Quantum Dark: The Classic Sci-fi Adventure

by R.A. Nargi

Famed archaeologist. Daring adventurer. Total imposter.

Jannigan Beck is the exact spitting image of his father: Sean Beck, the most famous explorer in the galaxy. But ever since the elder Beck disappeared on a mission inside an alien wormhole, Jannigan has secretly been masquerading as his father, shaking hands, doing press junkets, and attending meetings.

But when a wealthy trade consortium plans an expedition back into the same mysterious wormhole where Jannigan’s father perished, they demand that Sean Beck personally lead the mission to recover an ancient alien artifact. And they are willing to pay handsomely for his presence.

Now, posing as his father, Jannigan Beck (a complete greenhorn) must command a crew that doesn’t respect him on a perilous mission to the uncharted edge of the galaxy. There he will face alien megafauna, hostile competitors, and a mysterious force with the power to destroy worlds.

Quantum Dark by Amazon Bestselling Author R.A. Nargi is a fast-paced swashbuckling science fiction adventure in the classic space opera and science fantasy tradition, packed with intrigue, betrayal, explosive battles, and edge-of-your-seat thrills that will keep you turning pages long into the night.

Genres: Science Fiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2021

About the author

R.A. (Randy) Nargi is the author of the classic Bander sword & sorcery fantasy series and the sci-fi series Star Rim Empire. He lives in Oregon with several rescued dogs, a herd of alpacas, and the occasional mysterious owl.

Randy grew up in New York and has lived in London, Seattle, and New Mexico. He received his BA in Literary Writing from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Nargi is the author of the BANDER ADVENTURES series of “hardboiled fantasy” adventures (a term he coined), the STAR RIM EMPIRE space fantasy series, and the OMNIWORLD ADVENTURES.

Before delving into the world of independent film and publishing, Randy pursued a career in marketing and advertising.

Reviews

[Sentinelle23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤❤💚 Wow ! What a great book... 🛸👽

Mid-24th century :

Jannigan Beck dreams that he is out of his body, in total darkness.
He sees a small light far ahead. He’s attracted to her.

Suddenly he’s back in his body.
He wakes up lying in his bed, surrounded by two beautiful naked women.

But what happened ?

There was this concert, alcool, drugs, and then... it was the blackout...

-------------

An incredible science fiction adventure, with very complex situations and characters.

It took me some time to successfully enter this great adventure.

An original and exciting world, an amazing main character, and lots of
adventure.

Wow ! What an incredible read...
💚

[Dr susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent sci fi adventure

None of my classic sci fi books start like Quantum Dark, but that's ok, because the book is well-written with excellent world building, likeable characters (fine, I wasn't sure I liked Jannigan at first), and an absolutely riveting story. I'm extremely glad book 2 has already been released.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great sci-fi story. IT has some great characters is full of action and twists.

[Andrew Hindle · Rating 4 out of 5]

After bringing me in with a perfect little foreword and an entertaining Raiders of the Lost Ark introduction to the space grave robber (complete with navigation of space booby traps and inevitable space betrayal at the moment of relic-acquisition), Nargi delivered admirably on what I viewed as an ambitious promise. It wasn't paradigm-shifting or ground-breaking, but that wasn't the promise anyway. It was damned entertaining is what it was.

In fact, the prologue itself was enjoyable for its own sake but I can't say I was gripped. I kept on through it because of the promise, and the actual start of the story revitalised my interest. And that's fine, because at its heart Quantum Dark is nothing if not a study on paternal legacy, and meeting - and then exceeding - it.

I'm ... actually not sure why it was called Quantum Dark. I only saw "quantum" mentioned once in the actual story, and it was here:

---
“I’ll work in parallel with the LVX.” He thumped his robot chest. “The quantum array in here is similar to a Kane lattice, so we can run inverted function Grover II algos on your dataset.”

I didn’t follow exactly what he was talking about, but remembered a phrase from one of my briefing sessions on computer technology. With enough time and qubits, nothing is out of our reach. Something like that.
---

So, I don't know. Maybe it should have been called Quantum Dad. No, that would be dumb. Not that. But not not that, either. Just putting it out there.

From our Raiders of the Lost Ark prologue, we're treated to Henry Jones (...Jr?) going full James Bond, or more accurately Bruce Wayne. Our hero is Jannigan Beck, or "Zapp Jannigan" as I was unable to keep myself from reading and seeing him, the son of Sean Beck the famous explorer - with a catch. Sean never made it back from the Belloqing he received in the prologue, so Jannigan has been filling in for him PR-wise for the past seven years. Jannigan isn't really a hero, so much as a spoiled playboy who likes his hover-cars  fast and his women toxic, although Nargi does immediately cut through this eye-rolling setup by showing us a little bit of hidden depth to the character. I wanted to dislike Jannigan but damn it, he grew on me.

Extra points for having the Rolling Stones on tour in the 24th Century, by the way.

This story has it all. Cool planet-building and structures, great alien monsters (if a little off-page for my liking), nice action and amazing alien cultures and species and worlds and relics ... everything I love about sci-fi, although I would have been happy with even more info-dumping as always.

There weren't exactly many surprises in the narrative, although there was plenty of originality and imagination in the setup. The world-building was great, the characters (by design) somewhat cardboard-cutout-y. Although, to further soften that, I will reiterate that they had solid complexities and dimensions written into them to make them interesting. Some notes I made along the way include:

- Not sure I get the clone angle. I get it, but ... has Jannigan maintained two separate lives, as playboy Jannigan and reclusive Sean simultaneously? Too much scrutiny of that plot point makes it hard to believe it could work. Is the aging necessary if Sean supposedly youth-surgeries all the time?
- Mmm, Lir seems like a real catch, I can see why he got engaged to her.
- So, when is Zapp Jannigan going to find out Yates (successfully?) Belloq'd his dad? We haven't seen Sean's body so I'm going to assume he's alive until further notice.
- We're running a bit heavy on the aesthetic description of women and nothing much for the men, but it's not too breasted boobily.
- Zapp Jannigan talks a bit too much about his real life and his uncle after they said he was Sean after leaving the briefing, because of the recording. Oops.
- Ooh, cthulians.

Now this is sci fi. Sorry, not sorry, but it is. And there's plenty more in the series!

We end on a nice high-stakes climactic finish, with a big "Jones Boys" feel to the father and son team (in fact it's actually literal, they use the term "Beck Boys"), mirroring the Raiders of the Lost Ark start with a Last Crusade ending. Very well played.

Sex-o-meter

The main narrative starts strong, opening on a three-way (or the aftermath of one), which is exciting if a little uncomfortable in some of its character specifics. Still, it was handled nicely. Beyond that, there really wasn't much time for sex although I suppose Jannigan and Preity had cute chemistry (showing his depth) and there was a strongly hinted connection between Jannigan and Chiraine (showing that, I don't know, male characters and female characters have the universe stacked against them when they just want to get on with their fucking story arcs?). What separates this from other books I have read recently is - well, for a start Jannigan didn't fuck anyone else yet, so he still has an opportunity to do the right thing re: his fiancée. Since I haven't read further I can't say for sure, but I reserve the right to drop my opinion of him a couple of notches. Anyway I'm rambling. Three dwarf bots out of a possible dwarf, bot and dwarf bot orgy for Quantum Dark.

Gore-o-meter

There's a fair amount of space adventure violence but it could have been a lot worse. The gore-o-meter is holding steady at two gobbets out of a possible five.

WTF-o-meter

This book was a real treat, with lots of lovely WTF, alien races of different levels, artifacts and relics and phenomena. The Fountain is neat. The Ark of the Covenant, I mean the Kryrk was great. All of it was a lot of fun to read and the mysteries were explained just enough to keep them fascinating. I want to know more! A Borg Cube and a Cube from the movie Cube out of a possible Bandala.

