Product Description

Book two of the Quantum Gravity series sees Lila Black drawn into the intoxicatingly dangerous demon realm. Capricious, in love with beauty, demons are best left to themselves. Not easy when they can't resist tampering with humans. Justina Robson's new series is a joyful melding of science fiction and fantasy brought together in the figure of the dangerously lovely Lila Black, a 21 year old secret agent who's had much of her body replaced with weapon-and-armour-heavy intelligent metal and who isn't sure where her mind ends and her installed AI begins. Lila's world is one where demons, elves and elementals live alongside people. And somehow Lila and the other agents of the security agancy have to provide security for all and stay alive themselves.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47387 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-31
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 363 pages

Richard Hankinson, DEATHRAY
"You get pulled in by the novel's sheer energy. The cross-genre pollinsation of various ideas makes for a quirky read."

Review
"You get pulled in by the novel's sheer energy. The cross-genre pollinsation of various ideas makes for a quirky read." (Richard Hankinson DEATHRAY )

"Plenty of witty ideas and intriguing characters. There are deeper issues here about reality and self-identity." (Dave Golder SELLING OUT )

"Full of colourful characters, flashes of humour and ingenious moments." (Jonathon Norton SFX )

Jonathon Norton, SFX
"Full of colourful characters, flashes of humour and ingenious moments."

Customer Reviews

Gave up part way through :(
Having previously read Book I (Keeping it Real) in order to read Book II (i.e. this one) which had been recommended to me, I started reading Selling Out hoping that the series would improve as the author got in to her stride.

Sadly, for me this hasn't happened and I've done something I really don't like doing: I've given up on the book part way through.

The criticisms in my review of the first book obtain here, so I'll not rehearse them here.

I found the application of the label 'hard sci-fi' misleading. The books being set in a near-future "real" world doesn't make them 'hard sci-fi'. The sci-fi elements are limited to the cyborg aspects of the leading protagonist and the nature of the causal event used to connect the various fantasy realms with the "real" world.

As I mentioned in my review of Book I, I am more of a sci-fi reader than a fantasy reader (though I do enjoy some fantasy writing), and this obviously colours my expectations of this series. Again, if you like fantasy more than sci-fi, you may well enjoy this series.

Groomier but sadless
I read the first and than this second book fo the Quantum Gravity saga all in one go! I have to say I loved them both and I'm looking forward for the third episode!

Here the narrative point of view is splitted. We don't have Lila's sole vision anymore, but also Zal and Malachi's become important in the development of the plot.

Even thou the general atmosphere becomes darker, being Lila in Hell and Zal in Zoomenon gradually disintegrating into death, I think that the general feeling of the first book is much sadder and and negatively introspective than this one. I mean, throughout the first book Lila's constantly feeling splitted between her human nature and her cybernetic new self, she's constantly percieving herself as if she was a monster and hinding from people's close view for fear of rejection. Over this second episode, she's more self reliant, she's accepting her new nature, cohoperating with it.

It was probaly less handy-fun than the previous one, with much less action and more introspection, even thou the author's constant wit is always there as the pages go on, which makes the book enterteining and readable.

Mechanisation meets demonisation
Justina's second novel in the series brings back the characters that we fell in love with in the original tale and brings with it other worldly work that demonstrates how hard it is to be a hero when you appear to be fighting everyone. A good read and one that will keep the reader glued until the last page with its highly novel blending of magic and science bringing characters that fight against their prototypes dragging them kicking and screaming into the modern era. If you're searching for something that will entertain, provide some thinking time and also allows a heroine to maim her way across creation then you really don't need to search any further.