Quantum Radio

A. G. Riddle, Head of Zeus (MAR 2) Hardcover $25.95 (512pp) 978-1-80328-169-8, SCIENCE FICTION

Four people will determine the fate of multiple worlds in A. G. Riddle’s Quantum Radio.

All Ty ever wanted was to use science to unlock the universe’s secrets. But after a historic breakthrough, other forces seek to control what Ty has discovered—and to kill whoever gets in their way. Accompanied by three others with a mysterious connection to his discovery, Ty goes on a mission to rewrite history and stop a conspiracy so big that a single universe cannot contain it.

The novel’s first part follows Ty as he scrambles to interpret his findings. Each revelation leads to new questions and greater dangers until he and his companions are forced to take drastic action. This leads into the book’s second and third parts, which are powered by a different kind of tension: the knowledge that, if they fail, an entire world will forever succumb to fascism. Clever historical twists are used to imagine how an Axis victory might have brought World War II to a very different conclusion (though the fact that the story ignores the Holocaust while relying on the Third Reich’s continued presence is odd).

The relationships between Ty and the rest are marked by differences; still, they work together well, learning from and listening to one another as they search for solutions that all can live with. That includes the decision all four must make regarding their own shared future, the vast physical and moral implications of which have yet to be explored. No matter what happens next, Ty must come to grips with the fact that everything he thought he knew about the universe, his family, and the person he is supposed to be is wrong.

Quantum Radio is a tense novel in which scientists race against time to help humanity determine its own destiny.