What do you get when you cross an epic space opera, high end maths, realities, Sherlock Holmes, game theory, Inception, and a bunch of other viral memes? The Quantum Thief.

This was recommended to me after [b:Ninefox Gambit|26118426|Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire, #1)|Yoon Ha Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1446557461s/26118426.jpg|46065520]. A comparative study in far-flung futures with concepts one can barely comprehend. Thanks Brad! I enjoyed this.

In Ninefox you have an unforgiving author who does not care if you know what he's talking about. Sink or swim, and you drown for a while before thinking you understand the meta. Even then, you may not know the meta. C'est la vie. It's a fun ride, regardless.



The Quantum Thief, however, has a more traditional approach. Yes, there is a lot of technology and far far out there notions but they have a certain descriptor or meta tags within the work that allow anyone with some technophysicsacuity to grapple. I'm not saying I got it all, but my little Sapien brain found more toeholds than not.

Alright alright, that's all structural stuff. This is a fun story with a lot of good references embedded in the work. If you want a good mystery, some good twists, some pretty rich characters that while not fully fleshed out here have tendrils towards potential completions later on, you should enjoy this.

This story is partially episodal; you have a pretty well-defined beginning and end of a piece of a puzzle. A teaser for the larger arc manifests only at the beginning and the end. Meaning you can leave it for a while or continue on--I think I'll continue on.