QUANTUM STATE

The Rise of AI

By: Scott BILLUPS

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 6 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

QUANTUM STATE
As corporate greed and nationalistic fervor turn Mars into a bloody battlefield, the world's leading academics are called upon to assemble a team to rebuild the failed Martian colonies. Together on Mars, this eccentric crew and their quirky AI cognizant, SAMI, make a startling discovery: SAMI can communicate with extraterrestrial life using their new Quantum computer.

But as they begin to unravel the mysteries of this unknown culture, they uncover a devastating threat that looms on the horizon. With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, they must decide whether to rely on their innate scientific skills or embrace the post-biological transhumanism offered by the aliens. It could transform them into immortal superheroes, but at what cost? This book is a captivating adventure that explores the boundless possibilities of the human spirit, with heart and humor woven throughout.

This is a rock-hard speculative fiction story that puts the science back in Sci-Fi. Full of uppity AI, quantum entanglement, and an eight-foot-tall alien in a Tom Ford suit. The Quantum State of uncertainty that faces humanity is coming fast; our only hope is the rise of the Hutherials.

“Stand aside, Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut; Scott Billups has more mind-blowing ideas than you can shake a particle beam at.”
Brian McKernan
Former Editor - OMNI Magazine

Back in 1993, Stan Lee and Roger Corman asked if I could help them make a superhero movie for under a million dollars. We made the original Fantastic Four for less than the catering budget of my next movie. After that, Stan came to me from time to time with various technology-related questions and ideas. With the sale of Marvel to Disney, he could see his superhero universe slipping deeper into fantasy. He had an idea to update the genre with a whole alternative universe of superheroes for the quantum age.

His idea was simple: develop a story about superheroes who save the world using actual science. They face threats on the same scale as those found in science fantasies, but they win their battles through technical intelligence rather than unexplained supernatural powers.

After his death, Stan Lee Entertainment and the Stan Lee estate asked if I would help revive that vision. The script I wrote was a bold departure from the current fantasy-based superhero genre, but people with more lawyers and deeper pockets than me felt that it would interfere with the Stan Lee brand - so I decided to write this book.

This is the origin story for a new superhero universe. It is full of real and emerging science because that was Stan’s idea.

“I’m so happy to see my father’s vision of a new universe of superheroes for the quantum age being brought to life by someone he trusted and worked with for so long.”
Joan Lee