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Jean le Flambeur #1–3 omnibus
The Jean le Flambeur Trilogy: The Quantum Thief, The Fractal Prince, The Causal Angel
This discounted ebundle of the Jean le Flambeur Trilogy includes: The Quantum Thief, The Fractal Prince, The Causal Angel
“The next big thing in hard SF. Hard to admit, but I think he's better at this stuff than I am.” — Charles Stross
The gentleman rogue Jean de Flambeur is part mind burglar, part confidence artist. He’s known throughout the Heterarchy for his amazing galactic exploits, like breaking into the vast Inner System of Zuesbrains.
The Quantum Thief
Jean Le Flambeur’s trapped inside the Dilemma Prison, and must wake up every morning to kill himself before his other self can kill him. Filled with mind-bending science, plus mediations on the nature of reality, these interstellar capers are reminiscent of Maurice Leblanc and the science fictional greats.
The Fractal Prince
A physicist receives a mysterious paper. The ideas in it are far, far ahead of current thinking and quite, quite terrifying. And on the edges of reality a thief, helped by a sardonic ship, is trying to break into a Schrödinger box for his patron. In the box is his freedom. Or not.
The Causal Angel
Discover the ultimate fates of Jean de Flambeur, his employer Miele, the independently minded ship Perhonnen, and the rest of a fractured and diverse humanity flung throughout the solar system in this stunning conclusion.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
“The next big thing in hard SF. Hard to admit, but I think he's better at this stuff than I am.” — Charles Stross
The gentleman rogue Jean de Flambeur is part mind burglar, part confidence artist. He’s known throughout the Heterarchy for his amazing galactic exploits, like breaking into the vast Inner System of Zuesbrains.
The Quantum Thief
Jean Le Flambeur’s trapped inside the Dilemma Prison, and must wake up every morning to kill himself before his other self can kill him. Filled with mind-bending science, plus mediations on the nature of reality, these interstellar capers are reminiscent of Maurice Leblanc and the science fictional greats.
The Fractal Prince
A physicist receives a mysterious paper. The ideas in it are far, far ahead of current thinking and quite, quite terrifying. And on the edges of reality a thief, helped by a sardonic ship, is trying to break into a Schrödinger box for his patron. In the box is his freedom. Or not.
The Causal Angel
Discover the ultimate fates of Jean de Flambeur, his employer Miele, the independently minded ship Perhonnen, and the rest of a fractured and diverse humanity flung throughout the solar system in this stunning conclusion.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
960 pages, ebook
First published August 10, 2018
About the author
Hannu Rajaniemi
17 books1,340 followersEN: Hannu Rajaniemi is a Finnish author of science fiction and fantasy, who writes in both English and Finnish. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is a founding director of a technology consultancy company, ThinkTank Maths.
Rajaniemi was born in Ylivieska, Finland. He holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Oulu, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Physics from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to starting his Ph.D. candidature, he completed his national service as a research scientist for the Finnish Defence Forces.
While pursuing his Ph.D. in Edinburgh, Rajaniemi joined Writers' Bloc, a writers' group in Edinburgh that organizes semi-regular spoken word performances and counts Charlie Stross amongst its members. Early works included his first published short story Shibuya no Love in 2003 and his short story Deus Ex Homine in Nova Scotia, a 2005 anthology of Scottish science fiction and fantasy, which caught the attention of his current literary agent, John Jarrold.
Rajaniemi gained attention in October 2008 when John Jarrold secured a three-book deal for him with Gollancz, on the basis of only twenty-four double-spaced pages. His debut novel, The Quantum Thief, was published in September 2010 by Gollancz in Britain and in May 2011 by Tor Books in the U.S. A sequel, The Fractal Prince, was published in September 2012 by Gollancz and in November 2012 by Tor.
FI: Hannu Rajaniemi on Edinburgissa, Skotlannissa asuva suomalainen tieteiskirjailija, joka kirjoittaa sekäs suomeksi että englanniksi. Rajaniemi on opiskellut matemaattista fysiikkaa Oulun ja Cambridgen yliopistoissa ja väitellyt säieteoriasta filosofian tohtoriksi Edinburghin yliopistossa. Hän on perustajajäsen matematiikan ja tekniikan konsulttiyhtiössä nimeltä ThinkTank Maths.
