A sci-fi novel about augmented mental power

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

I read a sci-fi novel 14 years ago (April/May 2003) that haven't been able to find since then. It was in a shared book locker in a reception battalion barracks at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. The book was a paperback, it may have been part of a series of at least two books, and i may not have read the first (unsure). I think the cover was blue/yellow/green or something similar in a 90's styling (slanted text, text overlayed on full cover imagery). Seems like it was published by one of the big science fiction publishers of the 90s.

It was extreme futuristic, multiple planets. With humans being augmented at birth or shortly after with enhanced brain implants. These augmentations enabled extreme levels of math, and the price the parents paid for these augmentations depended on their child's future success.

I believe the primary protagonist was a female.

If I recall correctly the story included items like the protagonist's augmentation was removed, and the protagonist was mentally hampered, and then a new one inserted, but it took a while for the brain to "wire it in" or something to that sort.

I don't actually remember the plot, just the technology. Which seems like what Neuralink is trying to accomplish, but letting the brain do the heavy lifting and letting the augmentation be "additional processing power".

The cost of the implants were extremely high, like an entire adult's lifetime income or something similarity severe. I believe the augmentation gave the protagonist probabilistic predictive power or some other extremely cool ability.

I seem to remember that the female protagonist was tutored by a famous mathematician, and when she got her second powerful implant she had to go back to him to retrain or for assistance.