Greg Egan

Short description: Australian science fiction author and mathematician

Greg Egan

Infographic from Greg Egan's web site stating that he appears in no photos on the web.[1]

Born| Gregory Mark Egan[2]
(1961-08-20) 20 August 1961 (age 64)[2]
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Occupation| Writer, former programmer[3]
Nationality| Australia n
Period| 1983–present (as SF writer)
Genre| Science fiction
Website
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Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961)[2] is an Australian science fiction writer and amateur mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award.

## Contents

* 1 Life and work
* 1.1 Mathematics
* 2 Personal life
* 3 Awards
* 4 Works
* 4.1 Novels
* 4.1.1 Orthogonal trilogy
* 4.2 Collections
* 4.3 Other short fiction
* 4.4 Excerpted
* 4.5 Academic papers
* 5 Short movies
* 6 Notes
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Life and work

Egan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Western Australia.[3][4][5]

He published his first work in 1983.[6] He specialises in hard science fiction stories with mathematical and quantum ontology themes, including the nature of consciousness. Other themes include genetics, simulated reality, posthumanism, mind uploading, sexuality, artificial intelligence, and the superiority of rational naturalism to religion. He often deals with complex technical material, like new physics and epistemology. He is a Hugo Award winner (with eight other works shortlisted for the Hugos) and has also won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[7] His early stories feature strong elements of supernatural horror.

Egan's short stories have been published in a variety of genre magazines, including regular appearances in Interzone and Asimov's Science Fiction.

### Mathematics

In 2018, Egan described a construction of superpermutations, thus giving an upper bound to their length. On 27 February 2019, using ideas developed by Robin Houston and others, Egan produced a superpermutation of n = 7 symbols of length 5906, breaking previous records.[8][9]

## Personal life

As of 2015, Egan lives in Perth. He is a vegetarian[3][10] and an atheist.[11]

Egan does not attend science fiction conventions,[12] does not sign books, and has stated that he appears in no photographs on the web,[1] though both SF fan sites and Google Search have at times mistakenly represented photos of other people with the same name as those of the writer.[13]

## Awards

* Permutation City: John W. Campbell Memorial Award (1995)[7]
* Oceanic: Hugo Award, Locus Award, Asimov's Readers' Award (1999)[7]
* Distress: Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis as Best Foreign Fiction (2000)

Egan's work has won the Japanese Seiun Award for best translated fiction seven times.[7]

Teranesia was named the winner of the 2000 Ditmar Award for best novel, but Egan declined the award.[7]

## Works

### Novels

* An Unusual Angle (1983), ISBN 0-909106-12-6
* Quarantine (1992), ISBN 0-7126-9870-1
* Permutation City (1994), ISBN 1-85798-174-X
* Distress (1995), ISBN 1-85798-286-X
* Diaspora (1997), ISBN 1-85798-438-2
* Teranesia (1999), ISBN 0-575-06854-X
* Schild's Ladder (2002), ISBN 0-575-07068-4
* Incandescence (2008), ISBN 978-1-59780-128-7
* Zendegi (2010), ISBN 978-1-59780-174-4
* Dichronauts (2017), ISBN 978-1597808927
* The Book of All Skies (2021), ISBN 978-1-922240-38-5

#### Orthogonal trilogy

* The Clockwork Rocket (2011), ISBN 978-1-59780-227-7
* The Eternal Flame (2012), ISBN 978-1-59780-293-2
* The Arrows of Time (2013), ISBN 978-0-575-10576-8

### Collections

Axiomatic (1995), ISBN 1-85798-281-9

* The Infinite Assassin (1991)
* The Hundred Light-Year Diary (1992)
* Eugene (1990)
* The Caress (1990)
* Blood Sisters (1991)
* Axiomatic (1990)
* The Safe-Deposit Box (1990)
* Seeing (1995)
* A Kidnapping (1995)
* Learning to Be Me (1990)
* The Moat (1991)
* The Walk (1992)
* The Cutie (1989)
* Into Darkness (1992)
* Appropriate Love (1991)
* The Moral Virologist (1990)
* Closer (1992)[14]
* Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies (1992)

