Quantum Lens Paperback – October 1, 2014

I wish I could give this book 3.5 stars instead of 4 because that's where it lands for me. Certainly better than a 3, not as good as a 4 star read. Here's the deal: this book is wonderfully complex and teeters on the edge of believable science and metaphysics. It keeps you turning the pages and keenly interested until the closing chapters where it all comes together a bit too conveniently.In fact, the only way the author can bring the story to a close is by forcing the actors to go way out-of-character. Most obviously with the villain in this story: a demigod who works entirely behind the scenes and uses his minions and lieutenants to do all his hands-on work for 95% of the story. Only to suddenly change his entire "M-O" at the end because the author can't quite figure out how to bring it to a close.Sadly, as with movies and plays, books are only as good as their ending and that is where this otherwise fun work disappoints.

I read Portals and now quantum lens. I am fascinated with the research in these books, and not just the science but the philosophical and humanistic points of view from the characters, it makes them believable under the whole framework of a scifi work, add to that the action an thrilling moments at each page turn, and no doubt you will enjoy this work.

A love story within an intriguing story. As sci-fi books should while it is entertaining it also can be informative, which this book was. It took me a while to read as I found myselfLooking up much of the information presented. I now have a good reading list of varied subjects from humans to quantum physics.

Love it! !! Can't wait to read another one of his books.

If I say more than "good" Amazon rejects my time and effort at review, so I don't put much effort into it anymore but I'll make an exception for Douglas E. Richards. Another 4-5 star fun and interesting book I highly recommend.Now... instead of just rejecting it like mindless drones, just cut everything after the first paragraph and do Mr. Richard's a favor, Okay? You have my permission to butcher the rest. It's largely irrelevant anyway. I don't do spoilers and I think the blurb is probably spoiler enough.I studied writing extensively, am a life long polymath... studying everything... less brain surgery, although medicine has not escaped my study. I feel Douglas is far better version of me. We share the same interests I suspect, as well.Better, he's like Robert Heinlein or Issac Asimov as a writer. Both these writers along with Poul Anderson, Verner Vinge, and many others often took cutting edge science of their day and made stories that both explained the science in layman's terms, and also speculated on how they may become in the future. Usually in optimistic terms.I'll be honest. I did not want to like Douglas E. Richards. Writing is one of the areas I've focused on a great deal, and he comes off as an amateur self-published author to me. Believe me when I tell you that is a mistaken conception -- despite my efforts to shake this mistaken disbelief from early on. There's nothing he has written in fiction that is not on my "to read" list. You want to blow your mind, read "The Cure". A bit dark at first but your head will spin more than once on that one. The Nick Hall books are excellent too.Quantum Lens, like most his books are a bit on the "strain your ability to suspend disbelief" side in the beginning. After a short time you are thinking, I knew this, I just never put it all together like this -- and it is fascinating. You also get the added benefit of interesting characters you like.Douglas doesn't stray far from the commercial formula for his speculative fiction writing. His protagonist are people we wish we could be, and he makes them seem superhuman... but as he explains the science, you know they didn't come from Krypton to be superhuman. There's always a love interest, and the world is in great peril.And his research is impeccable. Quantum Mechanics, Placebo effect, and zero point energy are all issues I've studied to some degree - so this was an especially fun novel for me. I even relate to the protagonist a bit in that I too have wandered into "what the hell" a time or two and found myself thinking, this makes way too much sense.Get the book. Get the audiobook..., great narrator. The narration on this one doesn't go into the Author's notes after the book conclusion of the book where Douglas explains some of his research for the book. If you'll spring for any Hollywood movie, I assure you your money will have a greater entertainment and educational value buying this set of ebook/audiobook.Or just wait. It would be ridiculous for studios to continue to NOT option all of Douglas's books. They aren't difficult to transition to screenplays, and they'd all make great big dollar A list character movies.

