Books › Permutation City
Permutation City
435 pages
A dizzying plunge into the deep end of hard science fiction that will leave you questioning the fundamental nature of your own consciousness.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like assembling a puzzle where the pieces constantly rewrite their own physical laws. It is a deeply cerebral, uncompromisingly dense experience that demands your full intellectual attention, rewarding you with concepts so massive they induce a kind of existential vertigo. The narrative moves at a steady, deliberate pace, building a dread-laced atmosphere as it explores the terrifying, lonely implications of digital immortality and simulated realities. The prose is analytical and precise, functioning less as poetry and more as a rigorous delivery system for mind-bending philosophical thought experiments. It is the perfect read for hard sci-fi devotees who want to be intellectually challenged and left staring blankly at the wall, grappling with the terrifying vastness of subjective reality.
- Mood
- cerebral
- existential
- mind-bending
- dread-laced
- Tone
- analytical
- visionary
- philosophical
- uncompromising
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- nature of consciousness · burden of immortality · subjective reality · transhumanism · existential isolation
- The writing
- Dense, highly technical, and uncompromisingly analytical, prioritizing complex conceptual clarity over lyrical flourish.
- The arc
- Begins with gritty, desperate struggles for digital survival and expands into a dizzying, awe-inspiring confrontation with the infinite nature of reality.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave rigorous, mind-expanding hard sci-fi that treats philosophical thought experiments and theoretical physics as the ultimate source of wonder.
Content notes
- existential dread
- suicide
- terminal illness
- psychological distress
About the book
Immortality can be yours... at a price
Permutation city is the tale of a man with a vision - how to create immortality - and how that vision becomes grows beyond his control. Encompassing the lives and struggles of an artificial life junkie desperate to save her dying mother, a billionaire banker scarred by a terrible crime, the lovers for whom, in their timeless virtual world, love is not enough - and much more - Permutation city is filled with the sense of wonder and dread.
Can what makes you human be distilled into data? And what happens if you can't afford to pay?
Description from Open Library.
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