Review: The Quantum Thief

Author: Hannu Rajaniemi
Title: The Quantum Thief
Published: 2010
Pages: 336

The Quantum Thief is the debut novel by Finnish writer Hannu Rajaniemi. It follows three characters: first is Jean le Flambeur, a post-human criminal. At the start of the novel he’s in the Dilemma Prison, which is based on the iterated prisoner’s dilemma. He’s broken out by Mieli, a post-human with bags of advanced weaponry like nano missiles. She breaks Jean out of jail and asks for his services for a job. Yet, first Jean must find his memories which he has hidden. The third character is Isidore, a detective who works with the tzaddikim on the moving city on Mars.

In the beginning, there is definitely a period of having to acclimatise yourself to the novel’s bewildering array of technological tricks and treats. You soon get the hang of the bombardment of jargon littering the pages, mainly because of the fast pacing. The whole aspect of post-humans is nothing new in the world of SF but there is a certain panache that I enjoyed. And yes, at times, it can feel like a fantasy but remember what Arthur C. Clarke said about science and magic. In fact, strip away the hard SF and you’ll end up with a heist/detective novel; not a particularly great one but one nevertheless. The major problem with the book is that the sheer volume of the jargon being thrown at you you end up being dazzled by the pretty lights and don’t notice that some of it doesn’t gel.

As a bit of genre flirtation with detective fiction it never quite gets going, mainly because Rajaniemi never really shows Isidore figuring anything out. He’s either thrown into a situation or he’s suddenly got the answer. And with Jean, I wanted a bit more time with him searching and figuring out how to retrieve his hidden memories but they’re handed to him, for the most part. Also the writing is decidedly average, it’s serviceable and it handles the weight of the plot rather well but nothing stands out. It’s like a guitar wielding shredding maniac who has never left the world of garage bands and low rent pubs.

Yet, for all it’s problems, I really enjoyed the novel. There’s next to no exposition or any kind of explanation for the tech featured so, for some, that could be a problem but I went with the flow and very much enjoyed. I liked it for the sheer unwillingness to slow the pace down and explain what the jargon means. Instead of info-dumps it’s more techno-dumps, sure it can be confusing but I have to applaud Rajaniemi conviction of going for it. And I loved the sheer whirlwind feel of it all.

I will definitely be reading the sequel and I hope that while it expands the world it adds a little finesse and time for the characters to breathe.

In the end, The Quantum Thief is a dazzling technological SF thriller that is awash with ideas but, unfortunately, the characters are somewhat lacking.

READ-A-THON 2011: I’m off to bed

haven’t read anything since last time (whoops) and now I feel sleepy.

hopefully I’ll get some reading done in when I wake up

good luck to everyone else!

READ-A-THON 2011: 3rd Update

It’s hour 12 and I’m still here. I started reading at 9:00 pm and finished at 12:06.

I’m still reading The Quantum Thief. I started Wildlife. And I started My Gun is Quick by Mickey Spillane, which has been on my Kindle since last year. It’s pretty lame and, for a pulp novel, it doesn’t have much of a style. Very workmanlike.

Reading Stats:

• The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi – page 252 (+118)
• Wildlife by Richard Ford – page 23
• Lucifer by Mike Carey and various artists – read issues 39, 40 & 41
• My Gun is Quick by Mikey Spillane – Location 626 of 3954

 

READ-A-THON 2011: 2nd Update

I’m still here. Still reading. I started up again at 4:00 pm and then finished at 7:00 pm. I read issue 39, 40 and 41 of Lucifer which completes the four issue ark ‘Naglfar’ and issue 41, ‘Sisters of Mercy’ was a coda to the story. I enjoyed it although I felt it slightly whimpered out at the end but it has started the ball running on a major storyline.

I’m still reading The Quantum Thief. It’s going really well, the thing I like about it is that Rajaniemi doesn’t fall into the trap that a lot of hard SF writers get into which is that they preoccupied with ‘showing off’ their world-building skills rather than concentrating on giving the reader a story or good characters. Once you get past the initial spectacle of the book, it’s really, in essence, a good mystery/detective fiction.

