Derek Kunsken’s The Quantum Magician is, at its heart, a heist caper interwoven with some hard sci-fi, which is admirable in its ambition, but ultimately somewhat uneven.

Kunsken’s future universe sees humanity colonising other worlds via a system of wormholes. The wormholes are controlled by powerful patron states who use weaker client states to, basically, do their bidding including fight their wars. Several branches of humanity have evolved, not naturally, but through genetic engineering; Homo Quantus are able to effectively see the universe at a quantum level which gives them superior mental abilities; Homo Eridanus have been engineered to live deep underwater where the pressure is immense; and Homo Pupa, disturbingly, were engineered to revere their masters, a people called the Numen, as gods, an act that backfired on the Numen mightily as the Homo Pupa, referred to as Puppets, now hold the few remaining Numen captive in order to properly worship them. Amongst these various branches of humanity are artificial intelligences; fully formed artificial personalities who exist as full members of society.

Belisarius Arjona is a Homo Quantus who makes his living running scams. And he’s very good at it, so good that he has acquired the nick-name ‘The Magician.’ His latest job, though, is an unusual one; he’s been hired to get a client state’s fleet of warships through the wormhole controlled by the puppets so they can begin a rebellion against their patron state. This particular fleet, which had been missing for forty odd years, has developed a new technology which gives them a tactical advantage over their patrons and they intend to use it.

There’s a lot to like about The Quantum Magician. The author’s efforts to create something new and unique are commendable, even if they don’t always work. The plot is pretty tight and the heist part of the book plays out very well. Kunsken is able to explain strange and difficult concepts very well so that they are easily readable and, while the first third of the book is a little slow, once the action starts it moves along at a pretty good pace.

The concept of the Homo Quantus is great. Their evolution makes sense and it makes for some potentially very interesting characters. The Homo Pupa and Homo Eridanus, however, don’t work quite as well. The concept behind the Puppets is interesting, and also provides some opportunity to explore the darker side of human nature, but they do not develop as a fully rounded culture or, indeed, as individuals. They end up being something of a caricature. The concept of the Homo Eridanus and the reasoning for their engineering don’t quite hold up for me. It feels like they are there just for the sake of having something different.

Similarly the patron/client relationship is not explored in any great detail nor do we really learn anything about this fleet that has been missing for forty years. We know nothing of their relationship with their patron state nor the nature of their mission when they first went missing. They are just there.

The most interesting character was the Scarecrow; a special ops agent who is an AI, but developed from a human brain. The concept is very cool and had the potential for an exciting showdown between the Scarecrow and Belisarius. Sadly the potential of the Scarecrow is never fully developed and its involvement in the story is almost incidental.

But the biggest problem with this book is the lack of character development. The first third of this book is taken up by Belisarius putting together his team for the job, yet we learn very little about any of them. For instance, one of the team, William, we learn has a terminal disease and he sees this job as his last opportunity to provide for his daughter; however, we never meet his daughter and we learn nothing about their relationship. It’s difficult to develop any empathy with characters that you know nothing about. Even Belisarius gets very little development. The unfortunate effect of this, at least for me, is that you don’t really care whether they pull the job off or not. You don’t become invested in their success. My understanding is that the book was originally published as a series of short stories, so I wonder if that has something to do with the lack of character development.

In spite of all this, I did enjoy the Quantum Magician. It is an interesting story and the universe created by Kunsken, while a little uneven in its execution, is interesting and original. I hope Kunsken continues to explore this universe because I think there could be a lot of interesting stories to be told, and I think Kunsken has the talent and ability to write something really great.

The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have no problems raving about this book. It has everything I love about SF and then I get the best things I love about the thriller/mystery genre.

HEISTS.

At first, I believed this was written as a homage or a more accessible version of Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief, and I was right... to a degree. It forwent the truly odd stuff and gave us a readable and full explanation of quantum mechanics and name-dropped a few more while throwing us into a more widespread future that never quite touched the singularity.

