Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.
On this Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now she has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.
But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.
Title: The Space Between Worlds | Author: Micaiah Johnson | Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton | Pub. Date: 4th August 2020 | Pages: 336 | ISBN: 9781529387148 | Genre: Science Fiction | Language: English | Starred Review: No | Source: Publisher
The Space Between Worlds Review
‘The Space Between Worlds’ is a book that is begging to be adapted for the screen. If Netflix have any sense they’re already knocking on Micaiah Johnson’s door, wallet in hand and contract ready. This is a very modern feeling sci fi adventure with a determined, engaging heroine; an intriguing title; and a great concept. Unfortunately, it’s also really boring.
Let’s start with the concept, because I really did like that. It’s the future, and a brilliant scientist and businessman has proven that there are parallel universes. What’s more, he has devised a way for people from Earth Zero (as its called in the book) to travel to the four hundred or so alternate Earths that are most similar to the one he inhabits. The twist is that you can’t travel to a universe where you exist. What that means is that the people who can move between worlds are from groups with a high mortality rate. Typically, the poor, the under-privileged and ethnic minorities. The protagonist, Cara, is one such person. A young black woman who has died of various causes in 372 of the known alternate universes. Cara is employed to travel to other Earths to gather data about specific events there. The theory being that the knowledge will allow her employers to better predict events on their own Earth and profit from that information.
So, a clever concept which is set up well in the first 20 pages or so of the book. After that, apart from one decent twist, I found the plot completely failed to engage me. Cara is an interesting character, and her strength and ruthlessness have a hardboiled appeal, but the challenges she faces are mostly about trying to figure out if an alternate version of an abusive ex is a nice guy or not. It all feels like a waste of such an interesting idea and I quickly lost interest.
So Netflix, please buy the rights, use the concept and hire some writers who can build a more interesting plot around it.
You can find this book at many retailers via clicking on the appropriate link on Goodreads (Buying direct from retailers is a good way to support indie authors); however, in the spirit of supporting literacy programs, we would like to point out that you may be able to purchase this book through BetterWorldBooks.
Content Warning:
Olly joined the team in August 2018. He is our first non-American team member, and lives in the UK. He is the head of our UK team. Olly reviews both science fiction and horror books and movies for the site. He also enjoys writing articles when time allows.
Great review!
Thank you!