This is a thought provoking science fiction novel. The story is creative, fast-paced and filed with believable characters. You really do want the hero to win and the antagonist to be destroyed. Human behavior, the subconscious, hypnotism, quantum mechanics, good vs.evil and spirituality are exploredin a cohesive narrative keeping the reader turning the pages.

This author is pretty predictable in his recent novels, to the extent that many of them read like houses all built from the same floor plan. There's a near-future tech plot; there's a young, geeky guy who discovers the love of his life and has passionate, if generally off-page, sex; then there is deceit and counter-deceit and "who's really the bad guy?" for about 2/3 of the plot...And then, there are interminable dialogues where, essentially, the characters pause in the middle of danger/action/jeopardy to...talk. They talk philosophy. And human behavior. And how the rich actually need to be taxed less (I'm not kidding.) These pages-long "explanations" of the "science" take place in constructed spaces like car rides and plane rides, and they destroy the movement of the plot, with the added bonus of making sure you know Richard's opinions on EVERYTHING.A good editor could pare these down and have a pretty good series of novels, if somewhat carbon copies of themselves. Somehow, Richards has mastered a formula and his publisher allows him to churn 'em out.And - if you can ignore the ridiculous stretches of non-fiction dialogue every couple of chapters - the actual stories aren't bad. The relationships seem stuck in the fully heterosexual 1950s, but they're not written horribly; just...very retro.

The story was an eye-opener for me.I especially enjoy the explanations at the end of the book.Worthwhile reading, is you want to expand your horizons.

It’s difficult to review this book without using a phrase like "dog's breakfast", because it is a bit like a dog's breakfast. It contains so much densely packaged information and extends real science into fantasy so it's difficult to "See the Join" as Eric might have said. We have abstract constructs of good and bad, we have an attempt to join all religions into one great unified understanding, We have a novel explanation of the creation of the universe and all this is set against a breathtaking adventure to stop a mad man killing more than half the world's population (All non Muslims, but I think that aspect of the book is a bit unfortunate and could have been written a bit more sensitively). The Heroes and heroine battle against super natural power and conventional baddies with guns (who are mainly there as cannon fodder) .If this isn't enough we have a budding romance and enough cross, double, treble crosses and mis-directions to last another 10 books at least. When I had finished reading it I gave my head a rest and watched the Simpsons. (which of course is also loaded with sub texts but is MUCH easier on your brain power)

This was one of those books that makes you think. We have all seen superhero films, but what if there was a way it could happen for real?The story was fast moving with plenty of twists and turns. If it has one fault it is that the author has a tendency to overexplain.That apart, this was an enjoyable and thought provoking read.

Fast moving, complex and informative thriller. This is the first time I have read any of this author's work and I now intend to read more. At the beginning I enjoyed the writing style and plot and was drawn into their world, as the story unfolded it was apparent that this was becoming a lot more complex than an everyday, well written thriller and I needed to concentrate more. This was a book I couldn't read in my normal manner, whilst also watching tv, answering mail and talking to my husband, I am a chronic multi tasker! Whilst reading this many concepts were either something I knew a little about and sometimes nothing at all, after finishing the book I read the author's notes and bio and became even more thrilled at bumping into the author's work via a freebe at Bookbub. I used to be a college librarian and would instantly have bought the whole set...I am a strong believer in encouraging study through well researched novels, this would have linked instantly into many subject study areas. So to end, thank you Mr Richards for this multi faceted intro into many subject areas and thank you Bookbub for giving me the opportunity to try for free!

This book is not in my normal scope of reading. The thing that intrigued me was the short description of a man who thinks he is a deity. The book started of with a somewhat dry description of the science behind the story but amazingly I read every word! The story then takes off and the book could be described a 'smiting and smoting' with the hint of biblical proportions. There were lots of twists and turns and there were enough left for the final chapters. One of the most exciting pieces were the authors notes at the end, which pointed out the science fact from science fiction. It was an exciting read about a subject I know little of, written by an author with credentials. I shall certainly be reading some of this authors other works.

I really enjoyed reading this book , started to read all this author’s books . Good mix of fiction and science