In other words, it had odd cultures and odder branches of humanity but it still felt a lot like everything we know. Bruisers coming in the form of gene-modded humans able to withstand punishing pressure, a technician in the form of insane AI who think he is a Saint from three thousand years ago or an inside man who is a part of a whole people modded to worship everything about self-torture as a religious experience.

Add our mastermind who is a broken quantum computer (in the old sense) who ought to be able to go into a fugue state and savant his way through any difficult problem except for the tiny detail that it hospitalizes him, and we've got an MC who needs a social challenge big enough to tax his brain without busting it.

There's a lot of great gallows humor here. A truly wild backdrop of space-opera with wormholes, big space-fleet conflict, and empires who all think they're the most formidable foes in the playground. What could go wrong?

Well, as it turns out, a lot, but the ride is fun as hell. After all, it's a HEIST! :) :)

There are times, now and again, when I wish I wasn’t so stubborn.

There are times when I wish I could bring myself to put down a book I’m not enjoying rather than being determined to see it through.

This was one of those times. Unfortunately, I stuck with it, adamant I was going to see The Quantum Magician through to the end.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m certain there was an intricate world, complex characters and deep yet meaningful relationships present.

I just had no idea what they were.

Information overload
There was just too much science. Which, for a science-fiction book, may be the most ironic sentence I’ve ever written.

But seriously, it was overwhelming, confusing and stopped me from engaging with the plot and the characters. I’m all for knowledge to be inserted into a book, but it should be a subtle art; woven into the plot in such a way you don’t notice it. Otherwise, surely it is just exposition? Or an author showing off what they know?

I stayed with this book, however, because the writing was good quality. There were some complex characters in there, flawed with the potential to grow. Their relationships with one another developed and twisted, with truth, lies and love woven into bonds of friendship.

There were some high speed chases and deep questions about religion. Characters won. Characters lost. And characters were broken along the way.

The big issue is that I had no idea about the plot. I’m certain there was a heist taking place, because that’s the premise of the entire book. I don’t know what said heist was – I can perhaps guess at it in a nutshell, but if I’m right, how did it take an entire book just for that one thing?

There were certain scenes that I literally cannot tell you what purpose they served other than allowing the reader into a character’s head. If they fitted in with the con, I don’t know how. Why plant a load of explosives under ice then, as far as I’m aware, they were never detonated? Or, perhaps, they were and I never realised? Either way, I think that rests my case about my understanding of the plot.

With no working knowledge of quantum mechanics (I’m not even certain it was quantum mechanics…it was quantum something, which I might have just interpreted because of the title), I had no idea what the breakthroughs were that the characters were experiencing. I didn’t know what they wanted, what they were searching for, and without knowing what makes a character tick, you lose any empathetic connection with them.

I know there was quality there in this book. But, personally, for me? It was effort to read this, feeling like I was forcing myself through a science book rather than being able to indulge in a story that was conquering time and space while making everyone look the other way.

A disappointing read: I’ve never felt so lost in a book before.

Overall a good read. The group of characters each had their own voice, which took some talent. But it seemed to me to be a contrived group. Kind of like a Boy Band. Each one chosen to be quirky and independent instead of actual people the main character would have interacted with. This, coupled with a bit of a shallow plot, left me wanting more.

It is a worthwhile read, and is set up to be a series. I'll read the second installment when it's out and see how it has improved.

