The Space Between Worlds
a Sunday Times bestselling science fiction adventure through the multiverse
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A stunning science fiction debut, The Space Between Worlds is both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.
'Profound' Max Gladstone
'Complex' Guardian
'It remained two steps ahead of my imagination' The New York Times
'A strong new voice in science fiction' The Sunday Times
Born in the dirt of the wasteland, Cara has fought her entire life just to survive. Now she has done the impossible, and landed herself a comfortable life on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, she's on a sure path to citizenship and security - on this world, at least.
Of the 380 realities that have been unlocked, Cara is dead in all but 8.
Cara's parallel selves are exceptionally good at dying - from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn't outrun - which makes Cara wary, and valuable. Because while multiverse travel is possible, no one can visit a world in which their counterpart is still alive. And no one has fewer counterparts than Cara.
But then one of her eight doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, and Cara is plunged into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and future in ways she never could have imagined - and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her earth, but the entire multiverse.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Johnson bursts onto the scene with this thought-provoking, high-concept sci-fi debut that impresses with exceptional worldbuilding and a distinctive protagonist, but suffers under the strain of too much plot. The tale gets off to a strong start, introducing Caramenta, a queer, black woman with a complex family history, who uses tech that grants her access to the multiverse to collect data from alternate Earths that will benefit Earth 0, the "original." Her exploration has one catch: the technology only allows her to visit Earths where the alternate version of herself has already died. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily) for Caramenta, her alternate selves die quite often, opening up 375 worlds for her to explore and a discovery she makes on one of them could change the course of history. Though the ambitious plotting becomes difficult to untangle as the timelines, characters, and versions of Earth multiply, Johnson's meditations on privilege and inequality ring true. Despite occasional melodramatics and some hazy political structures, this immersive, original adventure is sure to please readers looking for smart, diverse science fiction. Johnson is a writer to watch.
