Unconventional Science Fiction
Greg Egan's "Distress" is a most unusual work of science fiction. Most of the story takes place on Earth in the middle of the next century, but on an artificially created island called "Stateless" that is diplomatically shunned by most of the rest of the world because of how it was created. On the island, a convention is gathering to decide on the new "Theory of Everything" which is supposed to be as revolutionary as the Theory of Relativity. Lurking in the background is a new psychological malady named Distress, which is somehow linked to these events. Egan is a good storyteller and "Distress," like most of the best science fiction, is brimming with unusual ideas.