Quarantine (novel)

Quarantine is a hard science fiction novel by Greg Egan.

On a future Earth enclosed within a mysterious impenetrable barrier, the protagonist, Nick, is hired to investigate the disappearance of a woman from a care home.


 * Bio Augmentation - Neural mods to alter thought processes get a lot of focus. For instance, Sentinel allows a person to stay focused and alert through long periods of inactivity, and Boss allows a person to play with their circadian rhythm, meaning that they can fall asleep at-will or set aside the effects of fatigue. Nick in particular modded himself to not be bothered by his wife's death, which is implied to be semi-common. More conventionally, the book also mentions that most southern Australians have black skin to combat the destruction of the ozone layer.
 * Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot
 * Mysterious Employer - Nick never does find out the identity of his client.
 * Reality Warper
 * The Stars Are Going Out - The impervious sphere appeared instantaneously but encompasses the entire solar system and is centered on the sun, so light speed delay caused the stars to disappear with a sweeping effect through the sky over a 16 minute period.
 * Winds of Destiny Change
 * Zeroth Law Rebellion - Nick is given a technological geas to be absolutely loyal to a corporation. He eventually figures out that the leaders of the corporation may be untrustworthy, and therefore the only people he can trust and should listen to are those who unquestionably have the best interests of the corporation at heart--himself and other people given the geas. Since he can't be certain who else has the geas, he really only needs to listen to himself.