The multifarious, space-faring human civilization Derek Künsken envisions for his debut novel The Quantum Magician relies on a network of wormholes to move from system to system. Powerful patron nations control all the wormholes while subordinate client nations must contract with patrons to use them. The Sub-Saharan Union, a small client nation, longs for independence from the hegemonic Congregate, which controls access to the only wormhole to and from their planetary system. For decades the Union’s Sixth Expeditionary Force, made up of obsolete, second-hand warships, developed advanced weapons and propulsion technology in secret. To launch their attack before the Congregate learns of its existence, the Sixth needs to cross a wormhole axis controlled and defended by the Federation of Puppet Theocracies. The Puppets want half the Union’s souped-up warships as payment for passage across the axis, a price too high for the Union to pay. Trying to force their way across the axis would end with more of their ships destroyed or damaged than they would have lost if they had made the deal.
Enter homo quantus Belisarius Arjona, one of an engineered human sub-species whose brains are essentially quantum computers. Belisarius is an exile from his own people, a free agent who uses his quantum intellect to pull off complex confidence schemes for paying clients. The Union hires Belisarius to do the impossible: move the entire Sixth Expeditionary Force across the Puppet axis without the Puppets knowing it. To do so, Belisarius needs to assemble a team comprising all the various sub-species humans have engineered over the centuries, each bringing a unique skill set to the table. But Belisarius has something more personal at stake in the outcome than he can let on, and the slightest miscalculation could mean sacrificing himself and everyone he cares about.
The future history Künsken conjures is a dizzying miracle, so expansive and packed with detail, yet we still get the feeling the author is only scratching the surface. The structure of the heist story, in which “getting the band together” occupies a significant portion of the narrative, is perfect for sneaking in plot-dependent infodumps: someone always needs something explained to them in such scenes. Meanwhile, Künsken keeps dropping brain-blistering science-fictional concepts on the reader, because why settle for one cool idea when several dozen will do. The Union’s ships are powered by virtual particles that jump in and out of existence and carry an inflationary force akin to the expanding universe. It's the kind of concept sci-fi authors build entire novels around, but Künsken just tosses it into the bin like he’s got plenty more to spare.
Crime caper stories are reliant on sleight of hand; the plot of The Quantum Magician features the requisite double blinds and bait-and-switches, disseminated with a proficiency and confidence expected of a veteran author (Künsken has been publishing short fiction for over a decade). I must admit that I preferred watching the dominoes line up to watching them fall. Once Belisarius and his crew set the plan in motion, the story hits all its marks, but the execution feels a little perfunctory. What the novel gets right, though, is that its band of gene-engineered ne’er-do-wells, and especially Belisarius, are desperate to find meaning in their lives and willing to risk everything to get it. Pulling that off is the long game The Quantum Magician plays well.

Not what I expected. Reading how The Quantum Magician has many many rave reviews, I am surely in the minority. Normally I'm a big fan of Hard Sci-Fi books, but for me, the Hard Science was simply too 'hard' for me to grasp. After 45% into the book I had to admit defeat as I was by then barely able to keep track of the rather intriguing story line and well drawn characters. Due to how the plot is developed, I still recommend the book, just be aware, at the start of the book the science of the story requires heavy doses of patience and perseverance.

I was overjoyed to come across this on a 'best books of October list' that I instantly grabbed a copy as it sounded right up my reading street. I have a soft spot for science fiction so long as it has an original and intriguing premise, and this most certainly did. I mean, what could be better than the heist of a lifetime... in space? Trust me, you have never read a book like this before. Make no mistake, this is hard science fiction at its absolute best, and a simply magnificent full-length debut! If you're a lover of Yoon Ha Lee's 'Ninefox Gambit' or think you'd enjoy Ocean's Eleven set in space, then I urge you to pick this up!

Being a total nerd, I loved the scientific discussion throughout the story from which it was evident that the author knew exactly what he was talking about. The inclusion of the science-y parts made the whole thing feel wonderfully authentic and more believable. The characters are beautifully drawn, and I really cared what happened to each of them. I also appreciated the humour that was sprinkled through the pages. Intelligently written, suspenseful and a wholly satisfying conclusion - this was a fun read!

If you're a fan of the genre and in particular scientifically accurate sci-fi, this is absolutely unmissable! It ticked every box in what I look for in a book from this genre. It deserves a wide readership as it's a pleasure to read, exciting and had me thinking that it would make a perfect series. Stunningly imaginative and grounded in real science/physics which makes it all the more interesting, there isn't a single aspect of the story I didn't enjoy! I feel I really can't get over just how great this book, so if it sounds like your cup of tea, just read it! In my opinion, Künsken has shown he has the potential to have a long and distinguished writing career. I for one will keep my eyes open for more from him in the future.

Many thanks to Solaris for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

A long con involving three dispirit divergent homo sub-species, a self described divine AI, a dishinged bomb maker, a delinquent geneticist, a dying con man, and a démodé fleet leapfrogging technology with an eleven year cycled paired time traveling wormhole.

