Review of “Quantum Consequence” by Mike Murphey

Score: 90/100 (9.0 out of 10)

If you enjoy time-traveling or dimension-hopping shows like Doctor Who (especially in its modern iteration) this might be the book or series for you!

This speculative-fiction/sci-fi book follows time-travelers Marta and Marshall as they discover 100+-year-old Cecil, the guardian of a young fisherman named Baptiste, has died. Though the death seems to be of natural causes, there are other aspects of Cecil's death that seem suspicious. First of all, Cecil had named Baptiste as the heir to his fortune, a fortune which Baptiste abusive kinda-step-dad, Ignace Aguillard, may have coveted. A huge dispute over the cause of death and custody of Baptiste erupts in court.

Meanwhile, we are abruptly teleported to a dystopian world run by alt-right/far-right oligarchs led by a tyrant named President Humphollar, AKA “President Leviticus Deuteronomy”--an obvious reference to Donald Trump. This becomes even more obvious as his campaign's motto is stated to be “Make America Stupid Again.” Gee, subtle!

But, wait, there's more!

The name of this totalitarian theocratic capitalist government is called the “Christian Fundamentalist States of America.”

GEE, SUBTLE!

For some reason, Amazon is also major villain in this with many of the androids, chief of which is the Judy Garland android, convinced that Amazon is a god and that their fulfillment center is “heaven.” Corporate America in general takes some heavy jabs from the narrative, admittedly some deserved.

The Judy Garland android refers to “Our Lord Gates and the prophet Jobs... lesser deities” and
“The Bezos...Creator of Amazon. Lord of Fulfillment. Bestower of . . . Stuff.”

This might seem funny, humorous, and hilarious to some, but it kinda came across as forced, mean-spirited, and childish to us.

The problem really lies in the fact that these jokes lack any and all subtlety. The secret to a good joke or punch-line is that there's some truth to what is being said, but there's also enough of a disconnect to create plausible deniability and to make the joke relatable to an audience. The problem here is that the jokes are just too blunt and obvious. It's like if a comedian, instead of convincing an audience to laugh by virtue of the hilarity of their joke, just whipped out a pistol,and demanded that you “LAUGH!”

We know that sounds harsh, but we also can't ignore how we felt. It really did feel didactic and preachy, as if the narrator were just pointing to people they disagree with and saying: “See this stupid person believing and doing stupid things? Aren't they stupid? Don't you see how stupid they are? How can you not see how stupid they are?”

Like, there are a lot of bad things about Corporate America and the political-right. A LOT of bad things. There's climate change denial. There's the reckless destruction of the environment and natural habitats for profit. There's disputing the 2020 election. There's calling the pandemic a hoax. There's the rejection of vaccines. There's intolerance of minorities, immigrants, and the LGBTQA+ community, etc., etc., etc. We're not denying that Corporate America and the political-right have done and believed/believe some gnarly things. The problem is, there's a way to go about criticizing groups of people without drawing devil horns on their heads and twirly mustaches on their faces. There's a tactful way to go about criticizing groups of people without making them pitchfork-wielding, hoof-footed caricatures.

When you do that, all you do is destroy the suspension of disbelief that your readers have. They start to think that this can't be real or this can't really happen because it's too absurd, too ridiculous, and too over-the-top to be believable.

It also ostracizes huge portions of people who may not 100% agree with 100% of your point of view. You are effectively putting devil horns on their heads and pitchforks in their hands too. Really, the only people who are going to be jumping and cheering for jokes like these are people who already 100% agree. Do you see what we're saying?

You're preaching to the choir here.

The same would be true if the book was just relentlessly attacking left-wing or non-religious people. Rise from the Blue by Boade Mandeng is an example of a book that went (in our opinion) too far the other way.

Be subtle, not forceful.
Be tactful, not pushy.
We can't emphasize that enough.

It's the difference between a dude being a creep and demanding you marry them immediately “or else” and a guy who courts you by being friendly, being helpful, buying you gifts, and taking you on dates. That's a huge difference.

And don't let your social commentary and political ranting completely derail and distract from your plot and/or your characters. Look at Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which also had some harsh opinions about the corporate elite and fascism. It still told a thrilling, coherent story with GREAT, memorable characters.

So, to reiterate, we go all the way from this custody-battle/spearfishing/corporate mystery all the way to this fascist, totalitarian, hyper-religious society ruled by President Humphollar. We get introduced to another character named Kendra Granger who is being forced by this tyrant to further time-travel for his nefarious purposes. Kendra was quickly becoming our favorite character in the book. However, she kinda got sidelined and third-fiddled (similar to what happened to Baptiste earlier). It's strange how we get compelled by and attached to characters like Baptiste and Kendra, then they get relegated to the background. It's unfortunate. However, we still held out hope for them as characters.

It also needs to be mentioned that a few other characters join the fray around this point. There's John Dexter, a more gray character who uses the threat of blackmail of his coworkers to pretty much hijack the time-machine in his dimension like he's The Master from Galifree or something. Then there's Lexi who gives us some amusing scenes, particularly the one in which she wants it to be explained to her why you have to be naked when you time-travel (supposedly because inorganic material won't travel with you). While this is an amusing scene based on a pretty good question (Why does a female time-traveler have to be naked in the presence of male scientist(s)?), it contributes more silliness and goofiness to what is already silly and goofy. It's like silly and goofy overload.

This book is so hard to take seriously. You could make the argument that it has the potential to be a very funny and, thus, entertaining book. If you just treat it like a hokie, cheesy, slapstick, absurdist comedy, it actually kinda works.

The thing is, this book started off with child abuse and a murder. There's an evil megalomaniac who wants to take over the world. Amazon is monopolizing everything. The world appears to be warped beyond recognition by technology, androids, AIs, and fascism. Yet, despite all of these facts, the characters seem so... nonchalant and carefree. Like, there are some mysteries hanging over this whole story—Who really is Marshall? Who killed Cecil? Did Aguillard do it? Why does Marshall's appendectomy scar keep disappearing and reappearing? Why are there multiple version of a character in different dimensions?—yet there's a cognitive dissonance between those serious questions and the tone of the rest of the book, which is silly, absurd, and humorous.

There's a scene in which a character in this book pretty much gets pummeled and their teeth knocked out by the Russian mob, yet it isn't scary, tragic, or traumatic at all. No, it's played off for laughs.

There's also a gimmick in which all the dimensions/timelines are named after old TV shows (for some reason). There's the I Love Lucy Universe, the Cheer Universe, the Death Valley Days Universe, and presumably more. Now, those are great shows, but it's really bizarre and a bit ridiculous.

There's also the presence of characters/actors from popular TV shows and movies. There's Charlton Heston and Jessica Rabbit in here (yes, really). However, the chief offender is definitely Judy Garland, who appears as an android with both childlike wonder and weird inclinations including a reverence for Amazon. She also has a snake that, for some reason, she keeps around and feeds. Like, whaaaaat? Why? Ok, there is kinda an answer to that. It's like a guardian, but still. A snake? Aren't there more efficient creatures you can keep around for your protection? Like a dog or even a lion?

She also always reacts to things that excite her by bending at her knees and squatting spontaneously like she's Zach from Crisis Core.

However, strangely enough, she's one of our favorite characters in the book. She kinda reminded us of Athena from Tomorrowland.

Believe it or not, this isn't even the biggest mind-trip of the contest. It isn't even the least subtle. Let that sink in and stay tuned for With Love From Planet B.

Quantum Consequence is undeniably an ambitious, creative, and wacky novel that will have you guessing, scratching you head, and probably having a good laugh or two.

Check it out on Amazon!