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Robert J. Sawyer

Quantum Night Hardcover – March 1 2016

by Robert J. Sawyer (Author)

(917)

3.7 on Goodreads

2,820 ratings

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It's always darkest before the dawn ...

Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined in court about his breakthrough, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from twenty years previously — a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.

Jim is reunited with Kayla Huron, his forgotten girlfriend from his lost period. She is now a quantum physicist and has made a stunning discovery about the nature of human consciousness. As a rising tide of violence and hate sweeps across the globe, the psychologist and the physicist combine forces in a race against time to see if they can do the impossible — change human nature — before the entire world descends into darkness.

Winner of Canada's Aurora Award for Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year
A Main Selection of The Science Fiction Book Club
Starred review in Publishers Weekly
#1 Locus bestseller
Maclean's bestseller

"Quantum Night is a fast-paced thinking-person's thriller richly informed by modern science. Sawyer has certainly done his homework about psychopaths and he understands well that, far from being just the occasional headline-grabbing serial killer, they're everywhere." —Kevin Dutton, author of The Wisdom of Psychopaths

"What a great, provocative read! From quantum physics to the philosophy of mind, Sawyer's latest novel will leave you pondering deep questions long after you turn the final page." —Dan Falk, author of In Search of Time

"Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Sawyer's latest work is a fast-moving, mind-stretching exploration of the nature of personality and consciousness; it balances esoteric speculation with action and character. Sawyer is very good at grounding the technical speculation in personal conflict, as Marchuk's utilitarian principles struggle with his emotional impulses." —Publishers Weekly (starred review, denoting a book of exceptional merit)

"Really good. Just the sort of science fiction I'd like to be writing myself if I had the time." —John Gribbin, author of In Search of Schrödinger's Cat

"The publisher is marketing this release as a technothriller as much as a science-fiction novel. But Sawyer does it a lot smarter and deeper than is typical of such fare. Thriller fans, science-fiction nuts, armchair philosophers, and psychology teachers alike should enjoy it." —Winnipeg Free Press

"A truly remarkable work; one of Sawyer's best. An essential read for anyone interested in the science (and philosophy) of human consciousness, and simply a great dramatic thriller to boot." —James Kerwin, writer and director of Yesterday Was A Lie

"Quantum Night is stuffed with thought. To be more specific, it is stuffed with the stuff of thought. Sawyer is experienced in making complex ideas accessible, and the story here moves briskly through a series of unexpected twists while challenging us to think about the nature of who we really are." —Toronto Star

"Mind-blowing. What Sawyer does, possibly better than anyone else, is take a new scientific theory and extrapolate its real-world effects to their logical extremes. Then he tosses some Canadian, Star Trek-quoting academics at it to see what happens. The ideas that run through his story and the relentless examination of how those ideas might affect the world kept me thinking about this book long after I put it down." —Daytona News-Journal

Originally published in hardcover by Ace Science Fiction (US) and Penguin Canada

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Print length

423 pages
Language

English
Publication date

March 1 2016
Dimensions

15.24 x 3.18 x 22.86 cm
ISBN-10

1988415713
ISBN-13

978-1988415710

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Robert J. Sawyer

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$19.95

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ SFWRITER.COM Inc.
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 1 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 423 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1988415713
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1988415710
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 712 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.18 x 22.86 cm
Best Sellers Rank: #1,134,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #905 in High Tech Science Fiction (Books)
- #940 in Technothrillers (Books)
Customer Reviews:
(917)

About the author

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Robert J. Sawyer

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Robert J. Sawyer is one of only eight writers ever to win all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. He has also won the Robert A. Heinlein Award, the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award, and the Hal Clement Memorial Award; the top SF awards in China, Japan, France, and Spain; and a record-setting sixteen Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (“Auroras”).

Rob’s novel FlashForward was the basis for the ABC TV series of the same name, and he was a scriptwriter for that program. He also scripted the two-part finale for the popular web series Star Trek Continues.

He is a Member of the Order of Canada, the highest honor bestowed by the Canadian government, as well as the Order of Ontario, the highest honor given by his home province; he was also one of the initial inductees into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Rob lives just outside Toronto.His website and blog are at sfwriter.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon he’s RobertJSawyer.

