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Zee mind, she is blown. The Quantum Thief<\/em><\/a> is one of those \u2018why do I even bother writing\u2019 books. Memorable characters, wildly intelligent science, solid action scenes, and a well-conceived world. Feel free to troll the \u2018nets for reviews \u2013 suffice it to say I recommend giving it a read.<\/p>\n The presentation<\/strong> is today\u2019s topic.\u00a0 We see two points of view for the most part: the titular thief and a detective. Sure, sure. Two plots which have no choice but to collide at the climax. All well and good.<\/p>\n But the thief\u2019s chapters are all in first-person present, and the detective\u2019s in second-person present.\u00a0 First-person present<\/em><\/strong>, I said. \u201cI walk<\/strong> into a bright room and see all sorts of crazy business\u201d.\u00a0 As opposed to the detective: \u201cIsidore walks<\/strong> into a bright room and sees all sorts of business, crazy and otherwise.\u201d\u00a0 And definitely not “Jean walked<\/strong> into a bright room and saw some business going on.”<\/p>\n As much of a psycho-noogie as the plot can be, the choice of tense here really sent me around the proverbial bend. The chapters don\u2019t need to be tagged to explain who\u2019s speaking, because the two stories are presented in different tenses. So whose story is it<\/strong>? Clearly the thief\u2019s, but why not the detective\u2019s as well? Why the different treatment?<\/p>\n When a mind can be copied, stored, reinserted into bodies et cetera, concepts of a person’s past and future change. The present tense works here, because all the characters can really say for sure is what is going on right now<\/em>. Well done.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n A few of the tips I\u2019ve gleaned from other books (see previous posts<\/a>) are represented well in The Quantum Thief<\/em>:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n