Comments on Hyperthought - From Our Visitors

"Buckner has managed to pull this off brilliantly. Her heroine, Jolie Blanche Sauvage, is by no means smart. She is reckless, impulsive, and absolutely determined to try do the right thing. The greatness of her heart becomes legendary; most of the time her brain doesn't follow. But because she is so caring and determined she manages to acquire a group of smart and devoted friends who keep digging her out of the messes she rushes headlong into. It all works very well, which is a considerable achievement for a first novel...Hyperthought is a science fiction book. But it is an SF of a type that you don't really expect to see coming out of a US publisher. The world of Hyperthought is one that has barely survived environmental collapse. Mankind lives entirely underground, and the world is rules by massive, geographically-based corporations, the dot-coms. Buckner has a Gibson-eqsue feel for slang. Thus Sauvage is a "surfer" - not someone who surfs the Internet, but someone crazy enough to make her living by venturing onto the surface of the planet...Neat."
—Cheryl Morgan, Emerald City (see full review)

"Full of adventure and intrigue, this action-packed debut novel will take your breath away! Buckner has deftly distilled the intense, adrenaline rush and sweeping dramatic scope of an epic tale into a mere 177 pages! Taut and fast-paced, Hyperthought explores some fascinating, age-old questions concerning the limits of human knowledge. Echoing the best traditions of the Sci-Fi genre, Buckner maintains a fresh voice that races along without missing a beat. This debut novel is a thrilling joyride that will leave the reader anticipating Buckner's next book."
—Todd Jeffries, See full review

"Let's just say it's a wild ride down a road I have never visited before. Hyperthought's characters are intricate and well developed, the plot is fast paced, exciting, fresh and entirely plausible. It's a great read and I hope to see more of this great new author."
—Donna Drapeau, Rhode Island Science Fiction Club (Full review)

"Excellent novel. Couldn't put it down. It's nice to find an author who doesn't feel the need to describe every last moment of two months in a character's life, yet details them finely and keeps the pace tight. Gets an A+ for action and depth of concept. As an experienced scuba diver, Jolie's descent to the sea cave made me shudder in sympathetic terror. It was like I was there with her. Way too cool. Please keep them coming. I, for one, will continue to buy whatever you write."

—Paul D. Raines, Pre-Press, Idaho Press-Tribune

“Breathtaking in scope, HYPERTHOUGHT is a must read and a brilliant and exciting debut by an author to watch and to follow.”
— Gary S. Potter, National SF Reviewer

"Hyperthought is awesome!!"
—Lydia W., Lexington, KY

"It was, wow! What a trip it was like riding a roller coaster and thinking, okay it has to let up a little bit now, then it would just go on, not sure how you felt writing it, but man it was exhausting to read! It was the freshest and most original fiction I have read in years."
—Paula D., Harrison, AR

I still can't stop talking about your book, it was so awesome. Just the first two sentences made me an instant M. Buckner fan! I'll keep my copy forever and read it again many times.
—Polly W., Miami, FL

"Twelve billion people on the planet. Are there really twelve billion separate personalities, or is it a trick with mirrors? Are we all the same person? Am I the only one? My frail brain constructs layers of distorted perception that lead me in circles. I'm tired of dreaming. I need the truth. Science is no help. Alchemists and quacks. I've read their reports. The more they discover, the less they know. Why am I special? Look at my position, my wealth, my intellect. Why have I been singled out for so many gifts? I may be the only real person in the universe. Everything may depend on the decisions I make. But I don't have accurate information. You might be a figment of my imagination. Of course you would be convinced of your own reality to keep up the illusion for me."

— Jin Airlangga Sura, in Hyperthought, the novel.

Scientists fixate on consciousness. They ignore our unconscious senses. Humans have more than five senses. Oh, believe me, we do. We receive input at the quantum level, but in our over-reliance on consciousness, we deny it or fail to understand it. Egotism, really. The fatal flaw of homo sapiens. We trust conscious perception far too much. You see, the neurons, the cells in the brain, they generate tiny electrical fields that resonate with each other. And sometimes they oscillate in phase. Think of voices in a crowd all suddenly humming the same chord. As we receive input, these electrical fields build up and wash around our brains like weather. Imagine cyclones and warm fronts. Invisible rainbows. Silent thunder. I have learned how to play with the quantum states in the brain's electrical weather. I can modulate the quantum charge densities. I can tune them like a radio, so you will directly perceive the nature of reality at the quantum level. You'll see the truth at last. Trust me.

— Dr. Judith Merida, neurosurgeon, in Hyperthought, the novel.