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Schrodinger's Gat
You can fight the future, but the future fights back. Paul Bayes has begun to feel like all of his actions are dictated by forces beyond his control. But when his suicide attempt is foiled by a mysterious young woman named Tali, Paul begins to wonder if the future is really as bleak as it seems. Tali possesses a strange the ability to predict tragedies and prevent them from happening. The possibility of breaking free from the grip of fate gives Paul hope. But when Tali disappears, Paul begins to realize that altering the future isn’t as easy as it you can fight the future, but the future fights back. "Schrodinger's Gat has done for quantum mechanics what Eliyahu Goldratt's The Goal did for my understanding of Operations Management... [I]t takes the main character, and thus the reader, on a journey of discovery through a complex subject, in plain English. Well worth reading!" - Dr. Lucy Rogers, Director of Space Safety Research Limited and author of It's Only Rocket Science "Schrödinger’s Gat is a science-mystery thrill ride. It’s got everything we look for in a Kroese humor damped by melancholy and an unforgettable plot in a book that we don’t so much read as dive into and exchange banter with characters that are so familiar that it feels like we’ve known them for years. The story moves, the characters are witty, fun and real, and, rest assured, Kroese got the science right." -Ransom Stephens, Ph.D., physicist and author of The Sensory Deception "A wild mashup of physics, philosophy and catastrophe served up Kroese style!" - Greg Smith, author of Legacy of the Dragon "Most of what I know of quantum physics I learned by getting high and watching NOVA so I may not be the target audience for this book, but I never felt overwhelmed by the science or bogged down in it. Kroese's writing is whip smart and funnier than hell. I loved it." -S.G. Redling, author of Damocles Get lost in this mind-bending quantum thriller today!
206 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 11, 2013
62 people are currently reading
520 people want to read
About the author
Robert Kroese
71 books633 followersRobert Kroese's sense of irony was honed growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan - home of the Amway Corporation and the Gerald R. Ford Museum, and the first city in the United States to fluoridate its water supply. In second grade, he wrote his first novel, the saga of Captain Bill and his spaceship Thee Eagle. This turned out to be the high point of his academic career. After barely graduating from Calvin College in 1992 with a philosophy degree, he was fired from a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he stumbled into software development. As this job required neither punctuality nor a sense of direction, he excelled at it. In 2009, he called upon his extensive knowledge of useless information and love of explosions to write his first novel, Mercury Falls. Since then, he has written 18 more books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
October 1, 2013
5 Stars
"“Come to think of it, if you’re one of those people who hears “quantum indeterminacy” and your brain starts to hurt, you may want to skip this part too. It’s not absolutely vital that you understand this stuff.)”"
If that type of subject is not your cup of tea, then neither will Schrodinger's Gat.
Wow, Robert Kroese is one cool cat that writes about things that really interest me. I love his Mercury series, which is a dark comedy, satire, and it is filled with angels and demons. It is hilarious at times, loaded with light hearted witty dialogue, and is really a fun series to read.
Along comes his new book Schrodinger's Gat. This is nothing at all like his Mercury series. This is a novel about quantum mechanics, mass murder, and the philosophy of free will. It is also a type of noir mystery coupled with a spiritual reading.
“Better off not knowing?” I ask. “Is this one of those red pill/blue pill situations? Because lady, I’ve been on the blue pill for a while. Pills, actually. Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro, Cymbalta, Effexor … probably others I can’t remember. The blue pill isn’t really working out for me, in case you hadn’t noticed. What’s the worst that could happen? You tell me that I’m actually a brain in a vat in a laboratory on Mars? Because that’s a step up from where I’m sitting.” I’m exaggerating, of course. Finding out I was a brain in a vat would be pretty devastating. And of course I don’t really think she’s going to tell me that. But I get the feeling she’s trying to play Morpheus to my Neo, so I play along.”
This is a hard science book that is well researched and the author admittedly only makes a few creative stretches. I love how this book does such a great job at exploring quantum mechanics and the whole heavy subject of "What is free will". I had a great deal of fun pausing my reading to hop online to read more into the concepts being explored. The book has many chapters that are nearly textbook style teachings. Not since The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan did I enjoy both learning and reading at the same time.
An exploration of light and slits cut in a box.
