[stuxnet79]

Boom! Another Greg Egan fan, here. Reading through Axiomatic right now and loving it.

One thing I've noticed (& which I'm sure a lot of people have stated) is that his fictional works are mostly just a platform for him to explore ideas. Whether or not they entertain is a side effect. A few stories on Axiomatic for instance end rather abruptly. It is as if Egan just couldn't be bothered with tying everything in a neat little package once he'd already finished exploring the implications of a particular philosophical idea.

[sohkamyung]

For more mind altering fiction from Egan, tackle his "Orthogonal" books, which posits a universe where the speed of light is not a constant and builds on that (and Riemannian Geometry).

If you just want the physics behind the books, see his website [ http://www.gregegan.net/ORTHOGONAL/ORTHOGONAL.html ]