Customer reviews

917 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this science fiction book insightful and intriguing, praising it as philosophical science fiction with amazing ideas and an interesting concept. The writing quality receives positive feedback, with readers noting it is well written by a very talented author. However, opinions are mixed regarding the plot, with some finding it interesting while others consider it little credible. Character development also divides readers, with some finding the characters relatable while others feel there is not enough character development. The political elements receive varied reactions, with some appreciating the approach while others find it overly political or relentlessly political.

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43 customers mention thought-provoking, 36 positive, 7 negative

Customers find this book highly engaging and intellectually stimulating. They describe it as an insightful read and an intriguing book that is very thought-provoking. Readers consider it a brilliant novel and a must read, praising the extremely intelligent and thought-provoking content.

Great read. It takes place in my hometown so naturally I was surprised, then as I read more the story itself got me turning the pages!...Read more

I really liked this book it was a good read. I will be ordering other Robert Sawyer booksRead more

...Well written, thought provoking, deep characters and, despite being "science fiction" it's hard to tell where the real science stops and...Read more

I loved the book!...Read more

16 customers mention writing quality, 16 positive, 0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of this book. They describe the author as very talented and reasonably talented, noting that the story is well written and cleverly written. Readers express enthusiasm for the author's work overall.

...Well written, thought provoking, deep characters and, despite being "science fiction" it's hard to tell where the real science stops and...Read more

...Great read from a great author!Read more

...a little more but it's all right, I still like Robert Sawyer, a very talented author.Read more

another great read from one of my favourite Writers, could not put it downRead more

9 customers mention science fiction, 7 positive, 2 negative

Customers appreciate the science fiction elements in this book. They describe it as philosophical science fiction with very plausible content and fascinating science. The book explores complex quantum theory in a believable manner, providing a grounded look into possible near-futures.

...typical sci-fi that had an unbelievable element to it - it was very plausible and, as we are seeing now, very possible!Read more

Philosophical Science Fiction; Required ReadingRead more

Quantum physics indistinguishable from magicRead more

...they seemed awkward, a little too "pat," and often lacked conflict and realism....Read more

8 customers mention concept, 8 positive, 0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's concept, describing it as interesting and fresh. They find the ideas amazing and creative, with some noting it as an excellent complex intelligent thriller that includes interesting single points of research speculation.

Clever premise, but...Read more

Excellent complex intelligent thriller!Read more

22 customers mention plot, 14 positive, 8 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's plot. Some find it interesting and describe it as a truly new story that differs from typical sci-fi, while others consider the plot little credible and note that the general plot falls apart quickly. Some readers disliked the premise.

Excellent story and very interesting and intriguing. Definitely the premise around consciousness that Sawyer brings forward gets one thinking....Read more

...Lots of insights into the psychotic personality entwined into an exciting plot. A real page-turner!Read more

Begins as a mystery, but ends as a thriller....Read more

...I felt connected to the characters and the story was not your typical sci-fi that had an unbelievable element to it - it was very plausible and, as...Read more

12 customers mention character development, 6 positive, 6 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in this book. Some find the characters relatable and appreciate that the female characters are strong and educated. However, others feel there is not enough character development and note that the protagonists collapse into caricature. Additionally, some readers mention that characters tend to make silly puns.

I loved the book! I felt connected to the characters and the story was not your typical sci-fi that had an unbelievable element to it - it was very...Read more

...the story was interesting but the story itself was slow and the characters shallow and a bit TOO Canadian.Read more

...Well written, thought provoking, deep characters and, despite being "science fiction" it's hard to tell where the real science stops and...Read more

...Concepts are complicated, not enough character development to keep us trying to follow the plot because we care about the people.Read more

6 customers mention political, 3 positive, 3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's political content. Some find it overly political and relentlessly political, with overwrought allusions to racism and liberal claptrap. Others appreciate the political satire and its impact on the political landscape.

...The scientific and philosophical facts and the impact on political landscape that has direct consequences to world populace and its progress are...Read more

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Erwin Van Den Broecke
Spellbinding, if you are at all aware of quantum entanglement and it's biological possibilities.
Reviewed in Canada on October 4, 2023
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is the first novel I have read by this renowned author, but it has left me wanting more.
Mr. Sawyer is not only well-versed in the theories being presented by quantum reality and the possibilities that the scope of quantum entanglement might very well be at the core level of human behavior. He is also very adept at understanding the psychological aspects of not only psychopaths but also those who are so apparently easily swayed by the aforementioned. He presents a unique argument that most of those who are willing to put blind faith in anyone willing to lead them are beyond their own comprehension to see through the smoke and mirrors provided by their puppet masters and are completely unwilling to be dissuaded by truth or logic. It puts a whole new light on the "MAGA mob" and also those in Canada that took part in the "freedom convoy". The blind ignorance that is evident in the crowds that willingly and knowingly follow those subversive few as seen so frequently in the daily news headlines, is a very dangerous energy that could easily lead to the destruction of the planet.

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Tom Siklosi
Phsycoligical Thriller
Reviewed in Canada on September 21, 2016
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Great read. It takes place in my hometown so naturally I was surprised, then as I read more the story itself got me turning the pages! Great read from a great author!

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Tom Siklosi

Phsycoligical Thriller

Reviewed in Canada on September 21, 2016
Great read. It takes place in my hometown so naturally I was surprised, then as I read more the story itself got me turning the pages! Great read from a great author!

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Amazon Customer
Almost worth the effort required.
Reviewed in Canada on March 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
Interesting, particularly in light of present world events but there are enough ideas here for several books written for the general public. Concepts are complicated, not enough character development to keep us trying to follow the plot because we care about the people.

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Alec Taylor
I enjoyed the book.
Reviewed in Canada on April 3, 2020
Verified Purchase
Not as much as Sci-Fi, but more as an insight into a new emerging religion, progressivism. It shed the cocoon of ideology it was in 1960s-1990s and become a full fledged faith, where heretics are burned, saints canonised and sinners absolved or damned.

Cultural Marxists or progressives strive to classify people (easier to put them into re-education camps that way). Marxists of old did it based on wealth. Modern ones do it based on gender, race, ethnicity and wealth. In Canada already, you can commit the very same crime and depending on your group you will receive a very different punishment.

Protagonist of the novel, a tenured professor earning 140K a year, absolves his sins of wealth by donating to Africa. He also strongly believes that murdering unborn children is OK, but executing murdering psychopaths is not. He also abhors canadians refusing to admit their guilt for random crimes against indigenous women, committed thousands kms from where they live. Systemic racism, you see. Genocide.

So he comes up with a marxist dream come true, he can now classify people via science into 3 groups. Zombies, i.e. "simple" folks, easily misled to vote for Satan Harper or Saint Trudeau. Second group are psychopaths, leading these simpletons into the wastes of "conservatism and capitalism" and third group are smart and noble progressives.

And to right the wrongs of the world, this white knight decides to brainwash the population of Earth without asking them (when did marxists ever asked if anyone wants to live in their utopia), even if there is a chance that they will all die in the process.

Happy end. Science converts all psychopaths (including Trump and Putin) into progressives with conscience.

Anyway, a good way to look into how this cancer, metastasizing into our society from academia, thinks and functions.

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Anthony Marinelli
Technology is shown to be the answer to what ails the world
Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2016
the title character in this story jim m has developed a technique to uncover psychopaths but he does not think they should die if they commit some crime. He doesn't believe in capital punishment so when there is a trial deep in the U.S. he is an expert witness but they discover something in the past of the research associate of the university of Manitoba. Unbeknownst to him his grandfather was a guard at a death camp during world war two. He flips out and is terribly irked by this mystery and wants to uncover why he doesn't know.

I don't want to divulge the plot of this novel but the novel is all about psychpathology but to me the idea of memories is just as important. There is a span of time where jim does not recall anything the time when he was an undergraduate in university and he plays detective and tries to uncover his own past. He does this he is a researcher professor of hard psychology known as neurology and tries to uncover his past through the known areas of human knowledge uncovered by biology. Sawyer then goes through a history of jim's past uncovered by hard science fiction and he's a practitioner of hard rather than soft science fiction and what intrigues me is that he uncovers jim's memory without regard to any psychotherapy even Freudian or Jungian or any modern variant. Psychotherapy is off limits and he resorts to modern technology to uncover jim's memory and technology actually replaces psychotherapy in this novel and this is the most intrigueing aspect of this novel.