"“The author makes it clear that this strangeness doesn’t arise simply from the detection equipment somehow interfering with the particles, causing them to behave differently. It’s not the detector that causes the light to act weirdly, it’s the observation. If you set out to demonstrate that light is made up of particles, you will find that it is made up of particles (and not waves); if you set out to demonstrate that light is made up of waves, you will find that it is made up of waves (and not particles). The fact is that logically, light can’t be both waves and particles, and it isn’t. It’s one or the other, and which one it turns out to be depends on which experiment you decide to perform. You, as the observer, determine the answer by deciding which question to ask.”"
A free will discussion:
"“Exactly. We usually think of God testing Abraham, but what if Abraham was also testing God? Can you imagine the chutzpah? Abraham goes up the mountain thinking, ‘Sure, the Almighty God told me to kill my son, but He’ll back down, just watch.’ Unbelievable! But even so, it took an incredible amount of faith on Abraham’s part. He was so confident in God’s goodness that he knew God wouldn’t allow him to kill Isaac. So in a sense you could say that Abraham’s behavior was rational, but it was only rational if he accepted the premise that God was good. The belief in the goodness of God came first; reasoning based on that belief came second. If Abraham had only reason and not faith, he could never have passed the test.”
“And everyone would have lived happily ever”"
The story and the fiction play out just fine. The pacing is fast and there is enough action between the class studies. I loved this book and I have a new found respect for Robert Kroese. This is a book that only fans of hard science fiction will truly appreciate. To me it is a must read, and Kroese is an author not to be missed.
"“Come to think of it, if you’re one of those people who hears “quantum indeterminacy” and your brain starts to hurt, you may want to skip this part too. It’s not absolutely vital that you understand this stuff.)”"
If that type of subject is not your cup of tea, then neither will Schrodinger's Gat.
Wow, Robert Kroese is one cool cat that writes about things that really interest me. I love his Mercury series, which is a dark comedy, satire, and it is filled with angels and demons. It is hilarious at times, loaded with light hearted witty dialogue, and is really a fun series to read.
Along comes his new book Schrodinger's Gat. This is nothing at all like his Mercury series. This is a novel about quantum mechanics, mass murder, and the philosophy of free will. It is also a type of noir mystery coupled with a spiritual reading.
“Better off not knowing?” I ask. “Is this one of those red pill/blue pill situations? Because lady, I’ve been on the blue pill for a while. Pills, actually. Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro, Cymbalta, Effexor … probably others I can’t remember. The blue pill isn’t really working out for me, in case you hadn’t noticed. What’s the worst that could happen? You tell me that I’m actually a brain in a vat in a laboratory on Mars? Because that’s a step up from where I’m sitting.” I’m exaggerating, of course. Finding out I was a brain in a vat would be pretty devastating. And of course I don’t really think she’s going to tell me that. But I get the feeling she’s trying to play Morpheus to my Neo, so I play along.”
This is a hard science book that is well researched and the author admittedly only makes a few creative stretches. I love how this book does such a great job at exploring quantum mechanics and the whole heavy subject of "What is free will". I had a great deal of fun pausing my reading to hop online to read more into the concepts being explored. The book has many chapters that are nearly textbook style teachings. Not since The Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan did I enjoy both learning and reading at the same time.
An exploration of light and slits cut in a box.
"“The author makes it clear that this strangeness doesn’t arise simply from the detection equipment somehow interfering with the particles, causing them to behave differently. It’s not the detector that causes the light to act weirdly, it’s the observation. If you set out to demonstrate that light is made up of particles, you will find that it is made up of particles (and not waves); if you set out to demonstrate that light is made up of waves, you will find that it is made up of waves (and not particles). The fact is that logically, light can’t be both waves and particles, and it isn’t. It’s one or the other, and which one it turns out to be depends on which experiment you decide to perform. You, as the observer, determine the answer by deciding which question to ask.”"
A free will discussion:
"“Exactly. We usually think of God testing Abraham, but what if Abraham was also testing God? Can you imagine the chutzpah? Abraham goes up the mountain thinking, ‘Sure, the Almighty God told me to kill my son, but He’ll back down, just watch.’ Unbelievable! But even so, it took an incredible amount of faith on Abraham’s part. He was so confident in God’s goodness that he knew God wouldn’t allow him to kill Isaac. So in a sense you could say that Abraham’s behavior was rational, but it was only rational if he accepted the premise that God was good. The belief in the goodness of God came first; reasoning based on that belief came second. If Abraham had only reason and not faith, he could never have passed the test.”
