The Quantum Thief

By: Hannu Rajaniemi

Narrated by: Scott Brick

The Quantum Thief is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy title. One of Library Journal's Best SF/Fantasy Books of 2011

Jean le Flambeur is a post-human criminal, mind burglar, confidence artist, and trickster. His origins are shrouded in mystery, but his exploits are known throughout the Heterarchy- from breaking into the vast Zeusbrains of the Inner System to stealing rare Earth antiques from the aristocrats of Mars. Now he's confined inside the Dilemma Prison, where every day he has to get up and kill himself before his other self can kill him.

Rescued by the mysterious Mieli and her flirtatious spacecraft, Jean is taken to the Oubliette, the Moving City of Mars, where time is currency, memories are treasures, and a moon-turned singularity lights the night. What Mieli offers is the chance to win back his freedom and the powers of his old self-in exchange for finishing the one heist he never quite managed.

As Jean undertakes a series of capers on behalf of Mieli and her mysterious masters, elsewhere in the Oubliette investigator Isidore Beautrelet is called in to investigate the murder of a chocolatier, and finds himself on the trail of an arch-criminal, a man named le Flambeur....

Hannu Rajaniemi's The Quantum Thief is a crazy joyride through the solar system several centuries hence, a world of marching cities, ubiquitous public-key encryption, people communicating by sharing memories, and a race of hyper-advanced humans who originated as MMORPG guild members. But for all its wonders, it is also a story powered by very human motives of betrayal, revenge, and jealousy. It is a stunning debut.

Critic reviews

“The next big thing in hard SF. Hard to admit, but I think he's better at this stuff than I am.” —Charles Stross

“Many an anglophone author would kill to turn out prose half as good as this…. Reminiscent of the work of Alfred Bester, who produced two of the finest American SF books of the 1950s, The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination. ” —The Financial Times

“A brilliant first novel. The Quantum Thief, like so much of the best space opera of this century, is a prodigy house, where propositions are instant heritage, and arguments are eyeclick.” —John Clute

The Technology Rocks

This book was published four years ago, and while listening to Quantum Thief, I often felt 4 years old. I know that something important is being said, but I am not always able to understand the meaning. I was transfixed by the technology described in the book. To reduce the time it takes to communicate, characters often convey information by sending others a memory or thought. While not unique to this book, “time” is a form of currency and there is a pathetic scene where beggars plead for a few minutes of time to extend their life. The space craft used by the main characters is sentient and enjoys flirting with male passengers. But what did it all mean? Like a four year old, I do not have a clue. So, I clap my hands and squeal at the parts that I enjoyed.

Strange but good.

The story was a little confusing at first, but you learn what all the strange names and terms mean in a sort of organic way as you progress through the story. I would recommend looking some of them up if you get lost.

The use of post-technological sigularity inventions is thrilling and creative, and the characters are interesting. Overall a solid 4/5, possibly 5/5 if you reread it with a better understanding of the background.

The narrator is decent, but doesn't distinguish between various characters very well in comparison to other books I've listened too. Still, an overall pleasurable experience.

Made my head hurt in a good way

loved this story although it was very hard for me to understand. left me wanting to read the next.

good. not a casual read

unique book, a bit confusing
If u dont really like scott brick..dont read this..its hard enough to follow the story if you like him (I do)
not for everyone
very interesting nano-tech notions
and the quantum stuff is delicious

Transhumanist essential advanced

Long after you've mastered kurzweil's transcendent man & delved into relevant NF in theory of language, mind, & nanotechnology... After you've meditated on these things & found yourself wanting more discussion. Then you might be ready for this book. I actually cannot even tell if i truly liked the story or if I was so entranced by the accoutrements. You don't actually have to enjoy where the story takes you if you're adequately prepared for the mindbends. This book finally fuses the fantasy & scifi genres. There's now no need to settle elsewhere for less eminently plausible or less sensational supernatural: this book will make you think so much, it might just leave you indifferent as to the story.