Hard science fiction that starts as a slow read until the brain can wrap around the nuances, then it pops big time. I absolutely loved it.

Enough detailed science for the geek at heart to sift through; exquisite characters; the requisite divergence, subjugation and domination of the different factions; and cringingly: The Puppets.

The Quantum Magician is Canadian author Derek Künsken's sci-fi debut novel. Originally serialized in three parts in early 2018 in the magazine Analog Science Fiction, it's a rollicking blend of space travel, transhuman evolution, space-time travel, and an impressive heist. Employing that time-honored trope of a crew of vagabonds drawn together in space to do a job, Künsken has put together a fun tale with plenty of humor. The speculative tech fiction and very theoretical physics were also engaging and the author platformed his imagination off of real science, which is always something I enjoy in sci-fi. If you ever wanted to see a sort of Ocean's Eleven set in space, this would be your novel. But Belisarius Arjona, a Homo quantus, is a con man like none you've ever met before, as he is an engineered man capable of exploiting quantum probabilities.

I'm not sure if it was the oddly paginated structure of my review copy but my one criticism of the novel is that I felt it could have been more tightly edited. Having not had the pleasure of reading the Analog serial installments, I am not sure how much re-editing went into the full length novel, which looks to be about 500 pages. There is, however, plenty of space left for further installments! ;)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book... It's premise, it's characters and the dialog. Suspenseful plot, with diabolical bad guys and a chilling future if their nefarious goals are realized. The book is intelligently written, which is always a big draw for me. Hard to put down, with a satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.

For a while now, I’ve been eschewing posthumanism. Walking on the wild side of nanotechnology was starting to get too much like science fantasy for my tastes. The Quantum Magician is an exception that I’m happy I made: Derek Künsken’s story of a genetically engineered con artist is delightful, and it explores posthumanist ideas in a way that feels fresh. Although I wouldn’t say any of the characters (not even the protagonist) endeared themselves to me, the plot is enjoyable and thought-provoking.

Belisarius Arjona, or “Bel” to his friends, is a Homo quantus. In this far future universe, humanity has tinkered with genetic engineering, producing such offshoots as the Numen (who created the reviled Puppets), the Tribe of the Mongrel (aka Homo eridanus), and Bel’s own subspecies. The Homo quantus have biological adaptations that help them sense not just magnetic fields but quantum states. Bel is capable of entering a fugue state where his consciousness decoheres, leaving an intellect of pure quantum computation. Bel has parted ways with the project that created him, and he lives on his own, pulling cons for organizations large and small to keep his brain occupied. When a military hires him to con their fleet through a wormhole junction, he has to assemble a rag-tag group of misfits to pull it off. Oh yeah, there’s a “getting the team together” part to this book, and it delivers.

The Quantum Magician actually is rather formulaic when you look at it from a macro view. The thing about formula is that it’s good when it’s used the way Künsken uses it, i.e., to ground the reader in an otherwise unfamiliar setting. The same might be said for something like The Lies of Locke Lamora, wherein Lynch likewise exploits the familiar tropes of a con artist team in order to spin a much more fantastic yarn. That’s what’s happening here: strip away the fancy terminology, the genetic engineering, the AIs who think they are reincarnated saints … and you just have a con. You have a caper. It’s Ocean’s Eleven but in space in the far future and with wormholes and so, so much better as a result.

I love the pacing in particular. The book builds and builds and builds, but it never feels like it’s running slow. Künsken never infodumps. Each chapter is a new scene, a new place, as we follow Bel on his travels to assemble his team, and each visit brings new ideas and new information to the forefront. It’s like a whistle-stop tour, and it hints at this big, rich universe beyond that we don’t get to explore as much as we might want. Leave them wanting more! Finally, after we have the team and the walkthrough and the twists and betrayals, there is an action-packed climax that actually got me worried for a moment about how the con would go. There are a lot of moving parts, and I’m impressed with how Künsken brings everything together.

