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Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publish Date: 4 August 2020
Page Count: 336 pages
In The Space Between Worlds Eldridge Institute CEO Adam Bosch has discovered how to access the multiverse and covertly exploit other versions of Earth for data and physical resources. But the technology to remotely download the data hasn’t been developed, and due to some law of physics, Eldridge’s interdimensional travellers can only safely visit realities where their alternate self has died.
Enter Cara, born into poverty on the wrong side of the walls of Wiley City. She has survived an addict mother, a tyrannical emperor and the thuggish, Mad Max-like Runner gangs. But, in the greater multiverse, her survival in this reality is an exception: Cara is dead in 372 of the 380 accessible Earths, making her the perfect courier to retrieve surveillance information from other realities.
When a version of Cara dies on Earth 175, she is able to traverse there for the first time. But her landing doesn’t go as planned, and she is drawn into local events, uncovering secrets that may threaten the life she has built for herself on Earth 0.
“The multiverse isn’t just parallel universes accessible through science. They are in each of us, a kaleidoscope made of varying perceptions. Dell and I were in different universes this whole time, and I should have known.”
The book’s title refers to Cara’s job as a traverser as well as her struggle to assimilate to Wiley City society despite her imposter syndrome and the citizens’ ingrained classism. The story also explores her experience with domestic abuse, childhood neglect, and the unique trauma of seeing variations of these events in other worlds.
Johnson refers to her writing as ‘grit’ in the acknowledgements, and these are certainly heavy themes to deal with, making for a different reading experience to the escapism I usually look for. She also writes in first-person, with language more reflective than visual. Being a visual reader, this made it difficult for me to connect with the story and protagonist until over halfway through the book.
“Why are we, who are so unhappy, fixated on long lives? What is the point? An easy life isn’t blessing. Easy doesn’t mean happy. Alive doesn’t mean anything at all.”
The bleak tone and harsh characters reminded me of Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death which I was unable to finish. Therefore, I’d say my reading experience is indicative of my personal preferences and somewhat prudish attitude towards themes of abuse in SFF, rather than Johnson’s writing skills.
The Space Between Worlds is a unique and interesting approach to multiverse theory. Its standout feature is a convincing exploration of Cara’s character as she rediscovers her sense of self. The plot involves some unexpected twists as well as a F/F romance that enrich the story. I really enjoyed the final third of the novel as it moves towards a suspenseful climax.
This book is a unique experience that will appeal to many readers, so if any part of this review has piqued your interest, don’t hesitate to get yourself a copy. Opinions might be divided among hard SFF readers as this novel takes a suggestive rather than an explorative approach to worldbuilding and the use of the multiverse concept, which may leave some readers frustrated by unanswered questions.
The Space Between Worlds will be published on 4th August 2020 and is now available for pre-order.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warnings: Domestic violence
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Jake is Reading 
Interesting – I get what you say about expecting a big dimension hopping adventure but getting something more introspective. Because, yeah, you’ll never guess what my next review is… Seem to have done it again!
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Oh dear haha! You’ll have to get in first with The Phlebotomist review 😬 Its nice to compare notes with someone with similar tastes though!
Yeah this one wasn’t for me, I mostly felt depressed reading it and kept waiting for the holes in the sci-fi aspect of things to be addressed.
Hope you enjoyed it, looking forward to your review!
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I suspect my review of The Phlebotomist will be a while away yet, think it comes out on the same day as something else so jigging my schedule around a lot right now! And yeah, it is quite bleak in parts, definitely know what you mean!
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Well, I’d say that was a very fair and well balanced review giving us the salient points of what worked for you, and what didn’t. But, like you, I wish publishers would be more observant about classifying titles. This definitely sounds more speculative, than science based fiction. And nothing wrong with that. But the right labelling does help a reader to be better prepared with regard to expectations.
While it sounds intriguing, it also been done before … many times.
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I think it could have been marketed slightly differently, which is a shame because I may have rated it higher and read less critically if I had a better idea of what to expect. Having said that, I’ve read some of the reviews on Netgalley and no one else seemed to share that opinion.
I’ve been struggling with the whole rating thing recently and considered leaving it off my blog all together – I feel like every book is an achievement but ratings are so individual and subjective.
Thanks for reading!
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Great review! I still need to get around to writing mine… I think you’re right that they didn’t do a great job letting you know what to expect from this book because it was a surprise for me too, the difference being I really liked it.
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Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it! It’s definitely well written.
I don’t even watch crime shows because I find them too depressing so it just wasn’t the tone for me
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