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A review by acatastrophe
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
(from my personal reading journal, July 8, 2023)
This is a book I wouldn't have picked up if not for Jude's recommendation--he's pretty picky about scifi, so his tastes usually angle towards the uncommonly good. The Space Between Worlds focuses on a traverser, a woman selected from a lower-class background to move between alternate worlds on behalf of the elites. I've heard it billed as a queer book, but it's really about extraction, exploitation, and class, and a very good examination of power structures across many intersections.
Cara, the lead, is a high-volume traverser because of the many worlds in which she is dead (this universe operates on the No Doubles rule), but instead of being Caramenta, specially chosen on Earth Zero, she is Caralee of Earth 22, who survived when her double made an ill-fated jump. She finds that her boss is actually the brother of the despot who now rules her wasteland home and sets out to bring him down as payment for his crimes against the people of other worlds.
Cara is a unique narrator--she is both the most and least qualified person to be telling the story, and her perspective is extremely interesting. I also love a story that's all twists; every single story beat is unexpected, which should be exhausting, but is done so well it's just exciting. Very tightly written and well laid out. I can see why Jude loved it so much!
This is a book I wouldn't have picked up if not for Jude's recommendation--he's pretty picky about scifi, so his tastes usually angle towards the uncommonly good. The Space Between Worlds focuses on a traverser, a woman selected from a lower-class background to move between alternate worlds on behalf of the elites. I've heard it billed as a queer book, but it's really about extraction, exploitation, and class, and a very good examination of power structures across many intersections.
Cara, the lead, is a high-volume traverser because of the many worlds in which she is dead (this universe operates on the No Doubles rule), but instead of being Caramenta, specially chosen on Earth Zero, she is Caralee of Earth 22, who survived when her double made an ill-fated jump. She finds that her boss is actually the brother of the despot who now rules her wasteland home and sets out to bring him down as payment for his crimes against the people of other worlds.
Cara is a unique narrator--she is both the most and least qualified person to be telling the story, and her perspective is extremely interesting. I also love a story that's all twists; every single story beat is unexpected, which should be exhausting, but is done so well it's just exciting. Very tightly written and well laid out. I can see why Jude loved it so much!
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence