The Quantum Garden, Derek Künsken’s second novel, picks up directly after the conclusion of The Quantum Magician and offers another compelling and thought-provoking hard sci-fi adventure. Having pulled off the con of a lifetime and escaped with the time gates, Belisarius and Cassie are quickly thrown back into danger when the lives of the entire homo quantus population are threatened. Enlisting the sceptical assistance of Colonel Iekanjika and risking an irreparable paradox, they put the time gates to hazardous use and travel back in time to search for answers in the history of the Sixth Expeditionary Force, while the implacable Scarecrow dogs them every step of the way.
If The Quantum Magician was very much a heist caper, this time around it’s more of a time travel paradox story, retaining pretty much everything that made the first book so good – including familiar characters like Stills and St. Matthew – but steering the narrative in a different direction. Belisarius is driven by desperation this time, faced with the unexpected consequences of his recent actions and the impact they’re having on his conscience. He hasn’t lost his curiosity or his voracious appetite for new information, but after what happened last time around he’s fundamentally changed and has started to properly recognise the responsibilities his actions incur. He’s even more of an outsider now than ever, one step removed even from Cassie, and as the book progresses he’s forced to question himself more and more.
Narratively this is a little tighter in scope, with less of the grand world building (much of which has already been done) and more focus on the personal histories of Belisarius and Iekanjika, who gets plenty of page time and whose arc nicely complements Belisarius’. Even as she learns to see Belisarius in a slightly different light, she finds that exploring her peoples’ history brings her into a very personal conflict with what she thought she knew about her own past, as Künsken delves deeper into the politics of this world. Both character arcs provide a nice balance to the science being discussed – while there’s plenty of it once again, it feels even less distracting this time. Perhaps that’s just because the quantum mechanics at least are a little more familiar by now, but there’s arguably a deeper exploration of the actual implications of the science on the characters and the responsibilities they have as a result.
Overall it’s a more straightforward and accessible story than The Quantum Magician, but a more personal one too. With much of the groundwork already laid, Künsken digs deeper into the characters, including the consistently scene-stealing, foul-mouthed but strangely endearing Stills, while the conflicting viewpoints of Belisarius and Iekanjika offer a satisfying exploration of both political and ethical questions alongside the science and the general adventure. There’s a tremendous sense of imagination and entertainment in the pacy, exciting plot and, while the Scarecrow is a little under-used (setting things up for the next book, it seems like), the stakes nevertheless feel very real. Anyone who enjoyed the first book should find plenty to savour here, and after two books all the signs are that this is a series which is going to keep getting better and better.
Many thanks to Rebellion and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.