“And everyone would have lived happily ever”"
The story and the fiction play out just fine. The pacing is fast and there is enough action between the class studies. I loved this book and I have a new found respect for Robert Kroese. This is a book that only fans of hard science fiction will truly appreciate. To me it is a must read, and Kroese is an author not to be missed.
September 5, 2013
The most depressing 5 stars I've ever given. I use to think that when I rated a book it was because I had the "free will" to give it whatever rating I felt it deserved. However, after reading this book I've have discovered that the universe has already determined that I would love this book and rate it 5 stars and therefore there apparently isn't anything I can do about it!! According to this book though there might be universes parallel to ours and maybe just maybe Robert Kroese writes a book that actually sucks in one of these but thankfully I'm stuck in the one where he seems to release great book after great book.
August 13, 2013
I came to Schrödinger's Gat with complete amnesia of the quantum physics I learned in school. Lucky for me, I didn't need to know the science ahead of enjoying the story -- the characters walk the reader through the quantum theory in a far more engaging way than my high school physics teacher ever did. The concepts are woven into the plot in such a way that they're deceptively easy to wrap your mind around; just when you think you've got it, there's a plot twist to keep you guessing. The story opens, for example, with Paul Bayes' suicide attempt. Paul's looking for an answer to his despair and finds himself instead caught up in a world of questions, pressing ones. His story moves with the urgency of a good thriller. Resist the urge to skip ahead as you read -- you'll totally ruin the story for yourself if you do. Everything builds on everything that comes before it, and you learn things exactly when you need to learn them to get inside the story. As for the details of the story, I don't want to give anything away! The characters are vivid, and the concept is creative. This book gets into your vocabulary. You'll be making inside jokes about Ananke with other people who have read the book. Really! You can read it in a day, easily.
August 20, 2013
First of all, if you are not familiar with Schrodinger’s Cat as I was not, check it out. If at all possible, do not let it deter you that Stephen Hawking said ‘When I hear about Schrodinger’s Cat, I reach for my gun.’ Part Person of Interest, part Mr. Wizard from the early days of television, this book is something completely different. It will make you think. It might just make you crazy.
Fate, cause and effect, counterfactuals, determinants, paradoxes, space-time continuum, and other trippy ideas to who laid the chunk – this book has them in spades. Flip a coin, then consider giving it a shot, regardless of how it lands. Free will, brother.
This was was first-reads giveaway, signed by the author.
Fate, cause and effect, counterfactuals, determinants, paradoxes, space-time continuum, and other trippy ideas to who laid the chunk – this book has them in spades. Flip a coin, then consider giving it a shot, regardless of how it lands. Free will, brother.
This was was first-reads giveaway, signed by the author.
September 7, 2013
ScienceThrillers review: I initially told the author I would not review Schrodinger’s Gat. I have so, so many books in my pile that “no” is my default answer. Yet something about this book nagged at me, and I read a few pages. I was hooked.
This slender, 200-page science fiction novel doesn’t fit in a tidy niche. It certainly has strong elements of both a mystery and a thriller, but it’s also full of lengthy asides on topics like quantum indeterminancy, the double slit experiment, Jainist ideas of karma, Newton and the Deists, Decartes and dualism, Skinner and behaviorism, Kant and Hume, and of course Schrodinger’s thought experiment about a cat in a box that has been poisoned (or not). Miraculously, these asides totally fit with the flow of the story. If you disagree, Kroese gives the reader an out: he has the narrator identify where certain intellectual excursions begin and end in the text to make them easy to skip.
I didn’t want to skip any of them. I totally enjoyed this strange, mind-twisting tale about cause and effect, free will, morality, and the nature of the universe. Sounds a little “out there,” I know, but Kroese tells a cracking good story along the way. His main instrument is the narrator he created. Schrodinger’s Gat is told in the first person present tense by a guy who is delightfully sarcastic. He’s messed up and suicidal but never comes off as pathetic. Because the narrator truly has nothing to lose, he is free to act without constraints. The novel is also set in San Francisco–always a bonus for me.
Is Schrodinger’s Gat a good choice for you? Read the opening and you’ll be able to tell. The profanity-laden narration has a distinctive feel that will either appeal or turn you off. Here are a few quotes from the novel to give you the flavor of the book:
“It’s complicated. And I don’t mean, like, Mah-Jongg complicated. I mean quantum physics complicated.”
“What we call probability is, I think, just a description of the proximity of alternate universes.”
