Teranesia

Discover the mystery of the island of Teranesia, where peculiar biological evolution has created a world both beautiful and deadly.

On the small uninhabited island of Teranesia, Prabir and his younger sister Madhusree live with their biologist parents, who are there to study the strange signs of evolutionary mutation in the island’s butterfly population. But their peaceful time on Teranesia is cut short when a civil war breaks out in Indonesia, forcing Prabir and his family to flee.

Twenty years pass, and Madhusree is now studying biology. She wishes to follow in the path of her parents, hoping to pick up where their research had been halted. Prabir, still feeling a great responsibility over his sister, highly advises her not to go back to Teranesia. But the mutations that happened during their time on the island overpower Madhusree’s curiosity, and she goes against her brother’s wishes.

Struck with overwhelming feelings of responsibility, Prabir finds it as his duty to follow his sister, and travels back to Teranesia for the first time in twenty years. Not knowing what to expect, Prabir discovers the island to be more enchanting, and dangerous, than he could have ever imagined.

Greg Egan is a computer programmer, and the author of the acclaimed SF novels Permutation City, Diaspora, Teranesia, Quarantine, and the Orthogonal trilogy, all published by Night Shade Books. He has won the Hugo Award as well as the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Egan’s short fiction has been published in a variety of places, including Interzone, Asimov’s, and Nature. He lives in Perth, Australia.