nicanical
Hannu Rajaniemi's The Quantum Thief is The Saint meets Jupiter Ascending.
Legendary gentleman thief Jean Le Flambeur is rescued (a shade of him is, anyway) from a prison orbiting Neptune on behalf of entities unknown, and for reasons unknown. Jean successfully argues for a detour to The Oubliette—a Martian city ambling around the red planet like one of Theo Jansen's Strandbeests. This city is where the bulk of the story takes place and it's a good story: well-paced and a fun ride, with creative settings and set pieces, and memorably-portrayed characters (although, they are a skosh cookie-cutter).
Two issues though:
First, some parts could have used more direct exposition, but Rajaniemi prefers the delayed approach. E.g., we learn about "gogols" piecemeal: one chapter shares that they have relationships; another that they are susceptible to "piracy"; and yet another says they are made of code-like "scripts." It's halfway through the book before it's clear that gogols are a form of digitized human consciousness. While delayed exposition can be immersive, it can also be confusing.
Second, Rajaniemi also uses multiple narrative perspectives: Jean in first-person, the rest from third. Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End does the same thing, and it was distracting there too.
Hannu Rajaniemi's The Quantum Thief is The Saint meets Jupiter Ascending.
Legendary gentleman thief Jean Le Flambeur is rescued (a shade of him is, anyway) from a prison orbiting Neptune on behalf of entities unknown, and for reasons unknown. Jean successfully argues for a detour to The Oubliette—a Martian city ambling around the red planet like one of Theo Jansen's Strandbeests. This city is where the bulk of the story takes place and it's a good story: well-paced and a fun ride, with creative settings and set pieces, and memorably-portrayed characters (although, they are a skosh cookie-cutter).
Two issues though:
First, some parts could have used more direct exposition, but Rajaniemi prefers the delayed approach. E.g., we learn about "gogols" piecemeal: one chapter shares that they have relationships; another that they are susceptible to "piracy"; and yet another says they are made of code-like "scripts." It's halfway through the book before it's clear that gogols are a form of digitized human consciousness. While delayed exposition can be immersive, it can also be confusing.
Second, Rajaniemi also uses multiple narrative perspectives: Jean in first-person, the rest from third. Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End does the same thing, and it was distracting there too.