“The idea of the space-time continuum actively rejecting paradoxes had occurred to us, but it was only an academic possibility.”
Kroese never explained why he changed “cat” to “gat” in the title, but it’s a good idea. The odd consonant substitution sparked my curiosity.
This slender, 200-page science fiction novel doesn’t fit in a tidy niche. It certainly has strong elements of both a mystery and a thriller, but it’s also full of lengthy asides on topics like quantum indeterminancy, the double slit experiment, Jainist ideas of karma, Newton and the Deists, Decartes and dualism, Skinner and behaviorism, Kant and Hume, and of course Schrodinger’s thought experiment about a cat in a box that has been poisoned (or not). Miraculously, these asides totally fit with the flow of the story. If you disagree, Kroese gives the reader an out: he has the narrator identify where certain intellectual excursions begin and end in the text to make them easy to skip.
I didn’t want to skip any of them. I totally enjoyed this strange, mind-twisting tale about cause and effect, free will, morality, and the nature of the universe. Sounds a little “out there,” I know, but Kroese tells a cracking good story along the way. His main instrument is the narrator he created. Schrodinger’s Gat is told in the first person present tense by a guy who is delightfully sarcastic. He’s messed up and suicidal but never comes off as pathetic. Because the narrator truly has nothing to lose, he is free to act without constraints. The novel is also set in San Francisco–always a bonus for me.
Is Schrodinger’s Gat a good choice for you? Read the opening and you’ll be able to tell. The profanity-laden narration has a distinctive feel that will either appeal or turn you off. Here are a few quotes from the novel to give you the flavor of the book:
“It’s complicated. And I don’t mean, like, Mah-Jongg complicated. I mean quantum physics complicated.”
“What we call probability is, I think, just a description of the proximity of alternate universes.”
“The idea of the space-time continuum actively rejecting paradoxes had occurred to us, but it was only an academic possibility.”
Kroese never explained why he changed “cat” to “gat” in the title, but it’s a good idea. The odd consonant substitution sparked my curiosity.
May 11, 2018
I received this from the narrator, Curt Bonne, in exchange for an honest review, courtesy of Audiobook Boom.
Wow, what a mind-bending story based on quantum physics! Don't think about this one too hard, and it is enjoyable, but with all of the explanations of light particles/waves (light is AND isn't both), free will and fate (both exist - at the same time), and a cat alive and dead (at the same time), it is a challenge to read/listen to.
The narration was pretty good, but in some instances, I wasn't sure who was talking. This may have been because I was trying to grasp the concepts and losing track of the story.
Wow, what a mind-bending story based on quantum physics! Don't think about this one too hard, and it is enjoyable, but with all of the explanations of light particles/waves (light is AND isn't both), free will and fate (both exist - at the same time), and a cat alive and dead (at the same time), it is a challenge to read/listen to.
The narration was pretty good, but in some instances, I wasn't sure who was talking. This may have been because I was trying to grasp the concepts and losing track of the story.
August 31, 2013
It is hard to describe this book beyond excessively awesome!
It is sort of like Thomas Pynchon, in that Kroese makes a deep philosophical point about something weird...and it has a certain, subtle humor to it...and is very well written. However, the book, while strange, makes sense...a lot of sense: you can understand Kroese's point...so it's really not like Pynchon. Unlike Kroese's other books, the humor is much more subtle (but no less like crack).
Kroese has again shown the wisdom of not writing for the least common denominator, and Schrodinger's Gat is definitely a book for the grey-matter-gifted. But it is not boring in any way, despite its heavy philosophical load.
This is unique, and very, very good! Five stars is not enough stars for this book! I am going out and buying tons of copies for everyone I know!
PS: to all my friends and relatives...this is the book you are getting for birthdays...Christmas...secret Santas...and if you get more than one, well...read it twice! It is that good!
It is sort of like Thomas Pynchon, in that Kroese makes a deep philosophical point about something weird...and it has a certain, subtle humor to it...and is very well written. However, the book, while strange, makes sense...a lot of sense: you can understand Kroese's point...so it's really not like Pynchon. Unlike Kroese's other books, the humor is much more subtle (but no less like crack).
Kroese has again shown the wisdom of not writing for the least common denominator, and Schrodinger's Gat is definitely a book for the grey-matter-gifted. But it is not boring in any way, despite its heavy philosophical load.
This is unique, and very, very good! Five stars is not enough stars for this book! I am going out and buying tons of copies for everyone I know!
