I typically hesitate before picking up one of Greg Egan's stories. At least of the ones I've read, there is often a coldness there - as if the story is a vehicle for Egan to work out his ideas and perhaps a problem he would like to solve. They're intellectually interesting, sometimes, but I bounce off of them. That was the case early on in Phoresis, but much to my surprise - the deeper I got into Phoresis, the more I enjoyed and appreciated it.

It's a story of twin frozen worlds, one of which has inhabitants eking out lives that to call hardscrabble might be too generous. It is on that world (the names don't really matter) that a plan is made to build a tower so high that people might jump from the top and land on the other world in order to colonize it and hope for a better / easier / more stable life. Something about Egan's storytelling is compelling, even if the central conceit of the tower is a bit absurd an unwieldy. The passion and tension of the tower and the crossing the gulf between worlds is the heart of Phoresis, so long as you don't think too deeply on it. Phoresis is a three part story and multi generational. Phoresis is increasingly compelling and engaging.

As my followers on Goodreads will already be aware, I have a love-hate relationship with Greg Egan's work; he's freaking brilliant, his worlds mathematically beautiful and strange, and his characters completely lack voice. I'm happy to report that in "Phoresis," certainly more than in last year's "Dichronauts," Egan manages to render characters which are accessible, even though appropriately weird. For those who, like me, struggle to access some of his more theoretical work, this novella is a refreshing glimpse into the experience of die-hard Egan fans; I actually *get* why they love him so much! And for those who are fans of his greater body of work, the only drawback here is that "Phoresis" is so short. It's complete, it's finished, and it doesn't technically require more—but those True Fans, they will always want it. And that's a good thing. Leave 'em hanging, Egan. Leave 'em hanging more often.

While I did like the story somewhat, I had to suspend a little too much disbelief to really like this book. Two planets close enough to each other than the people on them can build a mountain to reach the other world? Food on one planet cannot grow on the other but the native weeds are a perfectly acceptable food?

While not for me, some may enjoy this as a fairly quick read with a fairly decent story.

I so much wanted to like this book. The science fictional ideas, the way characters use mathematics and physics as valued parts of their lives, the challenges of how to preserve and advance science under difficult environmental conditions, even the fascinating reproductive biology...but it never fulfilled its promise. Characters know the inverse square law (reciting it just in case the reader's own education was faulty) but not the basics of psychology, sociology, communication studies, and other "soft" sciences. Group decisions are made in haphazard fashion, which struck me as unbelievable given the increasingly desperate living conditions. There seemed to be little romantic bonding or care for offspring. It was as if the author stuck in a novel system of reproduction without giving thought to how this would affect the entire social structure, from the emotional side of sexual relationships to the durability of families, responsibility for offspring, and so forth, many of which should have been crucial issues in a multi-generational plan to bridge the gap between the two worlds. All too often, the science took the form of long lectures that brought any action to a screeching halt.

That said, this is my own reaction, and I see from the reviews that other readers found the book accessible and inspiring. This may be a matter of taste, of what's important to each individual reader. So my verdict is, "Not My Cup of Tea, But Might Be Yours."

Ahoy there me mateys! I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .

phoresis (Greg Egan)
Title: phoresis
Author: Greg Egan
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Publication Date: TODAY!! (hardback/e-book)
ISBN: 978-1596068667
Source: NetGalley

The cover drew me in and three things convinced me to read this book:
1) Like Robert Silverberg, this was another Hugo winning author whose work I have never read;
2) It is a Subterranean Press book and they do great work; and
3) The story is driven by women characters facing a catastrophe.

What I didn't know before reading this was that the author is known for his hard science fiction. So while I loved the introduction to the story, I quickly became lost in the physics of the first section. I understood enough to know what Freya was trying to accomplish but not how it would work or how the "experiment" she set up convinced people. This section was from 11 to 30%. In this short work, it wasn't too onerous and I was intrigued enough to continue reading.

After that the story picked up pace, and I found it mostly fascinating. The science played a part but then there were fun things like tower building, gilders, and dealing with the challenges of living on a new planet.