My Final Verdict

What a fun story! I'm glad this one crossed my path and I'm going to try to check out more in the series when I finally get time. Four stars on the Amazon / Goodreads scale!

[Wanda Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! The characters were interesting and the story was good. Although it did start out a little slow, once it got going, it had all kinds of things happening. There were twists and turns I did not expect. I look forward to reading the next story in this series. If you like exploratory space science fiction with dastardly aliens, then I believe that you will enjoy this book. I know I did. It was a good book and I recommend it.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer - I received a free copy of this book to review for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC).

If nothing else, R.A. (Randy) Nargi believes in truth in advertising. Quantum Dark is subtitled “The Classic Sci-Fi” and it is just that. We have aliens, space battles, worm holes, ancient alien races, evil doers, treasure hunting, life and death battles, killer bots, some kinky sex, recreational drugs, and lots of action. Sure the science is a bit sketchy but this is a full on, space opera.

Nargi knows how to come up with an engaging tale and then has the writing chops to spin it. I could barely put this book down. The main protagonist, Sean Beck, a spoiled rich kid who, occasionally, takes time out from his hedonist pleasures to pretend to be his missing father in order to keep the family business afloat.

At first glance this is a “guy’s book” with Sean living the life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But, when things so sideways, Sean needs to step up and take one for the team. Fortunately two very powerful and capable women, Ana-Zhi and Dr. Chiraine Portelle enter the frame and save his butt, time and time again.

This book is non-stop, hang on to your seat, action. In fact, if some movie company is looking for a good, sci-fi action movie I would strongly suggest that they give Quantum Dark a serious look.

Are there things wrong with this book? Well, the science is more mid-1900’s than anything to do with current reality. Even the author admits that this when he says of his book “it even has a 70s updated pulp cover.” Otherwise, the writing is tight, it isn’t all macho male fantasy, and there are some really great individual scenes. I won’t spoil it for you but the father-son reconciliation is one for the books.

Quantum Dark is the first of a three part series that includes the sequels: The Well Of Forever and The Crimson Peril. The ending of Quantum Dark definitely leads into the sequel but it is an enjoyable book as a standalone.

[Douglas Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our hero has been pretending to be something he is not (capable, adventurous, likeable, etc) but when this inevitably catches up with him, he has a chance to prove there is more to him than meets the eye.

This is book one of the series, so a good place to start.

This is a science fiction adventure book in the classic sense with alien races, far flung mysteries and lots of space. The story is well written with a vast setting that is both intriguing and mysterious. There is a lot we don't know in this first book and only some of it is revealed here. The characters make a diverse cast and are generally rather intriguing. Our hero does not make a great first impression, but he at least shows signs of growth by the end of the story. The plot is the best part as it contains plenty of action, mystery and intrigue which definitely keeps things interesting. The book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I did not find that to be a problem. Just something to be aware of. Overall, a highly enjoyable start and I look forward to seeing where it goes next.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for posting my honest review. I’ll keep spoilers to a minimum.

When I started reading the book, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. However once I got past the first chapter, I enjoyed the book. The author has developed a good story line in an intriguing universe. There are twists in the story to keep you guessing right to the end.

The characters are interesting and make you think about how you feel about them. You learn more about them as the story goes on, so while they are are not ‘well developed’, there is a continuing development going on. I can see the author continuing to develop them in future books. I wasn’t a fan of the main character, Jannigan, throughout the book, but that was how he was written. By the end of the book, as he ‘grew up’, he was more likeable.

The author wraps up a lot of the story by the end, but does leave it on a cliffhanger. At this point you have to decide whether you liked the book enough to buy the next in the series to find out what happens. I did like the story enough to be willing to buy the next book. I gave it 4 stars for the story and the characters. I took 1 star off for the start of the book and the cliffhanger

[Ky James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a slow start for me. I made a point of checking the moment things picked up and I thought ‘YEP, I’ll enjoy the adventure now’ and it wasn’t until 44% through. Way too much time was spent on the build-up and introduction of characters and species etc. The world-building just didn’t need to be as focused as it was, as it didn’t actually matter all that much as the story progressed. I would have loved more action more quickly and to have things explained as we went.