PS: to all my friends and relatives...this is the book you are getting for birthdays...Christmas...secret Santas...and if you get more than one, well...read it twice! It is that good!
July 25, 2015
The story itself is 3-1/2 stars. Interesting, fantastical, and ridiculous at the same time. On the other hand, the Kindle edition of this book (I hope, but doubt, that the print edition is different) is certainly the worst (non-)edited book I have yet encountered. Clearly no human was involved; this was “proofed” by a computer editing program, and the results indicate that the singularity is still millennia away. Missing words, repeated words, and incorrect homonyms abound, almost within every paragraph. This book may be part of that psychology experiment where text using missing words and incorrect spelling is presented to readers who are subsequently given a comprehension test. The experiment suggests that the brain does not “read” every letter or word, but tries to make sense of what the whole phrase or sentence “should” say to be meaningful, filling in the blanks as necessary. More likely, the publisher of this book was aware of this experiment and decided to dispense with editing as an unwarranted expense. Zero stars for the publisher.
November 11, 2016
Good scifi. Kept me interested and it was somewhat educational also. So it's a solid good for this one.
December 3, 2014
I went into this book expecting something new and exciting. I have left this book three-quarters of the way through having found nothing new, nothing exciting, nothing even much worth reading.
To be blunt, Kroese just isn't a very good writer. He had a good idea with this book but never seemed to be able to pull it together.
First of all, one of the smaller niggles about this--the errors. What I read of it, I read in the Kindle version, and it was chock-a-block with words left out, extra words inserted, and just flat-out wrong words. I had the impression that this didn't have so much to do with it being a Kindle version as with bad or non-existent editing. Kindle errors don't usually involve substituting past for passed. As I said, sloppy editing. I hate sloppy editing. It's so....sloppy.
I could have waded through the sloppiness. The lousy character development was a bit of a stickler, though. The main character is so thin he's almost invisible. He talks about this and that and the other thing, but there is never any feeling coming from him. At first I thought perhaps this was on purpose, but the farther into the book I got, the more characters I met, the more I realized the characters weren't badly drawn as some kind of literary statement, they were just badly drawn. I never once felt either the Doctor or the main character was anything more than a mouth to spew out this and that about either philosophy or quantum physics. Little cardboard cut-outs with their speeches handed to them--that's all they were.
Now for the reasons I finally packed it in.
1)
2)
3)
It was at this point I deleted the book. (That's one of the disadvantages of e-readers--deleting a book will never be as satisfying as throwing it up against a wall.)
Kroese had a good name for his character--Bayes as in Bayes Theorem. And, to paraphrase Kroese himself in his review of The Eyre Affair, the book had an intriguing premise and its rather clever elements. Unfortunately, that's all it had. No decent plot, no character development, no decent editing/proofreading, and probably the worst use of a worn-out literary device I've read in a long, long time.
To be blunt, Kroese just isn't a very good writer. He had a good idea with this book but never seemed to be able to pull it together.
First of all, one of the smaller niggles about this--the errors. What I read of it, I read in the Kindle version, and it was chock-a-block with words left out, extra words inserted, and just flat-out wrong words. I had the impression that this didn't have so much to do with it being a Kindle version as with bad or non-existent editing. Kindle errors don't usually involve substituting past for passed. As I said, sloppy editing. I hate sloppy editing. It's so....sloppy.
I could have waded through the sloppiness. The lousy character development was a bit of a stickler, though. The main character is so thin he's almost invisible. He talks about this and that and the other thing, but there is never any feeling coming from him. At first I thought perhaps this was on purpose, but the farther into the book I got, the more characters I met, the more I realized the characters weren't badly drawn as some kind of literary statement, they were just badly drawn. I never once felt either the Doctor or the main character was anything more than a mouth to spew out this and that about either philosophy or quantum physics. Little cardboard cut-outs with their speeches handed to them--that's all they were.
Now for the reasons I finally packed it in.
1)
2)
3)
It was at this point I deleted the book. (That's one of the disadvantages of e-readers--deleting a book will never be as satisfying as throwing it up against a wall.)
Kroese had a good name for his character--Bayes as in Bayes Theorem. And, to paraphrase Kroese himself in his review of The Eyre Affair, the book had an intriguing premise and its rather clever elements. Unfortunately, that's all it had. No decent plot, no character development, no decent editing/proofreading, and probably the worst use of a worn-out literary device I've read in a long, long time.
