Contributed by
"William E. Emba"
In the near future, the US and China engage in a race involving
the ultimate quantum computer and quantum cryptography. Along
the way, numerous mathematical concepts are cited and sometimes
discussed, from Mobius strips and Klein bottles to probability
and higher dimensions.
Before reading this book, younger readers may want to look up
information about Paul Linebarger, a godson of Sun Yat-sen who
was one of the founders of modern psychological warfare. He is
best known in science fiction circles as the highly influential,
and at the time, totally mysterious, "Cordwainer Smith". His
future history, concerning the "Instrumentality of Mankind", is
referred to frequently in this novel, but attributed to a lesser
known Linebarger pseudonym, "Felix C. Forrest". In the novel,
Forrest appears as a large part of the backstory, and he is a
very thinly disguised Linebarger.
Unfortunately, the writing, plotting, and characters are all
extremely cliche. The quantum computation issues are mixed in
as part of the plot with no understanding of the mathematics or
physics involved.
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