I expected to like this more than I did. Maybe it's that I'm not familiar enough with quantum theory to really appreciate aspects of it. I felt somewhat the same way regarding Catherine Asaro's "The Quantum Rose" - the plot is supposed to illustrate the behavior of quantum particles, but to me it just seemed like a fantasy novel.
Still, I don't think my issues with the book really had to do with the math. I found the continual present tense it's written in distancing.
It's also an introduction to a very complex world, with tons of interesting and very alien tech, different cultures, even different levels of reality. It has a lot of characters. Introducing all of these smoothly; letting a reader slide into the world without didactic explanations, while still letting the reader know the essentials, is a difficult task - and one that I didn't feel was always successfully executed. I like the lack of overt explanation, but there were moments where I was confused, or just couldn't fully picture what was going on due to lack of information. This also applies to the main character, a man who can't remember significant portions of his memory and past. It can be hard to get to know a character who doesn't even know himself. More in-depth characterization in general would have been good, especially considering that so much of the plot has to do with questions of identity (who are "you" if who you are can be downloaded, edited, transferred...?)
These things aside, this is still quite a good book, especially for a debut novel. Once I started to get to know the world and its functioning, it got pretty interesting. I assume a sequel is on the way...

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Charles Stross has a blurb on the cover of this book, claiming that Rajaniemi is better at this stuff than he is. This stuff is the wild imagination of post-human existence, where its possible for minds to be removed from biological systems and shuffled around into other systems. Where the engineering of life and intelligence itself leads to novel social systems that can both crush and celebrate individuality. And Stross is right... Rajaniemi did manage to out-Stross Sci-Fis current post-human master.

But was it good? Yeah, actually it was. The story itself is a dual plotline one, following a detective through one thread, and a thief through the other. The detective and the thief dont meet for most of the book, their struggles are really directed against the bizarre system they find themselves in. The images Rajaniemi paints are vibrant and interesting; and the ideas his social systems are based upon are equally fascinating. Its a book that can really make you think, though not about any topics that are likely to lend much meaning to your life in the 21st century.

As is true with all the post-human books Ive ever read, its really easy to get confused. And the existence of two plotlines means that details vanish from my brain from one chapter to the next, which doesnt help at all. Rajaniemi also introduces a large vocabulary as he discusses his world, most of which has initially only the vaguest of contextual definition. My advice is to not worry about this and keep reading, the definitions of those words come throughout the bulk of the novel.

If youve enjoyed post-human stuff in other novels, youll probably like this one. Its definitely well-crafted.

4 of 5 stars.

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