August 15, 2013
Schrödinger's Gat is by far the smartest, most original book I've read this year. Departing from the darkly humorous fantasy/light sci-fi fare he does so well, Robert Kroese proves to be an emerging master of true noir/hard sci-fi as well. Action-packed and engaging from beginning to end, this book accomplishes the nearly impossible: making quantum physics exciting, accessible, and even a little sexy. That's not to say that it is too cerebral to be enjoyed by the masses---be assured that the academia never dilutes the adrenalin. As unpredictable and twisty as the hand of fate itself, the journey of these exquisitely realized characters grips the reader from the opening words and lingers long after the book is finished. Schrödinger's Gat ultimately has to be experienced to be fully explained---and an experience it certainly is.
October 19, 2015
You don't need to be familiar with quantum physics and theory to enjoy this book, but it might help. It's a short mystery that's full of diversions into topics like quantum indeterminancy, dualism, Skinner and behaviorism, the double slit experiment, karma, Newton, Decartes and dualism, Kant and Hume, and Schrodinger’s experiment about a cat in a box that might or might not be dead. Somehow the author manages to make all these topics fit together as the narrator stumbles around trying to figure out what is going on. If you never thought you'd get to use your philosophy degree here's your chance! Enjoyable and thought provoking.
July 1, 2017
A labor of love, unfortunately more labor than love to read
This is one of those books where the author had an idea they wanted to explore in detail, but the story could have fit on an index card. Any time it does start to move, it’s brought to a screeching halt by dozens and dozens of pages of expository quantum metaphysics, as one character tediously explains the subject to another, or even worse, to himself in the form of reading a book on the subject and forcing us to sit through it. It’s like being stuck on an airplane next to that guy who wants to show you how smart he is and loves the sound of his own voice.
This is one of those books where the author had an idea they wanted to explore in detail, but the story could have fit on an index card. Any time it does start to move, it’s brought to a screeching halt by dozens and dozens of pages of expository quantum metaphysics, as one character tediously explains the subject to another, or even worse, to himself in the form of reading a book on the subject and forcing us to sit through it. It’s like being stuck on an airplane next to that guy who wants to show you how smart he is and loves the sound of his own voice.
January 21, 2014
Very interesting blend of quantum physics & philosophy - which quantum physics is wont to do.
As usual, Kroese is a great author. But this book is less about plot. It instead uses a very lightweight story to investigate the weirdness of quantum physics and how it relates to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. It weaves in everything from Calvinism to quantum superposition.
The plot-ending was a bit of an anti-climax, and - as can only be the case - he doesn't really conclude with any particular view on the physics/philosophy interrelationship.
An interesting book, indeed.
As usual, Kroese is a great author. But this book is less about plot. It instead uses a very lightweight story to investigate the weirdness of quantum physics and how it relates to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. It weaves in everything from Calvinism to quantum superposition.
The plot-ending was a bit of an anti-climax, and - as can only be the case - he doesn't really conclude with any particular view on the physics/philosophy interrelationship.
An interesting book, indeed.
September 19, 2013
3 to 3.5 stars for Robert Kroese's sci-fi thriller novel 'Schrodinger's Gat'.
I tried to grasp as much of the stuff about quantum mechanics as my limited intellect would permit, but I'm no fan of physics as a subject. That being said, Robert Kroese weaves the entire thing into a taut & engaging crime thriller which works on many levels.
Recommended if you fancy reading sci-fi that widens your horizons (my favourite cliche right there) regarding your notions about quantum physics.
I tried to grasp as much of the stuff about quantum mechanics as my limited intellect would permit, but I'm no fan of physics as a subject. That being said, Robert Kroese weaves the entire thing into a taut & engaging crime thriller which works on many levels.
Recommended if you fancy reading sci-fi that widens your horizons (my favourite cliche right there) regarding your notions about quantum physics.
May 14, 2018
( Format : audiobook )
"A brainteaser on the back of a cereal box."
An English teacher and aspiring author, seperated from wife and children, flips a coin to decide whether to live or die, but his attempt to step in front of a train is thwarted by a shout from a girl in the crowd. Paul follows her, enduring a terrifying taxi ride, and so begins the ride of, and for, his life.