Opiskellessaan Edinburgissa Rajaniemi liittyi kirjoittajaryhmään, joka järjesti tekstien lukutilaisuuksia. Hänen varhaisia novellejaan on ilmestynyt englanniksi Interzone-lehdessä ja Nova Scotia -antologiassa. Näistä jälkimmäinen kiinnitti Rajaniemen nykyisen kirjallisuusagentin kiinnostuksen vuonna 2005.
Vuonna 2008 Rajaniemi solmi kustannussopimuksen kolmesta romaanista brittiläisen Gollancz-kustantamon kanssa. Valmiina oli silloin ainoastaan romaanin yksi luku. Esikoisromaani The Quantum Thief ilmestyi syyskuussa 2010. Hänellä on näiden kolmen romaanin julkaisusopimus myös yhdysvaltalaisen Tor-kustantamon kanssa. Suomeksi Rajaniemen esikoisteoksen julkaisee Gummerus nimellä Kvanttivaras.
Rajaniemi was born in Ylivieska, Finland. He holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Oulu, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Physics from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to starting his Ph.D. candidature, he completed his national service as a research scientist for the Finnish Defence Forces.
While pursuing his Ph.D. in Edinburgh, Rajaniemi joined Writers' Bloc, a writers' group in Edinburgh that organizes semi-regular spoken word performances and counts Charlie Stross amongst its members. Early works included his first published short story Shibuya no Love in 2003 and his short story Deus Ex Homine in Nova Scotia, a 2005 anthology of Scottish science fiction and fantasy, which caught the attention of his current literary agent, John Jarrold.
Rajaniemi gained attention in October 2008 when John Jarrold secured a three-book deal for him with Gollancz, on the basis of only twenty-four double-spaced pages. His debut novel, The Quantum Thief, was published in September 2010 by Gollancz in Britain and in May 2011 by Tor Books in the U.S. A sequel, The Fractal Prince, was published in September 2012 by Gollancz and in November 2012 by Tor.
FI: Hannu Rajaniemi on Edinburgissa, Skotlannissa asuva suomalainen tieteiskirjailija, joka kirjoittaa sekäs suomeksi että englanniksi. Rajaniemi on opiskellut matemaattista fysiikkaa Oulun ja Cambridgen yliopistoissa ja väitellyt säieteoriasta filosofian tohtoriksi Edinburghin yliopistossa. Hän on perustajajäsen matematiikan ja tekniikan konsulttiyhtiössä nimeltä ThinkTank Maths.
Opiskellessaan Edinburgissa Rajaniemi liittyi kirjoittajaryhmään, joka järjesti tekstien lukutilaisuuksia. Hänen varhaisia novellejaan on ilmestynyt englanniksi Interzone-lehdessä ja Nova Scotia -antologiassa. Näistä jälkimmäinen kiinnitti Rajaniemen nykyisen kirjallisuusagentin kiinnostuksen vuonna 2005.
Vuonna 2008 Rajaniemi solmi kustannussopimuksen kolmesta romaanista brittiläisen Gollancz-kustantamon kanssa. Valmiina oli silloin ainoastaan romaanin yksi luku. Esikoisromaani The Quantum Thief ilmestyi syyskuussa 2010. Hänellä on näiden kolmen romaanin julkaisusopimus myös yhdysvaltalaisen Tor-kustantamon kanssa. Suomeksi Rajaniemen esikoisteoksen julkaisee Gummerus nimellä Kvanttivaras.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 7, 2021
I'm not sure if I am too harsh when giving this book only 3 stars. There were elements that I really liked. Generally, the setting was really interesting, and stock full of original concepts - though perhaps more or less plausible.
Jean le Flambeur is basically a heist story. The main character seems to be inspired by the classical French gentleman thief, Arséne Lupin. Thematically, the narrative is focused around memories and the relationship between memory and identity; self-narratives in particular.
