Review of Quantum Terra

Bigwig1973 · Post by **Bigwig1973** » 15 Aug 2021, 19:58

[Following is a volunteer review of "Quantum Terra" by Kirk Marty.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Thirty-five year old real estate attorney Nick Shuman had no idea what was in store for him when he was hired by beautiful and charming Fatima Carruthers to settle a land dispute on behalf of her late husband, Eliot Carruthers. While in the process of settling the land dispute, Nick finds his tenuous hold on reality shattered; not only does he find himself shifting from one reality to another, but he is also the main suspect in the brutal slaying of a colleague.

Kirk Marty's novel, Quantum Terra: A Nick Shuman Legal Thriller, starts with a fairly standard legal case between his late client's institute, The Foundation for the Study of Electro-Magnetic Energy and another group called The Society of Metaphysical Acolytes. Shortly after taking the case, Nick's life becomes rather complicated. Nick falls madly in love and material objects suddenly seem to change or disappear. He receives guidance from intangible otherworldly advisors, either via mediums or dreams. He takes self-led crash courses in quantum mechanics, gets kidnapped, has his life threatened, and he is charged with first-degree murder! This is the second book in the Nick Shuman series. Adverse Possession is the first novel in the series, and although there are probably references to the first novel in the second book, having read the first novel does not seem prerequisite to enjoying the second.

I really liked the love story aspect of the book. It is not often that successful attorneys fall out-of-their-minds, head-over-heels in love and it is a refreshingly humorous break from society's perspective of legal personnel. I did not care for the lengthy descriptions of quantum theories. As the alternate reality groups in the novel seem to have their own terminology for specific concepts, the background on quantum theory was not actually necessary. It is fairly interesting, and it is likely these parts of the book that would make this novel a fun and cherished favorite for readers with a background in quantum theory.

As the book contains both violent and erotic scenes, I would not recommend this book for younger audiences. The shifting from one reality to another is sometimes presented as indicative of mental instability. Because Nick and his "motley crew of legal vagabonds" (51) are supposed to be pillars of society, and because of the callous relationship such men often have with one another, their (and Nick's) perspective on his plight, along with their gruff references to mental instability, might be considered politically incorrect. As such, I would not recommend this book to readers who are extremely sensitive to unsympathetic treatment of mental illness. I would definitely recommend this book to science fiction readers. While Quantum Terra: A Nick Shuman Legal Thriller might not have the futuristic feel of some of Kurt Vonnegut's sci-fi novels, it is still reminiscent of sci-fi as done by Vonnegut. Reader's who enjoy Vonnegut's science fiction will probably also enjoy this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Quantum Terra: A Nick Shuman Legal Thriller and give Marty's novel 3 out of 4 stars. The book contained several spacing errors as well as minor punctuation errors. There were a couple times that comprehension issues arose as words were either missing or added to sentences. The author did a nice job defining some quantum theory or alternate reality concepts. In certain case, after the theoretic definition is provided, Nick, the protagonist, integrates these concepts into his speech or thoughts, giving the reader a more applied perspective of these concepts. While some of the secondary characters might have been developed a bit more, I think their personalities might have already been introduced in Adverse Possession. The plot is good and it is accompanied by some action scenes as well as a good dose of romance. As Nick's life becomes more and more complicated, that his colleagues stick with him in spite of the mess his life has become, also makes this a story of true friendship.

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Quantum Terra
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Chiwelite O · Post by **Chiwelite O** » 30 Aug 2021, 00:56

You enjoyed the book in and out. Great review and we structured too. I've always been curious about quantum mechanics.

viczboy16 · Post by **viczboy16** » 30 Aug 2021, 03:10

This book seems enjoyable to me as I love erotic and violent scenes and it also talks about some physics concepts which I’m interested in . Thanks for this review.

Bigwig1973 · Post by **Bigwig1973** » 30 Aug 2021, 18:15

Chiwelite O wrote: You enjoyed the book in and out. Great review and we structured too. I've always been curious about quantum mechanics.

I did enjoy the book and thank you for the compliment! I don't know much about quantum mechanics, but the book does talk about it. I don't have any physics books, but I looked up "quantum mechanics" in a philosophy reference book. I think the book deals with psychics in a broad, theoretical manner. Nick is probably kind of like Alice from Wonderland, but while everything Alice experiences can likely be proven to be logical, it's uncertain that what Nick is experiencing can be proven scientifically. Or, like strange, fluke moments in sports, I suppose.

Bigwig1973 · Post by **Bigwig1973** » 03 Sep 2021, 09:03

Viczboy16 wrote: This book seems enjoyable to me as I love erotic and violent scenes and it also talks about some physics concepts which I’m interested in . Thanks for this review.

It's not terribly violent or erotic - I just wanted to mention that it has some violent and erotic scenes. I didn't mean to get your hopes up

. The erotic scenes remind me a very little bit of the song "Jump in the Line" by Harry Belafonte, or at least the line "...and when she dances oh brother, she's a hurricane in all kinds of weather." Except with sex and earthquakes. Strange. If you do read the book, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the comment!

Kaushiki Parihar · Post by **Kaushiki Parihar** » 15 Sep 2021, 03:48

This doesn't seem my type of book as I neither like physics nor erotic scenes. Thanks for the great review.

Bigwig1973 · Post by **Bigwig1973** » 15 Sep 2021, 06:22

Kaushiki Parihar wrote: This doesn't seem my type of book as I neither like physics nor erotic scenes. Thanks for the great review.

Thank you for the compliment! The book doesn't talk too much about physics, nor is it extremely erotic. It is about an attorney who is hired to settle a land dispute between two societies who then gets temporarily stuck, I suppose, between two different dimensions. In order for him to make sense of this, he learned a little about quantum mechanics and, of course, he falls in love with his beautiful client. I wanted to make sure readers knew that it contains references to intercourse so people who don't want their children reading about those things would know that the book does contain such references.

Ruchi Raina · Post by **Ruchi Raina** » 15 Sep 2021, 12:14

Why is Nick suddenly experiencing all these weird things? Who does he fall in love with? I would love to read this book to get the answers. Thanks for the amazing review.

Bigwig1973 · Post by **Bigwig1973** » 18 Sep 2021, 11:26

Ruchi Raina wrote: Why is Nick suddenly experiencing all these weird things? Who does he fall in love with? I would love to read this book to get the answers. Thanks for the amazing review.

Thank you for the compliment

I'm not sure if either question is totally and completely answered in the book in any definitive sort of way. Maybe it's because he falls in love that all these strange things happen, maybe he just happened to be in the right(wrong) place at the wrong(right) time. Maybe it was because of the type of person he is. It's hard to say but the book is quite interesting. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it!

Astral Magi · Post by **Astral Magi** » 19 Sep 2021, 13:48

I love sci-fi and I'm an avid fan of quantum theories, so this has piqued my curiosity. I am adding it to my bookshelf. Thank you for a most excellent review.

Bigwig1973 · Post by **Bigwig1973** » 21 Sep 2021, 08:31

Niens Now wrote: I love sci-fi and I'm an avid fan of quantum theories, so this has piqued my curiosity. I am adding it to my bookshelf. Thank you for a most excellent review.

Thanks for the compliment! I definitely don't regret having picked it to review. It's quite interesting!