As I mentioned earlier, the handling of posthumanism is quite well done. Obviously there’s Bel himself. We meet another Homo quantus, old flame Cassandra, whose opinions of their genetic engineering are very different from Bel’s. This juxtaposition is really nice, and it lets us consider the pros and cons of what Bel and Cassandra are capable of doing. It also sets up a romance that is, in my opinion, quite well done because of its subtlety. It’s there, but it isn’t a big focus in the story.

In addition to Bel, each member of the team embodies other posthuman qualities. Some, like Del Casal and Maria, might not be as obvious—they are closer to baseline human, but they live in a posthuman world and are used to interacting with posthumans. William’s conversion into a faux Numen, and his relationship with Gates-15 and the other Numen–obsessed Puppets, takes us down quite a chilling and disturbing rabbithole. Then we have Stills, the Homo eridanus, in whom Künsken explores how far from baseline human we can get and still be “human”. While we learn relatively little about the origins of these projects, who oversees them, etc., it’s clear that in this universe, humanity remains a dynamic, fractured, squabbling civilization that just happens to have some wormhole junctions nowadays. It’s fantastic.

If, like me, you are a sucker for a good con story, you need to check out The Quantum Magician. It’s posthuman SF blended with con artistry, with fun characters, lots of swearing, and perfect pacing and action.

Review will be published on Goodreads on Oct 3.

This is your typical Hard Science Fiction title with the twist that our hero is a con man. But usually it means that the plot is quick, alas here the usual info dump of Hard SF is present. Why try to adapt ill-understood cutting edge physic ?
Invent your own physic if you want, the reader is forgiving when you stick to your own rules.

The Quantum Magician is a heist story, where the con is to get 12 military ships across 320 light years via a heavily protected wormhole. To achieve this, the mastermind is Bel, a human variation with Quantum computing capabilities, and his team of geniuses and other human variants. The book had a slow start and a slightly weak end, but the team's interactions and the energy of the action once the heist starts is compelling, as well as the uniquely quantum nature of the con, which was explained pretty clearly too. The most compelling things about this novel are probably the lives imagined for the various genetic sub species of humans - horror inducing in the puppets and Numens, and sympathetic swagger in the Mongrels, I felt the Homo Quantus themselves were a bit too monk like for my tastes, but I appreciate how their unique nature tied in to the plot. A decent caper all in all.

Seriously, I did (see title). I really, really wanted to like The Quantum Magician, by Derek Künsken. The book has a fantastic premise, a cool world, awe inspiring physics, and a story that I was genuinely invested in. Unfortunately, in addition to all of this it has one of the most unlikable protagonists I have read in recent years. I can tell that he was supposed to be unlikable, he’s a rogue with loose morals, but you succeeded a little too well Künsken. Our lead, Belisarius (or Bel), cruises into the unlikable zone with relative ease in the first 50 pages - but then just keeps on trucking into utter bastard in the next 100. Disclaimer, I only got about 50% of the way through this book before I put it down - but I feel informed enough to extrapolate my feelings from the first half. If another reviewer out there has read the full book, which would be hard as I only received it as an ARC from the lovely people at Solaris in exchange for a honest review (sorry guys), and thinks the second half is god's gift to literature - I will happily read the second half and amend this review. However, until then I am sticking to my guns and using them to blow this novel out of the sky.

We start on a high note. The premise of The Quantum Magician is a cool one: in a world ruled by massive federations of planets, a rogue world wants to smuggle an advanced fleet of warships across contended space to wage a war of independence. In order to do this, they have hired our protagonist, Belisarius - the quantum magician, who is known to perform miracles when it comes to retrieving or moving materials. Belisarius is indeed an incredible con-man/thief, but he is accustomed to stealing/moving things slightly smaller than a fleet of spaceships. There is a fun hint of mystery in the story, as initially it is very unclear as to why this rogue group even wants to move these warships. They seem wildly outdated, underpowered, and seem to have a very strange and confusing design. Thus, for our protagonist, this job represents both a mystery to unravel (why they want to move the ships) and potentially his greatest accomplishment - a crime to go down in legend. To pull this feat off, Belisarius will use a plethora of tricks and cons that revolve around quantum physics - which he does a good job explaining. Unfortunately, he does it with a smarmy and condescending attitude that makes it hard to take his commentary seriously.

