Vectors

by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

From one of the most original voices in imaginative fiction comes a stunning novel of suspense and speculation, as a scientist seeking to uncover the mystery of human consciousness finds himself in a desperate search for immortality.

Dr. Jonathan Briggs is a gifted neuroscientist researching the existence of the human soul. Working at one of the world’s top facilities, he has access to the latest technology. He also has the enthusiastic support of his lover, Alynn Reed, who made her fortune as a creator of virtual reality games that have broken every barrier. Alynn believes in reincarnation, which Jonathan scoffs at--until he begins to note strange anomalies in his research.

Then Jonathan’s life is suddenly, shockingly turned upside down. No longer the dispassionate scientist, he begins a fevered, reckless effort to go beyond belief to proof. Ridiculed by his colleagues and the tabloid media, hounded by the police, Jonathan finds himself in a frenzied race against time, memory, and his own mortality. As he journeys deeper into the labyrinth of the human psyche, he moves nearer the place where past and future intersect, identities mingle, and death is the beginning of the most amazing adventure of all.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 1994

About the author

Michael Paul Kube-McDowell's earliest science fiction stories began appearing in magazines such as Amazing, Asimov's, and Analog in 1979. His 1985 debut novel Emprise, the first volume of the Trigon Disunity future history, was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award. The Quiet Pools, published as a Bantam hardcover in 1990, was a Hugo Award nominee.

In addition to his solo novels, Kube-McDowell has collaborated with Sir Arthur C. Clarke (The Trigger) and Isaac Asimov (for the YA series Robot City. He also wrote the popular Black Fleet Crisis trilogy for the Star Wars Expanded Universe; all three volumes were New York Times bestsellers.

A former middle school science teacher, Kube-McDowell has written about science and technology for a variety of periodicals, on topics ranging from gnotobiology to ultralights to spaceflight. He covered the launch of STS-4 for The South Bend Tribune.

Kube-McDowell has attended more than 80 SF fan conventions, and met his wife Gwen (then an artist) in a con huckster room. They both were later members of the Pegasus Award-winning electric filk ensemble The Black Book Band, which performed at cons in the Midwest in the 1990s and released the live album First Contact (Dodeka Records).

Reviews

[Cendri · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was little, my father, who was the chief engineer for a large hotel in Billings, used to tell me and my sisters that we didn't understand vectors whenever we did anything klutzy. I didn't really know what that meant at the time, though high school physics illuminated the matter somewhat (my dad expressed repeated amazement that I could do so well in physics, yet break so many dishes and drop so many glasses of water). So I was somewhat amused when Miri bought me this book for my birthday. It sat around for awhile, just long enough for me to make fun of it to my heart's content, and then, with nothing better to do (a.k.a. nothing better I WANTED to do), I dived in.

The book isn't good. It's really one of those books you read because it's available. The plot follows a neuroscientist who, in attempting to come up with a mathematical representation of each person's individual personality, inadvertently discovers evidence for reincarnation. Nifty.

Despite my tepid review, I actually enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure if I were a burnt-out neuroscience grad student I would have written exactly this kind of a novel. I almost want to recommend it to all my nerdy neurosience peers...almost.

[Златко Андоновски · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me as a rather cruel joke during my first (and, I guess, only) year of studying electrical engineering, where vectors would take up a lot of my time.

That said, it's not too bad of a book. It's an interesting read, though the plot ended up going nowhere in particular (or over my head) and parts of it read like a ridiculously thinly-veiled retelling of the author's own frustrating research into the main character's subject of interest.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excerpt I appreciate: "It seemed to Jonathon as if no one were allowed to hold citizenship in both countries-to be both a skeptic and a believer, to combine the fruits of deduction and intuition. There was a terrible schism, vigorously enforced from both sides. One refused to subject its beliefs to testing, while the other refused to believe in anything it could not test."

[grundoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neurological research and academic politics, set in a mess of a near future. There were a few turns at which he almost lost me, and I'd hoped for a different ending, but effective use of a number of subplots kept me interested and entertained right through to the final pages. Wonder what the story is with the (now 8 years and counting) delay in publishing the sequel...

[Therese]

I received a personally autographed copy of this book. I'm not a sci-fi fan but Michael is a friend so it was cool to get an autographed copy.

Thanks Michael *hugs*

[Brannon]

Quick read so far. Like the main character as I can relate in many ways. I have dreamt similar to Jonathan.

[Janin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When love is great enough to span more than a single life time-- and worth the effort to do so.

[Falbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ran out of things to read. Not uninteresting, but the first two thirds was much better than the ending.