Our Lady of Chernobyl (1995), ISBN 0-646-23230-4

* Chaff (1993)
* Beyond the Whistle Test (1989)
* Transition Dreams (1993)
* Our Lady of Chernobyl (1994)

Luminous (1998), ISBN 1-85798-551-6

* Chaff (1993)
* Mitochondrial Eve (1995)
* Luminous (1995)
* Mister Volition (1995)
* Cocoon (1994)
* Transition Dreams (1993)
* Silver Fire (1995)
* Reasons to Be Cheerful (1997)
* Our Lady of Chernobyl (1994)
* The Planck Dive (1998)

Dark Integers and Other Stories (2008), ISBN 978-1-59606-155-2

* Luminous (1995)
* Riding the Crocodile (2005)[15]
* Dark Integers (2007)[16]
* Glory (2007)[17]
* Oceanic (1998)

Crystal Nights and Other Stories (2009), ISBN 978-1-59606-240-5

* Lost Continent (2008)
* Crystal Nights (2008)[18]
* Steve Fever (2007)[19]
* TAP (1995)
* Induction (2007)
* Singleton (2002)[note 1][20]
* Oracle (2000)[21]
* Border Guards (1999)[22]
* Hot Rock (2009)

Oceanic (2009), ISBN 978-0-575-08652-4

* Lost Continent (2008)
* Dark Integers (2007)
* Crystal Nights (2008)
* Steve Fever (2007)
* Induction (2007)
* Singleton (2002)
* Oracle (2000)
* Border Guards (1999)
* Riding the Crocodile (2005)
* Glory (2007)
* Hot Rock (2009)
* Oceanic (1998)

The Best of Greg Egan (2019), ISBN 978-1-59606-942-8

* Learning to Be Me (1990)
* Axiomatic (1990)
* Appropriate Love (1991)
* Into Darkness (1992)
* Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies (1992)
* Closer (1992)
* Chaff (1993)
* Luminous (1995)
* Silver Fire (1995)
* Reasons to be Cheerful (1997)
* Oceanic (1998)
* Oracle (2000)
* Singleton (2002)
* Dark Integers (2007)
* Crystal Nights (2008)
* Zero For Conduct (2013)
* Bit Players (2014)[23]
* Uncanny Valley (2017)[24]
* 3-adica (2018)
* Instantiation (2019)

Instantiation (2020)

* The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine (2017)
* Zero For Conduct (2013)
* Uncanny Valley (2017)[24]
* Seventh Sight (2014)
* The Nearest (2018)[25]
* Shadow Flock (2014)
* Bit Players (2014)[26]
* Break My Fall (2014)[27]
* 3-adica (2018)
* The Slipway (2019)
* Instantiation (2019)

### Other short fiction

* Artifact (1983)
* The Way She Smiles, The Things She Says (1985)
* Tangled Up (1985)[28]
* Mind Vampires (1986)[29]
* Neighbourhood Watch (1987)
* Scatter My Ashes (1988)[30]
* The Extra (1990)[31]
* The Vat (1990)[32]
* In Numbers (1991)
* The Demon's Passage (1991)[33]
* Fidelity (1991)
* Before (1992)
* Dust (1992)[note 2]
* Worthless (1992)[34]
* Reification Highway (1992)
* Wang's Carpets (1995)[note 3]
* Yeyuka (1997)[35]
* Only Connect (2000)[36]
* In the Ruins (2013)[37]
* The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred (2016), ISBN 978-1-59606-791-2
* Phoresis (2018), ISBN 978-1-59606-866-7
* Perihelion Summer (2019),[38] ISBN 978-1-250-31378-2
* This is Not the Way Home (2019)
* Zeitgeber (2019)[39]
* Dispersion (2020)
* You and Whose Army? (2020)[40]
* Light Up the Clouds (2021)
* Sleep and the Soul (2021)

### Excerpted

* Diaspora:
* "Orphanogenesis" in Interzone issue 123, September 1997[41]

### Academic papers

* An Efficient Algorithm for the Riemannian 10j Symbols by Dan Christensen and Greg Egan[42]
* Asymptotics of 10j Symbols by John Baez, Dan Christensen and Greg Egan[43]
* Conic-Helical Orbits of Planets around Binary Stars do not Exist by Greg Egan[44]