Also interesting is the coming war between the U.S. and Russia. Here Sawyer has a lapse in novelistic skill as when he has a series of riots in Canada(unlikely)lead to the U.S. annexing Canada leading to the U.S. being attacked by Russia and Vladimir putin leading to a conflagration similar to the cold war days as Canada becomes a satellite of the U.S. The whole scenario is unlikely and shows the U.S. and Russia being led by psychopaths and here too technology leads the way and is our salvation. The problem I had with this hard sci fi novel is that it is upbeat and optimistic about humanity's future which is good but it ignores psychotherapy and has man's salvation lieing through technology. I enjoyed the novel and its really about psychopaths but found the answers and where it seeks the answers to the riddle of humanity lacking.

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Top reviews from other countries

A student of history
Another thought-provoking read from Sawyer!
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2020
Verified Purchase

I am an unabashed Robert J. Sawyer fan. I love all of his work, but most especially his "just around the corner" speculative fiction. Sawyer's interests seem to parallel mine most of the time; whether it is wondering if anything could constitute proof of a Creator (Calculating God) to the emergence of artificial consciousness (WWW: Wake). I even enjoyed his puckish take on what killed the Dinosaurs (End of an Era).
This book was no exception. I have been fascinated with serial killers my whole adult life, having been a college undergraduate just as Ted Bundy's reign of terror on young women was becoming public knowledge. How can us "normal" people identify, and protect ourselves from, psychopaths? What MAKES a psychopath? This is the jumping-off point for Sawyer's compelling, action-filled novel. He utilized so much valid science as the inspiration for this "take" on psychopathy that I didn't even mind that Sawyer never brought up the "nurture" aspect of it versus the "nature" aspect of it [even though I am an anthropologist!].
I won't discuss any more of the plot, but I will say that Sawyer has one of the most distinct styles in sci-fi. His characters tend to make silly puns. His female characters are strong and educated; his male characters often have deep (introspective, not overt) insecurities. He is unapologetically Canadian in his political and social sensibilities. After reading this book, I read several of the non-fiction writings that Sawyer listed among his sources, and I felt compelled to take some of the psychopathy tests. In the end, that's why I like Sawyer's writing so much...it makes me THINK. Thanks for another "thinking person's" story, Mr. Sawyer!

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PJ Online
Cracking read, don't give up when the science gets heavy!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
An absolutely cracking start to this with the trial interactions getting you going and booing the prosecutor!

The science is a bit heavy in places, but most is simplified and not the whole story, although it "feels" to be absolute truth in the way it is presented. So don't try and classify yourself based on the types presented! It extends Sawyers exploration into consciousness as some of his earlier works have done with this presenting theories and citing additional reading at the end.

The characters are engaging and the atmosphere generated is great, drawing you in and compelling you to read on and learn about consciousness. If nothing else, read this for the trial at the start!

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BONES
Great Idea Made Into A Great Story - Some Very Minor Spoilers Ahead
Reviewed in Australia on April 10, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
I just finished this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. The concept that drives the story is very cheeky and fits perfectly with the evidence any of us can gather from our daily interactions online and in the real world. It's not short on "dad" humour that takes the edge off what could otherwise be quite confronting at times.

In many ways it feels quite similar to Flash Forward, which is high praise as I enjoyed that book just as much as this one, although Quantum Night has big philosophical and psychological aspects that set it apart. The story is intricate enough, with our protagonist's past gradually revealed to us through flashbacks and insights from his treatments, but it never becomes bogged down or confusing.

I find Robert J. Sawyer's style makes for very easy and enjoyable reading so I ate this one up in less than a fortnight. The characters are mostly likeable (most of the time) and the one really bad guy is only briefly involved in the story. That said, all the good guys do questionable things but that is part of what makes it so engaging. If there was one aspect that bugged me a little, it was that the background of general unrest -widespread rioting, etc. - seemed a little forced. But that was a minor gripe that didn't spoil anything.

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Joe Karpierz
sometimes a good number of them in one book (some of his ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2016
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QUANTUM NIGHT is Robert J. Sawyer's 23rd science fiction novel. Throughout all those novels and all those years, Sawyer has explored any number of far ranging ideas, sometimes a good number of them in one book (some of his novels have so many different ideas in play it's sometimes tough to keep up with them all, let alone figure out how they all play into the particular story he is telling). One of his favorite topics to explore is the nature of consciousness, and Sawyer returns to that subject in a novel that reminds the reader of some of those earlier idea filled novels. From the idea a person can't be convicted of a crime because that may just be his (or her) nature, to the saying that a person's "lights are on, but no one is home" being a central theme to the book, Sawyer has the reader's head spinning from the opening pages. And it takes the thought that "you can't change human nature" and turns it completely on its ear.

