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A review by rahn
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
4.0
Excellent world building. Leaves a lot to be fleshed out by the reader which is usually the best approach, but leans a bit too far in that direction and doesn't quite hit the sweet spot.
I also have a sweet spot for prose and detail and this book under did it. Which is preferable to overdoing it and making the narrative too long for the action contained therein (China Mieville's Perdido Street Station being a recent example of this from my reading history). But this book was actually too punchy and quick which had the effect of over emphasising the action portions and underplaying the mystery aspects of the novel. I wanted to see the equally, if not more, interesting mystery aspects fleshed out in greater detail. I felt like I was along for the ride with action sequences but not fully on board for the ride in the mystery section. I didn't want the answers explained more or earlier, I wanted more of the background so I could feel like I was working on the same mystery as the characters. To be fair the characters only had small pieces of the mystery at times and were often as lost as the reader. But they did have a little more than the reader that wasn't given to the reader. Structurally the reader is unable to see the bigger picture until the end because of the way the information is buried. It's still possible to see the big picture early and still not know how to solve the mystery which is my preferred style.
If these things above had been more in line with my preferences it would have been 5/5. Everything else was great. Evocative, imaginative, rich, and unusual.
I also have a sweet spot for prose and detail and this book under did it. Which is preferable to overdoing it and making the narrative too long for the action contained therein (China Mieville's Perdido Street Station being a recent example of this from my reading history). But this book was actually too punchy and quick which had the effect of over emphasising the action portions and underplaying the mystery aspects of the novel. I wanted to see the equally, if not more, interesting mystery aspects fleshed out in greater detail. I felt like I was along for the ride with action sequences but not fully on board for the ride in the mystery section. I didn't want the answers explained more or earlier, I wanted more of the background so I could feel like I was working on the same mystery as the characters. To be fair the characters only had small pieces of the mystery at times and were often as lost as the reader. But they did have a little more than the reader that wasn't given to the reader. Structurally the reader is unable to see the bigger picture until the end because of the way the information is buried. It's still possible to see the big picture early and still not know how to solve the mystery which is my preferred style.
If these things above had been more in line with my preferences it would have been 5/5. Everything else was great. Evocative, imaginative, rich, and unusual.