Writing Radical Hard SF

This chapter begins with an overview of Greg Egan's fiction. It centers his work in the context of the “radical hard SF” promoted by the magazine Interzone in the mid-to-late 1980s and provides an overview of his work to date, including his rise to prominence (and subsequent diminishment). It traces a loose “future history” that his stories follow, moving from biomedical advances in the near future to digital immortality in the far future. It also gives a summary of some of his reception by critics to date, including the focus on his perceived lack of characterization and the various attacks and defenses that have been mounted over his work. In discussing his approach to character, the chapter also covers the diverse range of characters that he portrays in his fiction.