I was originally attracted to Bel. You learn early on that he is a genetically engineered human who can manually enhance his brain to view quantum states. It sounded fairly similar to someone with high functioning autism, and I was looking forward to a story from that perspective. The problem with Bel is that, while he has the skills of an incredible con-man, he has the charisma of a sack of mud and the arrogance of an American hedge fund manager just prior to 2008. When he enhances his brain, he essentially redirects processing power from other parts of his intelligence into specific areas. As a result, he can momentarily become the greatest physicist in the universe in exchange for being absolute garbage at everything else - such as human interaction. Künsken demonstrates this effect through tons of moments in the book where Bel solves an extremely complicated problem, but comes off like an unlikable jackass. The issue with this is it essentially soured all the emotional payoff in the book. Every single time that Bel did something cool that won my affection, he immediately said something cringe worthy that curb stomped my budding love. This lessens the various climaxes throughout the book and made me slowly come to resent Bel.

Bel’s lack of social graces are a seriously problematic design choice for me, and it made it hard to recommend The Quantum Magician. However, if you aren’t bothered by his holier-than-thou attitude there is a lot here to still like. The science is realistic, cool, and explained in a way that anyone can understand it - which takes real talent. The world piqued my curiosity, and who doesn’t want to read a story about smuggling a fleet of warships? Apparently me, when it is told from the POV of a complete dick.

Rating: The Quantum Magician - 4.0/10
-Andrew

The Quantum Magician is pure entertainment. When a space heist must be pulled, it's natural to want to best team to succeed. The motley gang author Derek Kunsken creates is fascinating and has the potential for so many spin-offs. The female members of the team seem to have been afterthoughts because their stories are nearly as well-rounded as the others, but perhaps that is simply my own bias because I like to see strong female characters, especially in science fiction.

The science in The Quantum Magician all seems very plausible, even if a little heavy-handed at times. Not having an extensive background in physics or mathematics, I found myself re-read some passages in order to fully understand them. When not mired in the depths of science, the writing is brisk and the world building is superb. If you enjoy truly science-based science fiction, this is the perfect book for you.

This is the story of a heist in space. It follows the usual formula: guy puts together a team, each member is quirky and has a different set of skills that makes them valuable to the operation, they plan, something goes wrong, they improvise, there are turns, twists, someone double-crosses everybody, the heist succeeds, or not… But if the setup is familiar, the setting is wildly original. The quirky team includes Homo Quantus, a new kind of being that can manipulate the universe in ways that has never been done before, an AI called Saint Matthew, a “puppet” which is a species engineered by mankind and, my favorite, a guy from a species known as “mongrels” which are basically manatees. Why could I not get into this novel if it’s so original and well written? I have to say it’s not the book, but me. I enjoy science fiction but this is HARD science fiction with a heavy emphasis on the science. Many explanations went over my head. There are long philosophical conversations that had my attention wandering and eventually I lost the thread of the plot and then all became confusing. Some parts are very suspenseful and I enjoyed them, but mostly I fear that I’m the wrong kind of reader for this. If you like hard science fiction, this is undoubtedly an excellent novel. If you’re just a casual fan, maybe it won’t work so well for you.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ Rebellion Publishing!

I couldn't get going with this book., probably just my impatience to get through the set up and into the action

This book had all the things I thought I wanted, really memorable characters, a heist/con-man situation, and a sci-fi setting. However, I found myself getting bogged down in some of the more complex explanation and glancing over them all together. This book will find it enthusiastic and dedicated readers amoung hard sci-fi fan, just not this one!

DNF. It's overly technical, you're dumped in the middle of things and you don't understand anything at all. Both the writing and the characters aren't compelling, and you keep asking yourself "why the heck I'm still reading this?
The idea at the base is nice, so maybe a rewrite is what's needed.

I absolutely loved this book - a beautifully crafted version of the future - lots of intrigue and a number of unexpected twists - I hope there are more books to come in this series