Written in the first person by the self confessed "shitty writer" himself, the book is a noire thriller filled with basic explanations of quantum theory, parallel universes and the existence of free will versus determinism. It is exhilarating, mind bending and great fun as well as an exciting read. It doesn't matter if you don't already know the science, it's all laid out there for the reader to absorb or slide through or tangle up in, but always to marvel at the marvellous complexity of opposites. In an Afterwards, author Robert Kroese comments on the scientific content and the suggestion that "Anything that can happen, does happen."
Narrator Curt Bonnem becomes the somewhat bewildered and beguiled Paul caught up, against his will? in happenings of cause and effect - but who is causing? Bonnem's performance is smooth, sardonic, desperate: everything that Paul experiences. The reading is well paced with clarity and other characters besides the main protagonist are also given voices of their own. Text and narrator fuse together in harmony.
Schrödinger's Gat is a strange but immersive book, made very accessible by the good narration. It is simultaneously an easy read and one which is difficult to absorb. And humerous, too. I was very fortunate in receiving a complimentary copy, at my request, from the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. I wish that my equally freely given review could do better justice to this extraordinary and fun book. Better just to say, listen to it yourself. No, don't toss a coin to decide - just get it!
"A brainteaser on the back of a cereal box."
An English teacher and aspiring author, seperated from wife and children, flips a coin to decide whether to live or die, but his attempt to step in front of a train is thwarted by a shout from a girl in the crowd. Paul follows her, enduring a terrifying taxi ride, and so begins the ride of, and for, his life.
Written in the first person by the self confessed "shitty writer" himself, the book is a noire thriller filled with basic explanations of quantum theory, parallel universes and the existence of free will versus determinism. It is exhilarating, mind bending and great fun as well as an exciting read. It doesn't matter if you don't already know the science, it's all laid out there for the reader to absorb or slide through or tangle up in, but always to marvel at the marvellous complexity of opposites. In an Afterwards, author Robert Kroese comments on the scientific content and the suggestion that "Anything that can happen, does happen."
Narrator Curt Bonnem becomes the somewhat bewildered and beguiled Paul caught up, against his will? in happenings of cause and effect - but who is causing? Bonnem's performance is smooth, sardonic, desperate: everything that Paul experiences. The reading is well paced with clarity and other characters besides the main protagonist are also given voices of their own. Text and narrator fuse together in harmony.
Schrödinger's Gat is a strange but immersive book, made very accessible by the good narration. It is simultaneously an easy read and one which is difficult to absorb. And humerous, too. I was very fortunate in receiving a complimentary copy, at my request, from the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. I wish that my equally freely given review could do better justice to this extraordinary and fun book. Better just to say, listen to it yourself. No, don't toss a coin to decide - just get it!
July 27, 2018
More than just a great pun.
I admit the pun drew me in first. I’m built that way. But I also enjoy good science fiction, especially “hard SF.” Make the hard SF a mystery/thriller, add a good dose of Quantum Physics and a pinch of cognitive science, and I’m there!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The explanations about what we observe through quantum mechanics (not what we necessarily understand - no one truly understands quantum physics in spite of our being able to use observed principles to enhance today’s technology) are lucid and as understandable as any I’ve read to date. And the explanations are germane to the story line, which I enjoyed, as well. The storyline was part mystery, part thriller and all SF.
I highly recommend this book - it will entertain you AND make you think. Kudos to Mr Kroese!
I admit the pun drew me in first. I’m built that way. But I also enjoy good science fiction, especially “hard SF.” Make the hard SF a mystery/thriller, add a good dose of Quantum Physics and a pinch of cognitive science, and I’m there!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The explanations about what we observe through quantum mechanics (not what we necessarily understand - no one truly understands quantum physics in spite of our being able to use observed principles to enhance today’s technology) are lucid and as understandable as any I’ve read to date. And the explanations are germane to the story line, which I enjoyed, as well. The storyline was part mystery, part thriller and all SF.
I highly recommend this book - it will entertain you AND make you think. Kudos to Mr Kroese!
February 22, 2019
The good: This really made me think. Another book that makes you realize how tiny you are in the universe. I'm interested to read another of the author's other books to see if they are as well thought out as this was.
The bad: I thought that the krux was never satisfactorily explained. There was something in the afterword which I found to be the author's lame attempt to prevent bad reviews and to help explain the science behind what was in the book. Also, there was a lot of noticeable typos, formatting mistakes, and other things that the editor didn't catch (was there even an editor?). This book was way too short for a full novel. Also frustrating was a long epilogue after the climax.
