A Quantum Murder (Greg Mandel) (ISBN 0330330454)

Better than Mindstar rising:
Well, here we have the sequel to Mindstar Rising. It has many of the same characters, bringing some old favorites back for a second book. Overall, this book is 3 stars. Some elements were better than others, obviously. The characters were good, though Eleanor still seems to have no personallity whatsoever. The plot was inplausible, at best, and hard to believe. The writing style was still very interesting, and is, in fact, the only reason that I finished this book at all. A murder mystery set in future England, with not one but several odd twists. Not good twists really, nor believable, but not too farfetched, if you have a very, very open mind. (I think I'll leave it at that.) One of the best things about this book though was the fact that the author obviously took some pains to follow semi-known physics, and tried not to bend the laws of the universe too far. Also, even though these things play a major part in the story, the aren't the dominating feature. So, for those of you not interested in theoretical quantum physics, or cosmology, this book won't bore you to tears. All in all, it flowed (to me at least) better than Mindstar Rising, even if the storyline was a little thin in several places. I also found the discription of the inside of an insane seriel killer's mind quite interesting; it really makes you wonder. So, if you liked the first book, chances are that this one will appeal to you as well.

Second Book of a Very Good Trilogy:
The three books in Peter F. Hamilton's Greg Mandel series were written before his "Night's Dawn" series. I'm not certain of this, but they seem to occur in the same universe as that series, just at a MUCH earlier time. Regardless, this series is excellent. What's especially nice, is that, for the most part, each of these books stands alone. You still need to read them in order, but none of them ends in a cliff-hanger requiring your reading of the next. Unfortunately, each of these books has a few fairly explicit sexual situations described in them. The amount of sex increases as you move from book to book. If it weren't for that, I'd recommend these books for everyone. "Mindstar Rising" is the first book in the series. It's a very good, fast-paced sci-fi action thriller. The book introduces all the important characters and the "universe" used throughout the series. For the most part, the character development is good. I have a few qualms about a character or two suddenly being more capable than they are during the majority of the book, but that's mostly inconsequential. The plot, too, is very good. However, the transition between the first, introductory, situation in the book and the primary situation could have been worked better: it seems contrived. But, I might be seeing that solely because I've read the book four times now. "A Quantum Murder" is the second book in the series. This book takes place about three years after "Mindstar Rising." Instead of being the science-fiction action thriller that the first book is, it's more of a science fiction mystery. It's a close call, but I think this book is slightly better than "Mindstar Rising." Once again, there's good character development, but this time, the plot is somewhat more tightly put together. I've only got a couple of quibbles: first, in one scene, Mandel's psi powers inexplicably include actual telepathy instead of just the empathy described in "Mindstar Rising." And, second, after the characters find out who the murderer is, instead of sending the police out immediately, they close up shop for the night and say they'll do it in the morning. Other than that, this is an excellent book which shows the origins of a lot of the technology in the "Night's Dawn" series. "The Nano Flower" is the third, and final, book in the series. The various dates specified in the book don't quite agree, but, in general, it seems to takes place about 16 years after "A Quantum Murder." Like "Mindstar Rising," it's a sci-fi action thriller. Like "A Quantum Murder," it further develops technologies that Hamilton uses in his "Night's Dawn" series. Also, as in "A Quantum Murder," Mandel's psi-powers have once again expanded. Of the three books, this is probably the best. It's a hard comparison to make since the second book is more of a mystery and this book more of an action-thriller. But, in general, I'd say there's an incremental improvement in these books as you move through the series (all of them are very good, though).

Very nice follow-up to Mindstar Rising:
Hamilton delivers another solidly entertaining novel with A Quantum Murder. In this book, Greg Mandel is called back to the service of Julia Evans to solve the mystery of a murder that it appears nobody has committed. It is not long into the investigation before the political involvement and strange case features make it clear that this is no ordinary case... Although the writing is very smooth in A Quantum Murder (smoother than in Mindstar Rising, actually) I still found it a little bit of a letdown after the first book. In Mindstar Rising Hamilton played with mystery genre characteristics-- in A Quantum Murder the book is driven by them. Despite the futuristic technology, this book had significantly less scifi elements than the first. The plot was also quite a bit simpler and significantly more hackneyed in several places. I liked the first book in the series precisely because it combined the two genres (mystery and science fiction) very effectively. I suspect that A Quantum Murder will generally appeal more to mystery fans who are more tolerant of the genre's standard flaws than it will to science fiction readers. Still, I found it an absorbing read which kept the pages turning very quickly.

Adventurous Speculative SciFi:
This author writes a well paced book. If you like the idea of Gland Psychics, Hardliners (body guards) and Cyber technology, this one is fun. Good characterisation and a story wonderful!! More speculative SciFi please.

Not Free SF Reader:
Chest mangled cosmologist investigation. The growing corporate power Event Horizon is again involved here, as one of its star researchers is found dead, and mutilated to go along with it, which seems rather strange. A job for psi-cop Greg Mandel, who had happily been minding his own business but is talked into taking on this case. Plenty of people wanted this work stopped, too, so he will be one busy investigator. Just as good as the last book.