Count to a Trillion by John C. Wright
John C. Wright burst upon the science fiction scene a decade ago with the Golden Age trilogy, an innovative space opera. He went on to write fantasy novels, including the popular Orphans of Chaos trilogy. Now he returns to space opera in Count to a Trillion. After the collapse of the world economy, a young boy grows up in what used to be Texas as a tough duellist for hire, the future equivalent of a hired gun. But even after the collapse, there is space travel, and he leaves Earth to have adventures in the really wide open spaces. While humanity, and Artificial Intelligence grow and change, he is catapulted into the more distant future and becomes a kind of superman.