Author: Tonya Cannariato
Publisher: Katarr Kanticles Press
Publication Date: August 25, 2012
Reviewer: Elisa
Summary: Mark Inman has two loves: particle physics and Sarah. She agrees to become his wife at the same time his experiment to find the Higgs boson goes off the rails. Journey with Mark while his existence melts and reforms in unpredictable ways as the veils between realities thin. His exploration of the minutiae of quantum physics builds a fascinating tapestry of alternate universes. His search for survival, and the search for meaning and what is real, drive Mark as he experiences lives he never dreamed possible. His only touchstones: find Sarah and find his way home.
Review: This book starts out fairly confusing, but it all becomes clear...
When all scientists are called back to the lab because their super secret experiments are failing, Mark kisses his brand new bride goodbye and lets her know he will see her soon. His dark matter experiment has gone on meltdown and he is sucked into a tour of different dimension where he is still himself, but very different.
"I'm beginning to think every timeline has a moment of crisis - a turning point when that reality's participants are forced to choose whether their space-time implodes or evolves." (4%)
If you read it, you know how The Time Traveler’s Wife was, he would jump backwards or forwards in time, and most of them were to know a certain part or time of his wife’s. Well, Mark has had a meltdown of an experiment in dark matter or dimensional travel, but each consciousness he finds himself in, he has his wife Sarah to find. On these trips through the multiverse, he more deeply understands their connection as well as how everything else in the universe is connected. “I had gained valuable insights just by being in those forms. Previously, I would have felt that was impossible without extensive experimentation following the "work to disprove it” path of the scientific method.” (60%) Whether they are lizards, humanoids, amphibians, a planet to her moon, they have a push and pull and direct relationship to one another. It is lovely. Though a bit confusing with the talk of dark matter, electromagnetic pulses and some scientific jargon spaced a bit through, you don't really have to know what a Boson Higgs particle is, or string theory, though I imagine you will get a little more out of it than I did if you do. I don’t, so I figured it for science jargon and kept reading.
This book was so imaginative and interesting and quick it sucked me in, shook me around and finally spit me out. For a guy who travels through 8 or so dimensions, the book only comes to around 250 pages. It goes fast. There really isn't any unnecessary description. It is all important.
“I was living through a strange, extended Groundhog Day experience in these parallel dimensions, and I never knew when to expect a reset.” (35%)
“I still had no guidance for how to approach the problem, or support system, as I meandered my way through the multiverse like a pinball flung by a random application of force.” (57%)
So Mark and Sarah are being pulled through dimension after dimension, but they are always together. It is beautifully written, all in first person from Mark's POV and with his scientific recap, a little tiny bit like a Twilight Zone narration or something, with dialogue only when necessary.
After a couple of dimensions I was reading and wondering how Cannariato was going to conclude the story, really, how many ways could it end? And it does, at a nice spot. But there is no full explanation for how it happens. So I found it a little too pat and easy, though felt ok with it. I really enjoyed rolling through the multiverse with Mark and Sarah. It was a love story and expands your mind, in a good way. If you like science fiction and the idea of multiverse and some creative scenarios, you should look this one up! 4 stars.
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