I really wanted to like this book. Alas it spent too much time being all clever clever quantum gubbins and not enough time fleshing out the actual characters. The middle is a drag but it does finally get to some sort of point by the end. I doubt I’ll read the sequel.

Reminds me, favourably, of the Stainless Steel Rat series.

This could have gotten 5 stars from me but it was just too confusing in the end. I'm a sucker for gadgetry and crazy ideas about future societies. This book was full of them. The first chapter completely blew me away but then as it got deeper and deeper I started to get more and more confused. The switching back and forth from first to third person threw me off sometimes and listening to it on audio may have increased that confusion.

The other thing was that the narrator is the narrator from the Dune audio books so I kept feeling like I was in the Dune universe (which really isn't a bad thing, just confusing).

I would definitely read more from this author but would probably avoid the audio so that I can back up easier if I get confused.

Last little note. One of the main characters names (Isadore) sounds very feminine to me (an American) so I thought the character was a woman repeatedly until I finally got used to it.

I started reading this a year ago and gave up after 50 or so pages. The author drops you into a future without any reference and a lot of capitalized words. There is no exposition in this book. The author decided that he was going hew closely to the show don't tell paradigm and tell the reader nothing. Everything you learn about the world is through natural interactions between the characters.

The beginning was a slog. The middle was interesting after I figured out a little bit of what some of the words were supposed to mean and refer to in the book. The end...I'm still not entirely sure how it was resolved.

4.5, stunningly complex

Nothing but heart eyes for this book, even for someone whose knowledge of science goes only so far as the science fiction they read. I understood enough of the science behind The Quantum Thief to make me keep on reading, but it also made me want to learn more so I can fully grasp its genius.

Quantum Thief presents a view of the future that is as as ambitious, foreign and believable to a person in 2013 as Neuromancer did in the 1984. I was able to understand the narrative about as well too, so if the metaphor is consistent I'd need to read it about two more times to actually understand the whole thing. I particularly enjoyed the proposed evolution of privacy technology and its importance and incorporation into daily life. Minus one star for the smug über mensch portrait/bio of the author.

Definitely a good read and I am totally drawn in and will be reading the rest of his books, but I gave it a four stars because I am just so unaccustomed to a book that barely explains the setting. I felt too confused about things at points and I think that took away from a greater understanding and appreciation of the book.

Alright so I had intended to read this something else from this author for a couple of years now, and finally this year I've done so. This first book has gained a strong and respected reputation and so I was expecting quite something from it.
It may be that I started thinking that it was simply some new slant on space opera SF but it actually mixes that up with post-cyberpunk and a fair bit of surreal imagery and ideas. This goes along with some hard SF but it is all written together well enough to keep you enjoying the story and characters.
It does have some very good, original touches and fun characters and it is actually not the absolutely huge narrative you may expect. It focuses around just a mostly small group of characters in a SF thriller tale.
A good read and something different and unusual in modern science fiction.