“‘I don’t have any more. It was just a physical object, one of a kind.’

‘Oh crap,’ the monster says. ‘Oh man. That’s way too much. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to – look, I think I can regurgitate it and we can put it back together again–

‘Really, it’s fine.’

‘You know, it was a reflex, this body just has to conform to all kinds of narrative stereotypes.’” - The Quantum Thief, page 77

Reading Stats:

• The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi – page 134 (+60)
• Wildlife by Richard Ford – page 0
• Lucifer by Mike Carey and various artists – read issues 39, 40 & 41

READ-A-THON 2011: Update 1

So, the October edition of Dewey’s READ-A-THON has begun. I started reading at 1:15 pm and finished for my first break at 3:00.

Currently I’m reading The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi, apart from a difficulty opening trying to acclimatise myself to the hard SF world it’s shaping up to be a great novel.

Reading Stats:

• The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi – page 74
• Wildlife by Richard Ford – page 0
• Lucifer by Mike Carey and various artists – issue 39 (collected in Mansions of Silence)

I’ll probably add more as the day goes on but at the moment those are the books I’m reading. I shall write an update every 2-5 hours.

Also, hello and good luck to all the cheerleaders and readers out there. I’m going to visit some blogs now.

Review: Drive

Author: James Sallis
Title: Drive
Published: 2006
Pages: 189

A terse and fragmented tale of a man (Driver) who works as a stunt-driver for Hollywood action films and, on the side, dabbles in criminal activity as a getaway driver. When he helps out a friend on a robbery: people are set-up, things get out of control, people get killed and Driver becomes a force of vengeance.

Written in that pared-down hard-boiled style like the great noir thrillers. It is a prose style that is stripped down to the bare minimum; an economy that reflects Driver’s life. Often the prose turns into a form of call and response: “The pizza smelled good. Nino didn’t.” I love these little moments, they’re like ripostes to the story.

Driver’s life is defined by his vocation, constantly ‘driven’ to go some place else. I suppose, in some ways, he represents the freedom of the open road that constant striving to go. Near the end, he’s asked if he thinks life is chosen replying: “What it feels like to me is, they’re forever seeping up under our feet.” Events seem to happen, Driver is thrown into a retaliatory plot that defines him. The story flashes between past and present, Driver sees life as non-linear like the freedom of driving; you can go anywhere.

While the book and the film adaptation share similarities in plot and its cast of characters; they’re both their own thing. The film is a good example of a successful adaptation, it has the essence but creates a new way of looking at the material.

This isn’t a book with a lot of character development, the supporting cast is barely rendered but as an examination of one man entirely defined by what he does it is well worth a read. Plus it’s short but sweet.

READ-A-THON 2011

I’ve signed up for the October edition of the read-a-thon and I’m pretty excited. This will be my second time since 2009 (when I started this blog in fact, bloody hell). I’m aiming for the full 24 hours.

my reading list will be probably the books I got out from the library.

Library Loot: This Time It’s Personal

 Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

 

Drive by James Sallis

I really enjoyed the film Drive staring Ryan Gosling (and his scorpion print jacket), so when I saw this book nestled between “not interesting book #1″ & “not interesting book #2″ I had to get it. I’ve started it and it is totally different from the film, hell he’s said more in a couple of chapters than in an hour 30 film.

Wildlife by Richard Ford

My library had The Sportswriter, which I wanted to read but I chose this instead because it was shorter in length. It sounds good, here’s hoping.

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

I’ve wanted to read this for ages. Saw it on the bottom shelf of the SF/Fantasy section and quickly snatched it up. Although, to be honest, I’ve never seen anyone look at the SF shelves.

Desert by J.M.G. Le Clezio

This was a nice accident, wanted to read a Clezio since last year but never got around to it.

