The Quantum Connection (Warp Speed #2)

The Quantum Connection (2005) is the sequel to Warp Speed. It is set about three years after the Rains, the widespread destruction attributed to meteorites, but actually caused by enemy action. In this novel, Steve Montana is a computer geek, specializing in software and with considerable knowledge of hardware and firmware. He developed his own operating system as a teenager and won college scholarships for his work. Then the Rains came and Steve lost his friends and family. He becomes clinically depressed. Larry Waterford is a technical manager at Wright Patterson for the Innovative Concepts Group in the USAF Space Vehicles Directorate. In this story, Steve is living in Dayton with his dog Lazarus and working at a virtual reality store. He had dropped out of college and is technical support for the VR store customers. One day a man drops off an old game system and Steve is asked to fix it. The hardware repair is fairly easy and most of the computer disks only need cleaning and surface repair. But one disk is cracked and not playable even after cleaning and surface restoral. Steve forgets his woes for a while as he works on the hardware and software. When the customer returns, he is impressed by Steve's efforts and the low price of the bill. Later, Larry returns and offers Steve a job with the Air Force if he returns to school. Steve is tired of working under the young VR store manager and the job looks interesting and lucrative, so he fills out the paperwork and enrolls for classes. While in school, Steve works as a co-op student for the ICG at Wright Patterson. For his first term, Larry gives him a circuit board and asks him to reverse engineer it. Later, he has an exam question in the Advanced Microprocessors class that provides some insight into the circuit. Steve finally gets his Top Secret clearance and is taken to Washington for a classified briefing. Then security denies him further clearance. Government agents search his apartment for classified data and kill Lazarus while the dog is protecting his home. Steve takes the body back to Bakersfield and buries it there. This tale involves advanced aliens, superAgents, and warp drives. Steve meets a nice girl and develops a relationship. Then he makes friends with a computer program. This story is a character study of a depressed technogeek. It involves schematic diagrams, quantum mechanics and pharmaceutical remedies for bipolar disorder. I enjoyed the technogeek part and related to the depression problems. Steve was not very likeable at the beginning. He bonds with his dog and cries a lot. Then the feds kill his dog. Steve gets mad and develops a different personality. This novel still resembles a space opera from the 1930s, much like the early works of John W. Campbell, Jr.. Still, it does have more rationale for the rapid technological advances than does the previous book. This is the last volume in the series, but the author went on to co-author some ver

Doc Taylor's second novel, "The Quantum Connection" follows on in the same world created by Taylor in "Warp Speed". This time however, the novel doesn't center around Dr. Clemons and his associates, instead Taylor introduces the reader to Steven Montana, a character who's life was profoundly changed by the events in the first book although we never new he existed in the first story. Taylor shows Steven as a very human character. He's a computer geek who finds that his whole family and all his friends have died as a result of a rain of meteors that killed millions around the world (readers of "Warp Speed" know the real story there). The first third of the book follows Steven's ups and downs as he deals with this, with life and finally with a great opportunity to work for a government think tank reverse engineering foreign and sometimes possibly alien technologies. The relationship between Steven and his dog, Lazarus, is one of the most interesting and touching parts of this novel. There are two kinds of dog owners in the world, ones for whom the dog becomes one of the family, and those for whom the dog is just another possession. Lazarus becomes Steven's only family, and a stabilizing force for him as he deals with erratic mood swings that the doctors tell him are part of dealing with his tremendous loss. Taylor's story uses the relationship between Steven and Lazarus as an underlying influence that helps guide Steven's actions and it allows the reader to understand his actions when tragedy does strike. Of course at this point the novel sounds more like "Old Yeller" than a sci-fi action story, but the build up of Steven's relationship with Lazarus is important to this story. Taylor blends this element neatly into the plot right along with the aliens, super-technology, action and adventure that the book's cover art suggests. The move into the "meat" of the story is actually quite sudden as the book shifts gears radically with the introduction of the before mentioned aliens and more advanced technology. This also leads to Steven's introduction to Tatiana, a young daughter of a Russian diplomat to the U.N. who is in almost the same situation. Their relationship provides the impetus for emotional growth that all the high-tech cannot. As has become a trademark with Taylor's work, the technology becomes a driving force in the story. Unlike "Warp Speed" which focused on the possibilities of faster than light travel, the technical focus in "The Quantum Connection" is nano-technology and the theory of the quantum connection (hence the title of the book) between all things. Taylor brings the reader into these concepts through Steven's own process of discovery and as the human's understanding of the alien technology expands, so does the reader's understanding of the underlying concepts behind it. I'm not big on giving away a lot of the story, you should read the book for that! But I will say that some of the most interesting scenes in the book involv

In Warp Speed, Doc Travis presented us with a look into quantum physics and the AMAZING potentials it has in a stupendous ride of a story. In Quantum Connection, we get an additional look - with more possibilities. Super Science that could be happening tomorrow (or even today in a "black project"? - hmmmm, could be..?) We see the events of "warp speed" through a different perspective, and then it is kicked up a notch. First and foremost - in this reviewer's opinion - ALL good science fiction most hold together logically. Quantum Connection does that quite well. Second, good science fiction has to have a story line that holds my interest - Quantum Connection did that VERY well. Third, good science fiction has to have characters that I can cheer for and/or identify with - once again Quantum Connection does this quite nicely. All "geeks" and "nerds" out there (myself included) can identify with the protaganist. I was wondering how it tied into "Warp Speed" at first, but trust me - it does. I won't reiterate the story, reviewers before have done it well (in the multi-star reviews). Again, as in "Warp Speed" this story is about BIG men and women doing larger than life things for the ones they love and for mankind as a whole. It begins in one man's private hell of a world - not of his own doing, as we find out - and ends with a challenge to the universe of "Don't Tread On US Humans". If you are a liberal you WILL NOT like this story. If you are a person who thinks that aliens will land and "come in peace" to bring us the cure for cancer - you WILL NOT like this story. If you think the old story "To Serve Man" is as likely as "The Day the Earth Stood Still", then you will like it. (Don't know the reference? Go back and take Science Fiction 101 again). As in the reviews for Warp Speed", the "one star" reviews seem to be either politically based or from people who don't want to really think about science (in this old curmudgeon's opinion). In short, I loved it and am looking for the series to continue. (Mark Twain once said "Classical literature is like fine wine. My books are like water; everybody drinks water.") On the "Water" scale this is Mineral Spring water with shot of Apple Juice and just a dash of Jack Daniels for kick. (shaken, not stirred)

This is another fast moving adventure novel by Travis "Doc" Taylor. It begins a bit slowly but once things start happening they really move along. Doc Taylor writes with the flavor of SciFi stories from the 1930s-1960s and his story are very much like those of E. E. "Doc" Smith. If you are looking for something like Atlas Shrugged, go somewhere else because this book isn't it. It is simply a fun read with some interesting science mixed in. Contrary to what some other reviewers have written, there are moments of insight in the story, but you will have to look for them as they aren't presented to you in bold face type. The science included in the story is very thought provoking as long as one is willing to spend some time thinking about. All in all an excelolent book.

As with Warp Speed, Dr. Travis Taylor put together a very enjoyable story that also informs on physics possiblities. He strings together very interesting possibilities and places them where you would think they are just around the corner. I am reminded of Doc Smith, Heinlein, and F.M. Busby, to name a few. You can count on the science, and hope on the possibilities. I have added him to my list of those whose hardcovers are purchased rather than waiting for the paperback.