Talk:The Quantum Thief

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Outdated?[edit]

Why does this article have the Outdated tag? What extra information needs to be added/updated? Euchrid (talk) 22:05, 21 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Since there seems to be no good reason for it, I'm removing it.Euchrid (talk) 02:46, 1 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

New resources[edit]

I'm presently working on improving the two Supplements to the Jean le Flambeur novels, but I'm finding a good deal of interesting RS material on the novel itself. I'll make some notes here, and come back to incorporate some of this material later -- unless someone else does it first (hint, hint....)

Review by Matt Hilliard a software engineer who has some interesting comments and takes on the novel:

Strong AI, Public key cryptography: "I am a software engineer, however, so I was pleased to see an interesting use of public key cryptography in the story (though I couldn’t tell you if anyone not already familiar with it will make heads or tails of the presentation). More unusually and without explanation, the story seems to take a position against strong AI. It’s never mentioned, but in a novel often reminiscent of Banks it is conspicuous in its absence. There are talking computers aplenty, but they all function using “gogols”, which turn out to be uploaded human minds..."

The Sfnal conversation: "this is a good novel, despite my various complaints. It’s deep in conversation with past stories to an almost unique degree. I doubt I’ve ever referenced so many other works in a review, and out of ignorance I’m sure I’ve missed plenty more..."

Influences: "while reading The Quantum Thief I frequently wondered whether the story reminded me more of William Gibson’s Neuromancer or Iain M. Banks’ Use of Weapons." Also see Rich Horton's review, below

Rich Horton's review:

"First I'll check off a list of possible influences -- or at least the authors of whom I though while reading the novel. The most obvious is Stross himself, and there are definite points of contact with, say, Accelerando. For me, the next writer I thought of was John C. Wright -- the virtual environments in The Quantum Thief recalled Wright's The Golden Age. The rich, somewhat exotic, Mars, and the emphasis on story, reminded me of Ian McDonald's Ares Express. And some of the overall flavor -- though not the prose -- somehow evoked Jack Vance as well. (And as long as I'm listing here, I might add that Adam Roberts adduced the Michael Moorcock of Dancers at the End of Time, and Adam Whitehead suggested Greg Egan and Scott Lynch.)"

Interview of author:

"I already mentioned Zelazny who was a strong influence. Another author I really admire out of science fiction is Ian McDonald, who has this richness of language and imagination that I certainly try to emulate if not completely succeeding in that. There’s some Finnish authors, for example Mika Waltari who I like very much, who is the author of The Egyptian, and he has this sort of grasp of style as well. Apart from Zelazny and McDonald I can’t immediately name any direct science fictional influences.

Obviously there are a lot of deliberate homages to Maurice Leblanc, the creator of Arsène Lupin, his gentleman thief, and those stories as well as Arthur Conan Doyle, but in terms of drawing upon popular culture imagery, a lot of these things have become mythic..." -- Hannu Rajaniemi

2011 Guardian interview:

"The Quantum Thief drew heavily upon some of the strange architectural ideas in Geoff Manaugh's wonderful blog BLDGBLOG – both for strange futuristic cities and architectural ideas applied to the mind. Frances A Yates's book The Art of Memory, on the method of memory palaces, was also an important influence."

-- Pete Tillman (talk) 05:06, 2 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I added in the influences material from Rajaniemi himself, and left the rest of this material unused for now, as perhaps overkill. -- Pete Tillman (talk) 21:51, 3 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Plot Summary[edit]

This plot summary is completely incomprehensible if one hasn't already read this work. I've read it several times but it still makes no sense. It's like it's purposely gibberish. Can anyone write a linear explanation of the storyline of this book? I'm sincerely interested in knowing what this work is about but reading this summary left me more confused than before I read it. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 02:24, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]