While the heist story is not particularly interesting, it's the world building that makes the book compelling.
To me the most mind-boggling concept in the book is the idea of separation of body and mind. In this version of the future, it is possible to copy peoples' minds and upload them into a computer. This means that not only are people immortal, they are also able to copy themselves (or get copied by others). Bodies are biological hardware, which can be printed.
This raises some pretty fundamental questions about body and identity, which the book skirts around a bit too quickly. What particularly irks me is this scene:
Although the plot is actually really straight forward, I found myself feeling lost and confused a lot of the time, because of vague innuendos and references to historical events in the timeline of the narrative. The whole picture was annoyingly hard to piece together, and not because I was seeing through the eyes of the protagonist, but more because of the vagueness of the language. For the same reason, I also found it hard to imagine what things looked or felt like (what the Hell does a gevulot look like? A cloud? A black silhouette floating in mid air?), because of the vague language.
If you like far fetched future scenarios, the book might be for you. If you like tight storylines and well-rounded characters, maybe just skip it. Read it for the ideas.
Jean le Flambeur is basically a heist story. The main character seems to be inspired by the classical French gentleman thief, Arséne Lupin. Thematically, the narrative is focused around memories and the relationship between memory and identity; self-narratives in particular.
While the heist story is not particularly interesting, it's the world building that makes the book compelling.
To me the most mind-boggling concept in the book is the idea of separation of body and mind. In this version of the future, it is possible to copy peoples' minds and upload them into a computer. This means that not only are people immortal, they are also able to copy themselves (or get copied by others). Bodies are biological hardware, which can be printed.
This raises some pretty fundamental questions about body and identity, which the book skirts around a bit too quickly. What particularly irks me is this scene:
Although the plot is actually really straight forward, I found myself feeling lost and confused a lot of the time, because of vague innuendos and references to historical events in the timeline of the narrative. The whole picture was annoyingly hard to piece together, and not because I was seeing through the eyes of the protagonist, but more because of the vagueness of the language. For the same reason, I also found it hard to imagine what things looked or felt like (what the Hell does a gevulot look like? A cloud? A black silhouette floating in mid air?), because of the vague language.
If you like far fetched future scenarios, the book might be for you. If you like tight storylines and well-rounded characters, maybe just skip it. Read it for the ideas.
May 5, 2021
Perhaps my favourite sci-fi trilogy. It's written in a show-don't-tell style, which means you need to pay more attention than usual, which is pretty fun. I particularly enjoy the hard sci-fi style, and the attempts to stay within the laws of physics.
March 1, 2018
Absolutely essential reading. Almost a survival manual for the coming times....
March 22, 2018
Really enjoyed reading this series! To be honest, I was a bit lost throughout the 1st book but by the 3rd book, I was understanding the universe that Rajaniemi had created.
My main criticisms are that (1) it would have been helpful to have a glossary in each book as especially with the 1st book, I struggled to understand some of the terminology he used and (2) his character building/story telling is a bit weak. I didn't really get a solid feel in my head for the places the story took place in like say, I would from a Peter F. Hamilton or Ursala K. Leguin book. This is a case where the books were not long enough and probably adding another 100 pages to each book might have helped him portray the environment better.
I do look forward to the writer's skills developing with further books and expect to read more from him as it is published.
My main criticisms are that (1) it would have been helpful to have a glossary in each book as especially with the 1st book, I struggled to understand some of the terminology he used and (2) his character building/story telling is a bit weak. I didn't really get a solid feel in my head for the places the story took place in like say, I would from a Peter F. Hamilton or Ursala K. Leguin book. This is a case where the books were not long enough and probably adding another 100 pages to each book might have helped him portray the environment better.
I do look forward to the writer's skills developing with further books and expect to read more from him as it is published.
December 30, 2018
A lot of shifting forms, perspectives, inner stories and reversals which made me loose track and motivation several times.
August 17, 2019
weaves a world out of alot of interesting scientific theories, which plays with multi-world theory, and technological sigularity. as well as all teh cool stuff in post-humanist projections. fun thing that the bad guys are followers of Frank Tipler
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews