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Instantiation is a collection of eleven science-fiction short stories by Australian writer Greg Egan, published in 2020.

Contents

• The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine (2017)
• Zero for Conduct (2013)
• Uncanny Valley (2017)
• Seventh Sight (2014)
• The Nearest (2018)
• Shadow Flock (2014)
• Bit Players (2014)
• Break My Fall (2014)
• 3-adica (2018)
• The Slipway (2019)
• Instantiation (2019)

Reception

Reviews

Russell Letson, writing in the Locus Magazine, claims that the short stories "Bit Players", "3-adica", and "Instantiation" all "outline the technical-legal problems of AI personhood as artificial personalities try to escape the virtual-reality game worlds that they have been programmed into." For "Bit Players", he adds that "is so sloppily worked out that newly generated character Sagreda intuitively knows that the physics can’t be consistent." For "3-adica", he adds that it contains "a game employing a topology based on an exotic number theory", which he "still can’t quite follow, though the bit players do, to their eventual benefit."

Awards

"The Discrete Charm of the Turing Machine" was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award in 2018 and reached the 4th place of Asimov's Reader Poll in 2018. "Zero for Conduct" reached the 10th place of the Locus Award for Best Novelette in 2014. "Uncanny Valley" was nominated for the British SF Association Award in 2018 and won the Japanese Seiun Award in 2020. "Seventh Sight" reached the 31st place at the Locus Award for Best Novelette in 2015 and was nominated for the Japanese Seiun Award in 2017. "Shadow Flock" reached th 34th place at the Locus Award for Best Novelette in 2015. "Bit Players" was nominated for the Japanese Seiun Award in 2020. "3-adica" reached the 3rd place of Asimov's Readers Poll in 2019.

References

1. "Bibliography". 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
2. "Summary Bibliography: Greg Egan". Retrieved 2024-04-19.
3. Egan, Greg (9 August 2017). "Uncanny Valley". Tor.com. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
4. Egan, Greg (19 July 2018). "The Nearest". Tor.com. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
5. Egan, Greg (2014). "Bit Players". Subterranean Press. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
6. Alexander, Niall (12 June 2014). "Step into the Stars: Reach for Infinity, ed. Jonathan Strahan". Tor.com. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
7. Letson, Russell (2019-06-14). "Russell Letson Reviews The Best of Greg Egan by Greg Egan". locusmag.com. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
8. locusmag (2018-04-17). "2018 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalists". Locus Online. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
9. ^ "sfadb : Asimovs Reader Poll All Nominees". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
10. ^ "Greg Egan Awards Summary". 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
11. "Locus Awards 2014". Retrieved 2024-07-29.
12. "sfadb: British SF Association Awards 2018". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
13. ^ "星雲賞受賞作・参考候補作一覧" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-04-09.
14. ^ "Locus Awards 2015". Retrieved 2024-07-29.

External links

• Instantiation title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

• Short story collections by Greg Egan
• 2020 short story collections