The Islanders by Christopher Priest

I was going to buy this but then saw it, underneath a whole pile of books waiting for me like some buried treasure.

 

A Book Connudrum

Help!

The new Christopher Priest novel, The Islanders, is out (his first novel since 2002) and I want to read it. Unfortunately, I’ve imposed (kicking and screaming) a book buying embargo yet now I have this great big temptation like chocolate fudge cake staring right in front my drooling mouth. O, such weighty decisions!

Review: Habibi

Author: Craig Thompson
Title: Habibi
Published: 2011
Pages: 672

Just a short review here:

Habibi is the latest comic by Craig Thompson, author of the wonderful Blankets, produced over a period of ten years it follows Dodola and Zam. It’s a magical realist, fairy-tale love story with a major emphasis on the tradition of oral storytelling. From a purely aesthetic p.o.v. I was distinctly impressed, Thompson’s artwork really shines and his mastery of the brush is fantastic. His drawings have a wonderful fluidity and elegance; great use of dry brush technique. His layouts are good, good use of borders and lack of; at times his work reminds me of Will Eisner, although not as good (not many people are). The real star of the show, however, is the design of the book itself; obviously Thompson has studied Arabic calligraphy because the book is filled with beautifully rendered pages of elaborate script. Plus, the actual physical book is stunning; a hefty hardcover acting like a true objet d’art.

From a storytelling perspective, Habibi falls short and, tbh, the hyperbolic reviews don’t help. My main problem is that it suffers with showingoffitis; clearly Thompson has done a bit of research and decided to put everything he learnt into the book. It deprives the story of pacing and adds unnecessary storylines to the plot. I thought the actual plot of the two characters interesting but the real emotional core of their story often got lost through the constant flashbacks and detours through Islamic history lessons. If I was being really cynical, I would think that it’s another case of exoticising a culture. I won’t because there is real passion behind the story but I do have this to say, the whole Arabian Nights trope is getting old.

Great artwork, so-so story.

Favourite R.E.M. songs (Part 2)

Green

1. Get Up
2. Turn You Inside Out
3. Stand

Out of Time

1. Near Wild Heaven
2. Shiny Happy People – I don’t care what anyone says, even the band, this is a great song plus it has Kate Pierson from The B-52′s
3. Belong

Automatic for the People

1. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
2. Nightswimming
3. Try Not to Breathe

Monster

1. Strange Currencies – This should have been as big as Everybody Hurts…it’s also better
2. Tongue
3. Circus Envy

New Adventures in Hi-Fi

1. Electrolite
2. E-Bow the Letter
3. Departure

Up

1. Lotus
2. Hope
3. At My Most Beautiful

Reveal

1. The Lifting
2. Imitation of Life
3. Beachball

Around the Sun

1. Make it all Okay
2. Around the Sun
3. Electron Blue

Accelerate

1. Hollow Man
2. I’m Gonna DJ
3. Living Well is the Best Revenge

Collapse into Now

1. It Happened Today
2. That Someone is You
3. Blue

My Favourite R.E.M. songs (Part 1)

It’s exceptionally hard to narrow down my favourite R.E.M. songs into a top ten so I’ve decided to list my favourite top 3 songs from each album:

Chronic Town

R.E.M.’s first EP and it is a catchy predecessor to Murmur, featuring five songs that show off the wonderfully tight rhythm section of Berry and Mills, the jangly guitar of Buck and the mumbled vocals of Stipe.

1. Stumble
2. Carnival of Sorts (Box Car)
3. Gardening at Night

Murmur

1. Pilgrimage
2. Catapult
3. Laughing

Reckoning

1. Harbourcoat
2. Letter Never Sent
3. South Central Rain (I’m Sorry)

Fables of the Reconstruction

1. Maps and Legends
2. Driver 8
3. Life and How to Live It

Lifes Rich Pageant

1. These Days
2. Swan Swan H
3. I Believe

Document

1. Exhuming McCarthy
2. Strange
3. Lightnin’ Hopkins