The Coming Of The Quantum Cats

Author: Frederik Pohl

Imagine Stargate if it was set in the 80s sans MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson, and you've got The Coming of the Quantum Cats. Originally an Analog Sccience Fiction magazine series, the title is a reference to Schrodinger's Cat, where the outcome of a real world event depends on a quantum event. The story is influence by the interpretation of quantum mechanics where all possible outcomes of an event occur in parallel universes. Layman's explanation: remember that intolerable Ashton Kutcher movie the Butterfly Effect? That, just less depressing, and less annoying. The Coming of Quantum Cats is based on invasions from alternate Earths in alternate universes, that all have some element in common. Some of the worlds are horrific, most are barely tolerable, and one is perfect. In one universe Nancy Reagan is the president, in another politics is on the far right spectrum in America, in some worlds Stalin set himself up as an American capitalist. The book follows different versions of the same three characters - Dominic DeSota, Myla Christophe, and Larry Douglas, and the central theme seems to be the nature versus nurture debate, showing that an individual is shaped by social conditions, rather than what is in their genes. This novel shows the reader that people with the same heritage, depending on the way they are brought up and their social influences, can develop into completely different characters. This novel should be compulsory reading for anyone who is a fan of science fiction or alternative history, or anyone who wants to understand the affect of socialization on humans. It will really fuck with your sense of reality and having you question the decisions you make and the outcomes they have created.