Quantum Void (Quantum Book #2), Douglas Phillips

Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Indie

Genre:  Sci-Fi

Tags: Series

Length: 355 Pages

Reviewer: John 

Purchase At:  amazon

Synopsis:

Eight months after the astounding discoveries made at Fermilab… 

Particle physics was always an unlikely path to the stars, but with the discovery that space could be compressed, the entire galaxy had come within reach. The technology was astonishing, yet nothing compared to what humans encountered four thousand light-years from home. Now, with an invitation from a mysterious gatekeeper, the people of Earth must decide if they’re ready to participate in the galactic conversation.

The world anxiously watches as a team of four katanauts suit up to visit an alien civilization. What they learn on a watery planet hundreds of light-years away could catapult human comprehension of the natural world to new heights. But one team member must overcome crippling fear to cope with an alien gift she barely understands.

Back at Fermilab, strange instabilities are beginning to show up in experiments, leading physicists to wonder if they ever really had control over the quantum dimensions of space.

The second book of the Quantum series rejoins familiar characters and adds several more as it explores the frontiers of human knowledge and wisdom. Of course, it wouldn’t be part of the series if it didn’t have a few twists along the way!

Review:

This book is the ultimate mind trip and the story takes up eight months from where  Quantum Space left off (remember that experimental program called Diastasi being conducted at Fermilab in the USA to do with the compression of three-dimensional space?) We see the return of the main characters, Daniel, Nala and Marie, and what this trio gets up to, especially the girls, will really blow your mind. I hope Schrodinger’s Cat doesn’t mind the company in that box, because, it’s just about to get a little bit crowded. And remember, every cloud has a silver lining, even when it’s one composed of toxic and noxious fumes, if you read the book, you’ll understand.

Just like in the first novel, the pace of the second novel is well measured and the science behind the story continues to be made quite believable. The world building and character development, likewise, continues to be flawless with nothing feeling either out of place or incomplete. Again, I greatly appreciated the afterword provided by the author at the end of the novel, explaining the factual vs fictional science. Included is information about data returned by space probes that lend support to some very radical theories about the structure of the universe. Trust me, the “factual” in this novel’s afterword is really, really out there, and, let’s face it, who doesn’t enjoy reading about the results of a good probe every now and then?

Like Quantum Space, I found Quantum Void to be very good value and I highly recommended that you, like myself, also add this novel to your SciFi collection. To get the most out of Quantum Void I feel it’s probably best to have read Quantum Space first but, at a pinch, you don’t have to. While I enjoyed it because I believe I’m the demographic to do so, as a general warning, don’t try to fully comprehend the Quantum Physics behind the work, because, IMO, if you succeed, you run the very real risk of being mentally discombobulated.