Jaron Kwok works for the National Security Agency, researching historical mnemonic systems, in the hope of allowing the US to beat China in the race to build a quantum computer - a computer of enormous processing power, and hence the ultimate tool of encryption and decryption. One day, in a Hong Kong hotel room, Kwok plugs into a virtual world he has constructed which will enable him to explore the documents he is working on. He has an enigmatic encounter with some other entities in the virtuality, before his real-world body (apparently) bursts into flames, leaving behind a pile of (what seem to be) ashes.
Other characters enter the story. Ben Cho, who takes over Kwok's work. Lu Mei-Lin, the Chinese police detective who investigates his murder and remains. Don Sturm and Karuna Drang, who witness a holocast of Kwok's final moments in the virtuality, and try to make sense of the symbols embedded within. Jim Brescoll, Deputy Director of the NSA, who tries to keep track of everything that's going on. Conspiracies abound, as it becomes apparent that a quantum computer might do far more than make and break codes… And The Labyrinth Key turns out to be a frustratingly unsatisfying experience.
Howard Hendrix says more than once in the book that he has tried to ensure that his research intrudes as little as possible into the narrative; so much so, in fact, that he's included an appendix about the science and history underpinning the novel. But still, The Labyrinth Key suffers from too much exposition. Now, of course, infodumping is a perennial problem for science fiction writers; and it wouldn't be fair of me to blame Hendrix for not finding a solution. But there's just so much of it. At times, it's hard not to feel one is being lectured by the author, which is not a pleasant feeling to have when reading a novel. All the exposition slows the story right down - and, worse, impedes understanding. I feel sure that the science Hendrix draws on in The Labyrinth Key is readily comprehensible to non-scientists like me; but he buries the essentials in so many details that it's hard to be sure. Of course, it might be helpful to refer to the appendix - but if that's necessary, it should be at the front of the volume, not the back. And if Hendrix had better integrated his research with his story, an appendix might not have been needed at all.
Some genre authors really like The Labyrinth Key. Gregory Benford is quoted as saying, 'Hendrix's sentences have punch, his plots have points, and he knows his science - what more can one ask of cutting-edge science fiction?' Well, I'd like to think the genre is mature enough that we can add good characterization to that list, and it's another area where this book falls short. None of the characters really leaps off the page; and some - especially the NSA scientists - feel like nothing more than talking heads. And I'd dispute the point about Hendrix's prose as well. The action scenes do their job well enough, and there is some effective imagery; but there's nothing here to mark out Hendrix as one of the genre's great stylists.
I don't want to sound too harsh, but the truth is that I have very little good to say about The Labyrinth Key. There's probably a good book in there somewhere, but it has to contend with a great deal that's mediocre at best. Even the plot is a let-down: the ending is pure Hollywood. I suppose that any readers who enjoy raw scientific speculation might find it a satisfying read; but, not being such a reader, I can't say for sure. Howard V. Hendrix has four other novels under his belt, so The Labyrinth Key might be an exception in his oeuvre. But I'm not in a great hurry to find out.
This review first appeared in The Alien Online.
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