In addition to Big Boys Don’t Cry Castalia House also announced today QUANTUM MORTIS The Programmed Mind. The book is set centuries before Chief Warrant Officer Graven Tower joined MCID-XAR, in a time when the
Greater Terran Ascendancy found itself facing a historic crisis after the
Shiva-class cruiser ATSV Rigel went missing during a routine patrol
through the Kantillon sector. Fortunately for the
Terran empire, the Ascendancy Intelligence Directorate’s top operative,
Daniela York, is on the scene. But is she capable of penetrating the
lethal plot perpetratd by House Dai Zhan’s ruthless assassins,
especially after the Directorate discovers the cyborgs of the
Man-Machine Integration may be involved?
QUANTUM MORTIS The Programmed Mind is a literary remix of a
true SF classic and is a tightly plotted, intense spy
thriller that lays the deep historical foundation for the futuristic
science fiction world of Quantum Mortis.
I asked a serious fan of the original work upon which QM-TPM is based, The Programmed Man by Jean and Jeff Sutton, to share his thoughts on whether he felt the book lived up to the original, which was a childhood favorite of mine. After reading it, he replied:
“The trouble with “reboots” isn’t that they shouldn’t be done. I’m not terribly sure they can
be done. After all, Tolkien could not return to Middle Earth after Lord
of the Rings. Asimov tried to return to extend his colossal Foundation,
and failed galactically. I can list a score of other examples, and if
the original author is incapable, it seems evident that earnest
successors fare no better. Dune was not improved by re-visits by later
authors, nor was the Hyborian Age, and few Lovecraft pastiches come
anywhere close to the originals.
“That general observation is precisely why you’ll never catch me describing Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind with the epithet “reboot.”
“The Programmed Man is among the more memorable science
fiction novels of the New Wave that you have never
heard of. Despite its distribution though young adult book clubs following publication, it was poorly suited
for longevity in the minds of young readers due to its complexity of plot and
its emphasis on intrigue rather than action. The plot is a
galaxy-spanning game of enigmas and deception in the hunt for a lone
individual who may, (or may not), hold the fate of the decline of
humankind in his genes. An extra twist is added to the narrative
in that much of the truth to the labyrinthine plot is concealed in the
words of vested and unreliable witnesses. The book is a lot of things: a
spy novel, a mystery, a nuclear war novel, and a foray into game
theory.
“In The Programmed Man, the core cloak-and-dagger game
structure is analyzed intellectually, and teased out in tantalizing
packets of conversation. The novel’s new successor, Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind,
is an explosive action novel that uses the core game structure as the
tinderbox for galactic conflict. It raises the body count and explores
new territory: sexual differences and artificial intelligence, as well as human
origin, awareness and identity. It also just happens to lay some
fascinating and significant historic turning points set within Day’s
Quantum Mortis universe. If The Programmed Man reads like the secret dossier transcripts of the historic event, then Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind is the pulse-pounding eyewitness experience.
“Whereas
the typical marriage of public domain works and modern authorship seem
most often to result in those “Jane Austen plus Monsters” semi-parodies, Quantum Mortis: The Programmed Mind breaks new
ground, presenting itself instead as a sizzling collaboration between
two powerful science fiction voices of two different eras.”
From the early reviews:
” Think Hunt For Red October if it was told from Admiral Greer’s perspective instead of Jack Ryan’s.”
“A great addition to the Quantum Mortis series, highly recommended.”
“Tight story telling. Interesting well thought-out characters… and a fascinating futuristic spy plot.”