Review: The Quantum Thief (The Quantum Thief Trilogy #1) by Hannu Rajaniemi

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

Copy Courtesy of Tor Books
Already Released

Summary
Jean Le Flambeur is a thief with perhaps no equal except that he was caught, but then he was rescued by Mieli (she's mysterious). He now owes a debt to Mieli, but he must first find out who he, himself is, because before he was caught, Jean hid his own memory from himself.

Commentary
I am torn as to the actual rating I should give this book since it had moments of brilliance, but also moments of confusion. Granted, I think that if I read this book a second time it would make more sense.

The confusion mostly stems from 1) too many character viewpoints - there are over 5 different viewpoints we encounter in this book, and some of them are characters who we meet only once (although they are mentioned in passing later on) and 2) too many concepts introduced without any real explanation of what these concepts mean. We are introduced to 3 vastly different races and cultures each with their own terminology for things, and while this is a credit to the world building of the author, it is also very disorienting to read and follow for a good 50+ pages.

Of course the brilliance must also be noted, the world building, it's very extensive. Once I could wrap my head around what was going on with who and what, the concepts were a lot of fun to read about and imagine especially the idea that privacy was built into your senses so that if you didn't want to share what you looked like while in public, you would simply appear as a blur to everyone around you. The plot itself is woven out of many moving parts which come together really well and in quite unexpected ways.

So, this review is getting a bit long-winded, but I think The Quantum Thief is worth reading for those who enjoy hard sci-fi.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.