Count to a Trillion

Count to a Trillion is John C. Wright's audacious launch of the Eschaton Sequence — a transhumanist space opera following hyper-intelligent Texan mathematician Menelaus Montrose, who injects himself with a serum to decode an alien artifact and sets off a rivalry spanning millennia. The scope is genuinely impressive, the hard-SF engagement with mathematics and posthumanity is substantive, and the Texan-hero voice is unlike anything else in the genre. The content is family-appropriate — minimal profanity, no explicit sexuality — though the density makes it best for mature readers. Kirkus Reviews called it both 'spectacularly clever' and 'grindingly didactic,' and both assessments are fair: the ideas sometimes swamp the story, and the protagonists can feel emotionally remote. For hard-SF readers who prize ambition, it's worth the effort.