Schild's ladder
When the laws of physics are suddenly called into question, a whole new potential for life and death is brought to the entire universe. For twenty thousand years, every phenomenon that has ever been observed in the universe has been explainable through the means of the Sarumpaet Rules. These rules are the essential laws of quantum graphs that explain the makeup of the geometric structure of space-time. Cass, a humanoid physicist from Earth, discovers that the Sarumpaet Rules may not be the only applicable set of the laws of physics in the universe. Cass travels to a remote experimental facility in hopes to test her theory—that the “novo-vacuum” will begin to decay the moment it is created. Cass’s theory proves greater than she’d anticipated, and the “novo-vacuum” begins to expand out from the research facility at half the speed of light. More than six hundred years pass, and at least two thousand inhabited systems have been consumed by the “novo-vacuum.” Those fascinated by the phenomenon choose to study it under two differing categories: Preservationists and Yielders. Preservationists are forever hypothesizing on how to destroy the vacuum; Yielders believe it holds a purpose in reinvigorating civilization. Tchicaya is a Yielder and Mariama is a Preservationist. These childhood friends will put their beliefs and their history to the test when violence breaks out among the two groups.
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2010–2026years
66% recommend32% neutral1% critical
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What Hacker News says
- See "Schild's Ladder" by Greg Egan: a science experiment creates a bubble of new physics expanding at 0.5 c, and humanity is forced to flee the expansion while some stay right next to the expanding boundary to investigate the inside.
- Schild's ladder by Greg Egan is a pretty good novel for this. You have groups of people vying to collapse and try to coexist with a new but threatening form of nature, and I think both are treated as reasonable actors.
- I also highly recommend _Distress_ as it continues some cosmology ideas from Permutation City.
There are also several novels which kind of similar to Diaspora: Schild's Ladder, Incandescence, and stories in the Incandescence universe: Ride a crocodile, Hot rock, Glory.
- Seconding this, Greg Egan is one of the best of all time.
The short stories "Luminous" and "Dark Integers", the novels "Diaspora" and "Schild's Ladder". So good.
qntm (another author) hits somewhat similarly.
- More specifically, in Permutation City mind uploading is in its infancy, while in Diaspora it's a run-of-the-mill tech.
I'll add Schild's Ladder to the recommendations.
- I've started reading Greg Egan recently after seeing his name appear in discussions on this site and it's been quite enjoyable. Read a few of his shorter works and recently finished Schild's Ladder, which is really excellent and beautiful. His technical descriptions can get pretty dry, but they're easily glossed over with no loss if you're not into them.
Anyway, thanks for the tip. I'll look up Permutation City next!
