Hard Questions

by Ian Watson

Meet Qua, the quantum computer with immense power capabilities that tunes into pathways in parallel universes to operate at lightning speed. But with such power comes the threat of catastrophe, and as government agents, cult disciples, and computer criminals learn what this computer is capable of, Cambridge researcher Clare Conway makes every attempt to safeguard herself and society from the realities she discovers about Qua. For all of the power this computer offers, it threatens to spark a civil war in America, a danger unlike any other that history has ever known.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction

332 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd say the first 3/4 or so of the book was on the borderline between the genres "thriller" and "techno thriller." The techno part was in the background. Central characters are professors in areas relevant to AI (but we learn more about their extramarital affair.) They attend a conference relevant to AI (but the content of the conference doesn't play a real role in the story.) One professor plans to visit a Silicon Valley company developing a quantum computer (but never enters the building.) There are Russians trying to steal information and a computer prototype... This much is not what I call science fiction.



It's only in about the last 20% of the book that the professors get hijacked by the man stealing the quantum computer prototype. When their building is attacked, the computer is asked to help them. The remainder of the book is jumping from one alternate reality to another. In those worlds various combinations of groups (a religious cult, right-wing separatists, Russian criminals, Native American bikers, government agents) battle for the computer and/or political power.

Personally, I had doubts about the scientific plausibility of a quantum computer having the ability to affect on which reality the quantum wave function collapses - and even if it did, whether some people would remember having previously lived in a different version of reality.

[Eloi Puig · Rating 3 out of 5]

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