Titanium Noir (SF) - Nick Harkaway *****

Of all the sub-genres, arguably the two most comfortable bedfellows are gumshoe noir and dystopian science fiction. It’s part of the appeal of the movie Blade Runner, and it can be even more effective when done brilliantly in a novel like Titanium Noir. Nick Harkaway gets the whole vibe to perfection - his detective Cal Sounder has all the traits of a Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett protagonist, in a technological future without ever slipping into pastiche or parody.

The nearish future setting has two tiers of humanity with the ultra-rich and super-privileged few able to renew their youth, in the process becoming 'titans' - not only does the procedure fix all ills and make them young again, each time it is taken, it makes them bigger, stronger and heavier. (Harkaway mostly gets away with this despite the usual giant problem of mass going up with the cube of the person’s size while bone strength only goes up with the square - he does this by giving the titans increasingly huge bones.)

Sounder is brought in as a consultant by the police when a case involves titans because of a backstory that is gradually revealed - and we begin with a murder of one of their kind. From here, things rapidly get twisty and challenging, making for a very satisfying read. There are a couple of extremely dramatic fight scenes: I don’t know if a move in the first one is physically possible, but it’s not one I am going to forget any time soon. It may appear in several nightmares.

The whole is somehow even better than the sum of the parts - this book is perfectly crafted. I said of Harkaway’s massive doorstop of a novel Gnomon that it would have been great if only unnecessary aspects of it had been cut down. Titanium Noir has all the intrigue and cleverness of Gnomon with the unnecessary extra weight trimmed away - it is simply the best SF novel I’ve read this year. By far.

Hardback:

Kindle:
Using these links earns us commission at no cost to you

Review by Brian Clegg - See all Brian's online articles or subscribe to a weekly email free here

Comments

God: the Science, the Evidence - Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies ***

This is, to say the least, an oddity, but a fascinating one. A translation of a French bestseller, it aims to put forward an examination of the scientific evidence for the existence of a deity… and various other things, as this is a very oddly structured book (more on that in a moment). In The God Delusion , Richard Dawkins suggested that we should treat the existence of God as a scientific claim, which is exactly what the authors do reasonably well in the main part of the book. They argue that three pieces of scientific evidence in particular are supportive of the existence of a (generic) creator of the universe. These are that the universe had a beginning, the fine tuning of natural constants and the unlikeliness of life. To support their evidence, Bolloré and Bonnassies give a reasonable introduction to thermodynamics and cosmology. They suggest that the expected heat death of the universe implies a beginning (for good thermodynamic reasons), and rightly give the impression tha...

Humble Pi - Matt Parker ****

Matt Parker had me thoroughly enjoying this collection of situations where maths and numbers go wrong in everyday life. I think the book's title is a little weak - 'Humble Pi' doesn't really convey what it's about, but that subtitle 'a comedy of maths errors' is far more informative. With his delightful conversational style, honed in his stand-up maths shows, it feels as if Parker is a friend down the pub, relating the story of some technical disaster driven by maths and computing, or regaling us with a numerical cock-up. These range from the spectacular - wobbling and collapsing bridges, for example - to the small but beautifully formed, such as Excel's rounding errors. Sometimes it's Parker's little asides that are particularly attractive. I loved his rant on why phone numbers aren't numbers at all (would it be meaningful for someone to ask you what half your phone number is?). We discover the trials and tribulations of getting cal...

Quantum 2.0 - Paul Davies ****

Unlike the general theory of relativity or cosmology, quantum physics is an aspect of physics that has had a huge impact on everyday lives, particularly through the deployment of electronics, but also, for example, where superconductivity has led to practical applications. But when Paul Davies is talking about version 2.0, he is specifically describing quantum information, where quantum particles and systems are used in information technology. This obviously includes quantum computers, but Davies also brings in, for example, the potential for quantum AI technology. Quantum computers have been discussed for decades - algorithms had already been written for them as early as the 1990s - but it's only now that they are starting to become usable devices, not at the personal level but in servers. In his usual approachable style, Davies gives us four chapters bringing us up to speed on quantum basics, but then brings in quantum computing. After this we don't get solid quantum informat...

Search This Blog