The book has three parts and ye follow the women through multiple generations, which was cool. One of the awesome aspects was that the women were always looking at the larger long-term goals. Most projects were on a scale where many generations would pass before results could be determined. The women had to choose between starvation today or the potential possibility of survival of their descendants tomorrow. I enjoyed seeing why they chose to do things, the consequences of their choices, and how time changed perspectives.

The not so cool part was that many of the women felt very similar and interchangeable. I happened to like their take-charge personalities, intelligence, and determination. But perhaps it would have been nice to see other personality types. Or maybe those types were the only possibilities to guarantee survival.

Also the process of reproduction made me less than comfortable. That is where the phoresis title comes in. This biological phenomenon is when one organism transports another. In this book each woman carries three of her brothers inside of her. The brothers' emotions can influence the women's actions as all of them are dependent on each other for survival. The brothers are hardly intelligent and fight with each other for the right to breed. So far, fine with that. It posed some interesting problems in women taking life-risking challenges. It is the how of the breeding that was unappetizing. Basically the brothers emerge from the uterus and . . . um . . . merge with another women for fertilization. This only happened once in this book and was hazy in detail but me mind filled in the blanks.

Ultimately while I enjoyed the story overall and thought the writing style was excellent, this is not one I would re-read. I am also not sure I could read anything else by the author if the physics is like this in everything he writes.

This be the third read in me April BookBum Club Challenge! Much thanks to the BookBum Club for giving me the incentive to finally read this “short and sweet” book (168 pgs). Day three – challenge complete! Next up: i met a traveller in an antique land. Check out that review on Monday!

So lastly . . .
Thank you Subterranean Press!

Netgalley's website has this to say about the novel:

Welcome to Tvíbura and Tvíburi, the richly imagined twin planets that stand at the center of Greg Egan’s
extraordinary new novella, Phoresis.

These two planets—one inhabited, one not—exist in extreme proximity to one another. As the narrative begins, Tvíbura, the inhabited planet, faces a grave and imminent threat: the food supply is dwindling, and the conditions necessary for sustaining life are growing more and more erratic. Faced with the prospect of eventual catastrophe, the remarkable women of Tvíbura launch a pair of ambitious, long-term initiatives. The first involves an attempt to reanimate the planet’s increasingly dormant ecosphere. The second concerns the building of a literal “bridge between worlds” that will connect Tvíbura to its (hopefully) habitable sibling.

These initiatives form the core of the narrative, which is divided into three sections and takes place over many generations. The resulting triptych is at once an epic in miniature, a work of hard SF filled with humanist touches, and a compressed, meticulously detailed example of original world building. Most centrally, it is a portrait of people struggling—and sometimes risking everything—to preserve a future they will not live to see. Erudite and entertaining, Phoresis shows us Egan at his formidable best, offering the sort of intense, visionary pleasures only science fiction can provide.

To visit the author’s website go to:
Greg Egan – Author

To buy the novel go to:
phoresis - Book

To add to Goodreads go to:
Yer Ports for Plunder List

Previous BookBum Club Monthly Reviews
March 2018 – “And the award goes to – pick a book that has won an award!”

This novella makes me believe that I may enjoy Greg Egan. While Dichronauts (the only other book I've read by Egan) did not work for me, the writing in Phoresis was enjoyable. I generally view Egan as a writer that ponders a physics exercise and then builds a story around that. It makes for some complex narrative sections that are not always enjoyable. Phoresis is easy to read in that regard. The story takes place on a planet that is rotating around a twin planet which together rotate around the sun. The inhabitants of Tvibura are in a crisis of famine and set out to try to reach the twin planet Tviburi. The overall story arch is done well and is a fun read. The story falls apart from there. My frustration comes in with the absolute lack of a believable biome described for Tvibura which most of the story hinges on.

Also of note the ARC I received (thanks NetGalley and Subterranean Press) is very poorly formatted for Kindle.

I rarely give 5-star reviews; but not rarely with Greg Egan's books. He is in my (and many other's) opinion one of the best authors around, sci-fi or not.