## Short movies

The production of a short film inspired by the story "Axiomatic" commenced in 2015,[45] and the film was released online in October 2017.[46]

## Notes

1. ↑ Singleton introduced the concept of the Qusp, which was later used in the novel Schild's Ladder.
2. ↑ Dust was incorporated into the novel Permutation City as the first few chapters in one narrative thread.
3. ↑ Wang refers to the mathematician Hao Wang – the carpets are living embodiments of Wang tiles. This story, minorly reworked, became a section of the novel Diaspora.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Photos of Greg Egan, science fiction writer". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/images/GregEgan.htm.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Egan, Greg". http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/egan_greg.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Burnham, Karen (30 April 2014). Greg Egan. ISBN 978-0-252-07993-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=lPAwAwAAQBAJ&q=greg+egan+Bachelor+of+Science+degree+in+Mathematics&pg=PA1. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
4. ↑ Booker, M. Keith (1 October 2014). Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction in Literature. p. 98. ISBN 978-0810849389. https://books.google.com/books?id=WRi7BAAAQBAJ&q=greg+egan+Bachelor+of+Science+degree+in+Mathematics&pg=PA98. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
5. ↑ "UWA Award Verification Service". http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/course/award-verification-service?family=Egan&given=Greg&given_partial=on&search=Search.
6. ↑ "Bibliography". Gregegan.net. 7 August 2014. https://www.gregegan.net/BIBLIOGRAPHY/Bibliography.html.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Template:Sfadb
8. ↑ Egan, Greg. "Superpermutations". https://www.gregegan.net/SCIENCE/Superpermutations/Superpermutations.html.
9. ↑ Klarreich, Erica (5 November 2018). "Mystery Math Whiz and Novelist Advance Permutation Problem". https://www.quantamagazine.org/sci-fi-writer-greg-egan-and-anonymous-math-whiz-advance-permutation-problem-20181105/.
10. ↑ Egan, Greg (19 October 2008). "Iran Trip Diary: Part 2, Esfahan". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/ZENDEGI/IranTrip/IranTrip2.html.
11. ↑ Egan, Greg (2009). "Born Again, Briefly". in Blackford, Russell; Schüklenk, Udo. 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists. Sussex: Wiley–Blackwell. https://www.gregegan.net/ESSAYS/BAB/BAB.html.
12. ↑ Farr, Russell (September 1997). "Interviews". Gregegan.net. http://www.gregegan.net/INTERVIEWS/Interviews.html.
13. ↑ Egan, Greg (24 August 2012). "Google, the Stupidity Amplifier". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/ESSAYS/GOOGLE/Google.html.
14. ↑ Egan, Greg (April 1992). "Closer". eidolon.net. http://eidolon.net/?story=Closer.
15. ↑ Egan, Greg (31 December 2006). "Riding the Crocodile". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/INCANDESCENCE/00/Crocodile.html.
16. ↑ Egan, Greg (October 2007). "Dark Integers". Asimovs.com. https://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0710/Dark.shtml.
17. ↑ "Harper Voyager Books: FREE HUGO SHORT STORIES: Ken Macleod and Greg Egan". Outofthiseos.typepad.com. 27 March 2008. http://outofthiseos.typepad.com/blog/2008/03/hugo-short-stor.html.
18. ↑ Egan, Greg (27 January 2009). "Interzone: Science Fiction & Fantasy – Crystal Nights". TTA Press. http://ttapress.com/553/crystal-nights-by-greg-egan/0/4/.
19. ↑ Egan, Greg (15 October 2007). "Steve Fever | MIT Technology Review". Technologyreview.com. http://www.technologyreview.com/article/408858/steve-fever/.
20. ↑ Egan, Greg (8 August 2002). "Singleton". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/MISC/SINGLETON/Singleton.html.
21. ↑ Egan, Greg (12 November 2000). "Oracle". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/MISC/ORACLE/Oracle.html.
22. ↑ Egan, Greg (12 April 1999). "Border Guards". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/BORDER/Border.html.
