The Fractal Prince

By: Hannu Rajaniemi

Narrated by: Scott Brick

A physicist receives a mysterious paper. The ideas in it are far, far ahead of current thinking and quite, quite terrifying. In a city of “fast ones,” shadow players, and jinni, two sisters contemplate a revolution. And on the edges of reality a thief, helped by a sardonic ship, is trying to break into a Schrödinger box for his patron. In the box is his freedom. Or not.

Jean de Flambeur is back. And he’s running out of time. In Hannu Rajaniemi’s sparkling follow-up to the critically acclaimed international sensation The Quantum Thief, he returns to his awe-inspiring vision of the universe…and we discover what the future held for Earth.

©2012 Hannu Rajaniemi (P)2013 Recorded Books

Complex and rewarding

I found myself having to read parts of the book multiple times to keep things straight in my head. However, the story is rewarding and worth it.

Brilliantly Complex

Brilliant prose. Very complex universe, so it's not an easy listen if you are working out anything while you listen. It didn't feel as coherent as book 1, but it was still beautifully written. The fantastic voice acting was terrific, very expressive, beautiful accents and variety of voices.

Wonderfully complex STORY telling

⚠️ Warning, this is NOT a children's book. It contains sexually oriented graphic content intended for mature audiences only.

Very rich array of futuristic characters with a non-conventional post-apocalyptic landscapes.

It was hard to follow at first but luckily I held on. As the author provides more and more context, the story gets juicier and juicier.

The intertwining of Arabic, French, and Chinese cultural nuances was soo creative.
Ignoring the shirk, it was very satisfying exploring quantum theory, astrophysics, and even Islamic themes like the 99 names of Allah

Probably would be better reading from a book to actually see the words. I'm probably going to have to buy it 😀



#Negative points
* Overly Complex storyline was very hard to follow at first.
* Shirk / Magic / Islamic heresy
* Unnecessary lesbian sex scenes added no value to the story.
* Gratuitous sex throughout the early part of the book

Style makes up for minimal plot

I enjoyed the book, but the complexity is in the telling, not in the plot. The technologies in the story are so advanced, anything can happen; in that it's akin to fantasy. I didn't realize in the first book that the civilization (if the diverse actors can be grouped that way) is confined to the solar system; I guess brains the size of a planet still can't out think Albert E.

What's in the Schrodinger box?

Hannu Rajaniemi’s The Fractal Prince is the sequel to The Quantum Thief. Jean, the thief, is trying to open the Schrodinger box he stole in the prior installment. At the same time, his traveling companion appears to be in league with the dominant power player in the solar system. There is a parallel tale of two sisters who represent wildcode, while their father is trying to negotiate with that same dominant player. Finally, a mysterious young boy has been told not to talk with strangers.

Rajaniemi continues his hard sci-fi work with a dense plot that may not make sense until the next installment. The narration is quite good with solid character distinction. Pacing is brisk.

Jean le Flambeur Series Continues Brilliantly

Jean le Flambeur is on a mission whilst being hunted – of course, this calls for deft timing and brilliant distraction all while trying to get in a Schrödinger box to borrow a powerful jewel… or not. So begins The Fractal Prince, the second book the Jean le Flambeur series. (Go here for a review of the first book, The Quantum Thief. Also, read them in order.) The Oubliette is replaced with Sirr, a city on Earth ravaged by wildcode. The European steampunk culture is supplanted by an Arabian culture partially under the thumb of the Sobornost. Meanwhile, a small boy version Matjek Chen (a founder) is roving the beach. Mieli, Perhonen and Jean must figure out how much their trust has grown and how closely they keep within the Pellegrini’s wishes.

I switched between the Kindle and Audible versions of The Fractal Prince. I listened to the audiobook. Because it’s dense material, I don’t recommend that be your only way of taking in the content, despite it being an excellent recording. Scott Brick does his usual fabulous job narrating. As I've noted before, Mr. Brick is in my pantheon of favorite narrators. His pacing, emphasis, and enunciation are nearly flawless, which is a particularly challenging feat since it’s loaded with technical material and new terms. Alas, while he narrated The Quantum Thief, he does not narrate A Causal Angel

For full review: wp.me/p2XCwQ-17Z

He lives!

Any additional comments?

Great continuation to the Quantum Thief. interesting ideas. Can't wait for the next installment.

Feel like I'm missing the meta, still good though.

I can never tell if things in these books are meant to be fever dreams, pinning down one PoV during extreme discontinuities, or if I'm just missing a crucial metaphor. While very enjoyable, there's always the feeling that I'm never going to quite understand what's going on on the first read through. There's a lot of fascinating conceptual and philosophical mashups dealing with multiple iterations of characters, and layers of consciousness, but I guess I get lost in the woods sometimes. Scott Brick as always delivers a stellar performance, only minor mispronounciations noticed (unless it was Hannu taking literary license with words like aether).

I'm sure it worked in the author's mind, but not in mine.

Rajanieni's first book was really excellent. Rich storytelling with beautiful language and outstanding tech, great characters and situations, and subtle humor. I found this one was just literary masterbation that continually lost my attention every few minutes. Lots of big, imaginative words sprayed in a mechanized litany that felt like words crafted for complex alliteration rather than serving a story. The first few chapters felt like he was going for a record for how many times he could use the word 'quantum' with little substance; almost aspergers in its execution.

He deviates into an entirely different genre with his earth-based story that includes magic carpets and genies and undead ghouls that feels so out of place that it seems he was writing a different book entirely but threw in some superficial wanking service from the first book so that he could call it a sequel.

This book is a dud and a real disappointment from an author whose first book had me telling people that this guy could be the next big thing in sci-fi. Now I have to go back and save face.

One of my favorites.

Scott Brick brings the story of The Flower Prince to life. A must listen for any sci fi fan. A modern classic.