Phoresis
by Greg Egan
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Pub Date Apr 30 2018 | Archive Date Apr 30 2018
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Description
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.
Advance Praise
Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):
“Egan’s gripping and surprisingly accessible short novel centers on the weird but consistent and intriguing science that has become his hallmark. Though short, this science-driven tale has an epic feel…”
Booklist (Starred Reviw):
“Phoresis is an elegant, spare, evocative jewel of a novella told in three parts.”
Kirkus Reviews:
“Dazzling new novella from an author (Dichronauts, 2017, etc.) who specializes in inventing seriously weird worlds and making them real.”
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781596068667 |
| PRICE | $40.00 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Lou J, Media/Journalist
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
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Reading Progress
March 16, 2018
Jay B, Reviewer
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.
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