23. ↑ Egan, Greg (2014). "Bit Players". Subterranean Press. https://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/winter_2014/bit_players_by_greg_egan.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Egan, Greg (9 August 2017). "Uncanny Valley". Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2017/08/09/uncanny-valley/.
25. ↑ Egan, Greg (19 July 2018). "The Nearest". Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2018/07/19/the-nearest-greg-egan/.
26. ↑ Egan, Greg (2014). "Bit Players". Subterranean Press. https://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/winter_2014/bit_players_by_greg_egan.
27. ↑ Alexander, Niall (12 June 2014). "Step into the Stars: Reach for Infinity, ed. Jonathan Strahan". Tor.com. http://www.tor.com/2014/06/12/book-review-anthology-reach-for-infinity-jonathan-strahan/.
28. ↑ Egan, Greg (21 March 2020). "Tangled Up". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/MISC/TANGLED/Tangled.html.
29. ↑ Egan, Greg (29 May 2001). "Mind Vampires". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/HORROR/VAMPIRES/Vampires.html.
30. ↑ Egan, Greg (16 May 2001). "Scatter My Ashes". Gregegan.net. https://www.gregegan.net/HORROR/SCATTER/Scatter.html.
31. ↑ Egan, Greg (August 1990). "The Extra". eidolon.net. http://eidolon.net/?story=The Extra.
32. ↑ Egan, Greg (December 1990). "The Vat". eidolon.net. http://eidolon.net/?story=The Vat.
33. ↑ Egan, Greg (July 1991). "The Demon's Passage". eidolon.net. http://eidolon.net/?story=The Demons Passage.
34. ↑ Egan, Greg (1992). "Worthless – a short story". Infinityplus.co.uk. http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/worth.htm.
35. ↑ Egan, Greg (1997). "Yeyuka – a short story". Infinityplus.co.uk. http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/yeyuka.htm.
36. ↑ Egan, Greg (9 August 2000). "Only Connect". Nature (Gregegan.net) 403 (6770): 599. doi:10.1038/35001162. PMID 10688177. Bibcode: 2000Natur.403..599E. https://www.gregegan.net/SCHILD/Connect/Connect.html. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
37. ↑ Egan, Greg (23 September 2013). "In the Ruins". Gregegan.net. http://gregegan.net/MISC/RUINS/Ruins.html.
38. ↑ Chen, Ruoxi (26 April 2018). "Announcing Perihelion Summer, a New Novella from Greg Egan". Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2018/04/26/announcing-perihelion-summer-a-new-novella-from-greg-egan/.
39. ↑ Egan, Greg (25 September 2019). "Zeitgeber". Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2019/09/25/zeitgeber-greg-egan/.
40. ↑ Egan, Greg (1 October 2020). "You and Whose Army?". Clarkesworld Magazine, issue 169, October 2020. http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/egan_10_20/.
41. ↑ Egan, Greg (10 June 2002). "Orphanogenesis". Gregegan.net. http://gregegan.net/DIASPORA/01/Orphanogenesis.html.
42. ↑ Christensen, J Daniel; Egan, Greg (24 January 2002). "An efficient algorithm for the Riemannian 10j symbols". Classical and Quantum Gravity 19 (6): 1185–1194. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/19/6/310. Bibcode: 2002CQGra..19.1185C.
43. ↑ Baez, John C; Christensen, J Daniel; Egan, Greg (4 November 2002). "Asymptotics of 10j symbols". Classical and Quantum Gravity 19 (24): 6489. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/19/24/315. Bibcode: 2002CQGra..19.6489B.
44. ↑ Egan, Greg (19 October 2015). "Conic-Helical Orbits of Planets around Binary Stars do not Exist". Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy 130 (130). doi:10.1007/s10569-017-9803-7. Bibcode: 2018CeMDA.130....5E.
45. ↑ Axiomatic on IMDb
46. ↑ "Axiomatic". Film shortage. 27 October 2017. http://filmshortage.com/dailyshortpicks/axiomatic/.

## External links

* Greg Egan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
* Greg Egan at Library of Congress Authorities — with 11 catalog records
* Stories currently online at Free Speculative Fiction Online

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