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Hannu Rajaniemi: The Quantum Thief
May. 24th, 2011 10:18 pmSo there's this Finnish mathematician who comes from my alma mater (and we have a fair bit of friends in common), does well for himself in academia and otherwise in the UK, hangs out at a neat writers group, and gets a three-book contract without even having the first one finished. Mind you, this is a book written in English, arguably his second or third tongue.
The book was finally released in the U.S. and I finished it last night.
It's good. It's what I suppose can be themed British Science Fiction, which is to say that it's a lot more high-brow and complex than most North American titles; sufficiently little of non-English Science Fiction is translated for me to make comparisons. At times, the genre strikes me as being intentionally obtuse or difficult, and Dr. Rajaniemi's book also suffers from this at times, but not excessively. There are cyber-punk elements and the concept of human consciousness being something that can be uploaded and stored, resulting in the possibility of immortality and artificial bodies. Charles Stross claims on the cover that Dr. Rajaniemi might be better at the genre than he is. I reserve judgment until the final two books in the trilogy, but the first book is more carefully crafted, if not inherently better in other ways. Still, if you like either author, you might wish to try the other one.
One of the flaws of the book is that the first chapter(s) are a bit heavy and difficult, and also confusing. Dr. Rajaniemi doesn't stop to explain things, either the setting or culture, the science, or the science fiction. It dawned on me that it's been a long time since I've read a book where it was helpful to know what a WIMP or quantum dot or beanstalk was, or understand the basics of public-key cryptography — or where the author took no prisoners and assumed it's being read by educated and intelligent audience. I feel flattered.
The Quantum Thief is filled with neat concepts, some original, some not, but almost all very well done. Time as currency, gevulot, the evolution of gamer clans all appealed to me. Most notably, the night and morning after finishing the book I was pondering about the implications and likelihood of the visions presented, which to me means it's working the way Science Fiction should work.
Some aspects of the world fail to feel feasible or real, and much as with Stross' and Bank's works, once the technology level gets sufficiently high, it's difficult to suspend disbelief as to why the problem at hand can't just be solved with more technology.
The plot, once the reader gets a hang of what's going on with the world, is an action-packed caper. It's very well paced, and competently written. Many proper nouns are shamelessly lifted from Finnish, with relevant meanings. There are strong and very dangerous yet vulnerable women, obsession, dark mysteries, vast conspiracies and all that stuff. I have to admit that I may have not managed to follow the plot and the clues perfectly, but the ending seemed a bit hurried, and some of the more momentous final events left me baffled. (How did they escape the second time? What was the point of transferring the bullets to the Atlases? Why did Pellegrine need the thief?)
While it is the first book of a trilogy, it works quite well as a stand-alone story. Many things are left open, and some intentionally opened at the end, but the main storyline and mission is finished — although I expect that in the second volume we may learn that what we thought the point of the first book was may not have been as obvious as it appeared.
Four out of five.
The book was finally released in the U.S. and I finished it last night.
It's good. It's what I suppose can be themed British Science Fiction, which is to say that it's a lot more high-brow and complex than most North American titles; sufficiently little of non-English Science Fiction is translated for me to make comparisons. At times, the genre strikes me as being intentionally obtuse or difficult, and Dr. Rajaniemi's book also suffers from this at times, but not excessively. There are cyber-punk elements and the concept of human consciousness being something that can be uploaded and stored, resulting in the possibility of immortality and artificial bodies. Charles Stross claims on the cover that Dr. Rajaniemi might be better at the genre than he is. I reserve judgment until the final two books in the trilogy, but the first book is more carefully crafted, if not inherently better in other ways. Still, if you like either author, you might wish to try the other one.
One of the flaws of the book is that the first chapter(s) are a bit heavy and difficult, and also confusing. Dr. Rajaniemi doesn't stop to explain things, either the setting or culture, the science, or the science fiction. It dawned on me that it's been a long time since I've read a book where it was helpful to know what a WIMP or quantum dot or beanstalk was, or understand the basics of public-key cryptography — or where the author took no prisoners and assumed it's being read by educated and intelligent audience. I feel flattered.
The Quantum Thief is filled with neat concepts, some original, some not, but almost all very well done. Time as currency, gevulot, the evolution of gamer clans all appealed to me. Most notably, the night and morning after finishing the book I was pondering about the implications and likelihood of the visions presented, which to me means it's working the way Science Fiction should work.
Some aspects of the world fail to feel feasible or real, and much as with Stross' and Bank's works, once the technology level gets sufficiently high, it's difficult to suspend disbelief as to why the problem at hand can't just be solved with more technology.
The plot, once the reader gets a hang of what's going on with the world, is an action-packed caper. It's very well paced, and competently written. Many proper nouns are shamelessly lifted from Finnish, with relevant meanings. There are strong and very dangerous yet vulnerable women, obsession, dark mysteries, vast conspiracies and all that stuff. I have to admit that I may have not managed to follow the plot and the clues perfectly, but the ending seemed a bit hurried, and some of the more momentous final events left me baffled. (How did they escape the second time? What was the point of transferring the bullets to the Atlases? Why did Pellegrine need the thief?)
While it is the first book of a trilogy, it works quite well as a stand-alone story. Many things are left open, and some intentionally opened at the end, but the main storyline and mission is finished — although I expect that in the second volume we may learn that what we thought the point of the first book was may not have been as obvious as it appeared.
Four out of five.
