3.5/5 starsNo spoon-feeding, zero exposition, bizarre, high-concept, and utterly compelling.Jean Bizarre Adventure – that should be the title of this series! Let this review serve as an example of Hannu Rajaniemi's storytelling style: zero hand-holding and lightning-fast pacing. This is a relatively short book, clocking in at around a five-hour read, because it cuts out practically every piece of world-building information typically found in sci-fi books. Rajaniemi doesn't spoon-feed his readers...

Why it's ever so slightly discombobulating that I slightly liked this book (a little): ① I was suffering from one of the deadliest, most lethal cases of severe book slump-itis ever when I picked it up.② The story is confusing as all get out (← this might or might not be the understatement of the millennium, just so you know). Every single page is packed with dumbfounding neologisms, mistyfying concepts, cryptic as heck lingo and somewhat baffling terminology. I had no freaking clue what was g...

Back in 2014, my family and I took a trip to Ireland and had an absolute blast. While we were there, we got to see some Gaelic hurling. It's a field game played by these tall, weathered Irish dudes, and it's like a mix of field hockey, lacrosse, rugby, and a full-on brawl – looks brutal as hell. It was a blast to watch, super action-packed, one team won in the end, and I honestly never really figured out what was going on.Reading The Quantum Thief was just like that.Being a sci-fi/fantasy fan, I...

Re-Read 5/6/24: Now on my fourth read, and I'll be honest: few novels truly GET me the way *The Quantum Thief* does. High-speed plotting enmeshed in post-Singularity thievery that includes mind, time-theft, truly high-tech baubles, bodies, AI ships, and Game Theory. Add that to truly erudite writing, clever confabulations of new words, and a truly fluid re-imagining of a society that not only can upload their minds but can re-fashion a whole world and everyone's memories outside of their bodie...

There Will Be Invisibility Lotion For Ugly LoversThis book falls squarely into the \"post-singularity\" sub-genre of science fiction. \"The singularity\" was initially conceived as a hypothetical point in the future beyond which science fiction writers couldn't realistically extrapolate. The core idea is that if we ever fully understand the human mind to the point where we can technologically enhance it, especially in ways that improve our ability to improve minds, we'll trigger a feedback loop ...

Ever wondered what it'd be like to learn quantum physics from a Muppet? If so, then "The Quantum Thief" is... something. It *almost* reads like English. You *almost* understand it. You catch tantalizing glimpses of incredibly creative ideas and characters you'll remember. And then you're hit with sentences like this:"He set his gevulet to q-bomb the sapornov. Nano gogols shot through the web of the quantum lattice, setting a self-replicating sequence into his assailant's exomemory. Only 2 terras...

Reading *The Quantum Thief* is a truly exhilarating experience because it's just overflowing with so many ingenious concepts. It just needs a touch more finesse, a slightly improved pace for revealing information, for letting us truly immerse ourselves in this incredible world that Hannu Rajaniemi has created. It feels so complete, yet utterly alien, and I just needed a bit more of a guide. I like to think I'm a pretty sharp reader, and I definitely appreciate it when authors don't reveal everyt...

"The Quantum Thief" by Hannu Rajaniemi kicks off with a thief in prison, endlessly reliving The Prisoner's Dilemma. Ah, but this one is different, mainly because he doesn't learn. An enhanced woman and her sentient ship break him out for reasons unknown, but before they can get far, the chase is on. In payment for freeing him, the woman and her hidden benefactor have something they want him to steal. Next stop, Mars, where he has to discover his prior identity in an idealistic, privacy-focused ...

After being busted out of the Dilemma Prison by an Oortian warrior named Mieli, legendary master thief Jean Le Flambeur is taken to the Oubliette, one of the Moving Cities of Mars, and tasked with the ultimate heist. Opposing him is a brilliant young detective named Isidore Beautrelet. But there is more to each man's quest than meets the eye... My summary doesn't do the book justice. There are so many ideas crammed into its slim 331 pages. Before Le Flambeur can even get started on his quest, he...

Some authors gently guide you through their stories. Others drop you in the middle of Times Square on New Year's Eve, shove a noisemaker in your face, and bolt. You might eventually find your way through the crowd, even if you're teary-eyed and sniffling like a lost five-year-old. Maybe you'll learn something from the experience (probably that Times Square is full of people desperately trying to sell you comedy show tickets) and come out a little stronger. Or maybe your brain will just break, le...