The characters are stereotypical Sci-Fi spaceship crew - sarcastic, gruff, full of banter - and they were interchangeable with any other space book I’ve read. I felt a bit of sympathy for the hero, as he got a pretty raw deal, pointed out to us over and over throughout the story. He has potential to be a decent hero in the sequels, so I would read them.

The last 30% of the book were fast-paced and engaging, and I really was interested in the story and the outcome of the mission. Unfortunately, right as we reached what seemed like it would be the climax, the book abruptly ends with “THE END” and i nearly screamed in frustration. Guess I’ll have to buy the sequel to find out what happened.

*Thanks to HiddenGemsBooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

This was a very enjoyable book! We are first introduced to the main protagonist in a way that makes you think he is nothing more than an entitled frat boy in space who had a famous dad. But it quickly changes when we learn that his dad had died years earlier after a dangerous mission and he has had to pretend to be his dad to keep the family business afloat. After getting hired to do a mission that will save the company once and for all, we get to learn more about what had happened years prior and see our hero grow up.

I liked the story, premise and even the characters a lot! The premise of long dead space pirates hoarding treasure that everyone wants to find, and aliens that control the only bridge to get there was really neat. I would recommend it as it is a fun read and very fast paced!

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really loved this book until the CLIFFHANGER. It's a very exciting story with lots of depth and really great characters. It is well written and the main character is fleshed out nicely. We get a lot of his feelings and motivations. Since it's written in the first person, we don't get much of any other character's motivations beyond what they specifically say to Jannigan, but that's as it should be. There are a couple of really great twists in here that make the story fantastic, but that cliffhanger ruined the whole experience for me.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ken Whiting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cliffhanger ending

I primarily read free sci-fi books from Amazon. Many of these are book one of a series as is this - though I’m not sure I picked up on that from the start. Now I suppose it makes sense from a capitalist standpoint to have a cliffhanger ending as this one does but I prefer to have as many loose ends tied up and want to go on to book two because I want more of the same action etc. - not because so much was left on the table. So while I enjoyed it I found the ending weak earnings it a “maybe”…

[Karl Hakimian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable story in the classic style. Plenty of action. Lots of twists and turns (though if you are familiar with the classic genre, not much to actually surprise you). They characters were fun, but could have been a bit more developed.

It lost a star for being a total cliff hanger. I don't mind a continuing story, but I really want the book I'm reading to finish the current plot.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read.

Beginning was a bit, what's going on??
But it quickly turns into a SF action adventure.
Good pace, good balance of action /narration, good world building with some twists
thrown in.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun scifi adventure. The world-building was fun, it felt very Buck Rogers.

It wasn't worth knocking a star, but ending on a "More in the next book" is annoying.

[J.D. Schechter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non-stop action

Less than perfect good guys, truly evil bad guys, all-powerful aliens...pretty much everything needed for a classic science fiction romp, with a cliffhanger ending

[Jefrois · Rating 1 out of 5]

An awful book, in my opinion.

Really awful.

Stinks.

I quit on page 2.

Horrible.

[Kim Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

O m g this book was so great. I can't wait to read more of this series. This author is so great.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endless dungeon.

This is a pulp tale about a dungeon in Space. It also has some similarities to the Odyssey. Ends on s cliffhanger.

[Gregory Trammell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Space Opera Extrordinaire

Amazing characters & plotting. So many references to other space themed stories. A great beginning to an epic series. Great!

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turns out to be a good exciting adventure. I am enjoying the story and the adventures.

The adventure comes to a transition point, and the story is continued in a novel sequel that I haven't taken the time to read yet.