Mare Somniorum

A collection of early short stories by Egan.  Dangerous territory, as one never quite knows where the story will go, or how rough the journey will be.  Some of the early work does, at times, feel less refined.  Ideas are less direct, the stories softer, people are less well defined.  At times, reading early Egan feels like reading recent Egan through a lens covered in a slight mist.  As such, “Axiomatic” was left alone for a bit, waiting for a slot where there was less to do and even less to read.  At the end of the day, I knew I’d just come to expect a lot from Egan.  I should also have learned that I expect a lot because Egan delivers a heck of a lot.  “Axiomatic” is no different.

“The Infinite Assassin” starts the ball rolling in a thunderous cascade of discreet fun.  Egan hops into a reality of many worlds, drift between the worlds and how we deal with the consequences of such a reality.  It’s a very Eganesque start to a collection.

“The Hundred-Light-Year Diary” takes on limited knowledge of the future, with absolute certainty.  What would we tell our earlier selves about the choices we’re about to do?  Moral choice slotted into absolute knowledge of what will, or has, happened as well as a touch on what being human is all about.  The story is interesting, the idea is good, the delivery might not be the best Egan has done though.

“Eugene”.  Egan takes on genetic engineering.  We move into morality, ideology and wanting what is best for your loved ones.  I’m not keen on the way the ending is delivered, but the story and ideas we’re looking at are well worth the read.

“The Caress”…  Imagine Egan reading Lovecraft and thinking, “hey, I could do with some of that”.  What you’d get is something akin to “The Caress”.  It’s a fantastic tale of eccentricity, desire, science and the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life.  For some reason it reminds me quite a bit of “The Case of Charles Dexter” and is just as outstanding.  I loved it the first time I read it and I loved it just as much on the second read through, it’s a fantastic piece of work.

“Blood Sisters” deals with the scientific method, the ideal double blind test, it’s moral consequences and a personal price payed.  It feels a bit long, and wanders between a story about loss and about the idea.  It’s a good read, but it’s not as hard and pointed as it maybe could have been.

“Axiomatic” nods to much of Egans core works.  What would you do if you could change yourself, and what would that make you?  What consequences would actions done while “changed” have onto yourself once you fell back to “normality”?  At the end of the day, who are you, what are we, and what do we do about ourselves?  “Axiomatic” is vintage Egan in every way and takes no prisoners.  Egan at his very best, simple and unrelenting.

“The Safe-Deposit Box”.  Ouch.  Egan does wonders with a simple premise of a sentience waking up in a new body every morning.  Trying to carve out a “self” as best possible.  The story is both sad and hopeful, but in true Egan style, there are no easy answers and there is much pain along the way.  It’s a very human story and Egan pulls it off very well.

“Seeing” takes on identity as rooted in perception.  How would seeing yourself from outside your own body, whilst knowing that body is you, affect your identity?  Egan suggests the answer is “not very well” and he makes a good tale of it.  It might feel a bit winded, but it’s a “day in the life of” type of story, and it does what it sets out to do very well.

“The Kidnapping” takes us back to virtual identities and our attachment to identities, real or not.  It’s an interesting read and gives an interesting take on leaving scanned reflections of people on disk.  What happens if someone steals that data?  Do we then lose someone, even if that someone is still alive in the flesh?  “The Kidnapping” doesn’t give any simple answers, but walks the path of such an event.  Well written, well executed and quite sad again, just the way Egan does such a story.

“Learning to be me” is another highlight of the collection.  A redundant brain would be interesting, but who’d you be when their actions no longer mirror each other?  It’s not exactly a work that’ll keep you warm, but it’s quite good stuff.

“The moat” is us and them, a take on social cohesiveness and the troubles of being human.   It’s a decent read, but never quite grips the way Egan can when he’s really got you transfixed.

“The Walk” goes into the realm of identity again, and does so with great success.  It’s a thrillerish wind-up toy that springs into action at the very end, asking a question you can’t answer.  It’s more vintage Egan and the story is very good.  The writing might not be his very best, but it’s almost sad that a “not the best” from Egan is still top notch.

“The Cutie”.  At times it feels like Egan dropped the ball.  It feels like the story can’t pull off the emotional levels of the protagonist, leaving a very rational take on the emotions in questions, which again leaves the story in the void between idea and execution.  There’s loss, but you might not care as much as you should.

“Into Darkness” is Egan to the bone.  It is a personal story.  The setting is very Egan, the story not what you’d expect.  It’s a tale about making choices, probabilities, statistics and (hopefully) living with the results.  It’s also surprisingly strong in every facet it touches.  Another highlight.

“Appropriate Love” is to some extent a story about technology and its impact on individuals, but even more it’s a story about how the human sentience is affected by events.  It’s the old dichotomy of knowing and feeling, and for some facets of life, the latter might hold more weight than the former.  It’s not the greatest piece of writing Egan has done, but it’s a very good idea put on paper.

“The Moral Virologist” has Egan look at religious liturgy.  It’s fairly apt, considering it was written before the current faith-based “initiatives” that roam our pale blue dot, and it’s quite scary to boot.  It’s painfully aware of rationalization of actions and events, melding them into a system of faith.  A surprisingly well-done story considering the subject matter.

“Closer”.  Nobody wants to spend eternity alone.  A great read, a fantastic idea from a fantastic author.  Subtle and elegant, “Closer” is an outstanding short story on the needs of intimacy.

“Unstable orbits in the space of lies” finishes off the collection on the highest of notes.  It is a fantastic fable of group ideology and the freedom of choice.  One of the best works from Egan, showcasing the fact that Egan is about ideas over settings.

All in all, Axiomatic was a very positive collection.  It’s early Egan, but it’s Egan.  Lots of highlights, very few low points.  Highly recommended.