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Review: Quantum Coin by E. C. Myers
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Quantum Coin by E. C. Myers
Published 2012 by Prometheus Books/Pyr
Fair Coin Series: Book 2
331 pages
I originally reviewed Fair Coin after winning a copy in a WWEnd giveaway last year. So when Pyr gave Dave and the guys a copy of the sequel, Quantum Coin, they asked if I was interested. I liked Fair Coin well enough; it was fun, did a lot to stoke a latent librarian fetish I didn’t know I was harboring, and ended the Ephraim/Jena/Zoe love triangle in an oh-so-deliciously-yet-unsatisfying way that probably resonates with anyone who has ever had a teenage crush (I09 called it “Pure Awesome Crack”). Well, and of course turning down a free book is just weird, so I told Dave a few months ago that I’d love to review it and could probably do so within a few weeks (clearly an unscrupulous lie).
Time and Space and Everything
Quantum Coin begins almost as soon as Fair Coin leaves off. Ephraim has left the world of universe-jumping behind – sort of – and he is happily in love with Jena Kim. No more coins, no more controllers, no more careless wishes, no more murders. But you know the multiverse is going to put him on notice on the very night, of all nights, that he and Jena plan to finally… cough… go to prom.
Review: Fair Coin by E. C. Myers
Fair Coin by E.C. Myers
Published in 2012 by Pyr
Hardcover – 285 pages
“911, what is your emergency?”
“My mother took some pills.”
Fair Coin begins with Ephraim finding his mother after what appears to be a suicide attempt. Why? Earlier that day she’d identified his dead body at the hospital and she even had his personal effects that she’d taken home with her, his wallet and library card (both of which he still had in his pocket) and a very strange coin.
When he learns from an anonymous note in his locker that the coin has the ability to grant wishes, Ephraim wastes no time using it to help his alcoholic Mother. But he also approaches the coin with a caution and disbelief that has you thinking he’s read this book before. He suspects all the likely problems and ethical issues. He doubts the intentions of the note writer.
As you might expect, that doesn’t stop him from continuing to use the coin for the less-than-noble purposes of positioning himself and his best friend Nathan in the good graces of the girls of their respective dreams, among other private benefits (BTW, where were all the cute teenage librarians when I was in high school?!). When successive coin flips begin to change his world in unpredictable and undesirable ways, Ephraim gets really, really cold feet.
