Tak! reviewed The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
The Space between Worlds
5 stars
Original, innovative, grim, politically relevant, amazing
eBook, 336 pages
English language
Published Aug. 3, 2020 by Hodder & Stoughton.
The Space Between Worlds
- ISBN:
- 9781529387124
4 stars
(4 reviews)
‘My mother used to say I was born reaching, which is true. She also used to say it would get me killed, which it hasn't. Not yet, anyway.’
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 …
‘My mother used to say I was born reaching, which is true. She also used to say it would get me killed, which it hasn't. Not yet, anyway.’
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.
outofrange reviewed The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
An intimate multiverse
3 stars
This is a character driven story in a dystopian, desert inspired multiverse. I liked the characters and it holds together well for the most part. For a multiverse premise the world(s) felt too small to me, which serves the story but maybe diminishes the mood. I really like the mysterious liminal space as a character in itself, which tempts me to continue the series.
wrul (pre‐2023) reviewed The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
structurally and emotionally accomplished
5 stars
I had wanted something to read where I did not feel obligated or compelled to take notes, but then there were so many phrases buttressing the plot worth noting down, that I quickly ran out of bookmarks — even despite abandoning a majority of Johnson’s sharpest constructions to the depths of pages read. So, by a third in, I guessed that regardless of how I was to find this novel in any other respects, The space between worlds was at least a four star piece for revisitability. The word-to-word texture remained more prosaic than I fully take to in fiction, but there is much to appreciate in what Johnson has built, and how.
Surprising and well made
4 stars
At first i wasn’t convinced, I felt it was a bit confusing. Then everything got in line and the big reveals are surprising. Good character-driven story.