The Fractal Prince
The Fractal Prince is the second novel in Hannu Rajaniemi's Jean le Flambeur trilogy, following The Quantum Thief (2010) and preceding The Causal Angel (2014).
Jean le Flambeur, the post-human gentleman thief freed from his virtual prison in the first book, is travelling toward Earth with the warrior Mieli and her sentient ship, Perhonen, still trying to break open a Schrödinger box holding the secret of his own past — while shadowy pursuers close in and Mieli learns unsettling truths about his capture.
On the ruined, story-haunted Earth below, in the walled desert city of Sirr, the sisters Tawaddud and Dunyazad Gomelez are drawn into a murder investigation and their father Cassar's political maneuvering, as he seeks to use Tawaddud's connection to a "gogol" merchant to sway a Council vote on a treaty with the Sobornost. A third, more cryptic thread follows an isolated boy encountering strange visitors.
Structured deliberately like One Thousand and One Nights, the novel builds its story in layers within layers — a fractal shape that mirrors its themes of memory, minds-as-data, and the fluid, tellable nature of reality — as Jean's path converges with the sisters' toward the awakening of a Sobornost god.
Post-human gentleman thief, freed from his virtual prison, journeying toward Earth to unlock a box holding the truth of his past.
A warrior from the Oortian Hiljainen sirkus, escorting Jean and piloting the ship Perhonen on her patron's orders.
A young woman in the city of Sirr, drawn into a murder investigation and her father's political schemes.
A Founder of the Sobornost, pursuing her own ends against Jean and Mieli.
Mieli's sentient, sardonic ship and companion.
