Observer

A sf novel of ideas: if consciousness/observation creates the universe, does that imply that we can create different universes by observing differently? I wasn’t super persuaded about the science, but then again I don’t have the scientific chops to evaluate the claims about uncertainty/observers at the macro level. The story involves a neurosurgeon struggling against a vicious online campaign against her after she reported being groped by a more senior surgeon, who joins an out-there project in a lightly regulated jurisdiction in order to get enough money to take care of her sister and her sister’s children. She doesn’t believe that the brain implants she’s working on actually allow recipients to create new universes, but show more it’s interesting work anyway. The plot point where they really want to go on 60 Minutes to create a successful counternarrative to various online theories about what they’re doing seemed a bit dated, and “online” was just shorthand for trolls, racists, and abusers, but if you like novels of ideas then this one might work for you. show less

Mind-bending science fiction that blends physics and biology into an incredible tale of what could be the future.

Or, should I say, what I wish would be the future. This novel was completely absorbing, and it took me longer than usual to read because it required a lot of thinking as I tried to make sense of the science and the concept that is called, in the book, The Primacy of the Observer. This theory focuses on the suggestion that "instead of matter and evolution giving rise to consciousness, the truth is the other way around." Yeah, this is deep and heavy stuff, but the authors did an incredible job turning all this into a story that is relatable and easier to understand.

When Dr. Caroline Soames-Watkins is forced from her job as a show more neurosurgeon after she reports an incidence of sexual harassment to the hospital board, she's invited to work for a distant relative she has never met -- the famous Nobel Prize winning scientist, Dr. Samuel Watkins, her great uncle. He and two other brilliant men have set up a medical compound in the Cayman Islands where they are doing groundbreaking research and experiments that involve deep brain stimulation. Their goal is to discover the nature of consciousness, reality, and possibly, life after death.

Read this if you want to expand your mind and if you enjoy entertaining science fiction that seems plausible. I liked the characters, the science, the writing style, and the story itself. I only wish that new discoveries and inventions were not deemed so scary that they invite the attention of hate groups or the cancel culture. This would make a great film.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Story Plant for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend. show less

This is one of the best multiverse themed sci-fi novels I’ve come across. It’s co-authored by a world renown scientist and a Nebula Award winning writer who together blend the scientific theories behind the infinite worlds concept into a fast-paced plot. Did I understand the explanations of quantum state collapse or that space and time, and maybe even matter, depend on the observer? Heck no, but they gave me something to puzzle over while I enjoyed a darn good story.

Greatly enjoyed this attempt to bring the wonders of physics into real-life focus (e.g. the multiverse; the influence of the observer on perceived reality; the "stubbornly persistent delusions" of time, death, etc.) The story(ies) held me engaged throughout and the ideas will stay with me, even though the leap from theory into the controlled experiments was a long one...