Cirrus@Austlit

Collected together for the first time are twelve stories by the incomparable Greg Egan, one of those most exciting writers of science fiction working today.

In these glimpses into the future Egan continues to explore the essence of what it is to be human, and the nature of what - and who - we are, in stories that range from parables of contemporary human conflict and ambition to far-future tales of our immortal descendants.

Return to the universe of the meta-civilisation known as the Amalgam, which Egan explored in his critically acclaimed novel Incandescence: 'Riding the Crocodile', which recounts an epic endeavour a million years from now to bridge the divide between the Amalgam and the reclusive Aloof; 'Glory', set in the same future, in which two archaeologists strive to decipher the artefacts of an ancient civilisation, and 'Hot Rock', where an obscure, sunless world conceals mind-spinning technological marvels, bitter fractional struggles, and a many-layered secret history.

This superb collection also includes the title story, the Hugo Award-winning 'Oceanic': a boy is inducted into a religion that becomes centre of his life, but as an adult he must face evidence that casts a new light on his faith.

Oceanic: travel into the worlds of the future in the hands of a master craftsman. (Publisher's blurb)

'In science fiction, nothing says sensawunda like a Big Dumb Object–a colossal, extremely powerful machine of unknown purpose and origin. It's that feeling that editor Jonathan Strahan was after when he asked six of today's finest authors to write for Godlike Machines.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.