#RRSciFiMonth Book Review: Superposition by David Walton
Sci-Fi November is a month-long blog event hosted by Rinn Reads and Over The Effing Rainbow this year, created to celebrate everything amazing about science fiction! From TV shows to movies, books to comics, and everything else in between, it is intended to help science fiction lovers share their love and passion for this genre and its many, many fandoms.
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of Superposition
Publisher: Pyr (4/7/15)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I admit, I have a love-hate relationship with hard sci-fi. To clarify, I am mostly talking about science fiction with heavy emphasis on science and technology. If an author can ease me gently into a story like this, it is certainly possible for me to become absorbed and enjoy myself. On the other hand, overwhelm me with techno-babble and science that I don’t understand, and you will see my eyes glazing over faster than a donut on a conveyor belt at Krispy Kreme.
Happily, Superposition turned out to fall in the former category. Of course, I did experience a momentary spike of panic when I realized how heavily the story relies on the various theories in quantum physics (let’s just say my area of study and interest is Biology; I’m a Life Sciences kinda gal, and I did everything that was humanly possible to get out of taking any Physics courses in university) but somehow this book made me feel completely comfortable. David Walton is an author I’ve known of for a while, but have never read until now, and I have to say I’m beyond impressed with the way he made quantum physics easy to understand, even for a “physics phobe” like me. Also, he managed to make it entertaining!
This novel opens with the words “Up-spin” below the first chapter heading, with the narrator Jacob Kelley telling a story about how everything in his life changed the night Brian Vanderhall, an old friend he hasn’t seen in years, shows up at his house babbling about aliens and quantum intelligences, and then proceeds to pull a gun at Jacob’s wife Elena. Brian shoots, but the bullet somehow passes through Elena, leaving her unharmed while punching a hole through the wall behind her. In a rage, Jacob chases Brian out of his house.
But then there are also the even-numbered “Down-spin” chapters. These chapters follow Jacob in a courtroom setting, and we discover that he is on trial for the murder of Brian Vanderhall, who was apparently found dead the same night he visited the Kelley residence, just hours after he shot at Elena. The reader is made to understand that a long time has passed between the Up-spin and Down-spin chapters, and that something significant must have occurred after Brian was chased out of Jacob’s house, which then lead to Jacob’s arrest and prosecution. Did Jacob really kill his old friend or not?
You might be surprised by the answers. I know I was. The truth is weirder than you can imagine, but it will also become much clearer as the story unfolds, told between these two alternating timelines. So, in one thread, we have the “past” where Jacob trying to figure out why Brian came to his house and how he was able to shoot at and not harm Elena, as well as the “present” thread which essentially is a riveting courtroom drama. The trial scenes were actually my favorite, because they captured the tensions of the setting so well, and even injected a bit of humor.
The fact you have a genuinely interesting and entertaining storyline along with all the science is what makes Superposition such a great book. It’s a murder mystery with a quantum physics twist, one that truly excited me, and I’ll be honest here, before this book came along, I would have been hard pressed to imagine myself using the words “excited” and “quantum physics” in the same sentence. Sure, there were some explanations in this that were so complicated that they nearly made me go cross-eyed, but those moments were few and far between. Walton made learning about the topic fun and accessible, using language and other methods that were easy to understand without dumbing things down, and gave the reader enough to follow the story without overcomplicating things.
All in all, I’m really glad I read this novel because I enjoyed it a lot, and yes, that includes all the science-y parts—a good thing, since it was so integral to the plot…the plot that I don’t want to say anything more about, because the more left to secrecy the better. I was utterly addicted to the story, a tightly written tale with a pace that never let up. The use of quantum physics in this murder mystery was simply ingenious, and I’m amazed at Walton’s talent and ability to establish such a fascinating premise. Even if you’re wary about hard sci-fi, I strongly encourage you to give this one a chance; I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
The BiblioSanctum 
I will quickly put a book down if the science is too much for me to handle. Glad that this one balances it out and you were able to enjoy it. I have a few on my shelf that have been sitting for years because I can’t bring myself to read them. They were a part of a bundle that my brother gave me from a book fair in college and they look super loaded down with science. I have read the GR reviews and I got scared away.
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Hope you’ll give it a try! I’m a total failure at physics, but if I could understand this book and love it, there’s a good chance a lot of people will too 🙂
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Books with alternating time-lines are always delightfully challenging, and this one sounds perfectly suited to my tastes – including the not-too-heavy science: like you, I’m not too comfortable with too much technobabble (and LOL on the donut comparison, that was priceless! 🙂 )
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Yeah, that was why it took me so long to dip my feet into sci-fi. Now I know there’s a lot more than just heavy science and tech out there, but it’s still hard for me to handle the hard stuff.
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I’ve been really curious about this one, may have to give it a try one of these days
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I know you love math, but how do you feel about physics? If you’re into theories related to quantum physics, I think you might get a kick out of this!
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I am more hate with the heavy sci-fi stuff, maybe it will change one day, but it is just so heavy
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I still struggle with it sometimes.
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I tend to think that I have a hate/hate relationship with really heavy sci-fi! Probably because it will just all go over my head and I’ll feel incredibly dense and just the thought of quantum physics – yep, call me a krispy creme. Funnily enough though, when I think about it I have read quite a bit of sci fi when I look back – such as The Foundation series (well, the first three) and I guess that’s pretty huge space opera after all. I think it’s just the fear that I won’t understand. Nice to know that this one is easy to get along with. I did look at this on a number of occasions – I just should be a bit more confident in my own ability to read sci-fi! That’s why I enjoy these events – pushes me out of my comfort zone a little.
Lynn (aka the doughnut)
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Ah, I couldn’t get into Foundation. But I think that’s more to do with how outdated it felt to me, rather than the hard/heavy science. Superposition had a very casual style, and it was also very character focused. I think that definitely made it easier!
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I think if the writer knows how to incorporate science and story, the results will always be good. (Hey, look at The Martian!) This is the first book, right? Oh the one I didn’t read because I started with book two, LOL. I loved Supersymmetry even though it was book two, although I can see where I missed a few things by skipping book one.
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I remember your review about book 2! I definitely want to read it now. Apparently it takes place some years after the first one, but features some of the same characters. If the protagonist is who I think it is, you’ll definitely want to read this one 🙂
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The most impressive part of this novel, I thought, was how effectively Walton was able to break down the physics into simple and easily understood examples. And they weren’t like giant info dumps either. Just integrated like any other part of the story.
The biggest surprise for me was the plot. You’re right, it hard to say anything without spoiling, but there were so many twist and turns I wasn’t expecting!
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Yes, I was so impressed with Walton’s writing. No info dumps…in a book featuring quantum physics. That. Is. Amazing! Loved how the two threads were woven together too, and I can’t believe how much I enjoyed the courtroom scenes.
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