My mind has been traumatized. I understood barely half of what happened in this book.I’m actually amazed and proud of myself that I finished this book. I don’t have a lot of things to say here regarding the content of the book. I really wish I could say more but I’m not able to because I just don’t understand more than half of what happened here; the uncompromising zero exposition was too difficult for my first read. This is definitely a trilogy that requires a reread to fully understand what ha...

originally posted at: http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2014...Last year I had the chance to read Hannu Rajaniemi's sequel, The Fractal Prince, to his stellar debut, The Quantum Thief. I am a big fan of authors who defy the normal set rules of fantasy and science fiction and create there own this can either turn out so-so or produce a very ambitious book. The Jean Le Flambeur series definitely belongs to the latter case. Hannu Rajaniemi holds a Ph.D. in mathematical physics and isn't afraid to us...

The concluding trilogy to a fantastic sci fi series. One of the best in last 10 years for sure. What sets Rajaniemi in a different league is that apart from his extensive background in mathematical physics , for which he does the cutting edge science really well , he uses Scandanevian folklore and fantasy that Westernized readers are not really familiar with.

This review is for Book 2, The Fractal Prince and Book 3, The Causal Angel. Books 2 and 3 were just as entertaining as Book 1, The Quantum Thief, although neither achieved the thematic heights of Book 1 (the premise of rewriting history that impressed me profoundly). Instead, we are treated to further adventures in this surreal far future world created by Rajaniemi. Rajaniemi continues to impress me with his ability to project into the extreme future what life might be like if consciousness coul...

It's nice to have the trilogy wrapped up, but I found myself progressively less satisfied with each book. Rajaniemi's contribution is creating a narrative within a post-Singularity society, where minds are indistinguishable from computation and identity is no longer constrained by individuality. It's a dizzying thing to try to read, but if you enjoy consuming sci-fi that only becomes comprehensible in retrospect, this is cask-strength stuff.But there are problems. The universe is invented in the...

Absolutely astonishing ending of a mind-blowing series that is for me the greatest and the most beautiful science-fiction trilogy of all time.

Two stars strictly for ambition. But this series has degenerated into a wankfest. You may wish to see my review of The Fractal Prince, in which I started to wonder if the series might be getting a bit top-heavy with concepts. Note: you might do better if you plan to read this right after The Fractal Prince while that book is relatively fresh in your mind. You know the recent craze to create the Best! Ever! Cocktail!!. where bartenders - sorry, mixologists -- toss in five ounces of liquor, most

5 StarsThe Causal Angel, book three and final volume of the Jean Le Flambeur series is the best book by a quantum amount. I loved the ambition of this series so much so, that I took the time to reread books one and two before venturing on the final journey. I am so glad that it was worth my time and the payoff that much more. Hannu Rajaniemi has created a complex, no holds barred amazing universe. He explores so many high level concepts that cover mathematics, physics, psychology, and even relig...

I cannot recommend this trilogy enough. It's smart, has mind-blowing images, really fast pace, and ideas to absolutely kill for, and kill again, and even aim for a true death before causality does a flip and the spooky zoku decide that it's time to revoke my entanglements and I lose a few hundred gaming levels. This novel really feels N-Complete. I'm satisfied in a way that I rarely get, and I have decided to plop these novels into my most favorite books of all time. Sure, there are flaws, but w...

This book, a spectacular conclusion to an incredible trilogy, is a perfect example of how awe inspiring written words can be. If you dig sci-fi and have not read these books yet, please remedy that ASAFP. I really hope that the author revisits these characters in the future because even after three books, I am hungering for more of their hijinks and interactions. Speaking of characters, Rajaniemi gives special attention to Mieli in this entry. Where in the two previous books she had been given a...

“If there is ever a time to do forbidden things, it’s at the end of the world!”Well, damn. What a rollercoaster of emotions that was!You may or may not have noticed, but I read this series in relatively quick succession. Back-to-back-to-back, something I almost never do these days! I just wanted to gobble it up.So I did!“The sky comes alive with fire and war.”The Causal Angel is the finale of the Jean le Flambeur series & what a grand one it is! After The Quantum Thief & The Fractal Prince, two

Anticipating this and a little disappointed that the release date has been pushed to July 17.

I don't normally blaze through a trilogy by chain-reading them all in a row, but I had invested so much headspace in figuring out the charterers, the various societies, and their technology that I needed to finish up while it was all still clear in my mind.Also, I had to know how it ended. And, as is typical for the writing style of these books, why it all began. Beautiful all the way through.

Ah, Rajaniemi... the author I so want to like, and sort of do, but goddamn I don't get half of the technical babble in these books. And I've studied biochemistry a few years in the uni, too! Not that I was any good at it, but still... The technical aspects in these books are, if I've understood correctly, remotely possible already or at least theoretized, but I have no effin' clue about what is what and how do they work. And it annoys me. It makes me feel dumb. And this time I _know_ the proble

Totally amazing book. I can't say enough about the series except that it is some of the best SF I have read.

This trilogy are the kind of books which really, really frustrate me. I understand just enough of it to know that, if I was bright enough to understand the rest I'd be absolutely blown away - but it is just that little bit over my head.I'm not giving this the higher rating it probably deserves because honestly... I'm not sure what I just read. I enjoyed large portions of it, and I think I grasped bits but... yeah. And I'm not entirely sure if that's a failing on my part, or the author's.Irregard...

Having finished the trilogy I just have to say this is my favorite piece of Sci-Fi work. Ever.Hannu Rajaniemi is definitely on another level. His otherwordly settings put your imagination to work like a boot camp. Some of the things that happen in the book, the environments, the places, are just hard to imagine. Once again is the wedding of ultra-hyper-hi-tech and fantasy: the technology is just so advanced that whole realities (virs, Realms) can be created around whatever concept you fancy. And...

"We have received a communication from Jean le Flambeur. He claims that in precisely 57 minutes, he is going to steal a ring of Saturn."It's all true, of course. The system's greatest gentleman thief *almost* always gives fair warning when he's about to commit a crime. The Causal Angel takes us into the white hot cultural heart of the system, the intricate games of the quantum Zoku posthumans, who have embraced quantum narrativism as a weapon against the cold computational simulational hyperpoli...

As I approached the final act of The Causal Angel, Hannu Rajaniemi's Jean Le Flambeur Series that started with The Quantum Thief, there was an uptick in the action, a movement toward battle and denouement. Giant space ships and lethal weapons were brought to bear, planetary defenses were invoked, and warriors on both sides came to grips...Unfortunately, I'm not sure I understood half of it. The weapons, vehicles and concepts seemed to require a robust understanding of quantum and theoretical phy...

Worth reading as a complete series but somewhat disappointing as an ending. In the first two books, technical and scientific concepts, fantastical sci-fi and a sense of mystery and possibility, even upon rereading, make up a fascinating world and overcome a few problems with pacing and characterization. Unfortunately, I felt the ending to be overwhelmed by sentimentality and a sort of humorlessness. (The many nerd references weren't charming to me, they were mostly so unsubtle, an unfunny wink-w...