In Phoresis, Egan describes a world, and people, that are so different than any you've encountered that it takes a little while to get your arms around what he's describing. Yet, as he's writing, you might think he's writing about some entirely familiar peoples - which means you need to pay attention, because these are not human.

Egan's books frequently are scrupulously scientifically accurate, yet extrapolate what's permissible or possible within the constraints of science. He does this here, too, imagining a place, a problem, and a way for the characters to tackle the problem, that are super inventive.

While this is more the length of a novella, I think it's the correct length. I was a bit surprised when I found I'd reached the end. But on reflection, the length was just right. He could have written more, but why - when this is the right length for this excursion.

Keep writing, Mr. Egan - I will read it all.

Phoresis by Greg Egan- This was very difficult for me to complete. As to why, I thought the story was okay, lots of expert world-building and complicated inhabitants, with definite survival problems. I found much of the goings on to be laboriously described and very slow moving. Staying with the story was a chore and I found other things that captured my attention better. I've read several Greg Egan novels and short works and always found them to be very engaging and thought provoking. This one not so much. The story is about the inhabitants of one planet trying to build a bridge from their world to a sister planet that orbits close at times. They are slowly starving to death and see this close neighbor as a possible salvation. Kind of a stretch, but made possible by rigorous scientific method and brave endeavors. It's not horrible, just not what I expect from such a talented writer.

Phoresis by Greg Egan
Phoresis
by Greg Egan
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review
Mar 19, 2018 · edit

really liked it

Another great experience in world building .. provided by the Master . Egan does it again! A weird and fascinating world made not only plausible but probable.
Tvibura, an inhabited world every day orbits a sister world - Tviburi ... mysterious and unknown. Tvibura is slowly floundering with incrementally advancing difficulty in feeding its's all female inhabitants. Beneath the immense ice fields resides the gift of life ... roots known as Yggrasils approximate or penetrate the surface resulting in "geysers" which flood the environment with life sustaining nutrients to their soil and crops. Unfortunately they are progressively dwindling in occurence. The Yggdrasil is like the tree of Norse mythology, extending upward from the ocean bottom to the heavens and sustaining life.
The inhabitants of Tvibura are all female, and yet, reproduction is accomplished by the process of phoresis .... each female carries in her womb three sentient but unintelligent "brothers" that emerge at appropriate times to allow fertilization with another female tribe member.
Freya, the initial main protagonist, envisions an engenious solution to their dilemma by joining the two worlds. The story unfolds in a triptych spanning generations of inhabitants determined to bridge the two worlds and thus allow survival ... utilizing fantastic and plausible science.
Written with Greg Egan's superlative world building skills ... and, hopefully suggesting more to come in this unique universe of character. Thanks to Netgalley and Subterranean Press in providing this Advance E Book in exchange for an honest review .... @SubPress


Graph
Reading Progress
March 16, 2018

Where do I even start with this? Subterranean Press normally puts out quality work, things I’d read without doing due diligence, research, etc. This one was an exception, one tragically far from exceptional. What is this…agrarian science fiction? Agra fi? Two twin planets and the starving denizens on one planet are trying to build a way to get to the other. All female cast, although with hermaphroditic qualities, apparently their brothers live inside them and come out (partially, the business end as it were) to reproduce. But primarily it’s just hunting for plants and building things and climbing things. In exhaustive exhausting detail. Lots of talk about plant cuttings and such, which is about as much fun as you’d imagine. No idea how this is even a book, albeit a novella length one. The weird thing is the quality of the writing itself is perfectly decent, it’s the story itself that doesn’t work. Sure, not every book has to be exciting, but I’ve spaced out studying design configurations in the carpet and had more fun than I did reading this book. Strangely tedious, strikingly uninteresting, superbly unengaging. Literally, the only superlatives to bestow upon this book would be accompanying and highlighting its negative qualities. Not sure if I read the author before (maybe a short story? definitely never a novel) and this wasn’t the most auspicious of introduction, its only positive attribute being its brevity. And the title itself, always good to learn a new word. This one refers to a form of symbiosis where one species transports the other. Which I suppose just goes to show that even disappointing lackluster books have something to teach us, other than being more selective in reading choices. Thanks Netgalley.