénomène en réalisant des expériences en bordure de front pour tenter de comprendre les lois physiques nouvelles. Rapidement, deux factions antagonistes se forment. Les Yielders souhaitent pouvoir étudier le plus possible le phénomène, et le comprendre, voire le maîtriser. Les Preservationists veulent le détruire. D'un côté et de l'autre, Tchicaya et son amour d'enfance Mariama vont s'affronter intellectuellement et scientifiquement. Greg Egan utilise des flash backs pour construire les personnalités et relier les décisions de chacun à des événements passés. Puis, un jour, une expérience lève un peu le voile et révèle que l'autre côté de la frontière est emplie de vie. Le vide n'est que dans notre univers...Tout le génie d'Egan va être d'imager un monde dans lequel les lois physiques sont radicalement différentes, et où plus aucune interprétation classique n'a de sens.

Dans Schild's Ladder, l'intrigue avance à travers les discussions entre les différents personnages, ou les séminaires scientifiques à bord de la station. Les actions se résument à des expériences de décohérence quantique à base d'impulsions de particules. Rien que cela détournera sans doute nombres de lecteurs, en plus de la complexité du propos à base de tenseurs de densité et de vecteurs d'états. Comme à l'accoutumé, le style d'Egan est aride et sans effet. Lorsqu'Egan construit une révélation, il lâche l'information cruciale au détour d'une phrase, lorsqu'il estime que vous devez avoir déjà compris le twist par vous même, sans faire de rond de jambe. Il n'y a pas de cliff hanger chez Egan. Et comme d'habitude, la fin est abrupte.

En conclusion, c'est un roman fascinant, génial et illisible.
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