Overall, enough of a thrill ride that the bad can be overlooked and thus gets a relatively high rating from me. Hopefully, the next book I read of this author's is even better!
The bad: I thought that the krux was never satisfactorily explained. There was something in the afterword which I found to be the author's lame attempt to prevent bad reviews and to help explain the science behind what was in the book. Also, there was a lot of noticeable typos, formatting mistakes, and other things that the editor didn't catch (was there even an editor?). This book was way too short for a full novel. Also frustrating was a long epilogue after the climax.
Overall, enough of a thrill ride that the bad can be overlooked and thus gets a relatively high rating from me. Hopefully, the next book I read of this author's is even better!
May 6, 2018
I enjoyed this book so much, I blasted through the audio version in a single day. A compelling character in a literal no-win situation. The story is told in the first person present point of view so the character's dry sense of humor shines. The narrator further adds to this resulting in a fun and engaging listening experience. Sci-Fi fans looking for a compelling examination of the multi-worlds theory and an engaging yet digestible examination of the intricacies of quantum mechanics need look no further. This book is as original and paradox oriented as its title suggests.
July 14, 2018
As the protagonist Paul Bayes discovered when reading Fate and Conscientiousness by Dr. Heller, he said, “a lot of it I don’t follow”. I’ve come across karma, dualism, precognition, fate, and other oddities referenced in prior books so perhaps I understand them a bit better now. Maybe. The tale is interesting if you can stick with it. It is definitely not my cup of tea though. I was thinking it was totally something else. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.
November 21, 2017
I'm far from science averse, but the lengthy physics and metaphysical explanations killed (or didn't kill depending on the state of quantum being) what otherwise looked like an interesting story. According to my Kindle I ran out of steam around 25% of the way through. It may have become less explanation-based later on, but I'll never know. I will, however, look into some of Kroese's other books as his actual writing is very good.
November 14, 2018
Since the ASPCA won't let you use a cat, a gun will work too. Will it or won't it fire? That is the question. Do you have free will or do you just think you do! Or is it just enougj that you think you have free will. Yes it's a thriller with a lot of quantum physics in it, but it's clearly marked if you want to skip all the science and just go with finding out who is really pulling Paul's strings. Great read but definitely not for everyone.
May 7, 2025
2.5 more likely.
Pretty much nothing happens. It felt like I was promised a thrilling chase involving a quantum-entanglement, but instead, I got a very long and detailed lecture on it.
I kept waiting for some mind-blowing twist, the kind that makes you gasp and re-evaluate everything. Sadly, that twist must have been hiding in another dimension, because it certainly didn't show up in this one.
Pretty much nothing happens. It felt like I was promised a thrilling chase involving a quantum-entanglement, but instead, I got a very long and detailed lecture on it.
I kept waiting for some mind-blowing twist, the kind that makes you gasp and re-evaluate everything. Sadly, that twist must have been hiding in another dimension, because it certainly didn't show up in this one.
May 21, 2018
Not a light sci-fi story.
Thoroughly enjoyable book that combines science fiction, consciousness, and philosophy. It's deep thinking, compelling, and entertaining. Definitely worth a read.
Thoroughly enjoyable book that combines science fiction, consciousness, and philosophy. It's deep thinking, compelling, and entertaining. Definitely worth a read.
November 5, 2018
The science bits felt both drawn out and oversimplified, but I suppose that makes sense from who is relaying them. Still, it lost a lot of the fun for the book. I wavered between two and three stars, but that end was depressing.
January 17, 2019
Textbook novel
Difficult hybrid of textbook and novel. Didn't quite work as either for me. Interesting concepts. Really requires focus and concentration to follow. Too many series of questions. Breaks up the flow.
Difficult hybrid of textbook and novel. Didn't quite work as either for me. Interesting concepts. Really requires focus and concentration to follow. Too many series of questions. Breaks up the flow.
October 1, 2017
I just couldn't get into this. Average writing and it didn't grab me. Disappointing considering the reviews.
April 26, 2020
Action-SF. Quite good, but the characterisation is a little flat and it spends too much time explaining basic science that you surely already know.
June 10, 2020
Really loved it. Fun ideas here, I do admit some of it was way over my head but still fun to explore other ideas.
December 16, 2017
Great work from a great writer.
Melding fortune telling and quantum theory with murder and whatnot.
Sorry, read it a while ago
Melding fortune telling and quantum theory with murder and whatnot.
Sorry, read it a while ago
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