Jim Marchuk has developed a technique for identifying the psychopaths in our midst. There are other techniques, but his appears to not only support the others but is 100% objective and accurate. Marchuk is called to appear as an expert witness in a murder trial; the defense claims that because the accused was "made that way" - that is, a psychopath - he cannot be found guilty of the crime (this is an idea that is not new, and appears here as a result of the mammoth amount of research that Sawyer has done for this novel. His method has determined that the defendant is indeed a psychopath; that is not in question. What started out as a cross-examination of the method turns into a cross-examination of Marchuk, the end result being that he has not only lost 6 months out of his life, but during that 6 months (he finds out later) he has done some pretty gruesome acts.

Not long after his day in court, Marchuk is contacted by an old girlfriend he had during that dark six month interval. Kayla is a quantum physicist. She and a colleague have discovered that the consciousness is quantum in nature, and that there are three states of consciousness: the philosopher's zombie or p-zed (the state where the lights are on and no one is home), the psychopath, and what the novel ends up calling the cwcs (quicks) - conscious with conscience. Each of the three is a actually a quantum state that is an indicator of a quantum entanglement in the brain (it's at this point that I think I'd better stop trying to explain the science here and let you read the novel for yourself, and after you do that take a good hard look at all the non-fiction reading that Sawyer has laid out at the end of the book, and although it might not be a bad idea to explain what a p-zed is, I don't want to take up half the review doing an info dump) and it turns out that an outside force can induce the brain to change quantum
states.

However, there are several questions that are central to the story: why did Marchuk lose those 6 months, why is Kayla's brother in a coma, and why is there an increasing amount of violence occuring all over the world that appears to be somewhat unstoppable? The answers to the first two questions are handled relatively easily and in a straigtforward fashion. The third one is a tad more difficult to come to grips with, and the solution is one that will change the makeup of the entirety of humanity.

QUANTUM NIGHT is certainly a story of ideas, but it is more than that. It's a story of how those ideas influence the people in the story, and how it makes them think of their own as well as all of humanity's morality. These are real people, and although they are facing very earth shattering concepts and ideas that will change the way they think of each other and the rest of the human race, they react in what I feel are very realistic ways to a crisis that threatens to take down a good portion of civilization.

It's probably reasonable to talk about how the science is presented in QUANTUM NIGHT. This is the third book I've read in the last several months which contains a great deal of complex science to make the story work. The first was Kim Stanley Robinson's AURORA, and the second was Neal Stephenson's SEVENEVES. The first two novels have long stretches of infodumps - pages upon pages upon pages of infodumps. Robinson goes into gory detail telling the reader exactly why a generational starship will not work. Stephenson loves teaching his readers about orbital mechanics. Sawyer, on the other hand, weaves the science into the story so that while you're vaguely aware that you're getting a lecture in quantum mechanics (for example), it's not boring and tedious. It's part of the natural conversation of the story, and the characters react to it in realistic ways. As much as I love a good infodump, I really got tired of the orbital mechanics in SEVENEVES; my eyes were rolling so much I felt they would spin out of my
head. And while it could be argued that Sawyer treads dangerously close to the "As you know, Bob" method of the infodump, I don't think he ever crosses that line. The conversations between the characters in which the science is explained to the reader is believable and interesting.

Oh, one more thing. If you start walking down the street or sitting in your car at a stop light looking at people and wondering if they're psychopaths, p-zeds, or quicks, Sawyer has done his job. He's making you think about the world around you in different ways. And that's what good science fiction - like QUANTUM NIGHT - does.

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Mrs W
Another hit
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Really enjoyed it although not my favourite of sawyers (that has to be the www trilogy). Had me gripped from the beginning although I struggled with the physics I understood the philosophy and psychology enough to make up for it. My husband incidentally is a physicist so he was the other way around and enjoyed it just as much.

Quite thought provoking and you can't help but try and categorise yourself. Can't help but feel it was an easy way to flatter and inflate the ego of almost any reader- if this is your type of book them you are most likely a quick ;-)

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